~POKéMON: The ZIOGRADE (Z) Chronicles (PG, may get higher)~ PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!

[Pokémon Guard]

~POKéMON: The ZIOGRADE (Z) Chronicles (PG, may get higher)~ PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!

NOTE: PLEASE GIVE FEEDBACK ON MY WORK. PLEASE? Having one reply and eighty-one views isn't exactly encouraging to me, if you know what I mean.

NOTE: View the preview here! Pokemon: The Z Chronicles - PREVIEW

NOTE: View the preview here! Pokemon: The Z Chronicles - PREVIEW

Pokemon: The Z Chronicles
NOW RATED PG-13 FOR MILD TO MODERATE SWEARING, VIOLENCE, OR SEXUALITY

(Note to All: These chapters can sometimes be very long - I am sorry. Also, I am sorry if you find it to be bad quality, for this is a bit like a typical trainer fic, until later in the story, when it gets deeper.)

Prologue: Thousands of years earlier

A menacing shade of deep blood-red hovered over the One-Eyed Pyramid at night time. Thousands of small shrew-like Pokemon yelled "Sand, sand!"(1) as they watched the fog descend upon the lands like a demonic plague.

The figure wore a robe and very heavy boots, marked with the ancient writing of the Hieroglyphic Pokemon known as Unown. He had a regal flair about him, one that gave him power by default. His leathery boots brushed against the gritty grains, giving him an almost troll-like demeanor like a Loudred, yet he was still elegant and powerful like a Ho-Oh.

A tribe of ancient men followed behind them, dressed in nothing but pink wooly rags that generated electricity wherever they went. One made a joke to another about how many Flaaffies it took to make the rags, only to get intercepted by a booming "Silence!".

Saddened by the sternness of the powerful figure, the ancient tribe fell silent, instead studying the large-jawed Pokemon that dug pits in the earth(2). Finally, stopping at the door of the pyramid, the man took out a disk that contained many symbols. Some were shaped like water drops, others shaped like jagged leaves. "By the powers of the Legendary Beasts and Birds, I command you to open the door!"

An almighty creak began to echo at the front of the pyramid. He noticed that it contained pictures of Articuno, Unown, Moltres, Dragonair, and more(3). But he ignored it as the door opened with a powerful gust, and they continued into the pyramid. But... that was when he saw it.

Thousands and thousands of eyes. Fixed right on them. And not very happy. They glowed with bright and powerful energy, with a strange sense of fulfillment in their otherwise dangerous sheen. A thousand Pokemon everywhere's minds sensed a force, as the equally numbered eyes answered that call and blasted the tribesmen within an inch of their lives.

The man called on an Aggron, and yelled for it to tunnel into the earth. They made a quick underground getaway, ending up outside the pyramid.

They never returned.

As for the thousands of eyes, they simply disappeared back into the darkness, and divided into their round, gelatinous selves once more. "Another job well done, my friend," an intensely venomous voice laughed, echoing throughout the pyramid walls. "If you keep this up, all life will be exterminated. And then, the prime and raw power of us shall reign once more." The gelatinous blobs released a figure from their slimy grasp. It was small, kind-looking, with three tags decorating its yellow head. The eye on its stomach closed, and a deep laugh rang throughout the pyramid once more.

Then, the sound of an evil transformation.

In ten seconds, an evil figure made completely out of shadows shapeshifted into something green and large-mouthed, with a poisonous leaf fixated to its head and its tail. Its shape was like a bell, obviously used for swallowing things smaller than itself, and it stalked off into the night.

It kept moving through the desert, through the sandy, evil dunes of nightmares, and came to a wooden shrine. Tall, monumental, and on a bowl in the center of the shrine lay a gold and silver ball. The same ball that was impossible to open unless it was opened by the VERY PUREST of heart. Luckily, the evil figure brought a pure heart with it. It spit out the tagged fairy known as Jirachi, and placed it on the shrine, then the G/S Ball opened.

The Voice of the Forest echoed throughout the universe, and a small green creature flew out of the ball. It opened a portal, and the evil figure hopped right into the swirling purple vortex without questioning. As the last of its leaflike tail disappeared, the Time Protector closed up the Portal to the Future, and promptly disappeared with a "Biiii!"

Now, the evil figure (who had actually taken on the guise of a Victreebel), had a clear path right into the mind of a young boy with glasses. Intelligent, determined, and ready for battle. And just freshly 10 years old. Hailing from Pallet Town.

Yes, maybe the trainer would have had an innocent start, but the evil figure knew that he could use every opportunity to ruin it for him...

TO BE CONTINUED!

(1) A Sandshrew, but that should be obvious.

(2) A Trapinch, but that should be obvious.

(3) As seen in the Japanese Opening called 'Ready Go!'. This is the same door.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the posts made by Leon Phelps and The Great Butler.

"This is was a very enjoyable read. You've thought the plot out and described things well. So the numbers aren't really needed.

Minor error:
There should be a comma after 'yes'.

I won't judge a story by its prolouge but I will judge the author. You seem very passionate about your work. This wasn't rushed and there were no grammatical or spelling errors. You remind me of myself, which is a good thing. ^.^

~Leon P."

"Very, very good! I like this very much. I'm into ancient legends, pyramids, ruins and the like so there's some points right there. The description was simply excellent, and the story itself is off to a rock-solid start."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 1: Other Trainers Can Eat My Dust!!!

Ratings:
Violence – Well, there are a few bits that sound gruesome in their context.
Sexual – Nope. Squeaky clean.
Language – If you consider “crappy” to be bad language.

Purple clouds - a demonic night shade, wrought by some sort of terrible monster. I stood underneath a gigantic flower – the flower of some gigantic and firghtening grass Pokemon. Dalton was nearby. It was a Weepinbell. I threw a Pokeball - the Pokeball turned into Dalton's head. I screamed. 'AAAAAAAAH!'
Then, just like that, the Weepinbell evolves into a Victreebel, a sickly dark purple, and launches a seed right into Dalton's disembodied head.
“You will see just how horrible life can get, little boy... You think you’re so hot, starting your Pokemon journey tomorrow. Well, I’ll take every opportunity to ruin it for you! The Pokemon World will fear my wrath once I manipulate you all… TRUE POWER IS WHAT I SEEK!!!!!!!!!!”
The head glows purple. Then I wake up...
It was one very delightful morning and Pidgeys chirped as the brightly burning sun rained its creamy rays down upon the lush green forests of Pallet Town. My mother's Growlithe, Poptart, had a small toy Caterpie in its mouth, drooling and giving the Caterpie a slightly wetter hue. I, on the other hand, was not very energetic. I sadly stared up at the sky, the nightmare that I had earlier still weighing heavily on my mind.

My name is Jordan. I'm 10 years old today, and this day will begin an immensely long quest. My best friend, is Dalton. He's my twin brother – we’re fraternal twins. He's much spunkier than I am.
Dalton jumped down from the top bunk and crashed onto me. I gave a completely frightened start! 'DALTON!' Dalton laughed, 'You look like a Rattata. You should go into a fuel cell, and be WHOOSHed! You'd be taken care of!' I was about to give him a poisonous look, but I felt guilty for him somehow. Then, I remembered the dream that I had. “Nevermind, Dalton. Just let it go. I’m in a crappy mood...”
I jumped off my bunkbed, grabbed a doll of a Geodude, and turned on the tube, to see Professor Oak's wizened mug giving a report.
'Hello, all 10 year olds, and good morning! you keep watching this coverage you could get very excited. Will you choose these three element Pokemon? Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle are just some of the many Pokemon you will encounter on your journey, and forming a strong bond with them will unlock the stairwell to victory. Also, this year, we are giving a bonus of Eevee and Pikachu - the normal and electric types add an even wider variety. These Pokemon are so good for beginners, you might not be sure which to choose - but that's a good thing, because I believe that all of you will get every Pokemon for sure! Come to my lab at nine, to get a start to your journey! Now, thanks for watching Pokemon 5.'
I gave out a yell. 'Quite awesome! That's an hour away. Let's get ready!' Dalton and I began to pack quickly. I heard a sickly thud, but I ignored it... when I looked to my side, Dalton had fainted!!
'Dalton! Wake up, man!' I shouted. 'Ugh, my head!' Dalton said. I asked him, 'What happened?' Dalton answered, 'I'm not really sure! It feels okay, now...' Both of us laughed light-heartedly knowing that Dalton was okay. For now, anyway.
I said to him, 'We can take a few Z's before 9.' So, at 8:30, we fell asleep, letting the news reports on TV slowly lower our eyes. At 9:15, we woke up with a start, noticing that the alarm clock rang with a shrill “BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!”
We both screamed, 'WE'RE LATE!' I looked at Dalton. “What?!” he said. “You set the alarm clock wrong, didn’t you?”
I began to push Dalton, but he suddenly pushed me back hard. He was the spunkier brother, all right. “Okay, okay, let’s go,” I said. We ran downstairs, and encountered my mother.

'Hello, sons!' My mother, an accountant in Viridian City, said. 'I think you're late for the lab! Breakfast is ready. You can eat it on the way there.' We grabbed the breakfast and ran, not even daring to go near the Grimer Brand Toothpaste, which was the yucky, poisonous conconction that's sold dirt-cheap at Pokemarts in order to fool people with its cheapness. However, as I left, I looked at my mother. “What about my fa…” “Your father?” Mom asked. “Um, no,” I said, remembering my secret. “I was going to say, my… uh… my Falkner!” My mother eyed me suspiciously. “You know! The gym leader in Johto? Uh… I have a plushie of him! He’s pretty cool, so… uh, I have a plushie of him. It’s my, um, lucky charm!” I sighed at having to make up this lie. My mother nodded uneasily and closed the door.
Huffing and puffing, Dalton and I raced together down the rough dirt road leading to Prof. Oak's large laboratory. However, the bridge that crosses the Celadon River from Pallet Town to Celadon City was out!!
We read the sign on the wall. “Apparently, a mysterious bunch of thieves has traversed across this bridge and cut it down. This is why Pallet Town’s cops could not cross the bridge to chase the criminals, and so they got away. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
“NOW WHAT?” Dalton asked. “Keep it cool, dude,” I said. “Let’s walk along the bank and try to find anybody who has a Water Pokemon.”
We tried to find a trainer to help us.

There was a swimmer halfway down the road. He had five Pokeballs on his belt, no doubt full of large water Pokemon to cross the river. Dalton asked, 'Can we use one of your water Pokemon to cross the river?' I nudged him, and whispered “Say please next time.” The swimmer nodded and lent us a Lapras. “This is my trusty Lapras, and he’s been ferrying me all over Kanto for ten years!” Thanking the athlete, we crossed the river. Now it was 9:30! Prof. Oak would be furious! We picked up the pace, and ran straight and true into... Kadijah.

“Kadijah,” I whispered in a low voice. Dalton shrank back, wondering what business I had with her.
'Hello, boys,' the ridiculously evil girl told us. My worst enemy had turned 10 last week and already had a Metapod, a Pidgey and even a Seel!
'Get out of my way,' I said. Kadijah replied, 'Not until we have a Pokemon Battle!' I yelled, 'I don't have Pokemon yet!' Kadijah giggled, and answered, 'I completely forgot. Well, hehehehe, we'll have a battle AFTER you get your Pokemon! Novice!' I was furious! I sped past her, and towards the lab… I didn’t want any business with that girl. “She’s the girl you have problems with in school?” Dalton noted.

We walked up to the tall, steel doors. They were decorated with vivid pictures of Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Lapras, Raichu, Golem, Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Dragonite, all doing various powerful moves. No one was there - the last trainer had already left 10 minutes ago. I felt nervous as I knocked on the door, as if Prof. Oak was going to break through the door and eat me. But I knocked.
Prof. Oak's grumpy eye looked through the peephole and opened up with an amused grin. 'I'm sorry, kids! But you're half an hour late! However, I'll see if I can find something for you in my private collection of Pokemon, the ones I don't usually share with youngsters. I'm such a nice feller, huh? Can't disappoint children. Step right into my laboratory.'

I let out a sigh, then glanced at my impatient-looking brother. I followed Prof. Oak, and Dalton followed me. Dalton whispered, 'I wonder if they have Eevee?' I whispered back, 'Could be. I read that Prof. Oak has nearly 1,000 Pokemon, and he probably has dozens of the more common ones each!' Dalton immediately closed his mouth happily, knowing that that meant there could be about three or four Eevees.
Once we stepped inside Prof. Oak's ludicrous labyrinthine laboratory, we were adequately amazed at the examples we encountered. There were rows upon rows upon rows of Pokeballs on each side of the room. There were about 50 in each row, and there were 10 rows. That worked out to about 2000 Pokemon for each wall! But, that didn't even count the few hundred more that were outside of the lab, at the ranches and lakes. Amazing. Eventually he took us to a back table, with five Pokemon on them. Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Eevee and Pichu. This was the private selection - the Pokemon Prof. Oak kept well hidden from the population of Pallet Town.

Dalton said, 'This is the moment of truth. I'll pick...'

Dalton suddenly realized what was going on. Not only was there Eevee. No, there were four others! Dalton couldn’t choose just one… His eyes focused and his pupil's concentration intensified as he stared at each round, shiny red-and-white orb, trying to decide which lovable critter would be his from this day on. He picked up Eevee's Pokeball and yelled, 'I choose you, Eevee!'
Dalton tossed his Pokeball to let his Eevee out. The small, brown, fuzzy Pokemon slightly resembled a fox. It let out a yawn and gazed up with big, watery eyes at its new owner, and promptly nuzzled up against his leg, deciding that Dalton was perfect for it. Prof. Oak said, 'That Eevee is a boy, and I know from experience that his personality is warm, cuddly and kind. But, once he evolves, he will fight to the finish with incredible determination. An excellent choice indeed.' Dalton glowed with happiness. 'Eevee, return!' And he called Eevee right back.
Now, it was my turn. 'Which Pokemon will I choose? I must think very hard about this decision, because I love all Pokemon.' My eyes slowly scanned the four remaining balls. Each held an incredible amount of power and equally amazing personality. My choice would stick with me forever. My mind finally closed on one Pokemon. My hand flew down on Pichu's Pokeball, and I held it up. 'Pichu, I choose you! Come on out!!' I immediately tossed my Pokeball down onto the cold linoleum. And out came Pichu. It was small and yellow, with big ears. The yellow ears had black tips lined around them, and underneath its large, curious eyes were two perfectly round red cheeks, each brimming with an untapped amount of electricity, waiting to be unleashed. I gulped. I knew this was my time. In the Pokemon World, I'd come of age. The Pichu looked around, and then charged up and gave me a gentle shock. 'Augh!' I yelled, which startled it and made it fall over. Prof. Oak shouted, 'Wait! It's okay! When it shocks you gently, that means it likes you. And it doesn't like loud noises, that startles it. Anyway, it's a boy, not an 'it'. He is one of the most energetic creatures out there, and he will definitely serve you well. He has the best attitude I've ever seen, and is a great friend as well as a great battler. Bravo, you have picked a wonderfully outstanding Pokemon! May he serve you very well, young Jordan!'

I didn't recall Pichu. He was my best friend now - it would make no sense to keep him in a Pokeball! Pichu looked up and giggled, 'Pi!'.
Now, Professor Oak handed us our Pokedexes. We gulped. Now we were true trainers. This was our trainer's license, and the Pokedex and the Pokeball were two items that would help me incredibly on my quest. Prof. Oak explained, 'The Pokedex is an invaluable tool for your Pokemon journey! It will keep track of the Pokemon you own, and the Pokemon you've seen. I have entered data on Eevee and Pichu: These are all Pokemon you've already seen.'

We waved farewell to Prof. Oak, and then we opened the same tall, decorative door. We were going to show my Mom our new Pokemon: The cuddly and eventually powerful Eevee, and the friendly battler who could do great things: Pichu. Unfortunately, we forgot about the deadly Kadijah.
Kadijah laughed, making deep frog sounds in her throat that sounded disgusting yet still like a 10-year-old girl, somehow. She was incredibly stubborn, for she had just waited half an hour for me to return (It was now 10.). 'Well, you're out. Now, remember my promise of a Pokemon battle? It's 1-on-1, so let's begin! Go... METAPOD!'
Kadijah sent out a green, cocoon-shaped Pokemon with gloomy-looking eyes. It moaned, 'Met-a-pod. Met-a-pod.' in monotone. It looked pathetic in my eyes! 'Pichu, I choose you! Give 'em a...' I looked at my Pokedex. 'Thundershock!' Pichu nodded at me with a 'Pi'. He charged up his tiny cheeks, and I was about to witness my little Pokemon's first attack. He sent powerful sparks flying across the arena that glowed upon Metapod's puny face as it approached. It hit directly and damaged wonderfully! With a woeful 'POD!', it was horribly weakened. Kadijah's face faltered, but then she laughed. 'Unfortunately for you, my Metapod's an evolved Caterpie, so it knows an attack that it wouldn't otherwise know: Tackle!'
Metapod launched itself at Pichu and rammed into his head. Pichu let out a yelp and fell over, but he got back up. It was only a scratch. Pichu was a big boy. And big boys don't cry... they play rough. I commanded, 'Thundershock!' Pichu let out a much larger shock this time, striking Metapod between its depressing eyes and launching it backwards through the air into Kadijah's face. 'Oof!'
Kadijah growled. 'So, you think you're so smart?!? I'll be back, Jordan! And better! My Pokemon'll evolve and catch, evolve and catch! Hahaha!'
I paid no attention to the silly Kadijah. Instead, I was entering Metapod into my Pokedex.
Pokedex Data: 3 seen, 2 owned
I went home and said goodbye to Mom. 'I'm off now!' Mom said, 'Of course, Jordan! You can come home whenever you want.' Then, I closed the door, caught up with Dalton, and we were off to the Viridian Pokemon Center.

To be continued in Episode 2!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, I think this leaves a couple unanswered questions... Exactly the effect I was hoping for. Please R+R, and remember to read the preview!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. I get less posts on my fanfiction than anybody else, and it makes me depressed. =(

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Guess what's stupid?! There are a bunch of views on this, and no posts. Is my thread really so bad? Please, please comment. You're making me have to break a rule! I'm sad! ;_;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: The Forest of Viridian

Ratings:
Violence – Typical Pokemon Battle stuff. Well, a human does break a leg… and a lot of the humor is comedy.
Sexual – No. Not anything sexual at all!
Swearing – Oh noes, I took His name in vain!

