Subject: Slowking/Sneasel (garage fix) On every third year, three months after the date of his initiation, a ninja must return to his jonin (clan leader) for an evaluation. A truthful, humble account of all accomplishments and downfalls must be given, and a test of skills will then commence. For exactly three hours and thirty-three minutes, the ninja must prove himself. If even the slightest mistake is made, that ninja must go into hiding and realign himself with the spirits of his ancestors, who will guide him along the path and return him to a state of peace with his surroundings. However, if the test is passed flawlessly, the ninja is granted an apprentice in the ways of the shadow. This apprentice will credit the ninja as his master from then on with all achievements; on the same note, any dishonor that the apprentice brings upon himself will also forever stain the master. During this time of tests and training, either of self or of another, the ninja must isolate himself from his normal life. Family, friends, and associates are left in the proverbial dark about the whereabouts of the ninja. While it is unlawful by the codes of the clan to speak of the specific rites of passage, the above information may be shared freely. However, from a short hiatus during which he began training his apprentice, Anthony... ...BONDI'S BACK! ----------- A lone sheaf of papers, printed out from a laptop computer, lays on the dusty counter in Bondi's Bunker. The sign on the door reads "Back in 5." Settling down to wait for Bondi's return, you flip through the papers... BondiBorg's Electronic Journal Time: 20:36:14 Mood: Bruised Music: "What a Day" - Nonpoint I've officially decided that EX Pokémon are quite annoying. They're at least three times larger than their normal counterparts, and much more powerful. Thankfully they have enhanced weaknesses to balance everything out. Today I woke up around noon and, after a quick shower, decided to walk down the beach a little way to the strip mall to pick up some kumquats and pomegranates. My mom makes a killer fruit salad with those things. Oh, by the way, I'm at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, hanging out at a beach house close to where my mom lives. For some reason, Umbreon has been pretty much undetachable from her this whole trip. Ever since I mentioned that her name was Karen, he's not left her for even a moment. I must admit it's nice not having to keep him straightened out constantly. This is the stuff that vacations are made of... As I was saying, I walked down to the strip mall to hit the produce section of the grocery store. It's a pretty nice place, it's got a lot of interesting stores. I know I've seen a Williams-Sonoma, a kitchen supply store, Home Depot, one of those massive home improvement warehouses, plus this upscale grocery place that sells a lot of exotic fruits. Of course, said fruits are just marked up prices of the exact same things sold a few blocks over in Japantown, but it's not worth the walk over there when I'm just getting a couple of items. As I was entering the grocery store, I heard screaming from the direction of Japantown, and saw a massive silhouette on the skyline above the buildings. The phrase, "Godzilla! AIIEEE!" carried over the distance, and I decided that after I got my fruit it might be a worthwhile venture to check out the commotion. Once I had picked out two of the best pomegranates in the store, and a very nice kumquat, I paid the cashier and headed towards the front of the store. When I tried to open the door, I found that a large green obstruction impeded my progress. I could barely budge it, but couldn't create enough space to squeeze out. It definitely wasn't there just a minute earlier, maybe something had fallen off the roof and blocked the door? Hmm...hold on, I just got a deck emailed in, let me halt the story for a minute while I fix it. ----- Hello Bondi, I was bored and decided to read through your deck fixes. I figured that it would be a good idea to have you review my deck, considering you are responsible for it in the first place. Pokemon (21) 2x Cleffa (Neo Genesis) 2x Rocket's Scyther (Gym Heroes) 2x Scyther (Jungle) 4x Slowpoke (Fossil) 4x Slowking (Neo Genesis) 4x Sneasel (Neo Genesis) 1x Sneasel EX (Ruby & Sapphire EX) Trainers (26) 4x Computer Search 2x Ecogym 3x Energy Charge 2x Focus Band 2x Gust of Wind 4x Item Finder 1x Nightly Garbage Run 3x PlusPower 2x Pokemon Fan Club 3x Professor Oak Energy (14) 4x Dark