Changing Views - Shortstory Writing Contest (July 4th - July 17th)

[Bearminator]

Be sure to post your entry till 11:59 PM BST!

[Spxter]

IGN: Spxter

 

Spoiler

Better than Perfect

 

 

"Hey Gary, it’s your Dad. Wake up, fast!"

"Oh hey.. where am I?"

"You’re at Four Island!"

"Why Dad, why am I here?"

"When you lost you felt so bad, just because you lost against a random trainer. You have never lost before. That was 2 Years ago and every day you have felt bad. Suddenly you stopped catching Pokemon and just go out with your friends and party all night long."

"Yeah it hurt me bad when I lost. I don’t ever want to fight another Pokemon trainer again."

"Gary, why are you saying this? You’re talented. Remember the time where you beat over 1000 trainers from all over the world."

"Okay, but you know what I don't understand? Why you brought me here? What am I doing here?"

"Well, Four Island is a special Island in my opinion. You can make some perfect Pokemon here! You always won against everyone because of your tactics. The reason why you lost against that random trainer, was because he had perfect Pokemon.”

"What are perfect Pokemon, Dad?”

"Hm… how can I explain this to you. Uhm… Perfect Pokemon should have a specific nature and you need 6x31 on every stat. If you want to be better than perfect, then you need to EV your Pokemon right.”

"Yeah I already heard about EVs and IVs, but I was always too lazy to be concerned about them. If I always win I don’t see a reason to do this! Now I want to do this. So can you tell me something about natures? I have never heard about them before..."

"No Gary, I don't have the time. Take this book, it has all the information about perfect Pokemon. Also I created a app, where you can see all the information about your Alakazam.”

"WHAT?! You brought Alakazam to me? Wow, he is my best friend. I missed him so much."

"Well, your Alakazam is level 100, adamant nature and has IVs 2/22/4/25/21/0. It's not that good. I'll go now, your mother is calling me. Bye Gary!"

"Hmmmm, only Alakazam and me are here right now. It’s time to breed perfect pokemon.”

"Breeeed breeeed breeeed breeeeed and breeeeeeeeeeed, huh this is so boring… but hey, at the end, I hope this is going to pay off!”

“Okay I am done. It's time to sleep! Zzzz... zZzz.. zzZz.”

“Ahhhhhhhhh time to wake up and beat everyone.”

Ring ring ring riiiiiiiing!

“Hey, who are you and why are you calling me on my phone?"

"Hey, I am the random trainer who won against you 2 years ago. Remember me? "

"Yeah. What's up? Why you calling?"

“I want to battle you again. Your dad told me that you have perfect Pokemon now.”

“Hahaha. Yes, I have and now I'll beat you. Let's battle in 5 hours!”

“HAHAHAHA nice joke dude. You won't beat me, because I am the best! And nah come outside right now. I’m going to beat you.”

"WHAAAAT? You are already here? I just woke up and I am so tired and now you want to battle?

"Are you scared you’ll lose? "

"NO! I will beat you this time, let's go!"

"But… I just want your Alakazam vs my Umbreon.”

"Okay fine!"

"Dark vs psychic. What do you think? Do you think you are going to win?

"I know psychic is weak against dark, but you'll see."

"Umbreon give him Toxic!"

"Alakazam, Substitute!"

"WHAAAT?! Why didn't this work?"

"I used the attack Substitute and now you can do nothing. I know your tactics. You wanted to use toxic on me you know I couldn't hit you with psychic. But hey! I learned a lot from my Dad, he sent me a mail on how to breed a perfect Pokemon. I didn't want a perfect Pokemon, I wanted something, which is better than a perfect Pokemon! This Alakazam is very special. Yeah, it's nature is modest and he got 6x31 IVs as well, but there’s another thing on him. I got a Hidden Power on him. It has Hidden Power fight. Now let me use calm mind, while you can do nothing! Haha! Alakazam go Hidden Power him!"