It was high noon in the wild plains of the first route in Kanto. Dalton said, “God. It’s burning out here. Can’t we stop and take a rest?” “No,” I said. “I’m very anxious to fight Pokemon and get stronger. By the time we reach Viridian City, I hope that we’re strong enough to take down a Rhyhorn or something!” Dalton nervously followed behind. “That’s just weird, Jordan. I doubt it, unless the Rhyhorn’s power is as flimsy as a Magikarp.”

Suddenly, out of the blue, a bird sped towards me! It nabbed my backpack – the very backpack that my mother had given me two years ago! It had all my items in it – my Pokedex, my Pokeballs, our food, my drawing materials (I enjoyed art) and even more. I had to get it back. “Pichu!” I looked down at my small partner, the yellow mouse Pichu, and yelled, “Use THUNDERSHOCK on the bird, please!” Pichu nodded, and was all too happy to send a cute little electrical jolt at it. The nervous bird squawked and tried to flap away, but got fried. The backpack, which my mother had given a sturdy black rubber handle, was saved and fell to the ground.

After picking up my backpack, I yelled, “Hey, Dalton! That’s a Pidgey!” Dalton nodded, looking at its brown feathers. We both added it into our Pokedex, and kept on walking. The heat began to subside as we approached Viridian City. We fought off Pidgeys and fended off Rattatas, and the sun began to set, turning the blue sky darker and redder, like a sleepy lion waiting for the rise of the crystal teardrop moon. “Hey look, Dalton!” I yelled. Dalton blinked. “See? That’s Viridian City, right over that hill.” We both stared down at Viridian City like eager children waiting for ice cream. It was a fairly large, but yet quaint town with pleasant green roofs. “We’ve lived too long in our humble little village,” Dalton said. “Now it’s time to travel all over the world!” I ran forward, Dalton following me.

As soon as we reached the tall gates of Viridian City, Dalton asked, “Do you think we should heal at Viridian City?” I nodded, and answered, 'Yeah. And then we can start battling at the gym!' Dalton gave a jump and asked, 'Are we really ready?' I laughed. 'If you believe in yourself, you're ready!' I pointed over to the gym in Viridian City. It was dark and empty-looking, but Dalton seemed confident, and I knew that I was ready too.

Then, we ran into Viridian City and started towards the Pokemon Center. “This is a Pokemon Center? I’ve seen them on television, but I never imagined they’d be so big,” I said, looking at the large and red-roofed clinic. As we approached, we saw a mob of trainers smothering the side of the Pokemon Center wall. But, however they moved away once one poster was up on the wall. We ran over to read it.

'Mysterious Thieves Loose in Viridian Forest. $50000 award to whoever rounds them up!' Dalton murmured. I yelled, 'If there's anyone who can do it, it's us!' Dalton yelled, “Wait! The Pokemon Gym!”

I stared back at Dalton. “Okay, fine. We’ll check the gym first, but I doubt we’re properly prepared.” I held out my Pokedex, which had several advanced options to monitor our Pokemon’s strength, and it clearly showed that our Pokemon’s levels weren’t even making a blip on the Pokedex’s strength radar. We walked over to the gym, which was just down the road from the Center, and saw the sign on the door. “It’s closed. See, I knew there was something,” I said. Dalton nodded in acceptance.

And we were off, but not before I healed Pichu, and Dalton healed Eevee. “Wow, this Pokemon Center sure is big,” I said. We handed our little Pokemon to Nurse Joy, an expert Pokemon Nurse, who took them in to a back room. “Our services are exceptionally quick and powerful. The healing system’s restorative properties should get your Pokemon better in no time,” Nurse Joy said. It was hardly minutes before we got our Pokemon back. Pichu giggled and let out a shock, but we were out the door, and he followed quickly.

As we entered Viridian Forest, it immediately seemed to take on a darker hue. It was like a giant labyrinth full of tall trees that completely blocked the sunlight. “This is impossibly dark,” I whimpered, hugging my little Pichu. “I know you, bro. You’re more confident than this. You are brave, intelligent, and ready for battle,” Dalton said. “I know. I’m just getting into it right now,” I murmured.

In the dark, mazelike woods, we looked around every corner to see if any robbers were making their getaway. “This is really cool! We get to be heroes,” Dalton said. “I’m kind of scared, if you ask me,” I said. “We’re just humble children.” Dalton said, “No, seriously! IT’S TIME TO KICK BUTT! C’mon!” Dalton grinned in anticipation, looking ready for something that vaguely resembled carnage. “You know what, brother? Your attitude just saved my confidence. You’re the best!” I said, cheering up. “Now, let’s look for the bad guys!” We looked around, wondering where the thieves were. It didn't look like there were any - everything was silent and still. Then, I heard a cute-sounding growl that sounded something like 'Gorilla!' and I whipped around on the spot, coming face to face with a Caterpie which fired a string shot around Dalton, making him collapse to the ground. “Wargh! I look like a mummy! It happened so fast,” Dalton screamed as he dropped to the floor.

'I choose you, Pichu!' I yelled immediately at my caterpillar-like foe. 'A weak thundershock!' Pichu charged up, and Caterpie launched itself at Pichu, but it wasn't fast enough. Pichu fired several bright, dangerous sparks into Caterpie's face, stunning him. Then, I threw a Pokeball. 'Pokeball... catch 'm! This'll be my first catch!!'
The Pokeball wiggled. Once. Twice. On the third time, its bright light faded. I waited several seconds, and then smiled. 'I... I caught a Pokemon! Awesome!' I yelled, and then sent the Caterpie out of its Pokeball. It was a girl. She crawled over and nestled itself on Pichu's head, between its ears. However, Caterpie and Pichu were both about the same size and weight, so Pichu toppled over.
As I would soon find out, Caterpie would also be the first to evolve. Our battle had gotten the attention of something…
“What is that infernal buzzing noise?! Is that you, Jordan?!” Dalton groaned as he wiggled his way out of Caterpie’s String Shot. I looked at him like he was crazy. “I don’t think I could make that noise if I tried!”

Well, saving all of the tenseness, let’s just say that we found out exactly what was after us. Beedrill began buzzing in all directions, ticked off by the apparent noises of Pichu’s thundershock. “AAAAAAAAAH!” Dalton screamed. “THEY’RE GOING TO INJECT US WITH THEIR STINGERS!! MOMMY!!” This time, I was the one to take charge. I stepped forth, and my Pokemon soon followed. We were ready to challenge the bees.

The Beedrills all honed in on one thing only: Caterpie. I called out, 'No! Caterpie!' and sent her back in her Pokeball. The Beedrills got angrier, and swooped in towards me. They were originally about a hundred feet away up in the air, looking like an ordinary swarm of bees, but now they were descending and they were only a couple meters away. I called out, 'Pichu! THUNDERSHOCK!' Pichu fired a lightning blast right at the Beedrills. The Beedrills flew out of the way and the bolts vaporized in mid-air. 'Oh no! Run for it!' I yelled! Dalton and Pichu ran past me, not wanting to get negotiated with them. Then, the Beedrills were VERY angry. They descended right upon my back, and got me! …Or did they?

I fell over, just barely dodging all but one of the Beedrill’s stings, and Caterpie's Pokeball rolled into the grass. The button on it opened... As I slowly got up from the powerful brunt of a Beedrill’s sharp stinger in my back, I realized that I was about to learn that size doesn’t matter.
And Caterpie came out, turned around bravely, and fired a silky string at one of the Beedrills, turning it into a mummy! Then, Caterpie swung it around in circles. And you know what she did? The first Beedrill knocked into all the other ones, making them turn into a gigantic ball of String Shot and Beedrills. I sat up, and shouted, 'Now, Caterpie! Slam them down on the ground!' Caterpie slammed the ball of buzzing Beedrills down on the ground and knocked them all unconscious.

Then, Caterpie stuck her head up into the air. She shot a long and wet string shot into the air, which rained down upon her like a million beads of light. She glowed a brilliant white, and shapeshifted into a cocoon shape. Finally, this transformation ended when the bright shine faded. Caterpie... had evolved. I didn’t know what to think at first. This was my first evolution. I was feeling scared, so I just blurted, 'You just evolved! Oh my!' She was now a Metapod. I entered more data into my Pokedex.

Now, I realized there was not much to be afraid of. After experiencing what awesome feats my Pokemon had just done, I realized that I was stronger than I thought I was. “I’m braver than I ever knew I was! I’m stronger than I ever thought I was. POKEMON IS GREAT!” I yelled to no one in particular, provoking strange looks from Dalton.

We rounded a corner. There was a fork in the road. I took left, and we started moving in a squiggly line through the woods. That was when a shady figure dropped down from the trees.... “Aaaah! Who is that guy?” I screamed in shock, and then my eyes focused to see that it was a thief in a dark uniform wearing a smudged hat. 'What are you doing here, foolish youngster?!' The thief roared with rage. 'You shouldn't disrupt the operations of Team Rocket!' The thief was carrying a piece of paper with the image of a fossil on it. “Hey! It’s not my fault that I’m traveling in this forest,” I muttered to myself. Then, I decided to speak my opinions a little more strongly.

'Whatever you're doing, I'm going to stop it!' I shouted angrily. Then, I leapt at the Team Rocket Guard, and tossed out a Pokeball. 'I choose you... METAPOD!' Metapod sat there. 'Metapod, Harden!' Metapod instantly tensed up and her outer casing became like steel, glinting in the sun. Metapod now was a defensive machine. 'Go, Oddish!' The guard yelled. Oddish was certainly an odd little Pokemon, with green leafy hedges on its head and a small blue turnip body. Oddish leapt forth and pounced on Metapod. But her hard outer casing was extra - protective. Oddish jumped back, yelling 'Odd!' Because the hard metallic body of Metapod had hurt its weak blue foot!

'Haha! Your Oddish is nothing but a wimp!' Dalton told the foolish thief, and the thief instantly ran away with rage. 'I'll get you, and I'll be better!' He cursed the sun, or he would have, if the sun was visible underneath the dim cover of the trees. We then kept going ahead, towards the end of Viridian Forest. We were going to make it, but little did we know that one of our toughest tests lay ahead. I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me.

“Did you hear that?” I asked. After receiving no response, I turned to Dalton, who was seeming spaced out. “Yo, Dalton!” I yelled with worry. Dalton shook his head, and said, “Sorry about that, I blanked out. What was that?” “There was a rustling, I said.” Then, suddenly something happened that startled me.

Another thief jumped down upon the ground, with the same uniform. This time, I noticed the big red R on his uniform and laughed. 'I've heard of you fools from my fellow officer! You're going down!' I laughed as soon as he sent out that Sentret. It was a weak-looking rabbit-like thing that bounced on its tail like Tigger. I almost felt bad to attack it, but I did. 'GO, PICHU!' But, Sentret knew a surprise attack. Before I could even give a command, Sentret struck his tail down upon the ground and started a fissure. Pichu weakly wobbled, and cried out, 'Pi!' The Team Rocket member said, “No Sentret ever, ever knew Fissure. My Sentret is special!”

'Stay strong!!' I yelled. I felt the earth begin to shatter underneath my feet! Sentret and Pichu threw themselves at eachother in mid air! 'PIIIIIIICHU!' Pichu screamed, and sent out a huge bolt of lightning from his little cheeks, ones that latched onto the pitiful Sentret and electrified him! An electric shock came rippling in the air, and I don't remember what happened after that. I completely blanked out, with earthquakes rumbling in my head.

The next thing I remembered, I was lying in a hospital bed. Pokemon Centers were for Pokemon, but in critical situations, the kind Nurse Joy would accept human beings. I looked around in a confused manner, realizing that I must have succumbed to Sentret’s fissure. Then, Dalton came into the room. “You okay, dude?” He asked. “That was one killer attack! Pokemon have much more overwhelming power than it seems at first glance, don’t you think?” I nodded weakly, and then he continued, “And lookie lookie!” He produced a thick wad of Pokemon currency from his pocket full of 1000-P (P is short for Pokemon Currency) bills. I gasped, “Wow! Think of the things we could buy and see with that!”

I looked up at the bright Pokemon Center light, which blared in my face a little too intrusively. I shook my head and focused it somewhere else. Then, I noticed the nurse who was standing there, with bubblegum-pink hair. “Wait! You’re Nurse Joy! But you were in Viridian…” Nurse Joy laughed. “No, she was my little sister. I’m the Nurse Joy of Pewter City. You’re in Pewter City!” “Wow,” I said. “There are lots of you, aren’t there?” Nurse Joy’s smile faded. “It’s a secret to everybody. Now, I’ll give you a free meal for your troubles, how about that?”

Looking at the menu of the Pokemon Center’s restaurant, I requested a pizza… my favorite food. The bandage on my leg, caused from my massive injury, was something I decided I’d never take off. Then, we sat down to eat. We shared the pizza, and nobody would guess how much of an appetite I really had. “Hey, look at that,” Dalton said. We noticed a poster on the wall. It was advertising the Pokemon League Challenge.

“Hey, trainers! Do you want to blah blah blah,” Dalton said sarcastically. “Don’t be such a humbug! Look, it’s the exciting Pokemon League Challenge! Trainers walk all over the vast land of Kanto. They must gain eight Pokemon badges from the Gym Leaders patrolling the area. Only then can they unlock the path to the Pokemon League Competition, which is a great tournament and all leads up to the Elite Four challenge. Can you imagine being one of the greats?” I said. “We’re going to sign up for this!” Dalton said, “I’m not gaining badges.” “Then how will you get into the league?” I asked inquiringly of him. Dalton shrugged.

The next day, we went to the Poke-Mart. It was a bit smaller than the roomy Pokemon Centers, and lots of items and gadgets were sold under its blue roof. Talking to the kind and chubby shopkeeper, we learned that the gym leader here, Forrest Harrison of the renowned Pewter Gym, was looking for a real challenge of Pokemon that were around level 10 and full of energy. He was a rock-type trainer, and I’d need to shop here to get all the materials I’d need. I stared down at Pichu and realized from the official Pokemon Handbook that Pichu wouldn’t put up a great fight against Rock Pokemon. Good thing I was intelligent enough to come up with developed strategies! “We should go back into Viridian Forest and train up a bit,” I thought decisively. Dalton nodded, and said, “I’m going to try to catch a Pokemon!”. So, we went back in to the deep forest. This time, I wasn’t afraid.

I saw a large man, trying to chase a Diglett! “Get back here, ya nasty varmit!” The guy screamed. “I’m-a gonna have to take drastic measures with this here Machoke!” he said, pointing to a Pokeball. I yelled, “Don’t worry! Go, Metapod!” I tossed the red orb, making it glint in the sun, except that there was barely any sun underneath the dark canopy of Viridian Forest. Metapod appeared in a flash of light, her green body tough as bricks.
I smirked, knowing that my Metapod knew more than just Harden. Kadijah was good for something after all: Teaching me that an evolved Metapod knows other attacks. “Tackle attack, Metapod!” Metapod’s body leapt forward, the few specks of sun reflecting off of her shell, and then, with a powerful move, she hit the center of Diglett’s small brown body in a large crunch. Then, I threw a Pokeball, and Diglett was mine.
The guy laughed, “Never have I seen such an amazing young lad and such a remarkable Pokemon! You oughta go straight to the Pokemon League without any badges! Haw!” I thanked him warmly for his praise, and finally Dalton and I went back out of the woods.

Hours passed before we were finally ready to challenge the gym leader. The sun was at its highest and we faced the rocky doors of the Pewter Gym. “This gym looks… kind of weird,” I said. As we looked around the tall gym, we noticed that there were tons of rainbow-colored flowers and splashes of paint all over it. “It’s as if some kind of weird woman with a knack for painting got a hold of this gym,” I muttered. Dalton laughed, but then he got serious. “You have a Pichu, a Metapod, and a Diglett. You can do it. Do we go in now?” I nodded. “We go in!”

To be continued…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I DON'T EVEN CARE IF YOU READ THIS! JUST REVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!

 

[Pokémon Guard]

MGPJ Remix – Chapter 3
Rock ‘n’ Roll!!

(Note: This takes place before the events of Episode 453, “Brock and Ash! Defense of Pewter Gym in Tag Battle!?”. Forrest has not yet evolved Onix and Brock’s parents are still on a business trip, leaving the young Forrest to take care of the gym’s battling duties.)

We were standing at the front of the large, rocky doors of the Pewter City Gym, and as I opened the doors, Pichu seemed to gulp a little. We walked inside to the big, spacious arena. “What… the… heck?” The entire arena was filled with splashes of paint, just like the outside. “Ignore it,” I said. “We’re going to battle!’ Dalton asked. “Is anyone here?” I asked. “If the Pewter City Gym Leader is present, I challenge him!!” Suddenly, a child jumped down in front of me, making the ground shake. “I am Forrest Harrison, the younger brother of the previous gym leader, Brock Harrison. He has given me his two Rock Pokemon to help me win! And, a few others too.” Suddenly, a huge group of children appeared from the railing of the gym. “Those are my eight brothers and sisters, not counting Brock. They always give me the confidence I need to win every match!!” “They look kind of creepy to me,” Dalton whispered.

I said, “I am Jordan, and I would like to challenge you for the Boulder Badge!” Forrest smiled. “Okay! It’ll be 2-on-2! So, let’s go!” A Rock Arena unfolded on the battlefield, complete with stalagmites…

“3… 2… 1… GO!” shouted the third oldest brother of the Harrison family, from up in the balcony. “Thanks, bro!” Forrest yelled. Then, we started the match!!

I yelled, “GO! Pichu!” Bounding forth from my shoulder came the fuzzy yellow mouse, while Forrest smiled. “Go, Geodude!” Forrest yelled! Dalton looked in his Pokemon Guidebook. “Jordan! Pichu is much less strong than that Geodude, and he’s at a type disadvantage!” I smirked, and told him, “Pichu has got a lot of good strategy to make up for that. Pichu, use CHARM!”

Pichu leapt up in front of Geodude and started acting cute. Geodude got a blank look on its face, and Forrest shouted, “Geodude, use ROCK THROW!” Geodude crossed its arms and leapt at Pichu, striking him with several rocks. However, Geodude wasn’t attacking very strongly – Pichu’s Charm attack caused Geodude to not want to attack him as hard! Geodude had taken the bait of Pichu’s cuteness! Pichu laughed. “Now, Pichu! Use Thundershock!” Pichu let loose a small zap of electricity, and Geodude let out a small groan, but it continued to hover there. Forrest yelled, “Geodude, use another ROCK THROW!” Geodude slammed into Pichu with more rocks, making him yelp out in pain and fall to the ground. Pichu got back up again, with a couple bruises this time. “That attack hurt a bit harder,” I noted. “Charm must be wearing off!” Forrest laughed, “You may have good strategy, but the effect of the charm is temporary! Geodude, use ROCK THROW, and make sure it counts!”

