↳ Import QST.Lyrical
QST.Lyrical define template as $C01 {
<Lyrics(text = green, style = italics)> … </Lyrics>
<Events> … </Events>
}
New Scene()
Ash and company are walking towards Rustboro on a dirt path about a quarter-mile inland from the shore. Although the scenery is that of a forest, the sound of the waves crashing can sometimes be heard. Ash and May still have minor bruises, but for the most part they seem to be healing well. Jirachi is sleeping in Max’s backpack out of sight, except for the wish tag on top of it’s head.
After a few paces, the dirt path starts to turn into a paved road, and Pikachu runs up Ash’s leg to his shoulder.
Ash: Something the matter, Pikachu?
Benjy: Paved surfaces aren’t very good on bare feet.
Ash: You sure?
Benjy: I know from experience.
Pikachu nods in agreement with Benjy’s statement.
Narrator: Over the last few days, Ash and party have come face-to-face with disaster–um–I mean adventures with every step they took. Will today be different? Not if we’re televising it!
Refresh Scene(@Temporal++)
After traveling a little further:
As they walk, the sound of the waves starts to get louder. May wonders where they are, prompting Max to take out his pokénav. With it, he starts to look up their location. In the process of doing so, Max nearly crashes into a tree so everyone stops so Max can look up their location without running into things. The camera now turns to the pokénav as it works to pinpoint their location, eventually zooming onto their location. "Rustboro City\n, 6 miles" is displayed at the bottom of the screen next to a yellow flashing arrow.
May: Look at that, we’re almost there…
Brock: Well, we’ve been on the road for quite a while…
Benjy: It says that Lavaridge is forty-four miles behind us, and we’ve been traveling for about twelve hours, which gives us an average speed of around three and a half miles per hour, which seems about right.
Max: When you look at it that way, it makes the whole thing seem sort of trivial.
Benjy: Math will do that.
Ash: Well let’s get going or we’ll never get there.
Benjy: Good idea, as our speed approaches zero the time it takes to go a certain distance approaches infinity.
Ash and company now start walking again, past, then away from QST.camera.
Ash: Will you stop that?
Brock: Yeah, calculus gives me a headache.
Benjy: …Sorry…
Benjy: But I wouldn’t call what I did "calculus…"
New Scene()
Ash and company continue along the path as the forests starts to thin out a bit, and the sound of the waves grow louder. There is a steep drop down the cliff towards the ocean, but the path is now sloping down towards Rustboro City.
As they follow the path downwards, their environment starts to look less like a forest and more like a field with a beach off to their right. Ash and company don’t pay any attention to this until they hear music coming from one of the lifeguard platforms. The music grows louder as they approach.
@Music {
It’s not all that hard to reach;
Come on hitch a ride to Rustboro Beach!
*Rust Rust Rustboro Beach! (x3)
Come on hitch a ride to Rustboro Beach!
Look up at the sky and down at the sea;
Out in the meadow, but ya just can’t beat;
Bus ride here is way to slow;
But there’s hard rock music on the radio!
(The music plays on a loop in the background from where after the * is)
}
Ash and company approach the beach slowly, slightly surprised by the music. The beach is in a large inlet, and there are anywhere between 250 and 500 people on the beach, although the beach is large enough that it is not all that densely populated.
Ash: Rustboro beach, huh? I don’t recall hearing about it from the last time we came through…
Brock: And I don’t remember there being this many cute women!
Max: That’s because we didn’t come here last–
Max is cut off as Brock overhears two girls, slightly younger than Brock, in bikinis talking. {Niki and Miyumi}
Miyumi: It itches! Niki, it itches!
Niki: That’s because you didn’t put on sunscreen!
Miyumi: But that stuff is icky!
Niki: Then it’s only going to get worse, Miyumi. Do you want me to help you put it on?
Brock’s nose suddenly starts bleeding profusely and he begins trembling. Brock prepares to leap into action, but before he can even go anywhere, Benjy grabs him by the bridge of his nose.
Brock: What are you doing?!
Benjy: I’m applying pressure to stop the bleeding.
May: Does that even work for nosebleeds?