"Noooooooooooooooo! I lost. Well done, you did it. You beat me. Respect! Can you show me how to breed a better Pokemon then a perfect Pokemon?”

"Yeah sure! Come, I'll show you!"

 

 

 

 

[Gunthug]

how much time do we have? like 3 hours? sigh I just finaly thought of a good idea but I dk if I'll be able to squeak it out in time :(

[fredrichnietze]

11 minutes ago, Gunthug said:

how much time do we have? like 3 hours? sigh I just finaly thought of a good idea but I dk if I'll be able to squeak it out in time :(

 

On 7/8/2016 at 0:46 PM, fredrichnietze said:

it's very simple. hate me. hate me so much you want to write a story that'll make mine look like shit written on a toilet in a night club while on drugs. 

 

there ya go motivation.

you can do it gunthug.

[DoubleJ]

IGN: DoubleJ

 

Spoiler

Its my first day off the mountain in I don't know how long and I'm taking a rest in this PokeCenter. It's 5pm and absolutely crowded. This guy, DestructX, just lost to this cute girl named Camyy in less than five minutes. He must be terribly bad. The crowd doesn't seem to be dying down at all and the battles are still going on. Maybe this will be fun. 

 

Well... it's 7pm and I'm still here. The PokeCenter never closes it seems and people come and go. The battles are happening one right after the other and this little building looks like it's on its last legs. Why would they allow Pokemon fights in here?

 

9pm now and there are only three people left. The nurse at the front desk is yet to even acknowledge me and this boy on my left is awkwardly pacing beside me. The other person seems to be in some sort of daze. Maybe I'll try talking to him. "Hey, so I think someone said your name was eggplant" ... no response. Damn I'm getting tired...

 

... five hours later...

 

Holy shit what was that?! Oh God, a blue Shiny Cloyster. Started having flashbacks from my time with this chick who was a GM in 2013. Never again. Never again.

 

...

 

What the hell am I still doing here? It's fucking 11am, but people have started dueling again. The matches are bad, the matches are good. These Asgard Warriors seem to be ok, but half of them lose and half of them are winning. People keep betting on their leader Frags, but he just can't pull through. I don't know what to think. A bunch of players from Team Aura keep talking about white knights or some shit and never battle. Oh God one of them is coming to talk to me... gonna say something stupid to try and get them to walk away... "Even if they are the same level..." Ok phew he's gone. Wtf they're laughing at me now. Not cool guys, not cool. Hey guess what, "A POKEMON RAISED BY A TRAINER IS STRONGER THAN ONE IN THE WILD!" That will show them. Fucking plebs. 

 

Ok it's 8pm now. It died down again. The kid is still pacing on my left and that eggplant fellow is still in a daze. I think the kid is muttering something. Let me listen closely... "so there appears to be no universally strong Pokemon." Mmm, I'm going to try and ignore him. Why haven't I left yet? Man my feet are tired. This chair feels nice... zzz...

 

... 1 week later...

 

Ok guys, wtf is going on, I feel like I just can't leave. That bad player DestructX just showed up and lost once again with his beta Shuckle. Oh God is that NikhilR? Yup and there's Snorlax. GG Nik. These Aura kids still won't leave me alone. This kid GeniVeni has no clue how to duel and he's just whispering me nonsense. I try to help him but he just doesn't get the basic concept. Let me try again, "... Pokemon can have very different stats and abilities." Hopefully that clicks. 

 

... several days later...

 

And now everyone is gone. Maybe they'll leave this poor little building alone. It could really do for some repairs. That last Rhydon was fucking using Earthquake and Fire Blast. Like holy hell, do you just want to tear this place down or what? Good thing it was weak as fuck. That KaynineXL blasted it into oblivion with a Surf from Starmie, how bad are you to risk your only counter to Snorlax? That's Nik level bad. Oh this guy was drunk last night and mixed up his team. Ok valid excuse... "FOR A PLEB!" 