Geodude went flying at Pichu with another pelting of rocks, this time making him fly a couple feet back and breaking a stalagmite. Pichu yelled out in pain and was bruised badly. Pichu got up, but started wobbling. “Pichu! USE A HARD THUNDERSHOCK!!!! After this, I’ll call you back, I promise!” Pichu weakly nodded and dashed up to Geodude, then locked onto it and zapped with all his strength. Despite the low effectiveness against Geodude’s types, the strength of the zap sent Geodude flying back, and smashing into the dirt with a lot of pain. Geodude was now intensely weakened.

Forrest gasped, “We can’t afford another attack! Geodude, defense curl!” Geodude curled up into a ball and became tougher and harder than before, now like steel. I yelled, “Pichu, return! Go… DIGLETT!” Pichu toddled back to my shoulder as I threw Diglett’s Pokeball.

Diglett came out, but as soon as he launched out he was buried a few inches in the ground. I was confused. “Diglett, can’t you stay out of the earth?” Dalton said, “According to my Pokedex, Digletts are constantly rooted into the earth during battle in order to get the minerals they need to keep fighting. Diglett would be a lot less strong out of ground.” I decided that it was a good thing for Diglett to stay in the ground, and yelled, “Diglett! Use Magnitude attack, NOW!” Diglett nodded and tensed up his body, trying to shake up loose earth. Suddenly, a dizzying volley of ground was uprooted and blasted into Geodude’s body. The Pokedex beeped, “Magnitude 7!” Dalton told me, “Magnitude is an attack that’s strength varies depending on Diglett’s energy, and the Pokedex records the strength of the blast! 1 is weakest, while 10 is strongest! That one was a 7, so that was a fairly strong one.” Geodude roared in pain, and crashed to the ground, its eyes reduced to dizzy swirls. Forrest yelled, “You’ve been great for the time you survived, Geodude! Return!” Forrest recalled his Pokemon into his Pokeball with a swirl of glowing red light.

I told him, “Well… what’s your next Pokemon?” Forrest answered, “My next Pokemon is a lot stronger than my first, Jordan. Go… ONIX!” Forrest threw a shiny red Pokeball and it flew through the air, landing on a small rock formation jutting out of the field. And, bursting out of it came a long, huge snakelike Pokemon with huge boulders for vertebrae and mean-looking eyes! It must have been at least 25 feet long, maybe even 30 feet long. But, it was a lot larger than Diglett, who was a little under a foot tall. And when it roared with its cold, stony blood, it sent a terrible shiver down my spine!! Dalton yelled at me, “That’s an intensely strong Pokemon! My Pokedex is giving readings that his Onix is just a few inches short of 29 feet long, and rounding up, it weighs about 500 pounds!” I had quickly gotten over my shock of Onix – it was not smart to be intimidated of it. “Use Rock Throw, Onix!! Try to make this a great one!!!” Onix roared intensely loud and opened its mouth, sending large boulders at Diglett. One of them hit Diglett straight in the face, sending him down into the earth to hide. The rest made massive craters on the ground. Diglett came back up, heavily bruised. “That one attack hit Diglett hard,” I muttered. “That Onix is no joke. If the rest of the rocks have hit, Diglett could’ve probably fainted twice!” Dalton yelled out, “Ground types are still fairly strong against Rock/Ground types! Don’t forget!” “I know!” I yelled. “Diglett, use Magnitude!” Diglett concentrated on shaking the earth yet again. “Magnitude 2,” grimly beeped the Pokedex, and Onix didn’t flinch! “No!!!” I yelled. Forrest laughed, “Well, I hate to do this, because you have a nice strategy… but your Pokemon are simply too weak! So, without further ado… Onix, finish it off with a Rock Throw!” Onix roared with pride and launched many more boulders at Diglett. Diglett was pelted with them, and fainted. The little brother, who had been standing nearby the whole battle, cried out, “Diglett and Pichu have both fainted! Forrest’s Pokemon, Geodude and Onix, have won, and Jordan is the loser!”

I frowned. “I can’t believe it… I… I lost!” Dalton came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey,” Forrest said, and I looked up, wondering what was going on. “It’s okay,” Forrest said. “We can have a rematch! I’ll tell you what. First of all, you should raise your Pokemon a few more levels, and catch a grass Pokemon. Then you’ll have a better chance.” I smiled, and nodded. “Okay! I’ll come back when I’m ready!”

As we walked outside of the gym and healed our weak and damaged Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, Dalton said, “I keep checking the Pokedex… and it says you can’t find Grass Pokemon in any of the past areas we visited, or in the upcoming area, Route 3, that lies before Mt. Moon!” “That’s really odd,” I wondered. Dalton smiled, though. “However, it also says here that the only Pokemon you can find in Viridian Forest are Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna, and Pikachu. But we saw both a Diglett and a swarm of Beedrill in there!” “Maybe there are some rare Pokemon that wander in there by accident. Do you think that maybe we can take our chances by going back in there again?” Dalton said, “Sure. I think there could be the occasional Oddish.”

Little did we know that the Pokemon we would find would be even better.

We had been at the first stretch (coming from Pewter City) of Viridian Forest for several hours, defeating Caterpies and Weedles. And, in a battle with a particularly stubborn Kakuna in which Metapod and Kakuna were equally matched, my Metapod suddenly evolved… into a Butterfree!

The Kakuna had used poison sting at the beginning of the battle, poisoning Metapod! I told her to stay strong, and I tried using Tackle a few times. After the one poison sting, Kakuna used harden to get tougher and tougher. However, towards the end of the battle, a weakly poisoned Metapod evolved into a Butterfree and used Confusion. Although bugs are strong against psychic attacks, Confusion did enough damage to win the fight. And we still fought other Pokemon a little longer, trying to find a grass-type.

Dalton and I searched deeper into the woods, and looked around. “I don’t think we can find a Grass Pokemon,” Dalton grimly remarked. But I replied, “That Team Rocket guard had an Oddish. He could have possibly caught it in the woods.” But Dalton replied, “But it’s more likely that he had the Pokemon a long time ago.” “Or maybe he stole it,” I remarked, before I heard a loud crash. Dalton gasped, “That noise came from the east!” We went to a part with a large fork in the road, and took the left path. We both gasped in unison as we saw what was lying in the middle of the road. It was an injured Bulbasaur, lying on its side, with many Beedrills stinging it. “PICHU!!! USE THUNDERSHOCK!” I yelled, and Pichu zapped the Beedrills, sending them all straight to the ground. Then I ran over to the Bulbasaur’s side.

Dalton gasped, “It has a few scars and bruises. They are healable, but they are paining the Pokemon greatly. We need to get it to a Pokemon Center!” We picked up the Bulbasaur and ran back to the Pewter Pokemon Center. As we burst into the happy interior of the clinic, I told Nurse Joy, “We found this Bulbasaur lying on the ground being attacked by a Beedrill swarm! It has several scars from the stings it’s been given, and it needs a Pokemon Center fast!” The sympathetic nurse sighed, “Oh. There has been a nasty swarm of Beedrill in Viridian Forest for a long time. Nobody knows how the Beedrill got there, for they don’t usually appear in those woods. But they have terrorized the forest for a long time.” I replied, “I think that we’ve been a tussle with that swarm once before, too. Right after I caught Butterfree – when it was a Caterpie, of course, some Beedrills were alerted by our battle and began to attack us! So that must have been the same swarm attacking Bulbasaur.” Nurse Joy nodded, and said, “Yeah, it must be them. They love terrorizing Pokemon.” I had begun to ponder beside Dalton for a little bit while Nurse Joy checked Bulbasaur’s condition in the back room. She came back out, and said, “He is on the road to recovery, but many of his wounds are burning with pain. He needs a good night’s rest and should be ready to fight tomorrow.” I nodded, and went to the trainer’s lounge with Dalton for a good night sleep, Pichu laying on my chest.

The next day, at about 8:30 AM, we went up to Nurse Joy, who said proudly, “Bulbasaur has recovered well. It turns out that that Bulbasaur was actually very strong and large. The only reason that he was injured so badly was because of the many Beedrill stings and slashes. His high endurance has allowed him to recover more quickly than normal!” I sighed with relief. Nurse Joy handed me Bulbasaur. Because I found him wounded, I felt it was right for him to go back to the wild, and I was about to take him back to Viridian Forest, when Bulbasaur cried out. I realized… This Bulbasaur wants to go with me!!

So, I set down Bulbasaur and said, “Okay, Bulbasaur! You can come with me!” And suddenly, I realized something was strange about Bulbasaur. This guy was strong. First of all, he wasn’t 2’4” like the average height of most Bulbasaurs. Instead, he was almost a whopping three feet tall! The tip of his bulb was almost at my chest. And also, he had a few strange stripes on his body instead of spots. He was large and different-patterned, which was interesting for a Pokemon! It was almost as if you could feel an aura of strength from him.

And, at 10:00 AM, we went to Pewter City Gym again. And this time, we were ready. “So, we’re going back for a rematch,” I said with determination. Then I took a deep breath and went back in to the Pewter City Gym, followed by Pichu, then Dalton and Eevee.

I looked around the Pewter Gym. “Forrest, are you there?! I’m ready for my rematch!” I called out. Forrest came out of the shadows, making me jump. “Heh heh, sorry about that!” Forrest said. I answered, “Come on… Forrest!” Forrest stepped back and yelled, “This time, it’s 3-on-3! And I’m not holding back, so be prepared for another training session!”

I screamed, “Go, PICHU!” And Forrest screamed, “Go Geodude!” Pichu bounded forth to the center of the arena, crackling with the electricity that was rippling from under his fuzzy yellow fur. As Forrest threw the small red Pokeball straight through the air, it opened up and out came a small Geodude that flexed its muscles and yelled, “Geo.” This was a different Geodude from the one I fought before. “I raised this one on my own,” Forrest explained. “Okay… Pichu, use Charm, then follow up with a strong Thundershock!!” Pichu went up to Geodude and acted cute. And Geodude’s eyes softened – this one took the bait!! Now, Pichu leapt back, and Geodude tried hitting Pichu with one of its arms, missing his head. Then, Pichu charged its cheeks and let loose a thundershock of excellent proportions, zapping Geodude. Geodude wobbled slowly, a few visible cracks on its body, but then tightened its muscles. “GEODUDE, USE BODY SLAM, NOW!!” Forrest screamed. “I found a Move Tutor to teach me that move!!” Geodude charged straight at Pichu with his own body, leapt high in the air, and came down. Pichu cried out with shock as his body felt the pain, but stood up immediately. “That won’t save you from… THUNDERSHOCK!” Pichu used Thundershock one last time and fried Geodude, despite the type disadvantages. Geodude crashed to the ground, the ref deeming him fainted.

“Good battle with Geodude,” Forrest said. “But how will you fare against my stronger Geodude? The one you fought before?” “Pichu, return now! Go… Diglett!” I yelled, Pichu bouncing back to me as I threw my Pokeball onto the dirt of the Rock Arena, the Diglett emerging. “Go, GEODUDE!!” Forrest yelled out as he tossed his Pokeball and summoned a stronger Geodude. “Geodude… ROCK THROW!!” Pummeling Diglett with small rocks, Diglett was not as fazed as when the stronger Onix had attacked him once. Diglett shook it off. “Diglett, Magnitude!” Diglett concentrated on quaking the earth as he had before, and the Pokedex beeped, “MAGNITUDE 8!” The earth quaked up and slammed into Geodude with bone-bending force, making the Geodude almost squeal in pain, despite its low gravelly voice. Geodude was thrashed about and crashed into a couple rock formations, reducing them to rubble. Forrest yelled, “Oh no! Here’s a potion!” Forrest took out a spray potion from his backpack and sprayed Geodude, making it feel a little better. “Is that allowed?” I asked. Forrest answered, “By official Pokemon League rules, it’s allowed in battle in order to heal your Pokemon.” “That’s stupid,” I said. “Now… Diglett, MAGNITUDE!!!!!”

“Magnitude 4,” beeped the Pokedex. Diglett tensed up as a low rumble filled the field and small chunks of earth hit Geodude from underneath. Geodude floated up and began to levitate. “Geodude’s levitation ability has kicked in,” the Pokedex noted. “Oh, great! Now I have to use…” I looked at the list of Diglett’s moves in my Pokedex. “Diglett, use Scratch!” Diglett ducked into the earth, and came up in front of Geodude, and somehow managed to scratch him, though no arms were visible. Geodude moaned and gripped its arm. Forrest yelled, “Use your Rock Throw like a machine gun!!!” I yelled, “Pop in and out of the ground! Start playing Whack-a-Mole with Geodude!” So Diglett ducked under ground and popped up in another hole far away. Geodude tried aiming a flurry of rocks at Diglett, but he ducked back in! Diglett kept going between the two holes furiously, confusing Geodude greatly! Eventually, Geodude accidentally used Rock Throw – on itself!!!!

A dizzy Geodude began to wobble. “Now, hit him from underneath!” Diglett made a new hole straight underneath Geodude and popped up under him, making Geodude scream in pain and fly up into the air! Geodude crashed down, unconscious. The referee yelled, “Geodude is unconscious!” Forrest nodded and recalled Geodude, saying, “You did well. Now… for my final Pokemon!” “Mine too,” I said. “Diglett, return! Go… BULBASAUR!!!!!” “So, you did catch a grass Pokemon. That’ll be a much better match for… ONIX!!!!!!!!”

Both of our Pokemon came out in a flash of red. A shocked Forrest yelled, “That Bulbasaur! It’s huge, and it has odd markings!” I nodded. “Nurse Joy told me this Bulbasaur is stronger than normal Bulbasaurs. I found him in a fight with some Beedrill!” Forrest screamed, “Now, Onix… Bind him!!!” Onix’s huge, snakelike body curled around Bulbasaur, and although Bulbasaur was a bit larger than normal, it still looked like a little toy in the grasp of Onix. Then, Onix squeezed Bulbasaur hard!! “Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip! Try to free yourself!!” Bulbasaur struggled to move in Onix’s tight grasp, his breathing hard. “Please… just try!” I desperately yelled. Bulbasaur’s eyes shot open. And he let out a loud cry as its vines whipped Onix with a great fury. Onix roared terribly as the attacks lashed at him, making his hard, large body release Bulbasaur and go flying backwards into a rock structure, making it collapse onto him. Forrest gasped. “Onix, come on, are you in there?” Onix slowly lifted its head out of the rubble. “Onix, use ROCK THROW NOW!!!” Forrest yelled in desperation. Onix charged up and released a flurry of boulders of Bulbasaur, heavily hitting him. But the tough-as-nails Bulbasaur shook it off. “According to the Pokedex… Bulbasaur knows a weird attack… BULBASAUR, USE SKULLBASH!!!!!” Bulbasaur flew threw the air and hit him with his head, making Onix roar and collapse to the earth, trying to get up.

Forrest called out, “Onix! Tryyy to get uuup!!!” Onix was down on the ground, but not unconscious. Now Onix was lying on its side on the floor. Just lying there, with its eyes flashing angrily, roaring. Onix could not stand up properly. Forrest said, “Can you still attack?” Onix roared a “Yes” and fired a blast of boulders at Bulbasaur, striking him. Bulbasaur flew backwards a long way, about to hit a dangerous rock pillar. “Bulbasaur, use your vine whip and swing around the pillar!” Bulbasaur swung around using the pillar and flew back towards Onix. “Now, Bulbasaur… use Skull Bash!!!” Bulbasaur literally used his head and slammed into one of Onix’s boulders, making it roar loudly in pain and crash down, conked out, to the ground. The referee yelled out, “Onix is unable to battle! Jordan and his team of Pichu, Diglett, and Bulbasaur wins, while Forrest and his team of Geodude, Geodude and Onix loses!”

I ran up to Bulbasaur and hugged him. “Thank you so much!!! I want to call you a nickname…” Bulbasaur looked at me and cocked his head. “Hmm… how about… let’s see…” Bulbasaur seemed to look up at the ceiling in wonder. “I’ll call you Sol, like the sun.” Bulbasaur nodded. Now, Bulbasaur was Sol. I looked up at Forrest. Forrest said, “Well, my Pokemon did well, but yours did better. Congratulations. Have this Pewter Badge, Jordan. You earned it.” I grabbed the Pewter Badge, saw my reflection in it, and put it in a small case I had, marked “Pokemon Badges.” He said, “Also, take this. It’s a TM, called Bide.” I took the TM and Forrest said, “You can teach that to a compatible Pokemon. Good luck, Jordan. I advise that you go to Cerulean City, which is just east of this town, right after passing through Mt. Moon.” “Where’s Mt. Moon?” I asked. “Mt. Moon is a region just east of here, up in the high plateaus of Kanto. It is the site where a meteor crashed, and there is a legend that all Pokemon life started when that meteor hit. But it’s just a mystical region.” I nodded and thanked him for the information, and we were just about to leave when Forrest muttered, “There’s one more thing I need to tell you.” I turned back to Forrest.

“Watch out for Team Rocket, Jordan. Goodbye.”

Dalton, Eevee, Pichu, and I all walked out of the Pewter City Gym, heeding his advice. “Those were the crooks back in Viridian Forest,” Dalton whispered. “Yeah,” I said. “And there’s going to be more of them, so we have to watch out! Let’s go to the Pokemon Center to heal.” I healed my bruised and tired Pokemon, and while Nurse Joy was in the back room, Dalton said, “You know how you have four Pokemon and I have one?” “Yeah?” I asked. “I want to go catch another one.” “Well, let’s go to the next route and get one!” I replied.

As we walked into the next route, we immediately noticed that Mt. Moon was up ahead and the rocky path was getting steadily higher. Suddenly, a Weedle sprung out right in front of Dalton!! “Aaaargh!” Dalton cried out. “Go, Eevee!” His fuzzy little critter sprang, giving out a little call and landing squarely on the ground. “Eevee, Tackle!” Eevee ran straight at Weedle and hit it head-on. “Weeeeeeeeedle!” The Weedle yelled, flying back, then firing a strange purple dart out of the horn on its head. “Watch out for the Poison Sting,” I screamed as it jabbed into Eevee’s arm. Eevee began to slump down with weakness, but continued to stand with shaking knees. “Eevee’s been poisoned!” we both gasped. Dalton yelled, “Eevee, just one more tackle!” Eevee lethargically bashed into Weedle one last time, making it still. Weedle groaned. “Pokeball… GO!!!!” Dalton cried out, tossing a Pokeball at Weedle. Weedle’s body disappeared in a flash of red light. The Pokeball wiggled a couple times, then stopped. “Oh… YEAH!!” Dalton yelled. “I caught a Weedle!”