Benjy: Yeah, my mom showed me that trick. The blood vessels in your nose come through the bridge of your nose. It’s sort of like a tunicate…
In Benjy’s hand, Brock struggles.
Benjy: Your nose won’t actually fall off, sheesh.
Brock: Just let me bleed!
Max: I think we best be going…
Refresh Scene()
Ash and company continue to walk along the beach, with Brock now holding his own nose to stop it from bleeding. QST.camera focuses on Ash, Benjy, May, and Max, with Brock in the background.
Random Girl1: My swimsuit is so tight… *high voice*
Random Girl2: That’s because you aren’t a size small, silly… *high voice*
Brock jerks his head in the direction of the sound while everyone else keeps walking.
Random Girl3: Eek! Help! I touched seaweed?! *high voice*
#Garfield Reference: Comic where Jon freaks out after touching seaweed
Random Girl4: You touch seaweed every time you eat sushi. How is this any different?
Again, Brock turns his head in the direction of the sound while everyone else keeps walking.
Random Girl5: My swimsuit is like, totally full of sand… It’s painful.
Random Girl6: You’re not thinking about changing in front of everyone?! *high voice*
Brock jerks his head in the direction of the sound, and his nose starts to bleed again, despite his holding it.
Random Girl7: My swimsuit keeps slipping… *high voice*
Random Girl8: I told you, you’re a size small!
QST.camera now refocuses on Ash.
Ash: You guys think any pokémon live at this beach?
Benjy: Doubt it. Not a beach used so heavily by humans.
Ash: Brock, what do you think?
(Ash says the previous line without turning around); there is no reply from Brock.
Ash: Brock?
May: Hey, Brock…
Brock still does not reply, prompting Ash to turn around.
Ash: Brock…
Benjy, May, and Max turn around as well, to reveal that Brock is no longer walking with them. The flashing outline of Brock is shown on the screen. Everyone else stares at where Brock was, confused.
Ash: It’s really not like Brock to just run off like that.
Max: Yeah…
May: I wonder where he want…
Behind Ash, May, and Max, Benjy slumps forward with blue lines above his head.
Benjy: I should’ve kept a closer eye on him.
Yami Benjy: Do ya think?
Ash: So what do we do now?
Benjy sighs loudly, causing May to turn around.
Benjy: We’ve got to find him before he gets himself in serious trouble.
Max: He’s Brock… He’s not a pokémon.
Benjy: Look, I know what I’m talking about, okay?
May: Where do you think he is?
Benjy: He’s on this beach somewhere.
May: How do you know that?
Benjy gestures out at the beach, the population of which is mostly girls in bikinis.
Benjy: Take a wild guess.
Seen only from the back, one of the girls stretches and her bikini top bursts off of her. This is only seen from the back.
New Scene()
Team Rocket is sitting in the bushes near the beach, with Jessie and James heavily hung over.
Meowth: I told you you shouldn’t have gone dumpster-diving!
Jessie: I’m not passing up the opportunity for free booze.
James: Even if it does come from a dumpster.
Meowth: Jessie! That last one wasn’t even booze!
Jessie: What was it then?
Meowth: It was anti-freeze!
Jessie: At least I won’t get frozen then… *Mph*
QST.camera zooms away as Jessie vomits in the thicket.
Revert Scene()
Ash and company are wandering across the beach, looking for Brock.
May: Maybe he saw a new pokémon…
Benjy: The only reason pokémon would come to a beach like this is if they were looking for garbage.
Max: And I think Brock would have told us first…
Looking over the beach, Ash cups his hands to his mouth.
Ash: Hey Brock!
No reply comes, as Brock is nowhere to be seen. The sea crashes and the Wingull overhead chirp, but other than this the beach is silent. As Ash and company scan the beach repeatedly, the MGBA shines somewhat and Yami Benjy projects an image of Benjy.
Yami Benjy: This is stupid. We should forget about Brock and move on.
Ash, May, Max, and Benjy turn to Yami Benjy in surprise.
Max: Did you just say we should–
Ash: We can’t! Brock is one of us, we’ll never abandon…
Ash’s voice trails off as Yami Benjy rolls his eyes.
Yami Benjy: Ash, he’s in a better place now. You’ll understand when you’re older.
