Gotta Catch 'em all!

Tarka:
 
"Peter! Pay attention. Have you heard me at all int he last few minutes 
Peter? We were talking about the great pokemon migration of 69 today. Can you 
tell me what happened?"
 
Peter frowned and glared at the teacher. He hated pokemon and didn't want to 
talk about them at all. "Umm... didn't that eat the full soy bean crop in the 
western part of the US?"
 
Ms Fitz sighed. "Yes Peter, they did, but that isn't what we were talking 
about."
 
Ms Fitz raped the front of her desk. "Now... during the 2069 migration of the 
Pokemon farmers were doing their best to put a stop to it with guns and 
weapons of verious kinds. The death toll among them was just terrible though."
 
Some student in the back of the room raised their hand. "Ms Fitz. Why are 
they named Pokemon?"
 
Ms Fitz looked at the young child. Hardly believing that her pearents haden't 
told her. "Back near the end of the last century there was a game by that 
name. With creatures similar to what we have today."
 
The other student interupted her. "That must have been a horror game."
 
Ms Fitz laughed. "No. It was a nice game. It is just unforturnate that 
someone named Pokemon after it. Who could know that they would be the worst 
thing to happen to this world sense the astroid that killed off the dinos."
 
Terrycloth:
 
After school, Peter wandered through the halls of Bunker 13, wondering what 
it must have been like to live in a world where anything related to Pokemon 
could have been considered 'nice'. Not to mention a world where you could go 
outside and eat a 'picnic' in a 'park' without getting devoured by giant 
purple rats.
 
But as he wandered to the upper levels, long since deserted as the population 
of the bunker declined, which made them kind of creepy and thus a good place 
to sit and think dark depressing thoughts, he saw a flash of yellow out of 
the corner of his eye. Could it be... no, no, it was his imagination. Still...
 
Peter walked quietly over to where he'd seen the flash and looked around the 
corner. A pair of glittering black eyes stared back at him from the darkened, 
rusty alcove, and the glowing yellow mouse-critter turned and chirped at him.
 
Peter began to back away slowly, before the terrible 'pikachu' zapped him, 
trying to remember the lesson he'd dozed through that told what to do in this 
sort of situation, but before he could panic it vanished into a hole in the 
wall, where the metal had rusted away.
 
Athalon:
 
Surprise (and shock, too - they'd taught Peter just what the fearsome onsters 
could do to a young boy) drained from him, as rapidly as the pika had 
appeared.  His first thought was a curse.  "Damn - I didn't even try for 
'im!"  In Peter's pocket was the laser stun device, forgotten in the moment 
of need.  And not just for defense, either: they were paying 5000 Imperial 
credits if you could take a pokemon down.  
 
Not that 5000 credits was that much... a few lunches at school would hake 
short work of that.   Hiding underground, all the surviving civilization, did 
funny things to the economy.  They'd talked about that in school last week, 
too.  Peter sighed.
 
But Peter was still curious, even after the fright.  Where'd the little beast 
gotten to?  And how had he gotten IN in the first place?  The hole in the 
wall was clearly too small to follow.  He'd gotten onto hands and knees, and 
peeked in as best he could.  It was dark, too.  Good thing it's too small, he 
thought: I'm too afraid of the dark.
 
A boot send him powerfully, flatly to the floor.  The Complex Patrol.  Peter 
kept his head, and his next thought was: How am I going to explain this one?
 
Tarka:
 
"Son. You better be careful up here in the upper levels. There have been 
sitings of some of the smaller Pokemon up here. They have been getting into 
the levels. This level here is now off limits to citizens."
 
Peter signed softly. Maybe he wouldn't have to explain himself as this seemed 
to be one of the gaurds in a better mood then normal. "I... like wondering 
around the levels up here. There are no people nad they help me think."
 
The garud reaches a hand down and Peter took it as they lifted him to his 
feet. "Now.... I am going to have to write up that you were up here... but I 
don't see too much of a problem with that. Your still young. Come along!"
 
Peter followed the guy nad watched the old battle armmor glint in the pale 
glowbulbs in the ceiling. By the time he had made it home his mom was really 
pissed... she greeted him as he walked in the door.
 
"What the hell were you doing in the upper levels! ARe you stupid or 
something? How could you go up there! You could have been killed and I would 
never see you again! Do you know how that would make me feel!
 
Perter hunkerd down under the glare from his mother and managed to mumble out 
that he was sorry. He managed to get off by being sent to his room. He spent 
the rest of the eve collecting the stuff he would need for an expedition to 
the upper levels again. There was a lot of stuff around for people to find. 
The school had told him something about that as well. There used to be a lot 
more people with lots of stuff. Not there are fewer people... but still lots 
of old stuff.
 
