Okay, folks. This the one! This is the big story you've all been waiting for. More is revealed about the Pokemon JTC universe in this story than you can shake a stick at.
This one has a dark under-layer. The ideas set forth in the story are presented and resolved much quicker than they were in the first story.
If you remember in story one, Chris saw Kado, and he told himself he would "carry that weight," that Kado had put on his shoulders. In this one, Chris starts to feel that weight. What's more, he gets a lightsaber! :-D
Anyway, in my last story, I named a few voice actors I thought might be good at playing the JTC characters. This was to give you, the reader, a rough idea of how the characters would sound.
Here's the ones from yesterday, and a few new ones for today.
John Bosch (playing Chris Brockner) - Sometimes credited as "Johnny Yong Bosch," this guy has had an interesting career in seiyuu. His first job was on "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" playing the second Black Ranger, Adam. When "Mighty Morphin" became "Zeo," he played Zeo Green Ranger, and was still protraying the character of Adam. The same sort of shift happened when the Power Rangers went "Turbo," only the entire cast was replaced halfway through that season. Aside from making a cameo appearance in "Power Ranger in Space" he didn't really do anything special until the year 2001 or so. It was then that he got the role as "Vash the Stampede" in the popular anime OAV, Trigun. His stunning performance has since made him an anime idol.
Phillip Bartlett (playing Mewtwo) - The man's voice is synonomous with Mewtwo. If you saw the first movie, you know what I mean.
Lisa Ortiz (playing Maria) - Since you're all Pokemon fans, I don't even introduce Lisa. She should be a household name after she did all those Pokemon babes of the day.
Okay, she also played Deedlit, the fairy queen, in "Record of Lodoss War: CoHK." Ah, yes, and Lina Inverse on "Slayers."
Tara Jayne (playing Vulpix) - Tara Jayne has always done the voice of just about any Vulpix I can think of on the series. Her voice is often mistaken as the voice of Rachel Lillis.
Robert Axelrod (playing Giovanni) - Not the first voice of Giovanni, but a dead-ringer, in any case. Robert Axelrod is a brilliant actor who probably got his biggest career boost playing Lord Zedd on "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers." He has since gotten roles on "Ruroni Kenshin," "The Big O," and "Digimon."
David Lucas (playing Hiakiu) - Although Mr. Lucas has a lot of brag for doing the voice of Spike Spiegel on "Cowboy Bebop," his face is a mystery. There isn't a picture out there of Mr. Lucas! So, this mysterious seiyuu who has done voices for such anime as "Ruroni Kenshin," "Digimon," "Fushigi Yugi," and "The Big O," remains pretty anonymous.
Rene Auberjonois (playing Chris's grandfather, Professor Brockner - If you've seen "Star Trek : Deep Space Nine," I don't even have to tell you this guy played Odo. He's also done a voice acting stint on Cartoon Network's "Justice League."
In addition to playing Prof Brockner, he is also the narrator guy who does all those, "So this is the world of Pokemon..." bits! ^_^
Robert Wickes (playing Sam Farkrow, Chris's rival cousin) - He has been in Trigun, Ruroni Kenshin, Digimon, and had the little known part of Gene Starwind in a series called "Outlaw Star." ;-) He has the same cocky nature when playing Sam as he did when he played Gene. X-D
Melissa Charles (playing Edward, Chris's goofy poultry-lovin' cousin) - Her defining role was a "Radical Edward," the goofy gender-questionable hacker on Cowboy Bebop. The character she plays in JTC is an eerie mirror to the character of "Radical Edward." They even look alike!
I really would have liked to put one in for Professor Yew/Professor Oodamaki, but I don't even know who played him in Japan! :lol: Oops, spoiled that for you, didnt' I?
Anyway, here's the first chapter of JTC round 2. Enjoy!
***
PROLOGUE
Female-- the heart of this breed is tender. It is said that woman was taken from the ribs of man many many centuries ago, and has since become his guiding compass that leads him to success. Without woman, man would fail to achieve greatness. Though, the same cannot be said for woman. Without man, woman would flourish anyway. They are independent, caring for themselves. Yet, it is in their nature to also care for others. Without woman, man would fail to achieve greatness.