Ash: No… Way…
Ash looks like he’s about to cry while May, Max, and Benjy stand in stunned silence.
Yami Benjy: Specifically, that nude beach over there.
Yami Benjy’s projection points to some bushes in a gap through the cliff surrounding the beach, back in the direction that they all had come. A sign next to the bushes reads: "Nude Beach."
Max: What’s a "nude beach?"
Yami Benjy: You’ll understand when you’re older.
Ash: Well, whatever it is, we have to go and retrieve Brock. Right Pikachu?
Pikachu looks at Ash uneasily.
New Scene()
Ash, May, Max, and Benjy approach the bushes near the sign, when a shadow begins to approach them.
Officer Jenny: Excuse me…
Ash and company look up.
Officer Jenny: If you’re going to go through there, I’ll need to see your IDs.
May: Our IDs?
Max: Do we even have IDs?
Officer Jenny: Do you have a Pokédex?
Ash and May pull out their pokédexes and hand them to Officer Jenny, who takes them and starts to look at them. Ash starts to push his way through the bushes, but Officer Jenny taps him.
Officer Jenny: Ash, it says that you’re eleven and May, it says you’re ten. I’m sorry, but you have to be fifteen to go through here.
Officer Jenny now hands Ash’s and May’s pokédexes back, and Ash takes a step out of the bush to retrieve it. Officer Jenny now turns to Benjy.
Officer Jenny: Can I see your pokédex?
Benjy: I don’t have one…
May: Do you have any ID on you at all?
Benjy: Maybe…
Benjy puts his backpack down and searches through it, finally pulling out a card which he hands to Officer Jenny who looks it over.
Officer Jenny: I haven’t seen anything like this before…
Officer Jenny: Um, I haven’t really seen this kind of ID card before. I’m sorry, but I can’t verify it’s authenticity…
Officer Jenny hands the card back to Benjy who places it back into his backpack.
Ash: Verify it’s authenticity?
Officer Jenny: I can’t tell where it’s from. And it doesn’t actually give an age either.
Lines hang over the heads of Ash, May, and Max as what they see as their last chance goes out the window, so to speak. Benjy just stares past Officer Jenny into the bushes. Max asks Officer Jenny if she can get Brock since they can’t go in, but she replies that she has to guard the entrance.
May: Any other ideas?
Benjy starts walking back onto the main beach and beckons for the other to follow him.
Refresh Scene()
Ash and company are now out of hearing distance of Officer Jenny, near the middle of the beach.
Max: So how old are you anyway?
Benjy: Fourteen.
Max: So even if you did have a valid ID…
Ash: An ideas then?
May: Uh-uh.
Max: We could try to convince her Benjy’s actually fifteen.
Benjy: I’d rather just leave it up to Satolite. Satolite moves too fast to see, let alone stop. Swoop in, get a tractor beam on him, and lift him back over here.
Ash and company (minus Brock) ponder this for a moment.
May: Sounds like a solid plan.
Benjy: Alright, Satolite!
Benjy takes out Satolite’s ball, and Satolite flies out, landing on Benjy’s head while Ash describes his request. When Ash mentions the nude beach, Satolite starts to shiver and grips Benjy’s head tightly.
Ash: Is something wrong?
Satolite: Tic, tic…
May: What about Jirachi? Can’t it teleport–
Max: He’s sound asleep right now.
Ash: Well that’s just great. Jirachi’s asleep and Satolite looks traumatized at the mere though of… Maybe there’s someone else here who could–
Ash takes a step in the direction away from the nude beach and trips over something partially buried, crashing into the sand.
May: Ash…?
Ash: I’m fine…
Ash pushes himself up, turning over into a sitting position. May now reaches down to help Ash up. As she does, the stone that Ash tripped over rumbles slightly, and Ash and May back away nervously.
"Stone": Tor-KOAL!!
The stone shoots out a blast of flame, which causes Max to jump backwards, then shoots out of the ground, charging across the sand. After Torkoal has ran about 15 meters it pounces, looking around. Ash takes out his pokédex.
Max: What is that?
Ash: My pokédex says it’s out of range…
May: Hmm…
May now pulls out her pokédex and approaches Torkoal. Benjy, Ash, and Max follow.