Terrycloth:
 
So Peter took a backpack with some food in it (in case he had to hide out 
overnight), and his stunner with some spare batteries (in case he ran into a 
whole *mess* of pokemon), and some rope (in case... well, in case he needed 
rope) and four huge sacks to carry the loot home in.
 
Unfortunately, his expedition didn't go very well. The pokemon were nowhere 
to be found, but the guard was out in force, probably related factors. And to 
enforce the curfew they shut the airlock between levels 5 and 6, leaving him 
stranded. And then they shut out the lights to save power.
 
Peter wandered, terrified, through the darkness, bumping into walls and 
cutting up his arms and legs while shadow pokemon jumped out on every side to 
devour him, in his mind. So when he finally saw a glimmer of light, he ran 
towards it like a starving man towards a tuna salad sandwhich.
 
The light dimly illuminated a ladder, and came from above. He climbed up and 
found himself in a small room with brightly glowing panels on the walls, 
almost blinding him after the long stay in the dark. When his eyes finally 
cleared, he realized that he was on the surface, and that if he got caught 
this far up he was in big, big trouble. And that his watch, which was of 
course synchronized with bunker time, was off by at least 6 hours one way or 
the other, depending on which way was east.
 
Unwilling to face the darkness again, Peter leaned on the windowsill and 
stared at the 'sun', the natural light so much brighter than any he'd ever 
seen, as it slowly lowered towards the horizon, turning the 'sky' from 
blinding blue to orange and purple. It was beautiful.
 
On a whim, he undid the latches on one of the windows, to let in some fresh 
air and see the sun without the dirty window pane in the way, since there 
were no pokemon in sight. It took him almost a half hour of wrenching at the 
tightly fastened and rusted bolts, and by the time the glass jerked a foot 
and a half to the side before sticking it was getting dark.
 
He leaned outside to look around... and something hit him, and he fell back 
into the room, screaming. He fumbled for his laser as the pack of long thing 
striped pokemon swarmed into the room, and got off one shot before they 
vanished into the darkness, and he realized that they weren't after him. 
Well, there was one gnawing on his pants, but it didn't seem to be able to 
penetrate the fabric. He stunned it too, then bashed both pokemon's brains 
out against the wall, and closed the window, with a growing sense of dread.
 
Athalon:
 
Peter was still breathing hard long after the monsters lay still.  He'd been 
scared, this time, he realized.  Not just like scared of the dark...  Not on 
all his daydream adventures.  Not at all.  Peter always thought he'd be brave.
 
He wasn't quite unmanned, however.  Peter had the sense to shut the window.  
Or try.  It was stuck.  Open.
 
Nothing for it, then, he thought.  I have to stay here, or down below, where 
it's dark.  I'm afraid of the dark, he thought.  
 
Peter moved to the hole from which the top of the ladder peeked.  It 
certainly was dark down there.  Peter considered his choices.  At least up 
here, there was the beautiful glow of the sun.  That was better.  Peter felt 
relieved.  Yeah - better than the dark.  Why, I bet that ole sun just keeps 
getting prettier and prettier all night long, he told himself, feeling 
suddenly better.
 
After his long walk, and the scare, and all the work at the windows, Peter 
was very hungry.   "Staying here is better", he said, aloud.  "Why try that 
shaky ladder again?  I can stay put, enjoy the light, and have something to 
eat."  He began to rummage through his parcels for food.
 
Tarka:
 
"PIKA!" A yellow blur landing in the middle of his lunch... the one that he 
had on his lap... and starts to eat the food that he had set out there to 
eat.... all Peter could do was state as the half staved Pokemon ate his 
dinner.... he tryed to grab some for himself... forgeting all about his stun 
gun.
 
"Hey! htat is my food!
 
The pika looked up at him and held up a half eatten roll... "Pika!?"
 
Peter grabbed the roll and looked at the pika.... he leans against him after 
eatting its fill and then fell asleep in his lap.... he remembered his stun 
gun and grabbed it. the little Pika would be worth something. Only when he 
put the gun to the pika's head... he couldn't pull the trigger. "Damn it!
 
The light from the sn went away... but the world wasn't compleatly dark... 
there were hundreads of lights filling the skys.... he just sat there 
thinking about how they would be looking for him the next mornning. He had to 
think of a way to get back down into the bunker without then finding him 
comming back. What kind of story could he tell them.
 
The next mornning the little Pika was still in his lap... though it was awak 
now and looking at the hole into the ground... he looked over there and then 
heard some voices... the gaurds were coming this way!
 
Perter looked around trying to find a place to hid... the Pika hopped out of 
his lap and then up onto the window. "Pika! pika!"
 
He looked at the window and then headed for it. It was some strugle to get 
out... but for the first time in his life... he was outside the bunker with a 
Pika.