Chapter 1 : RIVALS MEET, SMOOTH SAILING TO PROFESSOR GRAMPY
This is the world of Pokemon. A world where the young and old live in harmony with creatures not quite of this world. Today, Chris, Vulpix, and Mewtwo continue on their own journey. Their journey leads to the quiet laboratory of Professor Brockner- Chris's grandfather! Little does our hero know his old life has yet to mesh with his new one!
The warm sun hung upon some invisible mount in a clear blue sky. Despite the warmth of the sun, a nipping breeze grazed the trees. Their leaves were shaken by the biting wind and began spectacular dances of red, yellow, and orange to a carpet of fading green grass on the earth below. It was fall, and old things were dying away. The trees were falling into deep sleep like that of death in preparation for the coming winter, only to be ressurected again in the spring.
Pokemon of all sorts were making haste to collect food to stash into their equally varied dwellings in the earth. Nearby, a sparse host of Sentret and Furret were scurrying back and forth from an apricorn tree, swiftly packing the fruits of the tree into their nearby burrow. Yet other Pokemon were making provisions for a long flight to some warmer climate. A flock of Farfetch'd were practicing formations in the sky above, moving in and out of patterns like feathery constellations.
Pokemon of different sorts intended to hibernate the frost away, and a Teddiursa in the grass nearby yawned mournfully. It probably was upset with the fact that an elder Ursaring would shuffle it into a cave someplace in the region for deep sleep before it would ever have a chance to play in the pure white snow of the coming winter season. It seemed like child who wanted to play the night away instead of retreating into bed at the behest of a parent who knew better.
Chris himself felt the desire to return home for the coming of cold and dreary weather that would soon rage across the region. Still, he knew there was too much to be done. As he observed these Pokemon readying for a respite that would last a spread of months, he counted them lucky. His Pokemon undoubtedly would have, as well. While their free kin enjoyed a winter vacation, they would still be at his side battling and training to higher levels of experience. Although this may well have been worthwhile, it certainly wasn't as easy as crawling into a hole and spending most of the days sleeping and eating their fill of what was collected before the green warmth of grass had given way to the chilly white of snow.
Chris felt the nudge of Mewtwo at his side. "Hey! How far is this laboratory? I may be immortal, but I do not care to take forever trudging towards oblivion! Besides, you do realize that I do not wish to be seen by any researchers. That would simply compromise the secrecy I have strived so hard to place around my existence."
A snide voice came from nearby. It was not a voice that Mewtwo recoginized, but Chris knew it well. "If you didn't want to be discovered, you picked the wrong partner, Mr. Mutant! Besides, you've already been discovered-- by me!"
Chris growled deep in his throat, "Sam! What are you doing here?" Mewtwo observed a young man about Chris's age with his arms folded about twenty feet away. He wore all black, the polished boots that shod him being the most intimidating part of the outfit. They looked they might be able to take out a Ponyta's eye from the looks of them. The ripped black jeans tendrilled up and a black tanktop was tucked hastily into them. The black leather jacket was perhaps the most impressive of the getup. A silvery ring clipped to one of Sam's ears. Dogtags with various profanities, obscenities, and names of nu metal bands were fitted around Sam's neck. There was only a mild family resemblance between Chris and Sam. Sam's hair, in fact, was not short cropped like Chris's. Instead, it snaked out in long curls and was somehow propped up as though it had been dipped in a vat of hot Beedrill wax. This staved any great resemblance that may have been had they both styled their hair in the exact same way.
"Hey, Chris!" Sam greeted slyly. "Still struggling onwards to places you shoudn't ought to, I see! How are your Pokemon? Still as weak as ever, I'll bet!"
"Hey! Who is this pain in the ass?" Mewtwo inquired.
Chris laughed nervously. "Aa! He didn't mean it that way." Chris then cut his voice to a whisper, and said to Mewtwo, "This is my cousin Sam! That's just his personality showing!"
"Well," Sam began. "I'll bet that that thing doesn't know how to swim- like you!"
Chris grumbled angrily under his breath. "I do too know how to swim! Don't embarrass me in front of my new Pokemon like that!"