[May’s Pokédex]: Torkoal, the coal pokémon. It burns coal inside its shell for energy. It blows out black soot if it is endangered. Abandoned coal mines are full of them, they dig tirelessly in search of coal to burn.
Benjy: Not the most environmentally friendly pokémon are you…
As Benjy says that, Torkoal cries streams of water causing Benjy to flinch. May rushes to comfort Torkoal.
May: He didn’t really mean that.
Yami Benjy: Must be using clean coal.
Benjy: There’s no such thing as clean coal. It’s false advertising.
Yami Benjy: I thought that that was illegal.
Benjy: It’s supposed to be…
As May strokes Torkoal’s shell, it suddenly looks up, scanning the beach anxiously.
Ash: Wha-what’s the matter.
Torkoal: Tor-KOAL!!
Upon saying "KOAL," Torkoal shoots a massive plume of soot out of it’s back causing May to jump backwards, falling on her back on the sand.
Yami Benjy: The mystery deepens…
Torkoal: Tor-KOAL!!!!!
Giving its cry, Torkoal goes charging off to another point on the sand, where it looks around restlessly. Ash and company follow at a safe distance, intrigued.
May: Have you ever seen a tortoise move so fast?
Torkoal now starts digging in the ground, which confuses Ash and Benjy.
Max: What’s it doing…
May: I bet it’s looking for treasure.
Benjy: Not on a beach this crowded. Any treasure would be found very quickly.
May: Sometimes the best place to hide things is in plain sight.
May winks at Benjy.
Benjy: Even so, those two girls with metal detectors would’ve found it already.
Benjy gestures down the beach to where two girls in bikinis with metal detectors are combing the edge of the beach near the water about 15 meters away. One of them jumps as her metal detector starts beeping. She examines the ground as Ash and company watch her from a distance.
Girl1: I found my sewing needle!
Girl2: I thought you lost it in a haystack.
Girl1: Maybe the haystack got washed out to sea, and then the needle washed up on the beach…
Girl2: But it’s got blood on it…
Girl1: Someone probably stepped on it.
Cutscene() { Officer Jenny pulls out a chair and mentions that her foot hurts. }
Ash and company now approach the hole that Torkoal is trying to dig.
May: But what if the treasure wasn’t metal?
Benjy: Then it probably has decayed by now. What’s interesting is what a fire pokémon is doing this close to the water.
As they continue to approach Torkoal, it stops digging and looks up. Looking back down, Torkoal looses a flamethrower and starts to cry. May scoops it up into her arms.
Max: Uh…
Ash: It definitely seems to be looking for something…
May: Torkoal, do you want us to help you?
Torkoal struggles in May’s arms, and looses a flamethrower across the beach. The flames sweep across the sand, hitting a mat and causing a girl and a boy to jump out of the way.
Boy: Our mat!
Max: (bleep!)
May: Why can’t Brock be here?!
Girl: You’re on fire!
The first girl screeches and dives into the sand.
Ash: Corphish, bubblebeam.
Bubblebeam does a poor job of putting out the fire, but it turns out to be enough to stop the fire after about 15 seconds (real and story time)
Girl2: Hey you! Can’t you control your pokémon?! (Directed at May)
Ash: It’s not our poké–
Benjy: May, get Officer Jenny… I’ll handle.
May now takes off across the sand.
Girl: Hey you–
Benjy: Stop!
Girl: Who do you think you are?!
The girl stops as Benjy looks down at her.
Benjy: Your friend needs medical help, that’s the priority.
Max: It’s not our Torkoal…
Ash: It was just roaming around the beach.
The girl’s expression now changes to one of confusion.
Girl: Then why did you pick it up?
Max: It was crying…
Girl: !
Officer Jenny: Is anyone hurt?
Benjy points to the boy who is lying on the beach, whimpering.
New Scene()
The boy is being treated at the lifeguard station (by an extremely busty lifeguard in a extremely skimpy bikini); while his friend watches him.
Lifeguard: First and maybe some small second-degree burns. Nothing too bad. You’ll survive.
The boy whimpers as the Lifeguard applies ointment to his burn.
Officer Jenny: That’s what? Third time this week?
Lifeguard: Second one in two days…
Ash: Second what?