Suddenly a man clad in hiking gear walked up to Dalton. “Would you like a battle, young man?” he asked. “Yes, sir!” Dalton responded. The man yelled out, “Go… SANDSHREW!!!!!!” Dalton yelled out, “Go… WEEDLE!” “Haw haw,” the hiker said. “That puny Weedle’s no match for Sandshrew!” Suddenly, Weedle’s eyes narrowed. Dalton argued, “Weedle will beat you!! JUST YOU WAIT! Weedle, use Poison Sting!” Weedle shot a dart of poison into Sandshrew’s stomach. The only thing Sandshrew did was blink. “Poison sting ain’t strong against Sandshrew’s ground-hard skin!” It was true. The small pock-mark on Sandshrew’s stomach was the only evidence that there had been an attack. But then, something surprising happened. Sandshrew let out a low moan and grabbed its stomach. “The attack succeeded in poisoning Sandshrew!” I gasped. However, the attack hadn’t taken too much toll on Sandshrew yet. “Sandshrew, use Scratch!” Sandshrew ran at Weedle and scratched at him, sending Weedle flying back a few feet with a loud cry, but Weedle got back up. Sandshrew clutched its stomach angrily, still not hindered by its poison, just angered. “Weedle, tackle Sandshrew!” Weedle hit Sandshrew. “Sandshrew, defense curl until I tell you to stop! Trust me! Just take Weedle’s attacks for now,” the hiking man commanded. Sandshrew immediately rolled into a tough, defensive ball, tightening its strength for a long time. “Weedle, keep tackling him until Sandshrew goes on the offensive!” Dalton yelled out. Weedle kept running at Sandshrew and smacking into it for three or four times. “Sandshrew, use ROLLOUT!!!!!” the hiker cried out. The ball that was Sandshrew rolled straight at Weedle and ran over him!! Weedle yelled out in pain and began squirming weakly on the ground. Dalton took out a potion that he bought from the Pewter City Market. “Weedle, here!” Dalton sprayed Weedle, restoring him. The hiker commanded, “Use Rollout as hard as you can!” Sandshrew rolled at full speed at Weedle, and bowled it over strongly!!! Weedle was practically crushed by Sandshrew and would have fainted if Dalton hadn’t given him the potion. “Weedle, please get up!” Dalton yelled. Weedle slowly wobbled up and moaned, “Weeeeedle.” Sandshrew unfurled himself, and Dalton found out that the poison had taken its toll by now. Sandshrew was on all fours, blushing blue, unsteady limbs. Sandshrew slowly got up, moaning from the poison. “Weedle, use Tackle, full power, one last time!!!!” Weedle ran straight at Sandshrew with fast speed and slammed into Sandshrew. Then, Sandshrew collapsed in a heap. “He fainted,” I said. “Dalton, you won!” The Hiker yelled, “No… Sandshrew! You did well, me matey. Return!!” The hiking dude returned the small rocky shrew to its Pokeball. And Weedle started glowing!!

I yelled to Dalton, “Check out Weedle!” Dalton looked down at Weedle, who was glowing with increasing intensity. Then, he grew bigger, and eventually became a Kakuna, a large, tough-skinned cocoon. Dalton yelled, “Well, that didn’t take long! Hey-a, Kakuna!”

Kakuna bounced up and down as Dalton recalled him. Then the hiker waved as he disappeared over the horizon. And we continued traveling to a brand new adventure!!

To be continued in: CHAPTER 4!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll ask nicely. Please, please post and respond to this! RESPOND! RESPOND! REPLY TO THIS!! Please. It makes me sad when I get no feedback - it makes me feel like I'm making stories for a hollow audience.

 

[The Great Butler]

Sorry I missed it. Everything's very good, sorry I can't write a detailed review now but I'm in a small hurry.

 

[Pokémon Guard]

That's okay. It's not you I'm worried about. ^^;

It's eeeeverybody else...

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Please give feedback on the latest chapter!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: A Moonlit Match!!!

Dalton, Eevee, Pichu and I were traveling up the long and rocky path to the large and mysterious Mt. Moon. Dalton told me, “It’ll take about 3 hours to get to the next Pokemon Center, which is on the west face of the mountain. I think we should rest for a while, so that we can get more energy for the final stretch.” Pichu yawned loudly and collapsed in the middle of the road. “Okay, Pichu is tuckered out,” I said. “And it’s starting to get dark. Maybe we should just set up camp.” Eevee stopped too and fell on its side, panting. “Our Pokemon are tired! We gotta stop!” Dalton cried out.

And so, we began to pitch a tent using the hiking gear in my backpack. One of us would stand guard while the other one slept – we decided who went first by flipping a coin. I would stand guard first, unfortunately. Pichu slept nearby while I gathered firewood, while Dalton went inside and tried to get some rest. I didn’t want to kill any trees to get firewood, but luckily I found some burnt logs in a pile a while away from our campsite. I woke up Pichu, who zapped the logs and started our fire. Then, I stood guard on a cliff that overlooked Pewter City the way we had come. The sight was beautiful. After watching for a while, it was time for me to sleep. I woke Dalton. Dalton groaned, “My turn,” while slowly wiping his eyes. Pichu ran back inside, and Dalton and Eevee came out. I went to bed. Looking at the roof of the tent was like a still frame as my vision and mind slowly faded to black.

“Jordan! Jordan!”

In my mind, I was thinking… five more minutes, mom. But then I shook my head and woke up. Dalton was shaking my shoulder and yelling, “A Pokemon’s in trouble! A Pokemon is in trouble! I keep hearing tons of crying out!” I jumped up and asked, “A Pokemon? A Pokemon’s in trouble?” Dalton nodded. “I hear lots of screams coming from up the mountains, and a bunch of explosions. Something nasty’s going down at Mt. Moon, and we have to go check it out!!” I yelled, “Go, Butterfree, Diglett and Sol!!” All three Pokemon quickly appeared from the flashing light of their Pokeballs. “You go and search for anything bad. Pokemon in trouble, or Team Rocket thieves!” Diglett buried underground, while Butterfree flew off into the sky, and Sol started running with a determined “Bulbasaur!” I told Pichu, “You go too, with the greatest speed you can muster! Let’s try to save the day!!” And Dalton tossed out another Pokeball, yelling, “Go… KAKUNA!” Kakuna landed on the ground, shaking and wiggling a bit, but not getting anywhere. Dalton sighed and scooped up Kakuna in his arms, while yelling “Eevee, you go look for trouble too!” And we began to dash off.

We ran up the stony, scruffy path that ended where the entrance of Mt. Moon is. As we kept running, we noticed a house – that was on fire!!! Dalton yelled out, “We need a firefighter or something – if not; it’ll soon be nothing but ashes!!” I ran towards the building, and yelled, “BUTTERFREEE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” I screamed loudly, hoping Butterfree would come quick. Butterfree soon flew down with a beautiful “Free!” “Use Gust to part the flames!” Butterfree flapped her wings madly, trying to blow away all of the excess flames. The fireballs split and bounced away from the house, though the house was still partially charred and puffs of smoke were floating up from it. “Phew,” I said. “Let’s go inside!” So, we quickly ran inside to see if anyone was injured. We found a little girl, gagged and bound in a corner. So, we freed her, and she yelled, “THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Some evil guys wearing “R” on their shirts came by and tried burning down the house! And then they made off with my Cleffa!” “Well then,” I said. “Let’s look for a Cleffa!” The small girl said, “Last time I saw her, a Fearow was carrying her!” Dalton yelled, “Well then, let’s go!” The girl said, “Wait! One more thing…” She picked up a Pokeball in the corner in the room that I hadn’t noticed before, and picked it up. “This is my other Pokemon!” She said. “Go… Nidoran!” She threw the ball, and out came a small, pink, prickly-looking rabbitlike creature. It was a male Nidoran. They hugged each other, glad to see that they were both OK. “Now, WE GOTTA RESCUE CLEFFA!” we all yelled at once and ran out of the scorched house.

We ran frantically up the rocky path as quickly as we could. I yelled, “Diglett! Sol! Pichu!” And they came to my side as Dalton called his own Pokemon back. Suddenly, I tripped over a log and crashed into the dirt as Pichu went flying about three feet into the ground in front of me, and the others did too, making a loud banging! To top it all off, many cannon-firing noises exploded and mixed up the pallet of the world around us. “What are all the noises?” Dalton wondered as he got up on one arm, breathing heavily. Nidoran groaned and sat up, turning around. He yelled out an alarming “Nido!” and pointed behind us. We all got up slowly and turned around, only to find a HUGE army of monkey-like Pokemon! Dalton yelled, “They’re a bunch of wild Mankeys and they’re enraged by all of the noise! Run! It’s a Mankey army!!!” We all started running as fast as we could, faster than we ever had before, huffing and puffing and telling our knees not to buckle!! But the nimble Mankeys were faster, and soon they were on us, swinging with random angry arms!! “Aaaaaaaagh!” I screamed. “TAKE COVER!!” the little girl shouted, and we soon were ducking down, covering our heads. But it just made us more vulnerable, as the dozens of Mankeys were beating us up on the spot!!! “We’re not just normal wimps,” I yelled and flung them off of me. “Pichu, use THUNDERSHOCK!!” Pichu leapt up in the air and zapped all the Mankeys. However, one particularly annoyed Mankey delivered a flurry of kicks to Pichu’s stomach, sending him flying… off a cliff!! “PIIIIICHHUUUU!” I screamed, very distraught. “NIDORAN… Deliver your own kicks with Double Kick! As soon as you hit the first Mankey, bounce off and hit another one!! USE YOUR BODY AS A PINBALL!!” the little girl screamed. I suddenly realized that although this was a little girl, she was an expert at commanding her Pokemon, and soon, the Mankeys were feeling the hurt when Nidoran bounced off every last Pokemon. We cheered at Nidoran as all 30 or so Mankeys crashed to the ground. “Now, let’s go!”

As we hiked up the path, the noises of cannons became steadily louder. Dalton remarked, “There must be a lot of danger going on! We should go as soon as possible!” We nodded and ran swiftly over the bumpy terrain. We continued to near Mt. Moon. But we were going in the wrong direction and reached the edge of the cliff! I held Pichu tight and backed up a few feet. “Jordan, are you CRAZY!?!” Dalton yelled. I ran forward and leapt off the cliff. However, luckily, I survived… however, my leg suddenly felt as if the bone inside was torn to splinters!!

Aaaargh… I’ve… done it now…

I opened my eyes slowly. “Are you all right?” Dalton asked, just as my mind returned to normal. My leg was already the one that got injured, so no harm was really inflicted. I let out a breath. “It’s okay!” I yelled. “STEADY YOURSELF!” At the same time, I sent out Sol. As Dalton nervously leapt forward, I commanded, “Sol, use Vine Whip!” Two long vines sped out from Sol’s bulb, and caught Dalton in midair, dragging him next to me. “Phew,” Dalton said. Then, I commanded Sol to get the girl and Nidoran too. After a short breath, we kept running. We were now going up the foothills of Mt. Moon, thankfully. “The Pokemon Center must be right ahead!!!” Dalton and I yelled in unison. And we saw it. A small red building was just over a few hills. However, there was one more obstacle up in these lofty heights. More Team Rocket members – oh yeah, something really bad was going down. They were firing cannons that shot nets out over the land of Route 3, attempting to snatch Pokemon!!

We saw a Fearow carrying Cleffa from far away, but we were helpless to stop the Fearow from such a distance!! Fearow went down into a grey tent marked with R, presumably to deliver the Cleffa to Team Rocket. We all shouted at once, “TEAM ROCKET IS BEHIND THIS!” We ran over hills to get to Team Rocket, and I yelled, “We’re going to stop you!” A Team Rocket guard growled at me and yelled, “GO… ZUBAT!!” He released a pest-looking bat with large fangs from the shiny red sphere that immediately swooped down at us, trying to suck our blood! One bit into my neck, but drew no blood – just a lucky bite, and that was all. But of course, I could not afford to get bitten! I swung at Zubat, knocking him off! Then I yelled, “Pichu… use a strong Quick Attack!!!” Pichu charged up as if ready to use a thunderbolt, but then sped forward at full speed, moving so fast a trail of transparent Pichus ran behind him!! Pichu slammed into Zubat, sending it flying into the ground. However, the Zubat slowly got up, so I yelled, “Now, Pichu… THUNDERSHOCK!!!!!” Pichu charged up with all its little might and fired a ray of electricity at Zubat, frying it. Many other members of Team Rocket came flying at us with great speed!!! They released all of their Pokeballs, revealing dozens more Zubats!!! I sent out all my Pokemon, while Dalton sent out his, and Nidoran came rushing forth too! They all began battling the Zubats!!

A great clash followed, while I ran towards the tent to get the Cleffa! I dashed into the tent and looked around. It was creepy, with a great number of stolen Pokeballs on shelves while blueprints showing Pokemon Badges lay on the floor. But right in the middle of the room there was the crying Cleffa, trapped in a steel cage. I began to kick and punch the cage. Maybe it was kind of foolish, but since my Pokemon were outside battling, there was nothing else I could do but try to damage it. “Maybe it has a weak point, like a latch somewhere. But I can’t see a latch…” I hit it as hard as I can, making it jump a bit. I even managed to bend one of the bars just a tad. But it was still very strong and seemed unfazed. The Cleffa inside was not harmed. I had no choice but to give up and walk outside, where the battle was almost finished raging. My allies had succeeded, and got a lot stronger as a result. But where was Dalton’s Kakuna? Dalton told me about how Kakuna had successfully managed to ground and KO three Zubats, allowing enough power to evolve into a Beedrill, and then told how Beedrill’s newfound strength easily KO’d many more!!!

We looked at dozens of defeated Team Rocket Guards, who all groaned and dashed off towards Mt. Moon, leaving the tent there. We nodded and all dashed towards the tent, as I yelled, “Cleffa is in there!” We ran into the tent… but it was empty. The only sign that Team Rocket had ever been here was an empty tent. “W-where’s Cleffa? When I went into the tent 10 minutes ago, it was still there!” “Allow us to introduce ourselves,” shouted two villainous voices from behind us, making us jump. When we turned around, we saw two villainous people, and inbetween them was a small, angry looking Machop – a small blue Pokemon with large muscles. One was a woman, and one was a man. The woman was wearing a black dress with a red stripe at the bottom, a small black shirt over her skirt, and long white gloves and boots. Her pointed eyes were a reddish brown and her curly pony tailed hair was a deep steely gray. Smack in the middle of her black shirt was a bold red R. The man was wearing a similar uniform, except he was wearing black pants instead a skirt, and his eyes were an emerald green and black spiky hair that parted in the middle. And then what really sent a chill down our spine was when they said a freaky motto.

The girl yelled, “Beware of trouble!”
The man yelled, “Trouble that’s double!”
The girl yelled, “To blanket the world in devastation!”
The man yelled, “Smothering it in annihilation!”
The girl yelled, “To destroy the injustice of truth and love!”
The man yelled, “To reveal the power of the stars above!”
The girl yelled, “BONNIE!”
The man yelled, “CLYDE!”
Bonnie yelled, “Team Rocket shall plague you by shadow of night!”
Clyde yelled, “Surrender right now or you’ll die in our sight!”
The Machop struck an offensive pose and screamed, “MAAAAAA-CHOPPPPP!”

(Note: There is a Pokemon website I have seen called Pokemon Rebirth that includes a Rocket Duo named Bonnie and Clyde. These are in no way similar or based off of the other Bonnie and Clyde, because Bonnie and Clyde are actually a famous outlaw duo like Jesse James and Butch Cassidy, so I tried to follow the pattern.)

We tried not to scream!! We seriously were scared still. This was because we had never heard something like this before, and we definitely thought that these must be some nasty people. And then I noticed Cleffa. Bonnie and Clyde were holding Cleffa in a cage inbetween them. Cleffa squealed and waved its arms crazily, ready to bawl its eyes out!! I yelled, “I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle for custody of Cleffa!” Clyde yelled, “Fine! Go, Machop!” Machop struck a pose, and yelled, “Machop win! Fools like you get Machopped!” Suddenly, we all yelled, “Machop can talk?” “Not very well,” laughed Bonnie. “We experimented on it in a laboratory. Machop only says simple words and makes self-references!” “Team Rocket experiments on Pokemon?” I screamed in disbelief, and Dalton added, “That’s disgusting, and we won’t let you do that to Cleffa!” Clyde and Bonnie both laughed, and answered, “I’m afraid that we will do that to Cleffa! A mere child can’t stop Team Rocket!” I growled…

BONNIE & CLYDE
Pokemon: Machop, lv19
JORDAN
Pokemon: Pichu lv15

“Pichu, go! And use a Thundershock attack!” Pichu tried to fry Machop, who whacked it away with a chop of the hand! “Now, Machop,” Clyde laughed. “SHOW HIM A REAL ATTACK!” Machop dashed with great speed at Pichu. “PICHU, D…” but I could never finish my sentence as Machop’s steely-strong hand slammed its side into Pichu’s unexpecting little belly. Pichu flew back, bruised and battered in one hit, but slowly got up again. “Pi…” it groaned. “Pull out of there, Pichu!” I screamed. “It’s too strong for you!!!” Pichu did not listen, feeling ready to beat evil!! Pichu ran determinedly at Machop. Machop chopped straight down, so Pichu moved up and leapt over the arc of Machop’s arm, landing on his head and zapping him. Machop smashed him away, sending him into a rock. Pichu groaned lowly as Machop came speeding towards him and smacked him many times. “PICHU, RETURN NOW!!!” I screamed. Bonnie and Clyde laughed, “Wimp! Team Rocket always fights to the finish!” Pichu, battered greatly, continued taking Machop’s many blows. “PICHU!! TAKE A POTION, AT LEAST!!!!” I yelled, spraying him and healing some of his wounds. Pichu growled, but flexed its little muscles and leapt up and down, thirsty for more. “PICHU, USE A VERY STRONG THUNDERSHOCK, AND MAKE SURE IT COUNTS!!!” Pichu zapped Machop with a wave of electricity, and then I yelled, “FOLLOW UP WITH THUNDERWAVE!!!” Pichu sent a large, weak wave of electricity into Machop’s skin. Machop suddenly froze up, electricity going through its muscles. “MACHOP! SHAKE IT OFF AND GIVE HIM A FLURRY OF POWERFUL CHOPS!!!!!!!!!” Machop came flying straight towards Pichu in a single path, arms ready, and began pelting him with its strong, hard hands. Pichu screamed in horrible pain, taking blow after blow, and, its stamina overwhelmed, collapsed into unconsciousness. Bonnie, Clyde, and Machop, all started laughing it up.

