//Your character has a big paper due, and only a week to do it.//
I set a target goal of around 1,000 words, but ended up at 750. It's a little different than intended, but I ran with what came onto the page and I think it still fits.
“Jordan!”
The eight-year-old in question didn’t seem to hear his mother calling, transfixed on the twittering video game screen in front of him. He mashed out a complex combo of buttons, winning him the round over player two. Player two – or rather, Ditto disguised – was shaking its controller in frustration at having lost yet again. The Pokemon had taken to human mimicry during its domesticity.
“Jordan!” His mother’s voice was shrill.
“Yeah, mom?” He didn’t look away from the screen.
“We’re leaving for Cinnabar Resort in the morning; is your homework done?”
He hesitated. “Yeah, it’s done!”
“You know we won’t have any time once we leave. Your father is taking us on another one of his… safaris.” She warned from the foot of the stairs.
“I know.” He put down his controller as her footsteps faded and sighed, turning to his Pokemon. “Come on, Taffy, we’d better get started.”
Taffy whimpered and shrank back into its natural Ditto shape. It followed after Jordan as the boy pulled out a chair at his desk and began to rummage through the clutter. Today was the start of spring break at Watercress Elementary in Cerulean City, and his family would be leaving tomorrow for seven days of sun, sand, and Pokemon. Jordan had come back with Taffy as a souvenir last year; he doubted his dad could top that find.
“Let’s see, let’s see…” He flipped through science binder. “Hmm – hold on, Taffy!” He nudged the Ditto away from his desk drawers. “Got it.” He pulled out a sheet of paper.
Jordan bit the end of his pencil as he stared at his page, eyes glazing over. Mrs. Chamomile, their science teacher, had said they were to look for wild Pokemon in or around Cerulean City and learn to form hypotheses based on what they observed. It was only one page, but he’d spent all day inside playing video games with Taffy so far and didn’t much fancy going outside to look for Pokemon right now.
Rain pounded the windows and would be turning the roads and paths into muddy traps. Jordan had never been one for the outdoors, preferring his adventures to take place in the realm of cyberpace, and the wet and the cold were the cherry on top of a nightmare sundae. His eyes landed on Taffy the “Pikachu” who was ballroom dancing with his droopy old Pikachu doll.
Something clicked in his head.
“That’s it!” He practically leapt out of his chair. Taffy unceremoniously dropped his dance partners and warbled in question.
“Not your dance moves, you! You can show me the city's local Pokemon with your Transform technique, and we won’t need to go outside at all. Oh, we’ll have this done in time, for sure.”
Jordan opened his laptop and clicked through a search engine until he pulled up images of several species he’d seen on his way to his friend’s house the night before. Another click and the printer began to whir. Then it began to sputter. Then it whined. Jordan groaned and rapped on its casing. “Come on.”
It placatingly shot out several sheets of paper covered in smeared ink.
“Well, Taffy, it looks like we’re on our own. Can you remember what we saw out by the swings last night?” His Ditto nodded, so he continued. “Good. Transform into Zubat first. That should be an easy one; I already know a little about them so I’ll just build off of that.”
Taffy shimmered as his shape changed into that of a Zubat. He hovered in front of Jordan and blinked at him with beady eyes.
“Nice! Show me a Supersonic attack real quick.” He scribbled a few notes on the result. Half an hour and transformations later, Jordan decided they had enough for a believable report. Mrs. Chamomile would never know that he hadn’t spent his week Pokemon watching.
“Okay… Okay… Hmm…” Jordan was hurriedly scribbling down some finishing touches. He dotted the last sentence of the assignment with satisfaction. “Tell me what you think, Taffy. ‘So when you see a bunch of eyes staring at you from the depths of the cave, be careful because you might be about to anger a swarm of Zubat.’ Does that sound good?”
Taffy the “Poliwhirl” just blew a raspberry and tossed some gummi Teddiursa in its mouth.