Officer Jenny: Second time that Torkoal has burned someone. It’s becoming a real problem around here.
May: Where’s Torkoal’s trainer?
Max: Does it even have a trainer?
Lifeguard: As far as we can tell, it doesn’t. But the question is why is it so close to the water?
The lifeguard now stands up.
Officer Jenny: If you kids wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d try to catch it.
Ash: Catch that Torkoal?
Lifeguard: It’s here every day, as if it’s looking for something. But it can never find it, and when it gets angry, it accidentally burns people.
Ash: But what’s it looking for?
Officer Jenny: We don’t really know.
Lifeguard: There’s an old rumor that over three hundred years ago, some ship of Chrysanthemum's sunk around here.
May’s eyes sparkle.
May: So it *is* buried treasure…
Lifeguard: Except that that was a good ways up the coast. I worry about that creature. When it gets frustrated it burns people, it’s burned twenty people in this month alone.
Benjy: That’s like what? One person gets burned a day?
Officer Jenny: On average…
Officer Jenny looks out at the beach, surveying the beach for Torkoal’s current location.
Ash: Okay, guys. Looks like we have ourselves a pokémon to catch.
Benjy and Max nod in agreement.
May: I wonder what it’s looking for though?
New Scene(@Temporal = Afternoon)
Ash, May, and Max walk out onto the beach again, with Benjy a few feet behind them. May and Ash take turns calling for Torkoal, but they don’t get a response.
Max: How does it disappear right when we want to find it.
Benjy: Alright, I’m going to go with Sat–
Benjy is cut off by a massive explosion about thirty yards down the beach. Satolite emerges from it’s ball and stares at the explosion, however Ash and company fail to notice that it came out.
Ash: *Gulp*
Max: Was that Torkoal?
Benjy: Whatever it is, I don’t like the looks of it…
Behind them, the light from the explosion reflects off the mirror plates of Satolite’s head, singeing the back of Benjy’s shirt.
Ash: We’d better check that out!
Benjy: Wait!
But Ash, May, and Max are already headed to where the explosion took place. Benjy scans the ground quickly, then takes off after them.
Benjy: I hope that wasn’t what I think it was…
Yami Benjy: What do you think it was?
Benjy: A land mine!
Instantly, the Millennium Gameboy Advance emits a golden light. Yami Benjy jumps into the air, and is caught by Satolite.
Yami Benjy: Everyone, freeze!
At this point, Ash, May, and Max have all stopped running, and are staring at Torkoal, who appears to have shielded itself from the blast by hiding in it’s shell. Torkoal’s shell has some black debris on it from the blast.
May: Torkoal…
Torkoal now retreats back into it’s shell, and fires a flamethrower at a hidden target six feet away. As soon as the flames hit, the sand explodes, but a clear barrier protects the group, then repels the debris blown at them. Satolite now drops Yami Benjy to the sand and lands on his head.
Ash: …
Yami Benjy: Land mines…
Max: Land mimes?
Yami Benjy: Mines. Bombs hidden under the ground that go off when you step on them.
Ash: Never heard of such things…
Yami Benjy: I put it together. If a ship sunk up the coast, then there might have been a battle around here. That Torkoal’s searching for land mines that have been undisturbed for over 300 years.
May: Bombs beneath the ground?!
As May says this, Torkoal fires off another flamethrower, which hits nothing; then Torkoal starts digging.
Max: It’s going to blow itself up!
Without hesitation, Ash grabs Torkoal who struggles in Ash’s arms, then fires off another flamethrower which shoots along the beach to where it causes another gigantic explosion. This time they are far enough away from the blast to not need a shield, however some of the heat of the explosion is still felt my the group.
As the heat and light from the explosion clears, the sand still smolders around where the blast occurred.
Ash: May! Go get Officer Jenny!
May: Why me!?
Ash: Because I can’t hold Torkoal much longer!
Torkoal struggles in Ash’s arms as it tries to escape, then fires a flamethrower at the ground. Ash instinctively jumps back and Torkoal jumps out of his arms and onto the beach.
Max: Oh no you don’t!