Suddenly, Nidoran came charging forth at Machop, angry and determined to save Cleffa. The girl said, “Nidoran… my Nidoran is really determined to beat Machop. He’s actually much stronger than he looks… and I learned that it has a crush on the younger Cleffa… a few months ago.” “Really?” I asked. “Then Nidoran should have enough motivation to finish Machop off.” Bonnie seemed impressed. “Well, looks like we’ve got another one to beat. I like its attitude, but hate it in general.” Clyde yelled, “Definitely! Machop… WRECK HIM!!!”

BONNIE & CLYDE
Pokemon: Machop, lv19
Vs.
Nidoran, lv15

Nidoran ran straight at Machop and slammed into his stomach with a furious Double Kick! Machop screamed in pain. Clyde yelled, “Machop, use Focus Energy to charge up energy for an ultimate attack!” Nidoran then used a Double Kick attack again, launching two strong hind legs at Machop again. Machop was susceptible to attacks while charging! Nidoran continued to kick and kick Machop many times… until Machop, completely fired up, opened its eyes wide. “MACHOP, USE FOCUS PUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

This was the attack that no one saw coming. Machop charged and charged towards Nidoran, straight and strong, with its arm reared back, glowing with an immense amount of energy!!! Machop looked ready to explode!!! “NIDORAN, TRY TO DODGE IT!!!!!” Nidoran jumped out of Machop’s path. Machop turned around and charged at Nidoran again, its glowing arm beginning to tremble with the vast amount of energy within. Finally, Machop could contain it no longer! Instead of punching Nidoran in a strong way like it would if Machop hadn’t kept the attack waiting, Machop had waited too long and now his arm released a great explosion, immensely walloping Nidoran!!

Nidoran lay on the ground, very defeated-looking. Its body trembled a couple times, but its body burned too much to move!! “No! You have to get up!” I screamed. We all yelled, “GET UP!! GET UP!! Nidoran, YOU CAN DO IT!!” Nidoran’s eyes slowly opened, and suddenly its eyes shot open immediately!! Nidoran was immediately standing upright in a fighting stance with bloodshot eyes and great energy flowing within. That was when Nidoran began to glow a bright light that lit up the whole area. We squinted at Nidoran as the girl screamed, “NIDORAN IS EVOLVING!!” This was indeed what was happening. Nidoran slowly shapeshifted into a much larger, spikier, and more mean-looking creature. Dalton said, “Nidoran is now a Nidorino!!”

Clyde and Bonnie both yelled, “Curses!” but then they both smiled. “No matter,” they laughed. Clyde yelled, “Machop will still destroy Nidorino! MACHOP, USE ANOTHER CHOP!!” Machop ran at Nidorino quickly with its strong hand at smacked Nidorino between the eyes. Nidorino didn’t budge. Then, Nidorino began to kick its legs up, creating a huge cloud of dust, and charged at Machop like an enraged rhinoceros!!! Nidorino then leapt up in the air and came back down, using its legs to slam Machop full in the face, making him yell loudly in absolute pain. A screaming Machop slowly wobbled to the ground, with a flattened and bruised face. Machop had taken too much damage, thanks to Nidorino’s strong kick. Machop lost consciousness in a dizzy blur. And Clyde and Bonnie yelled, “NOOOO!” Clyde grabbed Machop and yelled, “You dumb kids have really been a nuisance today!! We’ll be back for revenge, suckers!!” Then, Bonnie and Clyde sped off into the distance, leaving Cleffa’s cage on the ground. Then, Nidorino slammed into Cleffa’s cage and using his great strength, freed Cleffa. Then, Cleffa suddenly glowed white!! Cleffa began to shapeshift, and was evolving too! Cleffa became a Clefairy, and then hugged Nidorino. “Wow, that is beautiful!” I noted. Dalton and the girl nodded.

The girl happily said, “Thank you for all the work that you have done in trying to rescue Clefairy!! I really appreciate it!” We both nodded and said, “It’s nothing!” Then, the girl added, “You’re my heroes! I know… to thank you, I’ll give you a Moon Stone!!” But I protested, “Both Nidorino and Clefairy can only evolve using the Moon Stone!” But the girl stated, “I actually have three Moon Stones, two of them my father gave to me on his excavations. So you can have the third!” Then she handed it to me. I thanked her for it, and we shook hands. Then, we started walking towards the Pokemon Center. All of our Pokemon were terribly pooped!

So, after exiting the Pokemon Center, we went on our merry way to the entrance of the Mt. Moon cave, where another adventure was sure to await!!

To be continued in… CHAPTER 5!!

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Here's the fifth chapter, which I copied-and-pasted from a previous Microsoft Word document. The sixth is coming just a minute after this, as I've made all of these chapters a while ago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5 – Of a Mouse and a Bandit

Cursing - A bit
Violence - Very intense, but not gory, except for Nurse Joy's blood.
Sexual - None. Sexuality will come later...

Dalton, Pichu, and I were walking on a great journey towards Mt. Moon. The moon hung high and full over the sky and we walked past Mankeys and Spearows as we walked from the Pokemon Center to the nearby entrance. Suddenly, a Spearow attacked! But I knew what to do by now. “Pichu, use Thundershock!” And Spearow was toast. Dalton said, “Oh no! Look at Pichu!” Pichu was on the ground, panting. “But I just healed Pichu!” “Look at his tail,” Dalton said. So, I checked out my poor Pichu’s tail. And to my surprise, it was beginning to crack and turn silver!! “What the heck happened?” I asked to no one in particular. “Something weird is going on with Pichu,” Dalton said. “We should go back to the Pokemon Center!” So, we began to walk back to the red-roofed building. We ran inside and talked to the nurse. “Pichu’s tail is turning silver for some reason!” The nurse said, “That is really strange. I’m going to the back room to scan Pichu’s tail.” So she picked up Pichu, and went into the back room, laying Pichu down on a stretcher. She took out a small scanner and scanned Pichu, then she ran her hand along the edge of Pichu’s tail. I was shocked when I heard an audible scream. The nurse was out of sight for a second, but I heard someone washing their hands. Then Nurse Joy picked up Pichu and walked back into the room. Her hand that had touched the edge of Pichu’s tail was now bandaged up!!

“What in blazes has happened to Pichu?” I asked, shocked. “Pichu’s small tail has been affected with a strange material called “Type Z.” I have no idea what Type Z stands for, but it is a special chemical that infects a Pokemon’s body and gives it strange, experimental powers. I have actually scanned all of Pichu’s body, and Type Z is most prominent in your Pichu’s voice box, and his tail. His voice box does not seem to be affected by the Type Z yet, but Pichu’s tail is now silver. It’s also razor-sharp! When I felt it, I got a huge gash in my hand!”

“Wow,” I said. “So… Pichu’s tail is permanently affected with this Type Z?” Nurse Joy nodded. “However, it does not seem to have any harmful side effects… yet. If the Type Z in his body seems to create other new developments, please contact me or one of my fellow nurses.” I nodded. But then I said, “Can you check if any of my other Pokemon seem to have Type Z?” “And mine?” Dalton asked. Nurse Joy nodded, and took all of the other Pokemon too. She took them all into a back room, and scanned them all like she had done with my Pichu. Then, she walked back into the main room, yelling, “This is crazy! Two other Pokemon also seem to be in the early developing stages of Type Z! Bulbasaur and Eevee!”

“Sol and Eevee have it?!” I asked incredulously. Nurse Joy said, “Yes. I know this is shocking, but as you already know, your Bulbasaur is larger, stronger, and differently patterned than any other Bulbasaur. I have discovered that it has a relatively large amount of Type Z in its muscles, making it larger and stronger, and a small amount of Type Z in its skin, too, owing to the unusual stripes. And Eevee has a large amount of Type Z spread around in its torso. This does not seem to be apparent yet, but very subtlely, Eevee’s genetics allow it to revert between all 5 different Eevee evolutions! So, your Eevee may turn out to be an all-in-one Pokemon!!” Dalton and I both dropped our jaws about this new revelation!!

“And one last thing, and this is VERY IMPORTANT,” Nurse Joy said. “I have recently been doing research on Type Z after receiving reports about it a week ago, and I learned that Type Z has cropped up near Mt. Moon at the same time that some Team Rocket members started looking for fossils there. It turns out that Team Rocket has a large supply of Type Z chemicals and that all Pokemon that have been exposed to Team Rocket have some risk of being infected!” Dalton and I looked at each other. We both knew what the other was thinking: Our Pokemon must have caught it during the Cleffa fiasco last night. But then I shook my head. “That can’t be,” I said. “Sol already had it before, when we found it in Viridian Forest.” “Well then, we must face a grim reality,” Nurse Joy said. “Your Bulbasaur probably has been in contact with Team Rocket before. He may have been experimented on and injected with Type Z!” I gasped aloud. Sol… an experiment of Team Rocket?!? My Pokemon must have a lot of history behind them and are all a lot more interesting than I previously thought.

After pondering it over with Dalton, I said, “From now on, I think we should be a lot more observant with our Pokemon. Look at Eevee a little more closely from now on, and see if Type Z’s effects are showing any!” Dalton nodded and said, “I definitely agree! I’m gonna have a battle using Eevee right now to see if the effects are starting! I haven’t battled with him since the exposure to Team Rocket.” Dalton was about to leave the Pokemon Center, but a man went up to Dalton and said, “Hello, young man? Would you like a Magikarp? Eet eez a lively leetle fish, always flopping around! And eet also evolves into zee powerful Gyarados!!” Dalton sweated, and muttered, “Okay… I guess…” and took the Magikarp, which looked like a large, orange, flopping fish with large goofy eyes and rather pathetic. It was his now, and he put it into a Pokeball. So anyway, Dalton went over to a patch of grass and started dashing through it, looking for wild Pokemon! A Jigglypuff sprang out from the bushes and made a sweet little “Jiggle” noise. Dalton yelled, “GO!! EEVEE!” The brown little creature sprung forth and gave out a tiny call. Dalton yelled, “Use Tackle attack!” Eevee ran right at Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff tried dodging, but didn’t completely dodge, and ended up getting its fur brushed by Eevee. And all of a sudden, even though it just got brushed, Jigglypuff called out in pain!! “Look at that, Dalton!” I pointed to Jigglypuff’s side. Its side was scorched, and all of the fur was flattened and thick with ash. Eevee had somehow burnt Jigglypuff’s side with a brush of fur!! Dalton yelled, “Eevee has gotten the effects of a fire-type!” Eevee didn’t look any different, however, so Type Z had not taken its toll on the little fuzzy guy yet. Then, Eevee began to choke!!!! “EEVEE!” Dalton yelled, as Eevee coughed and coughed, sputtering. It looked like he was trying to cough up a hairball… or trying to cough up SOMETHING. Suddenly, Eevee’s mouth opened wide and a small black shadowy orb came flying out of his mouth! Dalton gasped, “Eevee now has the traits of a dark-type! He just performed a Shadow Ball attack!!!!”

However, Eevee did not seem to have any changes in his appearance yet. He did not seem to go between full-fledged transformations right now. Eevee began to fire a few more shadow balls at Jigglypuff, knocking it out! “Jig…” Jigglypuff moaned, and fell unconscious. I suddenly brightened up. “Dalton, this Type Z will prove very useful, don’t you see?” Dalton nodded, realizing the possibilities!! There were many possibilities! Type Z can allow Pokemon to use attacks that they’re not supposed to know, and be able to do things that their species cannot normally do! They can easily defeat others! And they’re a special, strange race of Pokemon friends! It was completely remarkable!!

Anyway, we finally got a move-on into Mt. Moon. Finally! We took a few steps into the bumpy cave, and rounded a corner. We could not see at all – it was completely pitch black!!! “DALTON, WHERE ARE YOU?” I yelled. After a few seconds, Dalton mumbled, “Ow… apparently my ear is right next to your mouth.” “Sorry,” I said. “But let’s just go back the way we came. Turn 180 degrees, and start moving in that direction.” So we turned around and came back out of the cave, into moonlight again. “Phew,” I said. “We need to find a way to light up the caves somehow!”

So, one last time, we went back into the Pokemon Center and asked everybody. One wise old man said, “There is a man who holds an HM called Flash.” “What’s an HM?” I asked. “HMs are very rare machines that contain a special Pokemon attack. You can use the machines to teach a move to a compatible Pokemon. Once the attack is learned, a Pokemon can use the ability to overcome obstacles, among other things. When Flash, HM05, is learned, your Pokemon will be able to use a big ray of light to illuminate the darkness. Also, in battle, your Pokemon can use Flash’s brightness to disorient the opponent.” “Cool,” I responded, then asked, “Where is this man?” The old man said, “He lives in a house to the right of Viridian Forest. However, the path is blocked by a tree… so there are only two ways to get to him.” “What are the ways?!?” I asked in desperation. “Both of them involve Vermillion City. The first way is to go to a man at the S.S. Anne. He holds another HM01, Cut, and then you will be able to cut down the tree. The other way is to enter a cave nearby Vermillion City called Diglett’s Cave. Using that cave you can walk from Vermillion City to the man’s house. Both ways require incredible patience, as there is no way to get to Vermillion City until you pass through Mt. Moon, which defeats the purpose in the first place!!”

“DARN IT!” We both screamed. So, our Pokemon adventures were done. Finished. Halted by a little tree. And that was that. We began to groan. It was over. Until… Dalton opened his eyes and said, “What’s happening to Eevee?” I looked at Eevee. Little sparks began to gather around Eevee’s body, then they exploded as a burst of bright light filled the room, temporarily blinding us!! “Eevee’s electricity is coming out!! Dalton, Eevee can use Flash!!!” I yelled. Dalton yelled in excitement, “Let’s go to Mt. Moon!” So, we all excitedly left the Pokemon Center and ran into the cave, where Dalton yelled, “Eevee, use FLASH!” And Eevee lit up the entire cave!! “Now, let’s start fighting!!” I yelled. We walked through the caves until we came across a small machine lying on the ground with the number 09 on it. I picked it up and took out a disk from the machine. Right next to it, for some peculiar reason, was a small case. I picked that up too and read the instructions. “Put the disk you want to teach a Pokemon at the front of the disk. Point the case at the Pokemon and press the button which will insert brainwaves into the Pokemon’s mind to teach them an attack.” I put the disk 09 into the case and the case beeped, “Technical Machine No. 9 – Bullet Seed. Teach a grass-type this attack, and they will be able to rapidly spit powerful seeds from their mouth or other body part.” “Go, Sol!” I yelled, and my Type Z-infected grass friend appeared on the ground. I pointed the case at Sol and pressed the button. Sol immediately leapt up in the air, surprised as it felt this new data entering his head. “Bulbasaur has successfully learned Bullet Seed Attack!!!” the case said in its electronic voice. Suddenly, Sol grinned widely and out of his bulb came hundreds of rapid-fire seeds!!! RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Neato,” Dalton said, and we kept walking further into the cave. I suddenly said, “You know, I think I should give Pichu a name. Because, after all, he’s infected with the Type Z… he’s kind of unique and special!” Dalton nodded. “Something snappy… like Dark Spark,” I said. “Yeah… Dark Spark sounds good!” Pichu thought for a moment, then nodded. “Pichu, you are now… DARK SPARK!” I yelled. “And I should give Eevee a name,” Dalton responded. “How about… Gene?” Eevee suddenly jumped up, smiling, probably thinking “GENE IS AWESOME!”. And then, Sol, Dark Spark, Gene, Dalton and I kept walking further into Mt. Moon.

Dalton said, “I think I should go and train Magikarp because he’s weak right now.” I nodded and said, “But don’t be too long, because we need to get to the next city, Cerulean City.” So we traveled a little further through the winding tunnels of the cave, and then a Geodude flew at Dalton! “MAGIKARP, GO!” Dalton yelled. When the Pokeball came out, the strange fishlike Pokemon landed on the ground, and started flopping on the ground, unable to move. Dalton said, “Let’s check out Magikarp’s moves!” He took out the Pokedex and read it. “Magikarp is virtually worthless in terms of power and speed, until it evolves into Gyarados. Scientists have discovered that it is only capable of using weak, floppy attacks. Your Magikarp currently knows the following attacks: Splash.” So Dalton yelled, “Magikarp… use SPLASH!!!” Magikarp started flopping up and down, then stopped. It did not touch the offending Geodude at all. Dalton moaned, “Oh no… don’t tell me that salesman was a con artist!” Then, the Geodude slammed into Magikarp with a full-body tackle, sending it flopping back, weaker than before. “AAAAUGH,” I groaned. Then I took out my own Pokedex, trying to see if there was anything useful about it. And I got the following data: “Since Magikarp are so weak, scientists recommend sending out another Pokemon to fill in for it. That way, both Magikarp and the fighting Pokemon will get stronger.” So Dalton said, “Okay then!! Go, Eevee! Use Tackle!” Eevee leapt forward and charged straight at Geodude, but then stopped, shuddering. “Eevee?!” Dalton asked. Eevee suddenly shot a blast of water at Geodude, knocking it out in one hit!! “Wow, Eevee used Water Gun!” I yelled. Dalton screamed, “Yyyyes!” And, maybe it was just me, but Magikarp seemed to splash just a bit more vigorously.

We continued to travel through the caverns as Dalton fought more Pokemon like Zubat and Paras. After about two whole hours of Pokemon Battling (and no rest), Magikarp was feeling a lot stronger.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a smudged black suit dropped down using a rope and yelled, “How did you get to Mt. Moon? I thought our forces deployed outside would block the way!!” We knew who the guy was talking about, so I said, “We defeated all of the forces outside Mt. Moon!! Like we will do to you!!” “Not a chance,” the man laughed. “Our prehistoric plans will not be interrupted by a couple of children! Go, Zubat!” “Go, Beedrill,” Dalton yelled. “USE POISON STING!” Beedrill lifted the stinger on its abdomen and launched it into Zubat’s stomach. “Use Bite!” The man commanded, and Zubat launched at Beedrill and bit its head. Beedrill flapped to knock Zubat away. “Use Fury Attack!” Dalton yelled. Beedrill flew at Zubat and pelted it with sharp, angry points. Then Zubat bit Beedrill again, weakening it slowly. Beedrill groaned. “Beedrill, use one last FURY ATTACK!!!” Beedrill launched at Zubat and gave it a flurry of attacks once again, making it smash to the ground in a faint. The man yelled, “No! Zubat!” He pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it: “My Pokemon has fainted. Initiate an attack on two children.” Suddenly, about a dozen more similarly-dressed men attacked from behind us and sent out lots of Zubats!!! They screeched in anger and kept crashing into Beedrill. I yelled, “Return Beedrill and send out Magikarp, Dalton!” So Dalton agreed. The dozens of Zubats homed in on Magikarp, until I yelled, “This is a goldmine for Magikarp strengthening!! Pichu, use THUNDERSHOCK!!!”

