Chapter 14: Bad News Good News
"Lord Bowser." Robert announced as he made his way into the main hallway.
"Robert." Bowser said, "The seventh militia said that you'd brought back some companions. Some, 'different' locals."
"Sir, we have more serious matters at hand right now."
"What's that?"
"Well, there's good news and bad news, sir."
"Give it to me straight."
"King Bowser, exactly thirty minutes ago, my entire squadron ran into," Robert paused and took a gulp, after which his voice was shaky, "Mario."
"Good gods." Bowser said, "How many survived?"
"One, sir. Private Ken, Company B of the thirteenth regiment."
"Only one?" Bowser said, "Where were you?"
"I. . ." Robert paused, "I had sent out the entire squadron to settle a local matter."
"What was that?" Bowser asked.
"Sergent Kaemeon reported seeing monsters in the woods."
"So. . ." Bowser said, "You let your entire defense down just to investigate local matters?"
"Sir, if you would let me, this is where the good news comes in."
"GOOD NEWS?" Bowser roared, "I HAVE LOST AN ENTIRE HALF REGIMENT THANKS TO YOU!"
"Please calm yourself, sir."
"How can I be calm when you lost an entire regiment of mine?"
"Minutes later, the first recorded victory against Mario occured."
Bowser stopped, "What?"
"The first recorded victory. . ."
"I know what you said, but, how? Your entire command was lost, save one!"
"Not quite, sir." Robert said, "My. . . 'different' friends, as you called them, had successfully fended off Mario."
"He retreated?"
"He was blown into the stratosphere."
Bowser dropped his jaw. "What about the human-looking one?" Bowser said, "He was injured, was he not?"
"He had attempted to fight Mario sword to sword, and had underestimated his agility. He was cut right through his back."
"If he survived the initial attack, he'll be ok."
"What makes you say that, sir?"
"Magic, of course." Bowser said, "Our one asset Mario does not have."
"Of course, sir."
Bowser paced back and forth. "Your, uhh, friends. . . what are they?"
"That's sort of hard to describe, sir." Phil stammered, "You won't find them in any encyclopedia."
"Why not?"
"Because, the world as you know it, has changed."
"How can you tell?"
"Let me retrive one of them. I'll explain."
"I'll just have my guard bring it in."
"The one who is called Charmander, King Bowser requests your audience."
"Char char?"
"Lord Bowser, have you seen anything like this creature before?"
"No, I have not."
"I can tell you truthfully sir, that this creature is most remarkable. It can breath fire."
"So can my fire brothers." Bowser said, "And I."
"With training, it will be capable of even more than you can do." Robert said. "Charmander, if you would kindly demonstrate for Bowser. . ."
"Charman." Charmander said, and whiffed a huge, medicine ball-sized sphere of fire, but only for a moment."
"Impressive," Bowser said, "For such a small creature."
"Not only that," Robert said, "But two of them have power over electricity, one over earth, and the last being a computer."
"A comptuer?" Bowser asked, "You mean the electronic devices that is built from microchip circuitry?"
"Yes, sir." Robert said, "A fully synthetic creature, eventually being capable of making psychic attacks. . ."
"You keep on saying 'eventually'. How do you know?"
"I have seen these creatures before, Lord Bowser."
"You have?"
"Yes, but I would rather not say where."
"Tell me." Bowser said, "If these creatures are capable of defeating Mario, then I want it from you straight."
"Sir, I--"
"THAT'S AN ORDER!"
They stood there in silence for a moment. "Sir, do you play video games?"
"No. I confiscate them from my soldiers. It's bad for them."
"Then show me you're caché."
"What does this have to do with the creatures?"
"You'll see, sir."
The collection room was filled with lot of objects confiscated from the soldiers. Robert searched through a pile of gameboy games.
Bowser spoke, "I don't see what this has to do with the creatures."
"Here it is." Robert put a gold colored cartridge into the gameboy. A bit of music played, then Robert showed Bowser the screen. "There, on this menu." Robert said. There was a picture of charmander on the gameboy.
"How did. . ."
"And this." Robert dropped some manga at Bowser's feet. "And this." Robert dropped a keychain to the floor. "And this and this and this. . ." Small random objects seemed to come from everyplace, all having to do with Pokémon.
"How. . . " Bowser said, "How. . . Pokémon?"
"Yes, sir."
"I. . . but. . . I'm confused!"
"Don't be, sir. Robert said, "It happens to the best of us."
"Lord Bowser!" Another gueard had entered the room, with a worried look on his face, "Reports of an unidentified aircraft have been. . ."
"Is this really urgent?"
"Well. . . it scared the men some, but. . ."
"Then we have more important matters." Bowser said. "We may stand a chance against Mario after all."
"S. . . sir?" The guard asked, "We might?"
"Yes, it appears General Robert, in his wateful tatics against Mario. . ." Bowser shifter a mean glance at Robert, who smiled innocently, ". . . has some 'friends' who have more power than any one koopa."
"Really, sir?" The guard asked, "You mean those strange visitors of ours?"
"The same ones."
"You mean like this fella?" The guard pointed to the foot tall charmander.
"Yes." Bowser, "That guy just might have more firepower than me."
"Lord Bowser," The guard scratched the back of his head nervously, "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Dead right, I am."
"Yes, lord." The guard said, and turned away. "Crazy. . . " he muttered.