Max tackles Torkoal, landing on top of it, but Torkoal doesn’t seem to notice. Torkoal blasts a flamethrower along the ground which hits something and explodes, causing a fountain of sand to go everywhere. Max shields his eyes, allowing Torkoal to escape. Torkoal rushes over to the edge of the conical pit of sand, and now starts to cry.
Concerned, May walks over to where Torkoal is looking down at the hole. May attempts to comfort Torkoal. Before she can pick up Torkoal, she starts sliding down the edge of the conically-shaped pit. She rapidly tries to climb back up as Ash runs over to help her.
Ash grabs May’s wrist and tries to pull her up, but he starts slipping into the hole too. Rapidly backing up, it becomes increasingly hard for Ash to hold onto May’s wrist.
Yami Benjy: Tractor beam!
Seconds before Ash is forced to let go, Satolite encapsulates May in it’s blue beam, trying to pull her out of the hole. Ash now is forced to let go, and he falls backwards in the sand, backing away while Satolite tries to extract May from the pit.
Yami Benjy: Satolite…
Satolite: Oorlu…
Pikachu: Pika?
May: Something’s got my foot!
May: !
Ash, Benjy, and Max stare in confusion for a split-second, before May lets out an ear-splitting scream. Satolite fires a lunarbeam at the center of the cone but May doesn’t stop screaming.
Ash: Pikachu, thunder!!!!!
Pikachu launches a massive electric bolt at the center of the cone, zapping May as well. The electricity is furthermore sucked up via Satolite’s tractor beam, but instead of injuring Satolite, it appears to power it up.
Ash: Satolite, get her out of there!
Following Ash’s instructions, Satolite beats it’s wings vigorously, and with a mighty jerk yanks May free as she shrieks with pain. QST.camera split-screens three ways as Ash, Benjy, and Max gasp in horror to the damage done to May’s foot (which is offscreen); Max tries to catch his breath as blood drips onto the sand of the pit (this is televised) as Satolite lifts May high into the air.
Officer Jenny now goes running with a firearm in her hand, and fires a couple of bullets into the pit. After the second bullet, a massive worm-like creature shoots out of the ground after May.
Max: Get away from my sister!
The wyrm isn’t anywhere close to Satolite’s elevation, but Max has Jirachi use psychic on the wyrm, hurling it across the beach to where it crashes into the sand, and rapidly begins digging again.
Officer Jenny: Deputy Matt! Hand me my yellow pants!
Ash: What was that thing…
Ash takes out his pokédex and points it at the pit.
Ash’s Pokédex: Long extinct species known as a beach strykewyrm. Moves by digging, and attacking their prey from beneath.
Ash: AH! Where is it now?!
Torkoal and Yami Benjy scan the beach uneasily. A few seconds later the beach strykewyrm rockets from beneath the sand aiming directly for May and Satolite. Satolite senses this, and zips May out the way just in time to avoid being devoured by the strykewyrm.
Max: Wait a minute, why is it going after May? Aren’t we easier targets?
Officer Jenny: It smells her blood.
A man (deputy) now comes running up to Officer Jenny’s side with a loaded gun. Taking a step back, he points the gun at and fires on the strykewyrm twice, but the bullets bounce off of it’s hide. The strykewyrm then angles itself bearing down on the man, fangs barred. The deputy jumps aside, only to be hit by the strykewyrm’s giant tail and sent flying. His gun is swallowed by the strykewyrm as it burrows it’s way into the ground near Ash and company.
Officer Jenny: Deputy Matt!
The deputy lands on his back on the sand unconscious as a wave of panic shoots across the beach.
Officer Jenny: Nobody move! They can sense motion!
Ash’s Pokédex: Once a strykewyrm starts its attack, it won’t stop until it catches its prey, or is killed.
Both comments go unnoticed as pandemonium breaks out across the beach. Ash looks around nervously, then the camera goes to Ash’s viewpoint as Ash notices that the ground is shaking slightly.
Ash: Keep calm… Keep calm… And don’t m–
An invisible force knocks Ash off his feet and out of the way as the strykewyrm shoots up from the ground under where Ash was standing. Ash crashes into the in a sitting position nearby!
Officer Jenny: Nobody move!
Yami Benjy: Don’t listen to her! Run for your lives!
Ash gets up and starts to run off the beach.