"Yeah! We've all seen you struggle in the water, while I could be in the Olympics." Sam boasted. "You ended up having to call out your Squirtle at that race at Acapulco!"
"Well," Chris set off a demand. "Where am I supposed to practice serious swimming around here?"
"You could always swim in that stream over there." Sam stated bluntly. He pointed at a body of water near to Chris's house.
Chris's face turned red with defeat. He mumbled under his breath, "Yeah, the stream ya rotten..." The rest of Chris's words were inaudible.
"Or you could go to Muk Lake or something," Sam declared.
Chris developed a look of amusement. This time he had a great defense. "Muk Lake? Are you crazy? Do you know how many dangerous toxins are floating around in that lake? Then there's all the other "activities" that go on; God only knows what else is carousing around in there!"
"Oh, come on!" Sam belted out. "You get one report about an arm or a leg that someone just happened to catch while fishing one day and the whole world is condemning that poor lake."
"It wasn't an arm or a leg, Sam!" Chris reminded. "It was somebody's head!"
"A head, an arm, a leg- what's the difference?" Sam remarked.
"You cannot swim?" Mewtwo asked, curious with "National Inquirer" type enthusiasm. Apparently, he didn't seem to care about a few lost body parts laying in an old lake.
"Well, I can float." Chris said abashedly. "I just can't navigate too well!" Then he got angry and sarcastic.
"Thanks a lot, Sam!" he snapped between clenched teeth.
"That's okay!" Sam said with a tone of a valiant knight after he'd slain a dragon. He acted almost as if he'd done Chris a favor. "I say... Let's have a rematch! We can use our Pokemon in a surfing contest. I'll choose my Dragonite! You can choose your Blastoise!"
"Fine!" Chris agreed. "We'll take that stream over there- which you were so kind as to point out as a good place for swimming practice. It's pretty steady, deep enough, wide enough. It also leads straight to Grampy's house- which is where I'm headed!!" Chris smiled and flashed the peace gesture once more!
"Funny, that's where I just came from!" Sam boasted, and Chris did a genuine facefault. "I guess if I must go out of my way, then there's no better way to do it than by kicking your ass!"
Mewtwo walked up beside Chris and whispered, "You know, Dragonites are fast! Even as swimmers, they are quite agile. How do you hope to win with Blastoise?"
Chris dismissed, "I'll think of something."
Mewtwo did not look reassured. "How to hell do you humans act so damned arrogant?"
Chris didn't answer. He and Sam released their respective Pocket Monster. Chris watched Sam's Dragonite virtually mold into the water, and Chris couldn't say he wasn't a little intimidated by how stable it looked. As though Sam were a mind reader, he jested, "I think someone has dragon envy!" Sam exploded into fits of raucous laughter, as though what he had just said was so funny Comedy Central wanted quotation rights.
"Shut up!" Chris snarled when he released Blastoise into the water. Blastoise was a tad wobbly when Chris hopped on and Chris had to fight gravity to keep his balance. Mewtwo impromptly began a countdown. On "three" the competing cousins ordered their Pokemon on the fastest trajectory they could muster. Both of them knelt down on their Pokemon's backs and hung on tight to keep from splashing into the water.
The race was mostly uneventful. As a matter of fact, it was down-right boring until a sandbar became visible toward the end of the stream. This was the finish line- the shores of the Southwestern sector of old New Bark Town! Both Pokemon, Blastoise and Dragonite, leapt for the sandbar.
"Land-ho!" Chris shouted as Blastoise took flight. Although, since Dragonite had wings his jump was more remniscent of flying. Blastoise was not going to win due to this very factor- unless...
Blastoise, seeing he was going to lose, retreated into his shell leaving Chris clutching for life to the top of it. Blastoise was now sleeker and more aerodynamic. The massive turtle somehow propelled himself through the air-- something that Dragonite was not expecting. As Blastoise shot past a slothfully floating Dragonite- as slothful pace that would even have beat Blastoise moments before- Chris looked straight at Sam and tugged down on his lower eyelid with his pointer finger. Chris had never seen Sam look more pissed in his life...