"Lord Bowser." Robert announced as he made his way into the main hallway.
"Robert." Bowser said, "The seventh militia said that you'd brought back some companions. Some, 'different' locals."
"Sir, we have more serious matters at hand right now."
"What's that?"
"Well, there's good news and bad news, sir."
"Give it to me straight."
"King Bowser, exactly thirty minutes ago, my entire squadron ran into," Robert paused and took a gulp, after which his voice was shaky, "Mario."
"Good gods." Bowser said, "How many survived?"
"One, sir. Private Ken, Company B of the thirteenth regiment."
"Only one?" Bowser said, "Where were you?"
"I. . ." Robert paused, "I had sent out the entire squadron to settle a local matter."
"What was that?" Bowser asked.
"Sergent Kaemeon reported seeing monsters in the woods."
"So. . ." Bowser said, "You let your entire defense down just to investigate local matters?"
"Sir, if you would let me, this is where the good news comes in."
"GOOD NEWS?" Bowser roared, "I HAVE LOST AN ENTIRE HALF REGIMENT THANKS TO YOU!"
"Please calm yourself, sir."
"How can I be calm when you lost an entire regiment of mine?"
"Minutes later, the first recorded victory against Mario occured."
Bowser stopped, "What?"
"The first recorded victory. . ."
"I know what you said, but, how? Your entire command was lost, save one!"
"Not quite, sir." Robert said, "My. . . 'different' friends, as you called them, had successfully fended off Mario."
"He retreated?"
"He was blown into the stratosphere."
Bowser dropped his jaw. "What about the human-looking one?" Bowser said, "He was injured, was he not?"
"He had attempted to fight Mario sword to sword, and had underestimated his agility. He was cut right through his back."
"If he survived the initial attack, he'll be ok."
"What makes you say that, sir?"
"Magic, of course." Bowser said, "Our one asset Mario does not have."
"Of course, sir."
Bowser paced back and forth. "Your, uhh, friends. . . what are they?"
"That's sort of hard to describe, sir." Phil stammered, "You won't find them in any encyclopedia."
"Why not?"
"Because, the world as you know it, has changed."
"How can you tell?"
"Let me retrive one of them. I'll explain."
"I'll just have my guard bring it in."
"The one who is called Charmander, King Bowser requests your audience."
"Char char?"
"Lord Bowser, have you seen anything like this creature before?"
"No, I have not."
"I can tell you truthfully sir, that this creature is most remarkable. It can breath fire."
"So can my fire brothers." Bowser said, "And I."
"With training, it will be capable of even more than you can do." Robert said. "Charmander, if you would kindly demonstrate for Bowser. . ."
"Charman." Charmander said, and whiffed a huge, medicine ball-sized sphere of fire, but only for a moment."
"Impressive," Bowser said, "For such a small creature."
"Not only that," Robert said, "But two of them have power over electricity, one over earth, and the last being a computer."
"A comptuer?" Bowser asked, "You mean the electronic devices that is built from microchip circuitry?"
"Yes, sir." Robert said, "A fully synthetic creature, eventually being capable of making psychic attacks. . ."
"You keep on saying 'eventually'. How do you know?"
"I have seen these creatures before, Lord Bowser."
"You have?"
"Yes, but I would rather not say where."
"Tell me." Bowser said, "If these creatures are capable of defeating Mario, then I want it from you straight."
"Sir, I--"
"THAT'S AN ORDER!"
They stood there in silence for a moment. "Sir, do you play video games?"
"No. I confiscate them from my soldiers. It's bad for them."
"Then show me you're caché."
"What does this have to do with the creatures?"
"You'll see, sir."
The collection room was filled with lot of objects confiscated from the soldiers. Robert searched through a pile of gameboy games.
Bowser spoke, "I don't see what this has to do with the creatures."
"Here it is." Robert put a gold colored cartridge into the gameboy. A bit of music played, then Robert showed Bowser the screen. "There, on this menu." Robert said. There was a picture of charmander on the gameboy.
"How did. . ."
"And this." Robert dropped some manga at Bowser's feet. "And this." Robert dropped a keychain to the floor. "And this and this and this. . ." Small random objects seemed to come from everyplace, all having to do with Pokémon.
"How. . . " Bowser said, "How. . . Pokémon?"
"Yes, sir."
"I. . . but. . . I'm confused!"
"Don't be, sir. Robert said, "It happens to the best of us."
"Lord Bowser!" Another gueard had entered the room, with a worried look on his face, "Reports of an unidentified aircraft have been. . ."
"Is this really urgent?"
"Well. . . it scared the men some, but. . ."
"Then we have more important matters." Bowser said. "We may stand a chance against Mario after all."
"S. . . sir?" The guard asked, "We might?"
"Yes, it appears General Robert, in his wateful tatics against Mario. . ." Bowser shifter a mean glance at Robert, who smiled innocently, ". . . has some 'friends' who have more power than any one koopa."
"Really, sir?" The guard asked, "You mean those strange visitors of ours?"
"The same ones."
"You mean like this fella?" The guard pointed to the foot tall charmander.
"Yes." Bowser, "That guy just might have more firepower than me."
"Lord Bowser," The guard scratched the back of his head nervously, "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Dead right, I am."
"Yes, lord." The guard said, and turned away. "Crazy. . . " he muttered.