All of the Zubats fell to the ground, unconscious, and Magikarp got a lot stronger! The rocket men fled at full speed! We yelled, “ALL RIGHT!” and kept going. Soon, we went into a clearing with no roof, and the full moon hung overhead. We saw a girl wearing archaeology gear, studying Pokemon footprints. She jumped up and yelled, “Eureka!” “What the…?” we asked. She turned around and blushed. “I thought I was alone,” she said. “Anyway, hello!” “Hi,” we responded. “I have discovered that these Pokemon footprints are of an extremely rare species – Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable, and they have come from the moon!” “Cool,” we said. “But where are they?” “They are somewhere in here – we must keep looking,” the girl said. “My name is Jakki,” she said. “Let’s go look for this rare species!” And so we kept looking. Suddenly, a Paras leapt out from the darkness. It looked small, but it scratched my face and swiped my glasses! “Ow,” I said. Jakki yelled, “Hey! Paras!! That’s not right!” Paras angrily shot a cloud of orange dust at Jakki, making her grow stiff. Jakki yelled, “My arms can’t move!! Paras just used Stun Spore!” I yelled, “Go… Pichu! Use Thundershock!” Pichu zapped the small bug, stunning its body temporarily. An angry Paras scratched Pichu with its small claws and then aggressively tried to scratch it from all sides. “It’s so small, though,” I said. “I feel bad about – HURTING ITTTT!!!!!” Pichu swiped at my face again, and tried to scuttle away with the glasses. “It’s offensive,” Jakki yelled. “You have to!” Pichu burst out with another stream of electricity and this one hit Paras head on. Paras screamed, and fainted.

“You’re a good trainer,” Jakki said, the paralysis wearing off. She slowly and stiffly walked along with us. “The Moon Pokemon have to be here somewhere,” she said. We continued walking for quite a long time. “What’s that noise?” I asked. “What noise?” Dalton and Jakki responded. “I hear singing,” I told them. Jakki gasped, “That must be the Clefairy!! I have been looking for them for so long… for years… ever since I saw one when I was a little girl, I have been seeking Clefairy.” “You have?” I asked. “Yes,” Jakki said. “I feel a deep connection with Clefairy.”

We began running towards the sound of the singing. Jakki ran ahead of us, and soon laughed in joy. “Look, everybody! It’s Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable!! All dancing!!” We ran and ran until we caught up with her, breathing heavily, and found out that we had found a huge shrine to the Moon Stone!! First of all, the moon was directly overhead and it was shining down onto a gigantic rock in the center of the room. Also, many pink creatures were dancing around. There were Cleffa, which we had already seen once, Clefairy, which I had seen once aswell but never got the chance to observe, and then, an even bigger and more beautiful one called a Clefable, with large wings and a happy face. They all resembled angels!

“What are they doing?” I asked, as Jakki took notes. Jakki responded, “They are dancing to honor the Moon Stone.” Dark Spark seemed entranced by the Moon Pokemon and even got closer. Suddenly, the moon started glowing brightly and a beam shot down from the moon and hit the Moon Stone. It began to glow. Brighter and brighter the light became, until the entire cavern was illuminated! And then, the room got even brighter as all of the Pokemon evolved into Clefable! “That was their evolution ritual,” Jakki said, writing in a notebook. “Legend has it that Pokemon first came to the earth from the moon. The primitive lifeforms of all Pokemon rained down onto Mt. Moon in a meteor. Eventually, the meteor landed and became known as the Moon Stone. Of course, Moon Stones are known for evolving certain types of Pokemon, but THE Moon Stone is a gigantic, ancient relic that can evolve many Pokemon at once.”

“Nice,” we responded, and nodded. The Clefable continued to dance, and dance. Pichu seemed to be eager to join. Suddenly, a Clefable grabbed Pichu!! “No, Dark Spark!” I yelled. The Clefable set Pichu into the dancing ring in order to participate in the dancing! I calmed down and watched Pichu dance along with the Clefable. Okay, so it was okay. I smiled as Pichu danced with them and even seemed to become part of their little tribe, showing them and telling them about himself. Then, I heard the airplane. I didn’t think anything of it at first, until the plane appeared right over the Moon Stone!! We looked up and watched as the airplane stopped, hovered, and then dropped down a huge net that lifted the giant boulder into the sky. We screamed, “NO!!” And Jakki screamed, “You can’t take the Moon Stone!” Then turned to us, and said, “They can’t take the moon stone. We just won’t let them!” I yelled, “We gotta go after them!” Before the airplane started moving, I yelled, “Go… Sol!” I threw a ruby-red Pokeball and my Type-Z Bulbasaur appeared quickly on the ground. “That’s a big Bulbasaur,” Jakki commented. “It’s a very special Bulbasaur,” I responded. “Sol… use Vine Whip and try to reach the airplane!” Sol nodded and launched a very long whip, extending it up towards the plane, while Jakki yelled, “Are you crazy? Bulbasaur can’t reach that plane! It’s way up in the sky!” But I responded, “Sol isn’t a normal Bulbasaur.” Sol extended his vine until it finally wrapped around the tail of the plane. “Now, everybody grab onto Bulbasaur!” As we all grabbed Bulbasaur, Jakki asked, “I still think you’re crazy!” I responded, “I said, SOL IS SPECIAL! Now grab on!” So Jakki grabbed on.

What happened next happened in a blur. Sol sped up towards the plane with us all hanging on. In a matter of seconds, we were up on the top of the plane!! Jakki asked, “What just happened?!?” “We’re on the roof of the plane!” I said. “Team Rocket’s plane, to be exact. Dalton, have Beedrill use Fury Attack on the roof!” There was a panel of glass in front of us. Dalton took out Beedrill. “Beedrill, use Fury Attack on the glass!” Beedrill smashed the glass with its stingers, and we dropped down into the plane. “We gotta somehow get back the Moon Stone!” I yelled.

Suddenly, a very loud alarm rang throughout the plane. A hundred black suits came rushing in formation. “IT’S JUST A GROUP OF KIDS WHO SNUCK ONTO THE PLANE!!” one of the black-suited men cried out. It was a whole army of Team Rocket members vs. us. And then they launched into attack formation!! Hundreds of glistening Pokeballs were tossed down onto the ground, and out came three different types of purple Pokemon I had never seen before. One of them was a large, nasty-looking mass of smelly, purple sludge with big eyes and dripping arms. Dalton checked his Pokedex. “It’s called a Grimer, a Poison Pokemon, and it’s no joke,” Dalton said. The next Pokemon we saw was long and sneaky-looking. It was purple aswell and had a dangerous-looking rattle-tail. “That one is Ekans, also a poison-type Pokemon, and also no joke. I mean, come on! We got SNAKES on a PLANE!!” The final one that came out was a bit smaller. It was again purple, and hovered in the air, belching out smoke like a serious health hazard. “That is small, but very dangerous – it’s called Koffing, and it will definitely leave you coughing,” Dalton yelled. We sent out everybody to fight – Dark Spark, Diglett, Butterfree, Sol, Gene, Beedrill, and Magikarp – for the experience.

“Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!” I yelled. Butterfree flapped her wings and sprinkled a long wave of blue dust over all of the Poison Pokemon. Some of them got very sleepy. “Grimer, use Sludge Attack!” a Team Rocket member yelled. The Grimer smiled and raised a foul-smelling purple arm, then reached inside its mouth and pulled out a wad of poisonous sludge! Then the Grimer’s eyes began to close just as it tossed the sludge. Butterfree got covered in the sludge while Grimer fell asleep, snoring loudly and disgustingly. “Butterfree, flap your wings to rid yourself of the poison!” Butterfree flapped off the sludge and then tackled Grimer, who collapsed into a puddle of sludge. “That was easy,” I said. Then Pichu saw an Ekans coming. The Ekans went in for a wrap, but Pichu leapt up and dodged it, then I yelled, “Pichu, use Thundershock!” Pichu zapped the Ekans, which then tried to lash at Pichu with its tail. Pichu dodged expertly, then followed up with a bright and mighty Thundershock, frying it. Sol used Vine Whip on a Koffing, swung it around, and launched it into a group of other Koffing, launching them into tomorrow.

We fought through the dangerous ranks of Team Rocket until there was only one left. This one tossed a Pokeball at us, and out came a huge Pokemon – much larger than Ekans. It was more like a cobra, and had huge and vibrant markings on its chest, not to mention the long and winding purple body. However, it was a lot smaller than Onix. Dalton whipped out his Pokedex. “That is the massive evolution of Ekans – Arbok. It’s large and dangerous.” Arbok then lunged at Dark Spark, with teeth opened wide! Dark Spark leapt up towards its mouth and stopped it with his arms!! Arbok frowned and tried to shake free, when Dark Spark suddenly zapped Arbok throughout its body.

“Go, Sol! Go, Diglett! Go, Butterfree!” I yelled. “Go, Gene! Go, Beedrill!” Dalton yelled. All six Pokemon looked up, and suddenly, they were ALL bound by Arbok’s tight grip. All of our Pokemon – except for Magikarp – were struggling and suffocating to get free of Arbok. Suddenly Gene began to glow purple and Arbok screamed out in pain as it loosened its grip and flew far away! Then Arbok spat a rapid-fire shot of Poison Stings at us! Every single Pokemon flew back and crashed into a wall with a purple glow surrounding them, except Sol – who wasn’t poisoned. He charged at Arbok and let out a roar. Arbok circled Bulbasaur – trying to wrap around it. Sol leapt out of the way. “Sol, use Razor Leaf!” I yelled loudly as Sol shot out a stream of razor-sharp blade-edged leaves. They slashed at Arbok and put it into severe pain. Then Arbok bit into Sol’s side and swung him around with its teeth. Sol screamed and tried to Vine Whip, hitting nothing. Then Arbok used Double-Slap attack, slapping madly at Sol with its powerful tail. Sol went flying into the wall and bounced off. “Sol, use Skull Bash!” Sol charged head on at Arbok, who knocked Sol out of the way. Arbok laughed and then started using many powerful attacks – Poison sting, Double-Slap, Wrap, and Bite.

The more attacks Arbok hit Sol with, the worse his condition. Sol got poisoned and flew back into another wall, and slumped down, not able to get up. “SOL, GET UP!” I yelled. “Now to finish the puny thing off,” the guard said. “ARBOK!!! USE ACID ATTACK!!” Arbok opened its mouth and spit out a sticky stream of vile, poisonous scum. It slammed into Sol and deeply burned his skin. “No, Sol! You have to get up!” I yelled. Sol’s eyes fluttered as it lay in the corner, searing with acidic pain. Sol began to groan and slowly got up. Suddenly, Gene’s eyes shot open and something strange happened. Gene turned lavender and began to call out. Diglett began to glow a very bright blue and a weird connection of light shot from Diglett to Sol. Then, Sol leapt up and shook the earth!! “MAGNITUDE 10!!!!!!” beeped the Pokedex as a massive earthquake shot tons of metallic rubble straight across the airplane into Arbok’s body, sending it crashing back into its trainer. “Gene used a psychic connection to transfer the Magnitude attack from Diglett to Sol!” Dalton yelled. Arbok was knocked unconscious, and everybody was feeling a lot stronger after that fiasco.

We kept running towards the front of the plane until we got to a metal locked door. A dead end!! Dalton yelled, “It is not a dead end! Beedrill, drill it!” Beedrill used its drills and smashed a hole through the metal. Then, we all kept on running. Jakki said, “If this is the plane I think it is, then we are in for no good.” Dalton turned back and asked, “What do you mean?” Jakki responded, “When I was a little girl, I remember a plane emblazoned with a red R. A huge man came out, and he had a Clefairy with him. But something was not right with it. My father called it “The Clefairy Bandit,” a famous Clefairy. And then, they took my father. I am eternally Team Rocket’s enemy…”

I said, “That’s it. We have to stop them from getting the Moon Stone!” Dark Spark and I ran ahead, down a corridor, and reached a large room. A window was at the front of the room, and many buttons were everywhere, showing that this was the control room. But a very huge middle-aged man stood in the front of the room, and he was very muscular, with a huge red R emblazoned on his purple suit. As soon as Jakki walked in, she said, “That’s him! The Rocket Executive!!” The executive stepped forth, and yelled, “What business do you puny children have in this plane? YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR INTRUDING!! And now, I challenge you to a battle!” I agreed. “Go… Dark Spark!” Dark Spark stepped forth. “Pichu,” he yelled. Then the man pulled out a black-and-yellow ball – an advanced Pokeball called an Ultra Ball. He yelled, “Go… CLEFAIRY!”

Dark Spark, level 17
VS.
Clefairy, level 22

As he threw the oddly-colored ball through the air, it hit the ground hard and released a bright glow. Out came a very mean-looking Clefairy, not very cute at all, with a scar over his left eye. And then, the battle begun. “Dark Spark, use Pound attack!” Dark Spark ran at Clefairy with its tail, and smacked Clefairy in the forehead with the small black object. Clefairy did not seem to be affected. “CLEFAIRY, USE DOUBLE SLAP!” the executive yelled. Clefairy swung with its arm, and smacked Dark Spark repeatedly, causing great pain. Dark Spark let out a yell and rolled backwards, letting out small groans with each rotation. Finally, Dark Spark sat on the floor far from Clefairy, in a daze. “Dark Spark, don’t give up, and use Thundershock!” Dark Spark let out a shock, but Clefairy dodged in and then slammed into Dark Spark with a strong hand!! Dark Spark screamed in pain, and Clefairy followed up with a Double-Slap!! Clefairy kept using the moves Pound and Double-Slap relentlessly, and not giving any open space to Dark Spark.

“Dark Spark, get up,” I yelled. Dark Spark sat up slowly, in a daze, and suddenly got slammed in the face with another Pound. “Dark Spark, please…” I moaned. Dark Spark ran at Clefairy, bruised and battered, and was about to hit him with a quick attack, but Clefairy grabbed Dark Spark by the arms and kicked him away, smashing Dark Spark through the window of the plane!!

I yelled, “NOOOO!” And ran to the window, just as Dark Spark fell. I grabbed him by the arms, when Clefairy smashed into my legs from behind!! Taken by surprise, I fell back, and Dark Spark came flying through the air after me, and hit Clefairy in the face. Clefairy shook it off and Double-Slapped Dark Spark many times!! Soon, Dark Spark was very bruised and battered, about ready to just be knocked unconscious.

“No…” I moaned, getting up. And then, Clefairy continued its relentless assault on Dark Spark’s weary body, backing him up against the wall and beating him up!! I yelled, “THIS CAN’T HAPPEN!”, while the executive said, “Clefairy is having fun whaling on your puny creature’s body!” “DARK SPARK IS NOT PUNY!!” I yelled, as Dark Spark tried futilely to zap Clefairy. “CLEFAIRY, USE METRONOME,” the executive said. Clefairy waggled its fingers back and forth, and suddenly a bright glow overcame the room. Suddenly, a burst of brown and murky water blasted through the room like a single wave, and slammed into Dark Spark, who slowly went under. “That’s Muddy Water,” Dalton said. I crossed my fingers, but he reappeared, with many bruises. “It must be the Type Z that’s keeping him strong,” I thought. “Dark Spark, use the most powerful Thundershock you caaaaan!” Dark Spark curled up into a tight ball, tensing up every muscle, charging every cell of his body with a volt of electricity. Then, he let loose, blasting a huge wave of lightning in every direction. I shielded myself as the lightning hit the control panel of the plane!! Suddenly, it exploded, and the plane started to go down in flames. “Oh, no,” I said, realizing that we were all trapped in it!!

But Dark Spark and Clefairy did not notice. They resumed their battle. “CLEFAIRY, USE METRONOME!” Clefairy waggled its fingers and made a huge glow, then suddenly a bone appeared from no where, and Clefairy launched it at Dark Spark. Dalton quickly checked his Pokedex. “That attack is Bonemerang, and it’s very powerful…”

But it was too late. Dark Spark got clubbed in the head with the Bonemerang, and fell over on the floor, as the Bonemerang kept going. “Piiiiiiii…” Dark Spark groaned very lowly, and bruised. Tears sprang from his small eyes. “No,” I whispered. “DARK SPARK, WE CAN DO THIS! I BELIEVE IN YOU!” Then the Bonemerang flew back at Dark Spark, and knocked him over the other way!! I knelt down to Dark Spark, wondering if he was alright. “Bwahahaha! That puny Pokemon has fainted,” the cruel executive laughed, and Clefairy laughed with him.

“No, no, no,” I yelled. “NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!” And then Pichu began to shudder, and twitch. Then, he got up. The Clefairy shouted in rage. And then, just to anger the executive even more, Pichu began to glow. At first, it was a slow glimmer. And then, slowly but surely, Pichu turned bright white, and light exuded throughout the entire room. Then Pichu changed shape, growing brighter, and his body was getting bigger. His hands changed, his ears changed, his feet changed, and his tail changed. And then the glow faded, revealing a new Pokemon – a Pikachu.

“Dark Spark has evolved,” Dalton whispered. And then the executive let out a long and angry roar. Dark Spark was now even stronger than he first was. “You can do this, Dark Spark,” I yelled. And suddenly, Dark Spark’s razor-sharp tail turned bright white and glimmered silver sparkles. The Pokedex that Dalton was holding beeped, “Dark Spark has learned Iron Tail!” Amidst the red glow of the room and the flames, I yelled, “Dark Spark, use IRON TAIL!!” “Clefairy, HAVE NO MERCY!!” the executive screamed with utter rage. All of Clefairy’s limbs began to glow white and so did its eyes, as Clefairy charged at super speed. But as Clefairy charged, Dark Spark raised his strong tail and launched it straight into Clefairy’s stomach, making it scream.

“CLEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIRIIIIIIII,” Clefairy cried out, and stepped back in surprise. Dark Spark’s tail was glowing with strength. Clefairy used Quick Attack on Dark Spark and slammed into his stomach – this time, it was Dark Spark who was not affected. “Dark Spark is much stronger than he was when he was a Pichu,” I yelled, “And he also has been afflicted with the chemical you Rockets called Type Z! So now I will show you why you should never mess with the good guys!” Dark Spark charged at Clefairy. “Dark Spark, use Slam, and follow up with Thundershock!”

Dark Spark slammed into Clefairy’s body, and Clefairy groaned loudly, flying backwards into the fire. Clefairy was burned by the fire, and cried out in scorching-hot shock!! The tables had certainly been turned, and the next move proved it. Dark Spark clenched his fists, charged up his energy, and then let loose with a powerful thundershock, frying Clefairy. Clefairy was finally unconscious.