And Chris never experienced greater frenzy as he sucked in large amounts of water, nearly drowning to death. Chris had expected to hit land once Blastoise touched down. He expected Blastoise to do a sand-splattering slide into home plate. Instead, the sandbar divided the mainstream from a small resevoir which was well deep enough to submerge a full grown man underneath.
Chris's world went black and the next thing he knew Mewtwo was giving him mouth-to-mouth. He flew to his wavering feet in surprise.
"Mewtwo, what the hell are you doing?!" Chris demanded.
Mewtwo answered curtly, "You were near death when your little stunt backfired. If Blastoise had not been such a quick swimmer you would not be here right now."
"Where's Sam?" Chris asked.
A quick reply came from behind and Chris turned toward it. "Right here! You're more pathetic than I thought!"
Sam stood smugly in light of defeat... Or had Chris defeated him? Chris tried to save face and ask confirm whether he was the victor at the same time. "So, Sam, how does it feel to be beaten by someone who can't swim?"
Sam brushed off, "Well, Chris, you may have won this time, but there'll be other chances to woop your ass!" Sam crinkled his nose and frowned- then ran. "I'm hungry! Maybe Grampy would provide some provisions! See ya at Grampy's lab!"
From a small pouch around his waist, Sam removed both a PokeBall and an ItemBall that was marked, "Bike." From the ItemBall, Sam sent out a sleek looking motorcycle of a make and model Chris couldn't identify. The reason Chris was unable to identify it was because, as Sam suspected, Chris was a dweeb. However, Chris had gone much too far than to let that particular fact be known.
Chris tried his best to shake the water off him. Mewtwo landed beside him and put down Vulpix. "One thing I will never understand," Mewtwo started sarcastically. "Is how people feel the need for competition." Mewtwo looked around and didn't see Chris or Vulpix; then he spotted them.
They were running for a neaby group of two trailers that seemed to connect together just parallel from each other. Behind them was a fenced in area that was crowded with Pokemon both known and unknown to Mewtwo! It beckoned Mewtwo comfortingly from the long distance away it stood. This was Professor Morgan Brockner's lab, and Mewtwo felt that somehow, he had indeed returned to home- or something like it!
Next Chapter : LOVELY MARIA, UNKNOWN REUNION
This one has a dark under-layer. The ideas set forth in the story are presented and resolved much quicker than they were in the first story.
If you remember in story one, Chris saw Kado, and he told himself he would "carry that weight," that Kado had put on his shoulders. In this one, Chris starts to feel that weight. What's more, he gets a lightsaber! :-D
Anyway, in my last story, I named a few voice actors I thought might be good at playing the JTC characters. This was to give you, the reader, a rough idea of how the characters would sound.
Here's the ones from yesterday, and a few new ones for today.
John Bosch (playing Chris Brockner) - Sometimes credited as "Johnny Yong Bosch," this guy has had an interesting career in seiyuu. His first job was on "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" playing the second Black Ranger, Adam. When "Mighty Morphin" became "Zeo," he played Zeo Green Ranger, and was still protraying the character of Adam. The same sort of shift happened when the Power Rangers went "Turbo," only the entire cast was replaced halfway through that season. Aside from making a cameo appearance in "Power Ranger in Space" he didn't really do anything special until the year 2001 or so. It was then that he got the role as "Vash the Stampede" in the popular anime OAV, Trigun. His stunning performance has since made him an anime idol.
Phillip Bartlett (playing Mewtwo) - The man's voice is synonomous with Mewtwo. If you saw the first movie, you know what I mean.
Lisa Ortiz (playing Maria) - Since you're all Pokemon fans, I don't even introduce Lisa. She should be a household name after she did all those Pokemon babes of the day.
Okay, she also played Deedlit, the fairy queen, in "Record of Lodoss War: CoHK." Ah, yes, and Lina Inverse on "Slayers."
Tara Jayne (playing Vulpix) - Tara Jayne has always done the voice of just about any Vulpix I can think of on the series. Her voice is often mistaken as the voice of Rachel Lillis.
Robert Axelrod (playing Giovanni) - Not the first voice of Giovanni, but a dead-ringer, in any case. Robert Axelrod is a brilliant actor who probably got his biggest career boost playing Lord Zedd on "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers." He has since gotten roles on "Ruroni Kenshin," "The Big O," and "Digimon."
