PW! - Fade into Shadow
William Rendfeld
A gentle wind swept over the sea as the vessel made its way through
the night, dark clouds hanging above and blocking out the stars above.
The lack of moonlight and the chilly air did little to improve the
mood, and couldn’t help but make one passenger nervous as she stood
upon the vessel’s bow.
A shiver went through her skin. For the first time in a long time,
however, she was relaxed by that shiver – the cause was the weather,
not some feeling that she’d be attacked or that she was being
followed. Under the circumstances, the chill was comforting.
As she rubbed her leather-clad hands over her arms to generate
warmth, she gazed out across the sea. That was causing her anxiety –
her destination was somewhere that neither she nor her sibling had
visited before, and not one of the most pleasant places to visit.
Still, she needed to go…she had a job to do.
-
“So, how does it look?”
Professor Birch gazed upon the monitor with a sickened, saddened
expression. “It’s disgusting.” He shook his head as he looked over the
data, numerous bits of information displayed upon it from scans of a
Shadow Pokémon. “I’ve been hearing information about this for some
time, but I always hoped I’d never see this in person. How did you get
this Pokémon in the first place?”
“His name is Rush.” Alex huffed as she remembered exactly how she’d
gained custody of the Pokémon they spoke of. “He was going to be the
prize at the Doubles Tournament in Fortree. Unofficial tourney or no,
I’m glad I won the thing – better he’s with me than in the hands of
some maniac.”
“Well, this Arcanine might be safely in your custody, but the
presence of other Shadow Pokémon under the control of Team Magma
suggests that there’s more to this than just one unofficial
tournament. And if that’s true, then we may have a bigger problem –
the only group that has the means and the ability to create Shadow
Pokémon is Cipher, and if Team Magma’s gotten the tech…”
“Then it’s only a matter of time before they’re in business with
Team Aqua and the mess out here escalates further.” The young woman
groaned. “As if there isn’t enough on my plate. Any good news?”
“Actually, yes – there are indications that the Shadow process is
reversing itself. You keeping Rush with you has obviously helped.”
“Not as much as it could. Besides, I can’t remove the taint
entirely – that’d take a Time Flute, intervention from Celebi, or
visiting a shrine in Orre.” A huff. “Never rains but it pours.”
-
“Wait, I thought we were going to chase after Smasher. We aren’t
just forgetting about him, are we?”
The trip back to Lilycove had gone well enough, though the
appearance of a sudden storm had prevented the group’s immediate
departure for Mossdeep. With Elsa gathering up her necessities for
trying out Pokémon photography and Nori happy to stay behind, Alex had
found herself with plenty of time to enjoy being home, call in favors
from family friends and make arrangements of her own.
“Who said we were forgetting about him?” Alex pulled the Poké Ball
containing Rush from her belt. “I just want to make sure that when we
do find him, he gets all of his team back whole. Sooner or later, that
means going to Orre and purifying Rush.” She looked at the two samurai
siblings. “You two can handle the search on your own for a while and
keep in touch, right?”
Kitsu and Keaton looked to one another and shrugged. “Shouldn’t be
a problem. Once the storm breaks, we can get on our way easy enough.”
The were-Ninetales ran a hand through her hair. “I just hope we can
actually find some sign of Smasher, not to mention find Aerie once all
this is done.”
The minoTauros shook his head and laughed. “You’re worrying too
much. She’ll turn up soon enough.”
Suddenly, the front door swung open. Urgency clear on her face,
Cass entered, clearly out of breath. “Guys, we’ve got some weirdness
going on. Aerie wants me to meet her, sounds important. Give me a
second to change out of the office wear…”
“No – we go now.” Alex retrieved her gear and moved to the door. “I
don’t know about anyone else, but I’m sick of waiting around.”
-
Lilycove’s coastline was anything but spectacular. Mostly docks and
shipping areas, it was more dedicated to business than pleasure. A few
stretches of beach, however, remained unoccupied. Under good
conditions, the beach would have a few people milling about, though
with the grey clouds looming above many opted to remain inside rather
than risk poor weather.
A Claydol hovered over the beach, a Murkrow perched upon his head.
They silently approached Alex, a hopeful look upon her face. #We have
found nothing.#
“If Aerie or Mimic are here, they’ve gotta be masking themselves
somehow. Granted, it’s probably easy for them, but still.”
ShadowWarrior looked to his trainer. “Sorry kid.”