Officer Jenny: STOP!!!
Yami Benjy: Idiot!
Yami Benjy: Now we counterattack.
Max: Where is it?
Yami Benjy: Right below–
Jirachi teleports Yami Benjy and Max out of the way as the beach strykewyrm shoots out of the ground below them.
Yami Benjy: Shroomish! Shadow blitz!
Shroomish comes rocketing out of it’s ball at the strykewyrm as the strykewyrm dives back into the sand.
Officer Jenny: Are you trying to feed it your pokémon?!
Yami Benjy: You run! I’ll handle this!
Yami Benjy now stands still-ish gesturing for Max to run, allthewhile keeping his eyes trained on the ground. Officer Jenny now starts to walk over to Yami Benjy.
Officer Jenny: This is a direct orDAR–
Directly in the middle of the word "order," Officer Jenny is knocked about twelve feet from the ground as the strykewyrm surfaces beneath her. The wyrm no lunges towards Yami Benjy who activates his blade-mittens as the wyrm bears down on him, catching it on either side of the jaw in the crux of his mittens.
This stalemate holds for a second and a half, before the wyrm gets enough strength to knock Yami Benjy backwards, then lunge at him again.
Ash: Pikachu, thunder!
Yami Benjy: !
Pikachu: Pika-CHUU!
Pikachu shocks the wyrm with a powerful electric blast, briefly halting it’s assault and allowing Yami Benjy to gather his wits. The wyrm turns expectantly, and instantly dives under the ground, again heading straight for Ash, who is too shocked at the small amount of damage done to move.
Suddenly Torkoal ram’s Ash’s side, knocking him over and out of the way seconds before the strykewyrm surfaces right where Ash was standing. Ash crashes to the sand with the wind knocked out of him and Torkoal on top of him, facing off against the strykewyrm now barring down on him.
Torkoal: Tor-KOAL!
Torkoal fires a powerful blast of fire at the wyrm which recoils from the attack. The wyrm now looks for an opening to strike at Ash again; despite Torkoal spewing warning flames.
Ash: I can’t move, but it makes sense now! Torkoal was trying to stop this thing…
In a split-second, the wyrm lunges at Ash and Torkoal.
Slow Motion() { The strykewyrm’s body starts arching over Torkoal’s warning flames, but then suddenly stops, caught in some invisible field (0.5 seconds) }
With an explosion of sand the wyrm is hurled from the ground with a massive psychic force. The explosion of sand comes from the wyrm’s tail being knocked from the beach flinging sand everywhere. Ash manages to catch his breath and sit up as the wyrm comes crashing down on an abandoned Tatami mat. Ash now gets to his feet as Max and Yami Benjy race to his side, all staring at the wyrm, which rights itself in one motion, proceeding to stare them down.
Ash: Grr…
A half-second later, the wyrm charges and Torkoal attacks with flamethrower. On it’s own, flamethrower does little, but something explodes in the sand, knocking both sides back to the force of the explosion.
Ash: Was that…
Deputy Matt: Strykewyrm dung. It’s explosive when exposed to fire.
Ash: Dung?!
Max: Well that makes sense…
The wyrm now dives back underground
Yami Benjy: This gives me an idea.
Yami Benjy: It’s coming at us!
Realizing Pikachu’s thunder isn’t doing anything, Ash calls on Corphish, who emerges onto Ash’s shoulder.
Ash: Where is it?
Yami Benjy points, and Torkoal launches a massive fireball at the location, causing all three (plus Deputy Matt) to gasp. The fireball now hits and explodes, causing the wyrm to surface in a rage. This time the wyrm doesn’t charge, and instead fires a hyper beam. Torkoal counters with a massive flame and the attacks explode in midair, causing other explosions in the ground. As the smoke clears, the wyrm fires *another* hyper beam.
Yami Benjy: Celebi, guard!
The beam strikes the safeguard and reflects off of it in numerous direction.
Max: How can it do that without needing to recharge?!
Yami Benjy: It’s not a pokémon, that’s why.
Ash: What is it then?!
Yami Benjy: We’ll figure that out when it’s dead…
Max: You’re going to kill it?!