David Lucas (playing Hiakiu) - Although Mr. Lucas has a lot of brag for doing the voice of Spike Spiegel on "Cowboy Bebop," his face is a mystery. There isn't a picture out there of Mr. Lucas! So, this mysterious seiyuu who has done voices for such anime as "Ruroni Kenshin," "Digimon," "Fushigi Yugi," and "The Big O," remains pretty anonymous.
Rene Auberjonois (playing Chris's grandfather, Professor Brockner - If you've seen "Star Trek : Deep Space Nine," I don't even have to tell you this guy played Odo. He's also done a voice acting stint on Cartoon Network's "Justice League."
In addition to playing Prof Brockner, he is also the narrator guy who does all those, "So this is the world of Pokemon..." bits! ^_^
Robert Wickes (playing Sam Farkrow, Chris's rival cousin) - He has been in Trigun, Ruroni Kenshin, Digimon, and had the little known part of Gene Starwind in a series called "Outlaw Star." ;-) He has the same cocky nature when playing Sam as he did when he played Gene. X-D
Melissa Charles (playing Edward, Chris's goofy poultry-lovin' cousin) - Her defining role was a "Radical Edward," the goofy gender-questionable hacker on Cowboy Bebop. The character she plays in JTC is an eerie mirror to the character of "Radical Edward." They even look alike!
I really would have liked to put one in for Professor Yew/Professor Oodamaki, but I don't even know who played him in Japan! :lol: Oops, spoiled that for you, didnt' I?
Anyway, here's the first chapter of JTC round 2. Enjoy!
***
The Journeys of Trainer Chris
The Start of Journeys Present
By Chris Brockner
PROLOGUE
Female-- the heart of this breed is tender. It is said that woman was taken from the ribs of man many many centuries ago, and has since become his guiding compass that leads him to success. Without woman, man would fail to achieve greatness. Though, the same cannot be said for woman. Without man, woman would flourish anyway. They are independent, caring for themselves. Yet, it is in their nature to also care for others. Without woman, man would fail to achieve greatness.
Chapter 1 : RIVALS MEET, SMOOTH SAILING TO PROFESSOR GRAMPY
This is the world of Pokemon. A world where the young and old live in harmony with creatures not quite of this world. Today, Chris, Vulpix, and Mewtwo continue on their own journey. Their journey leads to the quiet laboratory of Professor Brockner- Chris's grandfather! Little does our hero know his old life has yet to mesh with his new one!
The warm sun hung upon some invisible mount in a clear blue sky. Despite the warmth of the sun, a nipping breeze grazed the trees. Their leaves were shaken by the biting wind and began spectacular dances of red, yellow, and orange to a carpet of fading green grass on the earth below. It was fall, and old things were dying away. The trees were falling into deep sleep like that of death in preparation for the coming winter, only to be ressurected again in the spring.
Pokemon of all sorts were making haste to collect food to stash into their equally varied dwellings in the earth. Nearby, a sparse host of Sentret and Furret were scurrying back and forth from an apricorn tree, swiftly packing the fruits of the tree into their nearby burrow. Yet other Pokemon were making provisions for a long flight to some warmer climate. A flock of Farfetch'd were practicing formations in the sky above, moving in and out of patterns like feathery constellations.
Pokemon of different sorts intended to hibernate the frost away, and a Teddiursa in the grass nearby yawned mournfully. It probably was upset with the fact that an elder Ursaring would shuffle it into a cave someplace in the region for deep sleep before it would ever have a chance to play in the pure white snow of the coming winter season. It seemed like child who wanted to play the night away instead of retreating into bed at the behest of a parent who knew better.
Chris himself felt the desire to return home for the coming of cold and dreary weather that would soon rage across the region. Still, he knew there was too much to be done. As he observed these Pokemon readying for a respite that would last a spread of months, he counted them lucky. His Pokemon undoubtedly would have, as well. While their free kin enjoyed a winter vacation, they would still be at his side battling and training to higher levels of experience. Although this may well have been worthwhile, it certainly wasn't as easy as crawling into a hole and spending most of the days sleeping and eating their fill of what was collected before the green warmth of grass had given way to the chilly white of snow.