“This isn’t your fault. Odds are there’s a good reason why Aerie
and Mimic are trying not to be noticed. Hopefully…”
“Alex!” They turned as Kitsu approached, her sibling and a familiar
Blaziken in tow and carrying a full trainer’s belt. “We found this
under a pier – it had Aerie’s scent on it, along with yours,
Smasher’s, and a few other ones we weren’t able to identify.” She
pulled one Poké Ball from the belt and tossed it to the brunette.
“This one had your scent on it.”
With a shrug, Alex opened the ball. The Pokémon within
materialized, a single eye looking over them with both surprise and
curiosity. “Cue – why are you here?”
The Shiny Unown looked among them, acting as surprised to see them
as they were to see him. #And why do I sense something familiar?#
A light, familiar vibe went through Alex, prompting her to turn
around for a moment. At the surprised looks of the others, she shook
her head and returned her attention to Cue. “That is the question.”
-
“Four of the other five have Smasher’s team – Ice, Star Scream,
Pikat-Shoo, and Iron Horse. The last one has a second Shiny Unown,
Vee.” Alex put the printout down on the desk next to her, glad that
her father’s lab was still in operation. “I remember Dee picking up
that Shiny from Trent Retwin back at the Silver Conference, but I
don’t remember him giving it to Aerie.”
“So the three of them are probably together and in hiding – they
contacted me, knowing I’d be here, and dropped these guys off so I
could find them.” The redhead rubbed her right temple thoughtfully,
then ran her hand through her hair. “Either they want a really private
family get-together, or something big is up – big enough that they
want us out of it.”
“So, this mean we chase after them?”
The brunette shook her head. “No. Dee and Mimic can take care of
themselves, and Aerie’s just as capable. If they want us to stay out
of whatever’s going on, I say we go ahead and do exactly that.
Considering they’ve dropped off Smasher’s team as well as the Shinies
they had, I think we can consider them out of the search for now. So
unless Bob and Jeff suddenly pop up again, it’s left to us.”
The two extradimensional hybrids looked to one another. After a
couple seconds, they both relented with a sigh. “Fair enough. So,
what’s the plan?”
“Nori’s staying here, so she and I should be able to keep an eye on
Smasher’s Pokémon. Big Time’s with her already, and odds are she’ll
enjoy seeing the caverns out here – Obsidian’s clan might just enjoy
seeing her.”
“Elsa’s got a Shadow Pokémon of her own – I’ll ask her if she wants
to come with me to Orre. Beyond that, we keep to the one I had – I see
about purifying Rush, and you two see if you can find that ‘Angry
Man’. Odds are he’s the real Smasher. If you find him, do what you can
to get him here or keep him alive, then contact me. Hopefully, Rush’ll
be purified by then and I can zap him back.”
“And if we can’t find him?”
“Keep looking…and hope we don’t lose anyone else.”
-
She wasn’t happy to do it – a small, nagging part of her felt like
she was abandoning the search. But after so many frustrations,
distractions, and missing members of the group, Alex couldn’t help but
feel like she needed to get away lest she become obsessed. Finding
Smasher was proving to be next to impossible.
Restoring Rush to normal, however, seemed not only easier, but just
as necessary. After all, what good was there in getting Smasher back
if one of his Pokémon was stuck as a Shadow Pokémon?
She looked into the distance. By midday tomorrow, she’d reach
Gateon Port. Once there, the real fun would begin.
TBC?
[NS: I've left things open in case Rob decides to have Elsa stick with
Alex. Beyond that, I'm going to shoot an e-mail to Beth. I'll give it
a week before I post anything else. Here's hoping this side trip is as
fun as I'm hoping it'll be!]
Steffan Alun
> [NS: I've left things open in case Rob decides to have Elsa stick with
> Alex. Beyond that, I'm going to shoot an e-mail to Beth. I'll give it
> a week before I post anything else. Here's hoping this side trip is as
> fun as I'm hoping it'll be!]
Just got round to reading this. Lovely to see some loose ends tied
up, and I'm looking forward to seeing Alex in Orre. I've just
restarted Gale of Darkness, so it feels like an exciting new location.
And hurrah for your first post of 2009!
Steffan
(It is your first, right?)
William Rendfeld
Second. I had one back in April where Alex officially caught a Gible.
I'm looking forward to it too - so far as I'm aware, there hasn't been
a single PW! character who has travelled around in Orre, so it's got a
lot of potential to it. Plus, I'm going to be introducing a new
character, and those are always fun.