The wyrm now stops its hyper beam and charges towards everyone as they jump out of the way, Ash holding Torkoal. The wyrm surfaces again and proceeds to chase Ash towards the edge of the beach. As the wyrm gains on Ash, Torkoal hits it with a blast of fire that causes the wyrm to hesitate giving Ash much needed ground as Ash runs into the surf holding Torkoal.
In an instant, the wyrm charges leaping completely out of the sand. Ash screams.
Yami Benjy: Now!
Max: Jirachi, psychic!
Yami Benjy: Celebi, psychic!
Both psychic attacks converge, changing the wyrm’s trajectory to fly over Ash, coming crashing down in the water. It stares at Ash, stunned and slightly confused.
Ash: Wait, water… That’s–
Ash: Pikachu now!
Pikachu: Pika-CHUU!
Pikachu discharges a gigantic amount of electricity which arcs at the strykewyrm who dodges into the water, and Ash gasps as the electricity strikes the ocean.
Ash: We lost our chance…!
Yami Benjy: Nope, we’re shooting fish in a barrel with this one.
Ash: Huh?
The ocean starts to glow.
Max: What’s going on?
Ash: Is it evolve–
Ash is cut off by Yami Benjy grabbing both his and Max’s hands and running inland. Behind them the beach near the ocean explodes in a giant mushroom cloud, the shock wave from which they are able to partially avoid when Yami Benjy dives for cover, pulling Ash and Max with him, but the force still knocks them a few feet up the beach, where they crash to the sand on their sides.
The strykewyrm crashes to the sand several seconds later where it lies critically injured, with a strange liquid oozing from it’s side.
Ash: Did it just (bleep) itself?!
Torkoal now jumps out of Ash’s arms.
Ash: Torkoal, no!
Torkoal: Tor-KOAL!
Torkoal releases a massive fire attack as the strykewyrm struggles to respond.
Max: Did you forget that it’s (bleep) is explosive?! (to Torkoal)
Yami Benjy: I think it remembered!
Ash, Max, and Yami Benjy lie on the ground, all covering their necks.
Refresh Scene(@Temporal = mid afternoon)
QST.camera sweeps over the beach, showing the corpse of the strykewyrm, completely exploded and burning with a green/purple flame. Finally QST.camera gets to where Ash and company (now including Brock) are on the grass with the lifeguards, except for May who is sitting on a plastic picnic table with her foot heavily bandaged.
Life Guardf: That was one nasty wound…
Brock: I’ll say…
May shifts uncomfortably on the table.
Life Guardm: The good news it looks like it’ll be healed soon. The enchanted gauze seems to be working.
Life Guardf: It was a good thing you were wearing shoes or you’d almost certainly have lost your foot.
May shifts uncomfortably on the table again, staring down at her bandaged foot and ankle.
Ash: So, Brock, how was the nude beach?
Brock: Nude beach?
Max: Dude, we looked everywhere for you, and eventually concluded that you had gone to the nude beach, since it was the only place we couldn’t go?
Brock: Where was the nude beach?!
Brock looks around anxiously.
Yami Benjy: Calm yourself, there’s no one there right now.
Ash: Yeah, if you go there now, you’ll risk being strykewyrm chow.
Brock sighs, obviously disappointed. Ash turns to the female lifeguard.
Ash: So what are they going to do? X-ray the beach?
Life Guardf: Not sure exactly, but they’ll make sure that there aren’t anymore of those strykewyrms in the sand.
May now addresses Brock.
May: So if you weren’t at the nude beach, what were you doing?
Brock hangs his head.
Brock: Getting rejected. Over and over again.
Brock hangs his head, and QST.camera now moves to the end of the picnic table, where several of the pokémon are having a snack, Torkoal amongst them.
New Scene()
Ash and company are walking towards Rustboro in the distance. May walks with a slight limp and Pikachu is riding Torkoal who walks by Ash’s side. As May walks, she flinches.
Brock: That’s going to have to get looked at first thing when we get to Rustboro.
Narrator: Well, it looks like Ash caught a new pokémon. But our writers are at a loss to explain what a strykewyrm was doing in the wild on Fenyra, light-years away from their homeworld. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually.
…///To Be Continued///…
© February 11, 2014 to December 1, 2015 by Benjy Strauss