Chris felt the nudge of Mewtwo at his side. "Hey! How far is this laboratory? I may be immortal, but I do not care to take forever trudging towards oblivion! Besides, you do realize that I do not wish to be seen by any researchers. That would simply compromise the secrecy I have strived so hard to place around my existence."
A snide voice came from nearby. It was not a voice that Mewtwo recoginized, but Chris knew it well. "If you didn't want to be discovered, you picked the wrong partner, Mr. Mutant! Besides, you've already been discovered-- by me!"
Chris growled deep in his throat, "Sam! What are you doing here?" Mewtwo observed a young man about Chris's age with his arms folded about twenty feet away. He wore all black, the polished boots that shod him being the most intimidating part of the outfit. They looked they might be able to take out a Ponyta's eye from the looks of them. The ripped black jeans tendrilled up and a black tanktop was tucked hastily into them. The black leather jacket was perhaps the most impressive of the getup. A silvery ring clipped to one of Sam's ears. Dogtags with various profanities, obscenities, and names of nu metal bands were fitted around Sam's neck. There was only a mild family resemblance between Chris and Sam. Sam's hair, in fact, was not short cropped like Chris's. Instead, it snaked out in long curls and was somehow propped up as though it had been dipped in a vat of hot Beedrill wax. This staved any great resemblance that may have been had they both styled their hair in the exact same way.
"Hey, Chris!" Sam greeted slyly. "Still struggling onwards to places you shoudn't ought to, I see! How are your Pokemon? Still as weak as ever, I'll bet!"
"Hey! Who is this pain in the ass?" Mewtwo inquired.
Chris laughed nervously. "Aa! He didn't mean it that way." Chris then cut his voice to a whisper, and said to Mewtwo, "This is my cousin Sam! That's just his personality showing!"
"Well," Sam began. "I'll bet that that thing doesn't know how to swim- like you!"
Chris grumbled angrily under his breath. "I do too know how to swim! Don't embarrass me in front of my new Pokemon like that!"
"Yeah! We've all seen you struggle in the water, while I could be in the Olympics." Sam boasted. "You ended up having to call out your Squirtle at that race at Acapulco!"
"Well," Chris set off a demand. "Where am I supposed to practice serious swimming around here?"
"You could always swim in that stream over there." Sam stated bluntly. He pointed at a body of water near to Chris's house.
Chris's face turned red with defeat. He mumbled under his breath, "Yeah, the stream ya rotten..." The rest of Chris's words were inaudible.
"Or you could go to Muk Lake or something," Sam declared.
Chris developed a look of amusement. This time he had a great defense. "Muk Lake? Are you crazy? Do you know how many dangerous toxins are floating around in that lake? Then there's all the other "activities" that go on; God only knows what else is carousing around in there!"
"Oh, come on!" Sam belted out. "You get one report about an arm or a leg that someone just happened to catch while fishing one day and the whole world is condemning that poor lake."
"It wasn't an arm or a leg, Sam!" Chris reminded. "It was somebody's head!"
"A head, an arm, a leg- what's the difference?" Sam remarked.
"You cannot swim?" Mewtwo asked, curious with "National Inquirer" type enthusiasm. Apparently, he didn't seem to care about a few lost body parts laying in an old lake.
"Well, I can float." Chris said abashedly. "I just can't navigate too well!" Then he got angry and sarcastic.
"Thanks a lot, Sam!" he snapped between clenched teeth.
"That's okay!" Sam said with a tone of a valiant knight after he'd slain a dragon. He acted almost as if he'd done Chris a favor. "I say... Let's have a rematch! We can use our Pokemon in a surfing contest. I'll choose my Dragonite! You can choose your Blastoise!"
"Fine!" Chris agreed. "We'll take that stream over there- which you were so kind as to point out as a good place for swimming practice. It's pretty steady, deep enough, wide enough. It also leads straight to Grampy's house- which is where I'm headed!!" Chris smiled and flashed the peace gesture once more!
"Funny, that's where I just came from!" Sam boasted, and Chris did a genuine facefault. "I guess if I must go out of my way, then there's no better way to do it than by kicking your ass!"