Of course, this means I'm retiring Sai Meilan, but she's at least at a
natural point for retirement.
Steffan Alun
> > (It is your first, right?)
>
> Second. I had one back in April where Alex officially caught a Gible.
Ooh, I missed it. Shall go back for it now.
> I'm looking forward to it too - so far as I'm aware, there hasn't been
> a single PW! character who has travelled around in Orre, so it's got a
> lot of potential to it. Plus, I'm going to be introducing a new
> character, and those are always fun.
Cool news. Didn't Chet have a character in Orre for a while? Or was
that just off-screen?
> Of course, this means I'm retiring Sai Meilan, but she's at least at a
> natural point for retirement.
I remember huge rows over the rules for retirement, back when there
were enough people here to care (or rather, when Regulus fancied
pulling rank), and that was my favourite retirement guideline - as
long as the character's at a natural retirement point (and ideally has
a "final chapter"-style post), they can be safely retired. Certainly
the guidelines I've followed.
Steffan
William Rendfeld
> On 6 July, 12:14, William Rendfeld <WARendf...@aol.com> wrote:
> > I'm looking forward to it too - so far as I'm aware, there hasn't been
> > a single PW! character who has travelled around in Orre, so it's got a
> > lot of potential to it. Plus, I'm going to be introducing a new
> > character, and those are always fun.
>
> Cool news. Didn't Chet have a character in Orre for a while? Or was
> that just off-screen?
>
Not sure - you'll have to ask him.
> > Of course, this means I'm retiring Sai Meilan, but she's at least at a
> > natural point for retirement.
>
> I remember huge rows over the rules for retirement, back when there
> were enough people here to care (or rather, when Regulus fancied
> pulling rank), and that was my favourite retirement guideline - as
> long as the character's at a natural retirement point (and ideally has
> a "final chapter"-style post), they can be safely retired. Certainly
> the guidelines I've followed.
Well, aside from giving her something of a happy ending and
effectively accomplishing her goals, I really didn't have any ideas
for her. Retiring her in favor of a new character seems like the
sanest plan. Hopefully, no one will complain about that or the
character coming in to take her place.
And between the guy's abilities and the storyline I have in mind for
him and Alex, I am really worried about how he'll be received. Maybe I
should post his WG today instead of waiting until tomorrow...
Steffan Alun
> Well, aside from giving her something of a happy ending and
> effectively accomplishing her goals, I really didn't have any ideas
> for her.
Always the best time to retire, in my opinion. Once a character self-
actualises, that may as well be the end of their story. You could
still have her pop up as an NPC, I reckon.
> Retiring her in favor of a new character seems like the
> sanest plan. Hopefully, no one will complain about that or the
> character coming in to take her place.
I'm sure only relaxed posters remain now. I mean, a few years ago, I
was pushing to increase the WG limit to 4 + 1 location. I'm certainly
not going to get picky about retirement plans.
> And between the guy's abilities and the storyline I have in mind for
> him and Alex, I am really worried about how he'll be received. Maybe I
> should post his WG today instead of waiting until tomorrow...
Hey, it'd be something to discuss ...
Steffan
Chet Weaver
"Steffan Alun" <ice...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3c61cc9e-53a4-4401...@l31g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Cool news. Didn't Chet have a character in Orre for a while? Or was
> that just off-screen?
>
that turned out to be a lie. If there's another one, I don't recall.
-- Chet Weaver
"What's the fun of being cool if you can't wear a sombrero?"
- Hobbes, Calvin & Hobbes
Diamond Trainer Name: Minnie
Friend Code: 0988 8637 4610
Progress: Sinnoh League Champion (Feb. 15, 2009, 302:7 Hours)
Location: Resort Area
Time: 312 Hours since April 22, 2007
PokeDex Completion: 153/213
Score: 20383
Current Goal: Complete National PokeDex
Event Pokemon Collected: "Lucario" Mew, "Rise of" Darkrai, Gamestp Deoxyx,
TRU Dragonite, "Sky Warrior" Shaymin
Steffan Alun
> > Cool news. Didn't Chet have a character in Orre for a while? Or was
> > that just off-screen?
>
> The only one that comes to mind is Mace, who was said to be from Orre, but
> that turned out to be a lie. If there's another one, I don't recall.
That was it! I think all the shadow Pokémon japes in Fortree had me
fooled for a second.
Steffan