“You damned idiotic pipsqueaks! DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL!!! You shall NEVER OVERCOME THE MIGHT OF TEAM ROCKET!” the executive said. Then he pulled out a small black ball, and tossed it onto the floor, causing an explosion of smoke. Everybody began to cough. I could not breathe – my lungs were watering up! “G-go… B-Butterfree,” I lowly coughed. Out came the cute butterfly Pokemon, and fired a large gust at the smoke, making it disappear. Once the smoke finally cleared, the entire plane was burning around us. Jakki screamed, “We have to get the Moon Stone and get out of here!”

Dark Spark jumped onto my shoulder as I called out Sol. “Sol, aim your vines out of the shattered window! Get us to safe ground!” Sol nodded, and went over to the window, then wrapped his vines around the tree. We all jumped on Sol, and we flew all the way to the ground! But as I went, I yelled, “Dark Spark, use Iron Tail on the net holding the Moon Stone!” Dark Spark swiped the bar with his tail and the net came free, making the Moon Stone plunge down to the ground.

I caught Dark Spark in the air, and landed face-first into the dirt! “Ow…” I said, pulling my face out of the ground, and blushed. Dark Spark laughed out loud and ran over to a Cleffa. They had a long conversation. “Can you figure out what they’re saying?” Jakki asked. Dark Spark shook hands with Cleffa and Cleffa made a dance, as if thankful for something. “I get it! The Clefs are thanking us for rescuing the Moon Stone! Now they can continue their evolution ritual!”

As we watched the Clefs danced, Dark Spark joined in, now a Pikachu. “Pika pika pika pi chu chu,” Dark Spark said. “Cleffa Clefairy Clef Clefable,” the Clefs said. We watched them dance, Jakki with tears in her eyes.

The sun rose. It shined upon us all, as we waved goodbye to the Clefs. “Well, I will be staying here making more archaeological discoveries with my new friends,” Jakki said, “But first, allow me to give you some helpful advice. First of all, see that small village over the hill?” I nodded. “That is Hoothoot Village. This may sound silly, but a young girl named Kristin takes care of all the Hoothoot in the village, and she’s an aspiring Pokemon Breeder! She’d take anybody in, so consider going there! Also, a few miles after the village is Cerulean City. That’s where the gym leader Misty resides, and she’s a water Pokemon trainer. So, you should go there to get your second badge!” I yelled, “That’s great advice! Thanks for everything, Jakki, and bye!” We waved to Jakki as we exited Mt. Moon on our way to Hoothoot Village.

And so, with an eventful night at Mt. Moon behind us, we will continue on our way to the second gym, in another chapter of our great adventure!

Prepare to meet a new person in Episode 6...

 

[Owneik]

I refuse to read that anymore for one reason;

Spacing.

You seem incapable of spacing somehow, I don't know...in the prologue, you were doing just fine. But then, in the actual story, different dialogues were glued together in large, strangely confusing paragraphs.

Also, you use levels. They're not bad; if they are used in a good way, they can be pulled off. You failed at that.

Please do space correctly. Then I might read this. Remember, hit Enter twice after one person has said something and you want someone else to say something.

 

[Pokémon Guard]

I'll make sure of that next time, ok? Thank you. ^^

In case you didn't read, I'll sum it up for you. Basically, the heroes learn about Type Z, a weird chemical that causes Pokemon to get stronger. Numerous events have taken place, including the introduction of two new Team Rocket members, and the hero's first gym badge. ^^

The reason I use levels is quite a simple one. Basically, even though Pokemon are supposed to be realistic in fanfiction, the Pokemon League Association uses a complex level system. Basically, in every trainer's Pokedex is a calculator. This calculates a Pokemon's strength and converts it to a simple and easy statistical number. Let's say there was a fairly weak Weedle. Based on the weight of the Weedle and its attack style in battle, the Pokedex manages to determine a fairly accurate number for the Pokemon's level. Make sense? It's kind of confusing - it's easier to understand if you were me. ^^;

 

[Pokémon Guard]

I hope this is better, Owneik. I improved on the spacing. Can you read it now?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: This Tale’s a Real Hoothoot!

Language: Damn!
Violence: More typical Poke-violence.
Sexual: None at all.

It was a sunny morning as we walked towards Hoothoot Village. We were nearly there, and all of our Pokemon were feeling ready for anything as Dark Spark had evolved into a Pikachu! Dalton said, “We are almost there! WE CAN MAKE IT!! But will Magikarp ever get competent? I’m just not as good as you!”
“Nonsense,” I said. “Just you wait until Magikarp evolves. THEN, you will be FORMIDABLE!!!”
Dalton laughed, but then also said, “I’m REALLY hungry. A whole 12 hours without a Pokemon Center in sight!! I could KILL for one of the meals Nurse Joy serves!”
“I’m sure that this ‘Kristin’ will have food,” I said. “According to Jakki, Kristin was taught by her parents to do lots of things, like play guitar.”
“Guitar? YAY,” Dalton said. Dalton and Gene ran at full speed towards Hoothoot village. Suddenly, a huge beam that distorted our vision shot across the sky and zapped Gene! Gene was in a daze. Dalton said, “Gene, are you all right?”
“That was a Confusion attack,” I said, and then suddenly I felt something poke my neck. “OW, that was a Peck attack!”
“What is it?!” Dalton said.
“I don’t know,” I yelled!
We looked around and saw something against the sun! But it was veiling itself with some kind of reflective shield.
“What next? Now it’s using Reflect!”
Dalton said. It began to attack with more psychic rays and peck attacks. I quickly ducked under the quick-moving mystery, and it flew around and slammed into Dark Spark with invisible wings!
“Dark Spark, are you okay?” I asked. Dark Spark got up, dizzy.
“THAT’S IT!! DARK SPARK, USE THUNDERSHOCK!” Dark Spark zapped this mysterious creature with a charge of sparks, sending it crashing to the ground.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” yelled a young female voice. Dalton and I suddenly shot eachother looks as the creature’s shield wore off. “That’s a Hoothoot,” I whispered.
“That can only mean one thing…” Dalton said.
“What business do YOU have fainting one of my Hoothoots?” the girl said, as she appeared in front of us. She was fairly tall, and wearing plain clothes, but she was obviously Kristin, and not happy at all.
“I’m sorry, we can explain ourselves!” Dalton screamed.
“Then, say something. Duh,” the girl responded.
“My name is Jordan, and I am an aspiring Pokemon trainer,” I honorably said, straightening my glasses. “This is my friend Dalton. We did not know that the Pokemon was one of your Hoothoot, for it was covering itself using a reflective veil, and repeatedly attacking us. I made my Pikachu use Thundershock in complete self-defense.”
“I don’t believe you,” Kristin said. “Why would you do such a thing?”
Then, the Hoothoot got up from the ground and somehow smiled with its beak, then fired a Confusion at me, messing up my vision and making me fall backwards!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” I screamed.
“HOOTHOOT!” Kristin screamed. “How dare you!” Kristin picked up the Hoothoot and said, “Sorry, Jordan. I didn’t believe you until Hoothoot attacked you again!”
“That’s okay,” I responded, and smiled, sitting up.
“Anyway, my name is Kristin,” Kristin said. “I may be young, but my parents taught me to do many things, and so I am able to take care of all the Hoothoots in this village!”
“As I said, I am Jordan, and the kid over there is Dalton,” I replied.
I shook hands with Kristin, and Kristin said, “So. You are obviously a weary Pokemon Trainer who ran into this Hoothoot on your travels. I apologize for all of the trouble I have caused you AND your friend!”
She smiled, and then started walking towards the village. Dalton and I followed soon after, then Gene and Dark Spark.
“Hoothoot Village isn’t actually run by me, of course,” Kristin said. “I’m too young! But, I CAN take care of the Hoothoot. The villagers elected me because of my responsibility!”
“Cool,” Dalton said. “But, all I really want is a nice meal…”
Kristin shot Dalton a dirty look for only caring about food, but then softened up. “I guess I should have expected that you would be hungry… Well, I have tons of food in my house!”
As we went within the city walls, Kristin said, “I also have an Eevee, and of course, all of the Hoothoot you see in this village!”
“Cool! I have an Eevee too, as you can see,” Dalton said. “Neato,” Kristin said.
As we entered her house, I immediately noticed there were tons of pictures of Kristin’s family and Pokemon hanging on the walls.
There was a nice, woody smell around the rooms, and I noticed that there was a door leading to the “Pokemon Food Storage Room.”
“Do ya like it?” Kristin asked.
“Definitely,” I responded.
Kristin walked into the kitchen, and during the time Kristin prepared a breakfast for us, I noticed a small furry Eevee with a white diamond on its head. It was a female. Kristin said, “That is Spirit, my prized Eevee. The special Pokefood I gave her made her fur very silky!”
Dalton called out his own Eevee, and was amazed. On his own, Dalton’s Eevee looked fine. But, compared to Spirit, Gene was a shaggy rag. “Wow,” Dalton said, petting Gene.
Kristin brought out some Pokefood and a few plates full of steaming-hot food. I thanked her happily, but Dalton was just insanely overjoyed – he was very hungry, and ate the food before anyone else. While we were eating, Dark Spark, Hoothoot, Gene and Spirit sat on the table nibbling on some treats.
“So, I assume you are going to gain your second gym badge?” Kristin asked.
“Yep,” I responded.
“Well, you’d better be careful. Misty’s Pokemon are pretty tough, and they are all water types. She has a Horsea, a Staryu, and a Starmie. She has other Pokemon, but she doesn’t use them.”
“Well, I have a Pikachu and a Bulbasaur, so it shouldn’t be that hard,” I remarked.
Kristin said, “But there’s also the level of experience to factor in. Horsea, Staryu and Starmie are at the levels 19-21, so you need to be at least those levels to stand a chance!”
“Then I will train,” I decisively yelled.
“Hey, what is up with Pikachu’s tail?” Kristin asked, noticing Dark Spark’s razor-sharp tail that shined brightly as if steel. “Well… uh… You see… it’s a long story.”

And so, I told her all about my journey so far, and how Dark Spark got the Type Z.
Kristin said, “Those Team Rocket members are horrible!” “I don’t know whether to hate or like Type Z, but I really think the idea of super-special Pokemon is awesome,” I remarked.
“Yeah, but we should make Team Rocket pay.” I nodded, and gulped down the last of my food. It was getting late, and outside, the crimson sun was submerging itself under the infinite horizon.
Later....
”It’s close to ten,” I murmured sleepily. “We need to get sleep.”
“Of course,” Kristin said. “There are guest beds upstairs.”
So, Dalton and I, followed by Dark Spark and Gene, slowly climbed up the stairs, and hit the hay for the first time in two days.
We laid in beds separated by a single desk, on which I laid my glasses, and Dark Spark was curled up on my stomach, being soothed by the rising and falling of my chest. Everyone heard a soft noise, quiet at first, but eventually louder, and it became a strumming melody. Our eyes went down with the music’s volume, and there was eventually slumber.
But then, Gene’s ears pricked up. “Vee,” Gene softly said, and then leapt off of Dalton’s bed and made his light footed way to the cracked door, and slipped through gently.

(Outside, in town near midnight)

The town took on an almost-creepy glow of black, but the moon overhead was still and bright, like a beacon of reassurance. Kristin was out walking with Spirit, a clipboard in her hand.
She was checking off a list of Hoothoot, making sure they were all there and safe. She kept walking past a wooden gate, and stopped at a small ranchlike area. Hundreds – no, thousands – of Hoothoot were all awake, this being their awake time.
The nocturnal owl-like Pokemon were tilting their head back and forth, keeping in time with the ticking of a small clock on the side of the nearest building. Kristin checked the list again and again, and was almost done.
“Good. Everyone’s here in this area,” Kristin said to Spirit. Spirit nodded and sniffed the air, smelling the strong scent of Hoothoot feathers surrounding the town. Kristin kept walking, and walking… “There are only twelve left.”
She went over to another Hoothoot ranch attached to a house owned by an old couple. She checked the list. “Yes… yes… yes… yes…”
Her eyes widened in shock, then changed to a guilty look of irresponsibility. “No, I’ve failed…! One Hoothoot is missing!!!”
She looked around, scared. The night was beginning to take on a low and subtle creepiness, maybe even the sound of… giggling?
Spirit’s ears pricked up and she looked around. She smelled another Eevee amidst the Hoothoot smells. She turned around, and on the road in front of her, Gene quickly padded over to Spirit.
“Good,” Kristin said. “Now there are two keeping me company! Thanks, I really mean it!” Gene and Spirit kindly ruffled their fur in return, but the sound began to come back, with a creepy echo.
“Grackackackackackackackackack…”
“EeeeyyyAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!” Kristin screamed in fear. Gene and Spirit’s fur stood up on their backs, and they began running away. Kristin desperately yelled, “COME BACK!”, just as a purple cloud materialized from thin air!!
“SPIRIT!! USE TACKLE!!” Spirit, and also Gene, both charged at the mass of purple, but they just went straight through the gas!
“Oh great! It’s a ghost, so physical moves won’t hurt it,” Kristin groaned. She thought, “Jordan could really help me right now, with his Pikachu.”
It finally became its true form, gathering energy… AND IT HAD A FACE!! “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTLY!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed the scary new purple face, making Kristin jump and run.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!” Kristin screamed. Spirit and Gene followed right behind, until Gastly teleported right in front of Kristin’s face!! “NOOOO,” Kristin yelled, as Gastly paralyzed her with a poisonous Lick attack right in the face.
Kristin tried to grab at the tongue, but her arm was too still and paralyzed to move.
She groaned loudly, and the Gastly laughed meanly. “You idiotic phantom,” Kristin said. “If you want to play pranks, then come and get me. I’ll be waiting!”
Gastly suddenly shot a weird beam that warped time and space at Kristin. But Gene jumped up and blocked it, becoming very dizzy.
“Gene, no…” Kristin said.
Spirit and Gene slowly and readily tried to hit Gastly again. They leaped up and struck Gastly, making the cloud of gas around it wither away. Gastly moved away, and then two more appeared! They attacked Kristin on both sides… but suddenly, something long and green wrapped Kristin and pulled her swiftly out of the way.
“Waaaagh!!” Kristin screamed. But she then smiled, for she knew it was safe as long as this green vine belonged to a certain Bulbasaur.
It was Sol. Dalton and I were there to Kristin’s rescue!! “Thank you so much,” Kristin said as she was lowered on the ground. “I was paralyzed – I couldn’t move!!” Kristin smiled, and Gene and Spirit soon followed.
Suddenly, Gene shuddered. Kristin yelled, “What’s wrong with your Eevee, Dalton?”
“What’s what?” Dalton asked, when all of a sudden, Eevee began to turn a blackish shade and fired a powerful Shadow Ball at the two Gastly that had snuck up on us!! They both disappeared completely, as the dark attack was strong over ghost powers.
Kristin let out a sigh of relief as the night turned back to normal, but then turned to us. “One of the Hoothoot is gone, and I don’t know why those two Gastly were attacking us, but something REALLY bad is going on, and we have to figure out what.”
“We have to find the Hoothoot, and we have to find it tonight,” I determinedly said.
“Or, maybe we should wait and see what happens,” Dalton replied to me.

Kristin said, “We can wait for the rest of tonight, but once our time’s up and the sun rises, we’re going to look for Hoothoot, and QUICK.”
I nodded, and then Dark Spark, Gene and Spirit followed suit. We walked back into the house and watched out the window.
The clock ticked, and ticked. As the clocks ticked, echoing every second that happened in the kingdom of time, the Hoothoot outside also waved their head as if they were listening to a melody. We sat silently, just waiting in the house, and Dalton paced back and forth.
Kristin looked out every second, very alert, and I just tensely stood there, waiting, and waiting. Dark Spark and both Eevee made sure not to make a loud noise.
A hundred ticks.
A thousand ticks.
Nearly an hour passed before, finally, something happened. Many footsteps echoed across the town, and all of us ran out, ready for danger.
“Oh no! Something’s going on!” Kristin screamed. We saw a great light dancing around at the other side of the town, and so, we gave chase to the lights. We saw one of them blast through the air with a BZIIIIIP, and it struck down a Hoothoot!
I yelled, “We have to get the poor Hoothoot!” Kristin and Dalton could only grunt in reply as they ran. I picked up the Hoothoot. Kristin came up next to me and stroked the Hoothoot’s forehead. It was the one that I’d fought!
Spirit came next to Kristin, and she said, “This is it. We have to save the other Hoothoots! But, we need the help of my third Pokemon!”
“Your third Pokemon?” Dalton and I asked at the same time. Kristin said, “Yeah. I have an Eevee and a Hoothoot, but also a bit scarier Pokemon.” She gave out a loud whistle.
Buzz.
“What was that?” I asked. “My third Pokemon,” Kristin laughed. Suddenly, a tree in front of us was sliced in half as the buzzing got louder!
Through the trees came a powerful-looking Pokemon. It was bold and green in color, with a hard buglike armor and big, buzzing wings. Its scariest feature was two long green scythes mounted on either side of its body.
“That’s Scyther,” Kristin said. “A bug-type Pokemon! And now, let’s fight!”
We ran through town, past barns and cottages. We passed through a gate, and heard a loud Hoothoot flock, well, hooting. But, they were in complete distress!
Some of the Hoothoots looked very sad, and scared. Others looked very angry! But no matter what, the major thing was that they were being kept in a gigantic metal cage. The cage was being held by a robot!
The robot was primarily a large red, round sphere. It was very shiny and glinted in the sun. Made of metal parts, a few nuts and bolts were visible on the side of it, but they were hardly visible because the robot was so huge! It had huge, long, extendible grey arms, with gigantic hoses on the end. It was highly-defensive looking and obviously built to last. Its feet were powerful looking, like thick steely ostrich legs with heavy rocket boots on the bottom. And, worst of all, a giant R was on its metal face.
“Oh no,” Kristin said. “That robot looks like it could destroy a city!”
I nodded. “This thing belongs to the evil Team Rocket!!”
“Bwahahahahaha,” shouted two voices from the robot. A metal hatch on the robot’s belly opened to reveal two dark figures.
“Beware of trouble!”
“Trouble that’s double!”
“To blanket the world in devastation!”
“Smothering it in annihilation!”
“To destroy the injustice of truth and love!”
“To reveal the power of the stars above!”
“BONNIE!”
“CLYDE!”
“Team Rocket shall plague you by shadow of night!”
“Surrender right now or you’ll die in our sight!”
“MAAAAAA-CHOPPPPP!”
“Get out of here, you Team Rocket creeps!!” I screamed.
Dalton yelled, “Yeah. Get out of here, Bonnie and Clyde! You two are annoying hoodlums!”
Kristin shouted, “Give me back my Hoothoots! This is not a joke! We’ll defeat you with all of our Pokemon!”
To prove her point, Kristin told us, “Your Pokemon stay out of this.”
Then, she yelled, “Spirit! Go attack the Machop!” Spirit ran towards the robot, while Machop jumped down from the robot and steadied both its arms as it quickly charged at Spirit.
“Spirit, use Headbutt Attack!” Spirit lowered her head and charged at Machop.
Suddenly, Machop grabbed Spirit by the ears, swung her around, and slammed her on the ground, bruising her poor face!
“Spirit! Are you all right?” Kristin yelled with a tone of worry. Spirit got up angrily and charged at Machop again.
“Spirit, use Sand Attack to damage Machop’s sight!!” Spirit kicked up dust at Machop, which got in its eyes. Machop cried out in pain, its vision instantly blurring to a gritty confusion.
“Machop, don’t give up,” Bonnie laughed. “Use Low Kick!” Machop laughed. “Low kick destroy Eevee,” it said, and then tried to kick at Spirit.
Unfortunately, Machop was kicking in the opposite direction.
Kristin said, “Only bad guys like you manage to be that pathetic.”
Bonnie and Clyde sneered in response. “Your poor Spirit won’t be able to take on our other Pokemon!”
Suddenly, they threw two more Pokeballs. Out came a Drowzee and a Krabby, two Pokemon I’d never seen before.
Drowzee was a squat yellow Pokemon with a brown stomach and a long snout. Its eyes were squinted and it had a pot belly. In this fashion, it looked almost like some kind of bum. Meanwhile, Krabby was a small red crab, but it looked quite dangerous. It had large pincers and scuttling legs. Dalton said, “Hey! 3-on-1 is not a fair tussle!” On this, Dalton grimaced and sent out Beedrill. Then, I sent out Sol. So, it was Spirit, Beedrill and Sol vs. Machop, Drowzee and Krabby!