 

... 

 

That kid is still pacing... 

 

...

 

My ass hurts and I haven't showered in weeks. Fuck it, Vermilion City Channel Seven is love. Pokemon Super League is life. I'm never leaving. 

 

 

 

[Gunthug]

IGN: Gunthug

 

The Getaway

wc: 2,314

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perched atop his Lapras, Roger craned his neck over his shoulder at the rapidly disappearing horizon. As Cinnebar Island slowly faded out of view, Roger’s heartbeat began to return to normal. He let out a sigh of relief, and clutched at his bag.

“This is it, old girl. This is the last one.” Lapras let out a low rumble, locked on a course due east towards Seafoam. They each admired the vast open water in silence, until a sharp ring called out from the bag. Worried he had accidentally tripped the stolen device in his bag, Roger’s life flashed before his eyes – well, the good parts at least. His wife and daughter, who he hadn’t seen in 6 years and 7 days, frolicking amongst the wildflowers on his 10 acre Celadon estate. He was on his back patio, sipping lemonade and getting that “too good to be true” feeling. The ring came again, yanking Roger back to reality. He reached in, and to his relief, pulled out his satellite phone. A deep breath restored his heart rate again, and he answered.

“Hello?”

“Is it done?”

 

 

 

“Yes. Bit of a scuffle at the entrance, but the Koffing did its job. I don’t think I was followed.”

“Get to the island, and trigger the GPS locator. We’ll send a chopper to extract, and then you can see them.”

 

 

“Let me talk to them now, please. You said you woul-“

click

Roger stared long and hard at the now silent phone in his hand. The phone was not the problem. The phone had not just hung up on him. The phone hadn’t taken his family, forcing him to steal and risk his life. But the worst part was, he knew exactly who to place the blame on. The phone wasn’t the one who panicked about his daughter’s college tuition. The phone didn’t approach who he thought was a harmless coworker, attempting to game the system and eek out a little extra income every month. The phone didn’t get caught at 5:30 am breaking into the Celadon storage facility, and beaten to within an inch of his life. Roger was at fault, and try as he might, he could never go back. He could never undo the wrongs he did, and especially not whom he did them to.  


But this was the last one. Craig had assured him of that. As long as things go smoothly, and the device gets delivered, Roger will have repaid his debt and he can finally return to his normal life. Failure was not an option – Craig had assured him of that, as well.

“Almost done, girl,” said Roger, rubbing the neck of his trusty Lapras. Clutching the Sat phone, he shifted his position on the gentle giant’s back and went to slide the phone back into the bag, which was already struggling to contain one large, oddly shaped metallic sphere.
 
LAP-RAS!

Startled, Roger clutched his beast’s shell as she cut hard to the right. In front of them, an enormous Seaking burst into the air, sparkling majestically amidst the ocean spray around it. Roger could feel the bag slipping off his shoulder, and grabbed it with his free hand. Unfortunately, the hand wasn’t so free after all. Slipping from his fingers was the Sat phone, cluttering aggressively off of his Lapras and into the murky depths below.

As the leaping fish returned to its underwater solace, Lapras steadied her path and resumed onward, oblivious to the soul shattering development going on atop her back. Roger stared into the water where the phone had dropped, frozen from a combination of anger, fear, and panic.

Do I jump in? The phone must have weighed 5 pounds; it may already be on the ocean floor. This cannot happen. I have to go in for it.
 

Standing upright, Roger placed his bag gingerly down and wedged it into one of the spikes on Lapras back. Hands together, eyes forward, facing Cinnebar Island, Roger saw yet another disastrous development – he was being pursued. About a kilometer behind him, he could see a towering shape cutting through the water at impossible speeds.

“It can’t be…”

The panic set in again. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. If he went in for the phone, he’d surely be caught. But how could he signal the chopper without it? Suddenly, it hit him.