Mewtwo walked up beside Chris and whispered, "You know, Dragonites are fast! Even as swimmers, they are quite agile. How do you hope to win with Blastoise?"
Chris dismissed, "I'll think of something."
Mewtwo did not look reassured. "How to hell do you humans act so damned arrogant?"
Chris didn't answer. He and Sam released their respective Pocket Monster. Chris watched Sam's Dragonite virtually mold into the water, and Chris couldn't say he wasn't a little intimidated by how stable it looked. As though Sam were a mind reader, he jested, "I think someone has dragon envy!" Sam exploded into fits of raucous laughter, as though what he had just said was so funny Comedy Central wanted quotation rights.
"Shut up!" Chris snarled when he released Blastoise into the water. Blastoise was a tad wobbly when Chris hopped on and Chris had to fight gravity to keep his balance. Mewtwo impromptly began a countdown. On "three" the competing cousins ordered their Pokemon on the fastest trajectory they could muster. Both of them knelt down on their Pokemon's backs and hung on tight to keep from splashing into the water.
The race was mostly uneventful. As a matter of fact, it was down-right boring until a sandbar became visible toward the end of the stream. This was the finish line- the shores of the Southwestern sector of old New Bark Town! Both Pokemon, Blastoise and Dragonite, leapt for the sandbar.
"Land-ho!" Chris shouted as Blastoise took flight. Although, since Dragonite had wings his jump was more remniscent of flying. Blastoise was not going to win due to this very factor- unless...
Blastoise, seeing he was going to lose, retreated into his shell leaving Chris clutching for life to the top of it. Blastoise was now sleeker and more aerodynamic. The massive turtle somehow propelled himself through the air-- something that Dragonite was not expecting. As Blastoise shot past a slothfully floating Dragonite- as slothful pace that would even have beat Blastoise moments before- Chris looked straight at Sam and tugged down on his lower eyelid with his pointer finger. Chris had never seen Sam look more pissed in his life...
And Chris never experienced greater frenzy as he sucked in large amounts of water, nearly drowning to death. Chris had expected to hit land once Blastoise touched down. He expected Blastoise to do a sand-splattering slide into home plate. Instead, the sandbar divided the mainstream from a small resevoir which was well deep enough to submerge a full grown man underneath.
Chris's world went black and the next thing he knew Mewtwo was giving him mouth-to-mouth. He flew to his wavering feet in surprise.
"Mewtwo, what the hell are you doing?!" Chris demanded.
Mewtwo answered curtly, "You were near death when your little stunt backfired. If Blastoise had not been such a quick swimmer you would not be here right now."
"Where's Sam?" Chris asked.
A quick reply came from behind and Chris turned toward it. "Right here! You're more pathetic than I thought!"
Sam stood smugly in light of defeat... Or had Chris defeated him? Chris tried to save face and ask confirm whether he was the victor at the same time. "So, Sam, how does it feel to be beaten by someone who can't swim?"
Sam brushed off, "Well, Chris, you may have won this time, but there'll be other chances to woop your ass!" Sam crinkled his nose and frowned- then ran. "I'm hungry! Maybe Grampy would provide some provisions! See ya at Grampy's lab!"
From a small pouch around his waist, Sam removed both a PokeBall and an ItemBall that was marked, "Bike." From the ItemBall, Sam sent out a sleek looking motorcycle of a make and model Chris couldn't identify. The reason Chris was unable to identify it was because, as Sam suspected, Chris was a dweeb. However, Chris had gone much too far than to let that particular fact be known.
Chris tried his best to shake the water off him. Mewtwo landed beside him and put down Vulpix. "One thing I will never understand," Mewtwo started sarcastically. "Is how people feel the need for competition." Mewtwo looked around and didn't see Chris or Vulpix; then he spotted them.
They were running for a neaby group of two trailers that seemed to connect together just parallel from each other. Behind them was a fenced in area that was crowded with Pokemon both known and unknown to Mewtwo! It beckoned Mewtwo comfortingly from the long distance away it stood. This was Professor Morgan Brockner's lab, and Mewtwo felt that somehow, he had indeed returned to home- or something like it!
Next Chapter : LOVELY MARIA, UNKNOWN REUNION