Energy 3x Double Colorless Energy 7x Grass Energy You know the strategy, so get to work, the Sneasels are bloodthirsty. from, The Apocalypse Dragon ----- For clarification, I built the original version of this deck for Apocalypse, and haven't updated it much since...looks like as good a time as any to give it a good once-over. It looks like you miscounted on the Pokémon, so you must have been running 58 cards. That's fine, we'll need the space. Hmm...the minimum for Trainers in competitive Unlimited nowadays is 30, and that's a tough goal to reach with this many critters. Rocket's Scyther seems to serve you a little better in most cases, so let's ditch the other Scythers. Pokemon (16) 4x Slowpoke (Fossil) 4x Slowking (Neo Genesis) 4x Sneasel (Neo Genesis) 2x Cleffa (Neo Genesis) 2x Rocket's Scyther (Gym Heroes) The Trainers look pretty good, but it's not surprising that I'd think so, seeing as it was originally built to my style. The only thing I can think of that I didn't catch last time I revamped the deck was the absolute lack of SER and ER. Trainers (30) 4x Computer Search 4x Item Finder 3x Professor Oak 3x Energy Charge 3x Super Energy Removal 2x Energy Removal 2x Ecogym 2x Focus Band 2x Gust of Wind 2x Pokemon Fan Club 1x Town Volunteers 1x Switch 1x Pluspower The energy counts look fine. Energy (14) 7x Grass Energy 4x Dark Energy 3x Double Colorless Energy ----- Ok, where was I? Oh, yes, the strange green object. Upon closer inspection through the glass of the door, I saw that it was covered in scales, and that it was slowly moving forward. After about a minute, enough had passed to where I could exit the store. Once I was out on the sidewalk, I finally got a good look at the creature. It was a Pokémon of some sort, but the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't make out too many of the details as I looked up at it. Obviously, it was an EX Pokémon, but what kind? An orange tendril lashed out from above, which I barely dodged only by flinging myself to the pavement. The Pokémon turned around and reared its' head, revealing its true identity. A Cradily! Another tendril shot towards me, which I rolled away from and jumped to my feet. Running into the store next door, I tried to think quickly. What on earth can take down a 25-foot Pokémon? Looking around the store, I see that I had managed to come into the Williams-Sonoma, which certainly isn't much for offensive weaponry. Glancing down, I was relieved to see that I still had my fruit from the grocery store, it would have been bad to lose it after all that trouble. That's when I remembered Cradily's weaknesses. I had read about them in a magazine recently, and was intrigued by the fact that it could be weak to both Grass and Fire simultaneously. Right at that moment, the in-store intercom played a notice about Heavy-Duty Salad Shooters in designer colors on aisle three. Hmm... Running through the store, I grabbed a bottle of cooking oil and tucked it under my arm, knowing I'd need it in just a moment. Apparently, the sale on the Salad Shooters had been going on for a while, for once I found aisle three the only remaining color of them was bright pink. With a shrug, I tore the box open and was delighted to find that it battery-powered. I started walking towards the front of the store, snapping into place the "Salad Scope" for long-range salad shooting and the "Salad Silencer" for absolutely discreet salad. Dropping my fruit into an insulated metal bowl, I doused it with cooking oil, then pulled out my lighter and set it aflame. Hey, I have to say, that lighter comes in handy for things other than burning Chaos Gyms. ^_^ With the bowl in one hand and the Salad Shooter in the other, I burst out of the door. The Cradily, obviously not too bright of a creature, didn't notice that I've returned until I yelled at it. Once I had its' attention, I grabbed one of the flaming pieces of fruit and shove it through the pink kitchen contraption. With a nearly-silent "thwunk", shards of pomegranate flew out of the barrel of the Salad Shooter at a very high velocity, bouncing off of the Cradily's snout. Apparently, the cooking oil splashed all over it, because the creature caught fire and turned tail to flee. Caught up in the moment, I used my two remaining pieces of fruit to set its' rear end on fire also as it fled. Content that I had done enough for one day, I set the Salad Shooter on the sidewalk and headed back to the beach house, short three very delicious fruits. Oh well.