“A fire! Lapras, full speed ahead!” exclaimed Roger, spinning around and returning to his seat. He clutched the bag tight, eyes focused on the nearest island barely visible along the horizon. He dared not turn around. The only thing that mattered was getting to shore, getting a signal fire started, and getting the device out of there. At that moment, Craig’s words from the day before began to creep into his mind.


“Failure is not an option. If you’re in trouble, detonate it. Hah, you may even survive, who knows.”

            He didn’t know what the device did, nor did he want to know. Team Rocket surely wasn’t planning on using it to create a new line of poketreats, but what unspeakable horrors they had planned for the Cinnebar Lab experiment 722A were not a part of Roger’s job description. He’d sleep better not knowing.

            Finally, the approaching shore pierced Roger’s sightline. He marveled at what he saw – a rich cornucopia of lush greenery and bustling wildlife. Though he had never been this way before, he had heard stories of the desolate Seafoam islands – surely this can’t be them, he thought. Roger worked up the courage to turn around. He wasn’t a religious man, but at this moment he was praying that he’d see nothing but ocean. Slowly, his eyes peeled apart, and a large blue behemoth faded into view. It was a Gyarados, and it was a mere quarter of a kilometer behind him. He knew Gyara were faster than Lapras, so he considered it a minor miracle that they had only made up that much ground. Wrapping his arms around the Lapras’ neck, he whispered in her ear, pleading for everything she had left in the tank.

            Finally, the shore met the two with gracious aplomb. Lapras settled onto the sandy beach as Roger lept from her back and landed awkwardly, nearly sending the bag scuttling onto the floor.


“No time for pain,” Roger winced, tossing the satchel over his shoulder and making his way for the trees. Once there, he began ripping branches off to get a kindling started. Had he ever started a fire before? Well, not without a grill. And matches. And coal, lighter fluid, a beautiful summer day, and the two loves of his life, safe and sound before all the madness hit. He couldn’t think about that now, though. He had to start a fire. 

Frantically, Roger filled his arms with all the sticks and dry leaves he could find. He turned back to the shore, sprinting out from the tree line to find a good place where the signal was sure to be seen. Eyes to the sky, he found a great spot and dropped what he was holding.

 

“Gonna have a barbeque? Mmmm, I’m starving. What’s on the menu?”


Petrified, Roger’s gaze met a young woman who was standing confidently across from him. He glanced quickly at the towering Gyarados by her side, and then realized it was probably better to avert his gaze from the dragon’s eyes.  From this distance, the watery beast could have closed on him in seconds.


“It’s, I’m, uhh…” stuttered Roger. “I went off course, and lost my phone. Any chance you could help me out?”


“Oh, I can get you out of here. Not sure you’d like where I take you, though,” she said, a smile adorning her face. By any standards, she was gorgeous, though she had a competitive air around her that made Roger weary to even step closer. She was wearing a bright red jacket and matching red had, with fingerless gloves gripping the assortment of pokeballs on her belt.

Roger knew he had to act fast. Failure was not an option. He reached behind him, grabbing the second pokeball on his belt and whipping it forward at the girl and her Gyarados. Before it could even open, though, a white light emanated from the Dragon’s mouth and engulfed the pokeball. Roger covered his eyes from the blinding light. Slowly, as the dust settled, he saw his ball split in two, rocking harmlessly on the sand. A few feet away, the vague shape of a Primeape lay crumpled on the sandy floor.


“You don’t understand…” pleaded Roger.


“Oh, I understand. But do you?” The woman’s smile turned to a glare. “Do you have any idea what you stole? Let me guess – you just do what you’re told.”


“He has my family. Please, you have to believe me. He made me do this.”


Red stepped forward, her expressions softening. “We can help, Roger. Just give me the device. We’ll help you get your family back.”