I set a target goal of around 1,000 words, but ended up at 750. It's a little different than intended, but I ran with what came onto the page and I think it still fits.
Faux
“Jordan!”
The eight-year-old in question didn’t seem to hear his mother calling, transfixed on the twittering video game screen in front of him. He mashed out a complex combo of buttons, winning him the round over player two. Player two – or rather, Ditto disguised – was shaking its controller in frustration at having lost yet again. The Pokemon had taken to human mimicry during its domesticity.
“Jordan!” His mother’s voice was shrill.
“Yeah, mom?” He didn’t look away from the screen.
“We’re leaving for Cinnabar Resort in the morning; is your homework done?”
He hesitated. “Yeah, it’s done!”
“You know we won’t have any time once we leave. Your father is taking us on another one of his… safaris.” She warned from the foot of the stairs.
“I know.” He put down his controller as her footsteps faded and sighed, turning to his Pokemon. “Come on, Taffy, we’d better get started.”
Taffy whimpered and shrank back into its natural Ditto shape. It followed after Jordan as the boy pulled out a chair at his desk and began to rummage through the clutter. Today was the start of spring break at Watercress Elementary in Cerulean City, and his family would be leaving tomorrow for seven days of sun, sand, and Pokemon. Jordan had come back with Taffy as a souvenir last year; he doubted his dad could top that find.
“Let’s see, let’s see…” He flipped through science binder. “Hmm – hold on, Taffy!” He nudged the Ditto away from his desk drawers. “Got it.” He pulled out a sheet of paper.
What Kind of Pokemon Live in Cerulean City?
I studied local Pokemon on my week off, and I hypothesize…
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I studied local Pokemon on my week off, and I hypothesize…
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Jordan bit the end of his pencil as he stared at his page, eyes glazing over. Mrs. Chamomile, their science teacher, had said they were to look for wild Pokemon in or around Cerulean City and learn to form hypotheses based on what they observed. It was only one page, but he’d spent all day inside playing video games with Taffy so far and didn’t much fancy going outside to look for Pokemon right now.
Rain pounded the windows and would be turning the roads and paths into muddy traps. Jordan had never been one for the outdoors, preferring his adventures to take place in the realm of cyberpace, and the wet and the cold were the cherry on top of a nightmare sundae. His eyes landed on Taffy the “Pikachu” who was ballroom dancing with his droopy old Pikachu doll.
Something clicked in his head.
“That’s it!” He practically leapt out of his chair. Taffy unceremoniously dropped his dance partners and warbled in question.
“Not your dance moves, you! You can show me the city's local Pokemon with your Transform technique, and we won’t need to go outside at all. Oh, we’ll have this done in time, for sure.”
Jordan opened his laptop and clicked through a search engine until he pulled up images of several species he’d seen on his way to his friend’s house the night before. Another click and the printer began to whir. Then it began to sputter. Then it whined. Jordan groaned and rapped on its casing. “Come on.”
It placatingly shot out several sheets of paper covered in smeared ink.
“Well, Taffy, it looks like we’re on our own. Can you remember what we saw out by the swings last night?” His Ditto nodded, so he continued. “Good. Transform into Zubat first. That should be an easy one; I already know a little about them so I’ll just build off of that.”
Taffy shimmered as his shape changed into that of a Zubat. He hovered in front of Jordan and blinked at him with beady eyes.
“Nice! Show me a Supersonic attack real quick.” He scribbled a few notes on the result. Half an hour and transformations later, Jordan decided they had enough for a believable report. Mrs. Chamomile would never know that he hadn’t spent his week Pokemon watching.
“Okay… Okay… Hmm…” Jordan was hurriedly scribbling down some finishing touches. He dotted the last sentence of the assignment with satisfaction. “Tell me what you think, Taffy. ‘So when you see a bunch of eyes staring at you from the depths of the cave, be careful because you might be about to anger a swarm of Zubat.’ Does that sound good?”
Taffy the “Poliwhirl” just blew a raspberry and tossed some gummi Teddiursa in its mouth.