Roger looked at the approaching woman, and at the ground a few feet away. There lay his bag, half open, with a small metal spike jutting out of the top. He could see a blinking red light, and just below it a small button.


“You can’t help me. You don’t understand what they’d do.”


Suddenly, a sound became audible over the trees. Each participant in the beach standoff jerked their heads to the sky, and saw an enormous black helicopter cut into view. The side was adorned with a giant red R, and suddenly for the first time in days, Roger felt he knew what he had to do. Reaching behind his belt again, he whipped another pokeball forward.


“Roger!” screamed Red, as Gyarados ripped off another Hyper beam towards the pokeball. However, Roger was already in motion. Two giant bounds and a leap later, he arrived at the bag, fumbling around inside for the button he knew was there. As he looked up, Red had begun to sprint, but they both knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Frustrated, Red reached to her belt for a ball as Roger closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

He stood up, pressed the button, and spun the bag around, heaving it towards the trees. The bag landed, and a sharp noise deafened Roger as searing pain welcomed itself to his head. The sound morphed into a low gurgle, when suddenly the world erupted into chaos around him. Infrared light shot from all sides of the sphere, bathing the beach and the trees and the helicopter before a ghastly sound ripped the life from them all.

Roger curled himself up on the ground, fingers over his ears and arms over his head. He couldn’t escape the pain, though. It burned at the back of his eyes like a fever, singed the hair from his arms, and threatened to blow out his eardrums. Just before his body sunk into unconsciousness, he managed to open his eyes and see the destruction he had wrought. Where once there had been trees was now nothing but sand. Sand, as far as the eye could see. No sign of the chopper, no sign of Red. No sign of life. He slipped away, almost hoping that he wouldn’t return.

***
            The cold tide crept closer and closer up the shore, until it reached Roger’s tattered shoes. He was on his back, staring up at the sky. Suddenly, it all came rushing back. The device. The pursuit. His family. He had to get off the island. He jumped to his feet, looking in all directions but finding nothing but desert landscape surrounding him. What the hell had the device done? That wasn’t important now.
 

            He ran along the beach, hoping to find his getaway stationed where he had left her. But wait, would Lapras still be there? Maybe she had gotten scared by the blast, and retreated for safety? He scanned the waters, but saw no sign of her. Frantically, he sprinted further down the shore, until a haunting sight caught his eye. He plunged through the tidal waters to a gray object floating in the shallows. Falling to his knees, he picked up the object with both hands. It was a gray spiked shell.

 

What have I done?


            “It’s all gone, Roger,” shouted Red. She was hovering atop the back of a monstrous Pidgeot several feet above the water, clutching another pokeball in her hand. Her knuckles were red with rage, but she withheld herself. He had already lost enough.



Tears streamed down Roger’s face as he gripped what remained of his beloved water transport.

            “The device eradicates life. It feeds on water, and outputs nothing but death and destruction. Was it worth it?”

            Roger opened his mouth, but the words escaped him. He couldn’t go back and undo what he had done. Not with this, and not with the Celadon storage. Time doesn’t work that way.


            “They’ll kill them. I have nothing left,” whispered Roger.


            “Look around you, Roger. This is what you’ve created. So this is where you’ll remain. Alakazam, go!”


            Red sent the pokeball spinning towards the beach, and the sagely figure emerged, spoons gripped firmly in both hands.


            “Zam, use Imprison!”



The wise pokemon closed its eyes, and purple waves shot out from the spoons towards the defeated figure of Roger. They encircled him, meeting in the middle and crashing down into the sand.


“You’ll never hurt another pokemon again, Roger. At least there’s that.” Red recalled the Alakazam and turned her bird towards the horizon.

Despite it all, Roger was calm. He wasn’t hungry, or tired, or sad. Just calm. Overhead, birds soared past the island as if nothing had happened. They wouldn’t come down, not now. What use is a harsh desert landscape for a bird? But time heals all. It just takes a lot of it.








 
 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Gunthug