Spirit, Beedrill, and Sol
Vs.
Machop, Drowzee and Krabby

“Spirit, use Quick Attack!” Kristin yelled. Spirit speeded over to Machop. A confused Machop looked around, wondering where Spirit was. It wondered no longer when Spirit slammed into it!
Machop groaned in pain while Team Rocket said, “Drowzee! Use Hypnosis on Beedrill!” Beedrill crashed to the ground in a lazy stupor, while Dalton groaned.
Then, I commanded, “Sol! Use Razor Leaf!”
Sol shot bunches of Razor Leaves at Krabby, pinning it to the ground. Krabby seemed to make a loud, painful gargling noise – it seemed obvious that Krabby was in a lot of pain. Then, Machop used Karate Chop, which managed to hit the sleeping Beedrill!
Dalton said, “Things aren’t going very well for me…”
But, as soon as he said that, Beedrill’s eyes shot open. Beedrill woke up from the surprise of Machop’s chop! Dalton said, “All right! Beedrill, use TWINEEDLE!”
Beedrill’s double needle arms flew straight at Machop, and stung him in the torso, causing great pain to the fighting Pokemon. I analyzed the situation. Beedrill just woke up, Spirit is OK now, and Sol is in good condition. Krabby’s in pain, Machop is still wearing off from the sand and is hurting, and Drowzee is feeling great.
“We can do this,” I said. “The battle’s in our favor.”
Then, Krabby shook off the leaves and pinched Bulbasaur in the stomach! It didn’t seem possible with Sol’s great size, but Krabby somehow managed to pinch all of Sol’s stomach, causing great pain!
Sol couldn’t breathe now, and Krabby wasn’t letting go! “No, Sol!” I yelled.
“Drowzee, Confusion,” Clyde laughed in a poisonous voice. Drowzee began to aggravate Bulbasaur with its psychic vision, making the fight even worse. Sol was really getting weak, though he started off fine – now, Sol was in great distress.
“Spirit, slam into Krabby!”
As soon as Spirit was about to slam into Krabby, Krabby’s free pincer suddenly caught Spirit. Krabby seemed to taunt us, waving its pincers in the air while Spirit and Sol wiggled about in its grasp.
“AAAAH!” I screamed. Both Spirit and Sol were likely to faint any minute now. Beedrill was dazed, but mostly OK, so I yelled to Dalton, “You should rely on Beedrill to get Spirit and Sol free!”
So, Dalton yelled, “Beedrill! Use Fury Attack on Drowzee!” Beedrill hammered its sharp needles into Drowzee’s belly, making Drowzee irritated.
Drowzee let up its psychic abilities, allowing Sol to feel a little better. Sol then continued to wriggle about in Krabby’s grasp.
Krabby’s eyes suddenly began to droop. Krabby was fainting! Sol was stealthily sapping Krabby’s health with an Absorb attack! I smirked. The plan was working.
Dalton yelled, “Beedrill! Sting Krabby!” Beedrill stung Krabby, and Krabby finally let go of Sol and Spirit. Then, Sol used Vine Whip on Krabby, fainting him.
Beedrill continued to sting Drowzee using Twineedle, also fainting him. And finally, Spirit rammed into Machop. The fight was finally over!
Then, Team Rocket screamed in horror and anger. “Damn you for fainting our muscular Pokemon!!” Clyde hissed. “You meddling trainers,” groaned Bonnie.
They quickly recalled all of their Pokemon, and screamed, “Team Rocket’s blasting off again!” They dashed back into their robot, and the hatch closed. Then, it began to stomp away.
“Hey!” Kristin yelled. “GIVE US BACK THE HOOTHOOT ALREADY!! Everybody, send out your Pokemon to fight!!”
I yelled, “Go! Dark Spark, Diglett, Sol, and Butterfree!”
All of my Pokemon flew, ran or dug forth, while Dalton yelled, “Go, Gene and Beedrill!” Gene and Beedrill ran and flew forth, ready to roll.
Kristin yelled, “Go, Spirit, Hoothoot and Scyther!” Spirit, Hoothoot and Scyther also went towards the robot, in hot pursuit.
Then, Kristin noticed that a Pokeball was still hanging out of Dalton’s pack. “Dalton, you still have another Pokemon!” Kristin yelled.
“Yes, it’s my level 15 Magikarp. But he can only Splash, can’t he?”
Kristin shook her head. “No. At that level, Magikarp SHOULD be able to use a weak Tackle attack.”
“YES!!” Dalton yelled. “All my training’s paid off! Magikarp, use Tackle!”
“Karp,” Magikarp groaned. Then, it leapt forth and smacked the robot’s massive foot, not affecting it.
“Maybe I should wait for Magikarp to keep getting stronger,” Dalton groaned.
Suddenly, one of the robot’s thick arms turned on its vacuums, and all but two of the Pokemon went flying into the vacuum! “NO,” all of us screamed.
The only Pokemon left were Dark Spark (who grounded himself with his tail) and Scyther, who was large enough to stand his ground.
Then, I yelled, “Dark Spark! Thundershock!” Kristin yelled, “Scyther! Use False Swipe!” Scyther and Dark Spark hurtled themselves through the air towards the robot, and zapped/swiped it.
The robot began to shudder and a massive gap appeared in the wiring visible on its backside. “Scyther, swipe the wires!” Kristin yelled. Scyther swiped the wires, and left them sparkling as wire stubs.
“Now,” I yelled. “DARK SPARK, THUNDERSHOCK!!” Dark Spark zapped the wire, and overloaded the robot’s eternal circuit. The robot exploded in a huge blaze of glory!!
We thought we saw two charred figures, screaming and flying into the distance. Then, a bunch of Hoothoots came safely raining down, along with all of the other vacuumed Pokemon.
Kristin grinned widely. She yelled, “Thank you, Jordan! Thank you!!”
“I couldn’t have done it alone,” I said. “Dalton really helped me out. He is the greatest! And also, all of our Pokemon helped us too.”
I hugged Dark Spark, while Kristin hugged Scyther. Dalton hugged his Pokemon aswell, and we all gave victory signs. Then, we all headed back to Kristin’s house. She ran ahead of us, and went into her house before we were barely across the rest of the town!
The sun rose. We’d all taken short naps. Kristin had run ahead of us last night in order to make an important phone call, and today she said, “I need to tell you something, guys.”
I asked what it was, while Dark Spark hopped off my lap.
“Well, I was making the call to my grandmother.”
“Yes, what about your grandma?” Dalton asked.
“Well, she lives in Cerulean City, which is just a few miles away. And, when she was young, she used to be an amazing Pokemon Breeder!”
Kristin said. I could already see where this was going.
“And, I really think you guys are good friends, despite my suspicions earlier.”
“Yeah?” Dalton asked.
“Well, I’d really miss you both if I had to stay,” Kristin said. “So, I made a deal with my grandmother, since she’s a good breeder and is quite bored where she lives. My grandmother is coming over now to take care of all the Hoothoot. And I am going to go with you both!”
I nodded. “Okay, Kristin!” Dalton also nodded.
“You are welcome to adventure with us,” I said. “You should have a lot of fun. What Pokemon are you going to take?”
Kristin responded, “Spirit, Scyther, and the same Eevee you fought. And… I’m taking my guitar!”
Dalton… well, he was just hungry, and hoping that Kristin had something good to eat.
“We should still stay, though. So, let’s just stay at my house until Grandma comes, and then it’s to Cerulean City!”
I nodded. And then, we took out all of our Pokemon. It grew very quiet in my mind.
I was ready to keep on journeying.

And so, with the addition of a new member, yet another chapter has ended in the wonderful world of Pokemon. But, we need another badge. Will we get to Cerulean and defeat the gym leader, Misty, soon? Will Dalton and Kristin get another Pokemon, or at least something close to a Pokemon? Let’s find out what new things will happen in the next chapter: FOSSIL PICKIN’ GOOD!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're almost caught up... Now I just have to post Chapter 7!

 

[Owneik]

Still not good enough. You've glued them together. I said press enter TWICE; you have to have ACTUAL SPACES inbetween.

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Okay. The next one will be like that. ^^

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Chapter 7: Fossil Pickin’ Good! (THIS ONE IS RATED PG-13, NOT PG!)

Language: Woah… Sorry folks, this is the strongest yet.
Violence: Pretty strong. Weapons such as grenades and stun guns are used.
Sexual: Heheheheh. Sorry about that, Kristin! ^^; Wow, there really are a few references in here. I’m dark.

We were sitting in Kristin’s house, still in Hoothoot Village. Soon, we were going to be in Cerulean City, and I would be fighting for my second badge. It was a bright and sunny day after an epic encounter of the night.
Kristin turned on the television.

Dalton said, “Thanks. I’m bored,” while I nodded.

On the television, it showed an old man and his Wartortle dancing to the tune of the Sailor’s Hornpipe, with goofy and exaggerated movements. We found it funny, in an outlandish kind of way. I sat back and fizzed my Poke-Cola.

“Woohoo,” Kristin said. “This is actually really entertaining!”

Suddenly, the old man threw a banana peel on the ground and the Wartortle slipped on it, landing on its shell. Then, the old man tap danced faster and faster, until he eventually landed on his bottom himself. We laughed. But suddenly the picture fizzled out with a beep, and the channel automatically changed to the news!

“Hello. This is Gabby, the world’s number-one TV reporter, reporting for Pokemon 5! Breaking news has unfolded. A plane has crashed just west of Cerulean City bearing the insignia of Team Rocket, the infamous criminal organization…”

I spilled my cola.

“…known for thievery, corruption and genetic engineering. The crew consisted of 144 Team Rocket members.
34 are somehow still alive.
It is rumored that they are carrying a large shipment of fossils and other things that they will no doubt use in their continuing plan for world domination. The PIA (Pokemon Investigation Agency) is currently on the case, and they have sent their finest members, Merlock Domes and Dr. Bobson, to investigate the crash. We will now upload an image taken by Dr. Bobson just last hour.”

A blurry picture began to reveal itself, starting with a strange pinkish formation. Eventually, it became a small fairy-like creature. But not at all a nice one, and also a familiar one. A scar was on its left eye. It was the Clefairy that I’d fought aboard the plane! And the plane crashed!

“Do not worry, citizens. The situation is under control.
Also in the news, an infamous Pokemon Researcher named Bill has gotten himself trapped in a strange device that has now switched his body with a Rattata’s.
Firemen are attempting to rescuing him as we speak. Thank you for watching Pokemon 5! Gabby and Ty, world reporter and cameraman duo, out! Back to you, Felina.

Thank you. Apparently, Valencia Island is undergoing…”

“Th…that picture! THAT’S… THE CLEFAIRY! Some of them survived the crash!” My mouth was gaping wide open. “And they have a lot of Pokemon fossils, too. That can’t be good. At all!!”

Kristin was almost confused, but then she remembered the story I told her yesterday. She said, “We have to stop them.”

Dalton said, “But, you know. The PIA is there, and they have a reputation for being annoying. They’ll probably arrest US for interfering!”

“Yes, I know,” I said. I’d already read some humorous newspaper articles bashing the agency (A creative group of people has already labeled PIA under a different meaning), and now we had to think of a way to get past the PIA.

Hours later, I still couldn’t think of anything. My friends had no idea as what to do. We were now walking along Route 4, after Kristin’s grandmother had gotten to her house, when we saw a tall column of smoke. It was emerging from a wide open clearing surrounded by trees. We decided to run as fast as we could!

Dark Spark ran alongside me, his silver jagged tail glinting in the sunlight and swishing from side to side.

Spirit and Gene dawdled along behind us, playfully biting and tackling each other. Dalton and Kristin had to alert them several times to get them to rush.

Then, we heard the whuppa-whuppa-whuppa of a helicopter! We stared up at the clouds and saw it.

The helicopter was emblazoned with the “PIA” logo surrounded by a police shield.

Kristin screamed, “Jordan, we have to hide!”

I yelled, “Just duck in the tall grass!” There was a huge patch of very tall grass ahead, so we quickly laid down. The helicopter began to slow down near our patch of grass and finally landed.

“Where are they?”

“I deduce that they probably decided to run away.”

“Or they may be already at the plane.”

The angry voices faded away. It must have been Merlock Domes and his assistant, Dr. Bobson.

We sat up. “Phew, it’s OK,” I said.
Then, I thought I heard something else. I wasn’t sure.
Something like “...never dress...man again.”

Suddenly, an Ekans came through the bushes! It had been watching undetected, waiting for the perfect time to strike!

I yelled, “Aaah! Go Diglett!”
The small brown mole came out, and then, I yelled, “Diglett, use Dig!”

Diglett dug underneath Ekans, but then Ekans slithered into the hole too! Now, I couldn’t see the battle, and couldn’t relay my attacks! Underneath the earth, Ekans and Diglett were probably slithering through countless tunnels, striking at eachother. My Diglett probably wouldn’t know what to do – it had been taken by surprise! Many horrible things could happen, and I was thinking of many of them.

Kristin said, “Where is Diglett? Where’s Ekans?”

Dalton slowly backed off towards another part of the grass. Soon, he got the feeling that he was being watched…
Meanwhile, I yelled, “DIGLETT! USE MAGNITUDE!” I was hopeful that maybe Diglett could have heard my voice echoing down from the surface. To my relief, the Pokedex beeped “MAGNITUDE 9!”

However, it was a little too strong. A huge rumbling overcame Kristin and I! We both lost our balance, and fell… fell… fell…

“Where are we?” Kristin screamed.

“We’re falling… through the earth,” I screamed back.

Kristin yelled, “Go! Scyther!” and I yelled “Go! Butterfree!”

We both got onto our Bug Pokemon and tried to buzz back up to the surface. That’s when the ten-ton pile of soil slammed ontop of us, obscuring our vision and burying us alive!!
All was dark.
All was silent.
We felt nothing.
For the longest time, we had collapsed. Dark Spark and Spirit, too, were crushed along with us. Then, my eyes opened. But opening my eyes was as dark as closing them.
I felt around in the darkness.

“Kristin! Hello?” I asked. I couldn’t tell who was there, so I decided to feel around. I felt something very soft.

“WHAT THE HECK?” a voice screamed.

A loud windy noise echoed through the cave, kind of like a foot falling through thin air, as if someone was trying to hit me. “Oh… sorry, Kristin,” I said, rather embarrassed.
“It’s okay,” Kristin said. “You just… startled me.” We stood up. And now, our eyes were adjusting to the darkness.

In a couple minute’s time, I could see Kristin, although it was incredibly dark. We could see eachother just barely.

Kristin said, “Where’s Dark Spark and Spirit?” Dark Spark let off an electric charge to let us know he was there. It briefly lit up the cave, and now we could see eachother well. Also, Spirit was standing nearby Dark Spark.

“Okay. Now, we have to get out of here,” I said. “Everybody stay calm, I know it’s surprising that we’re alive. And I know it’s scary that we’re in the position that we are.”

Kristin, Dark Spark and Spirit nodded. Then, we began to take steps through the cave. Dark Spark couldn’t use Flash, but he did keep trying to let off electric charges from time to time to help us see.

“I’m kind of worried about Dalton,” I said. “He could be dead right now!” Kristin responded, “I don’t think so. He just walked off.”

Meanwhile, Gene uneasily followed Dalton through the grass. Dalton was unknowing where his friends were, and he was creeped out. “Do you know where the others are?”

Dalton asked. He was hopeful that perhaps a little bit of psychic would emerge from Gene that would let him telepathically know where they were. Alas, no dice. Gene looked confused, and Dalton began to groan. His frowning mouth descended down his face. He didn’t want to feel like a baby, so he screamed, “I AM GOING TO FIND YOU!!” He began getting really ticked.

Dalton screwed up his face. Maybe he could get a Pokemon. A strong one that would help him.

Suddenly, he noticed that a tree nearby was on fire!!

He had nothing to remove the fire with, but he still wanted to get rid of it. “I can’t think of anything to do to help that fire!” He knew how important Mother Nature was, and also how important his friends were. But today, he wanted to save the tree.

“Go, Gene! Investigate the fire,” Dalton said. He wished his Magikarp had a good attack, but instead, he’d have to use Gene and hope for a water attack. Gene came back, on fire!! Luckily, Gene’s fur suddenly became wet.

It was taking advantage of its Damp ability by changing to water mode!

“Right! Damp Ability helps negate fire attacks,” Dalton yelled. “But that means…” Gene ran back to the tree, and Dalton went with him. Then, he noticed what was at the base of the tree!

It was a small, orange lizard. It had big green eyes and cute little stubs for arms and legs. Its yellow underbelly went underneath its legs and ended with a long, red tail, on the end of which was a small and tame flame. “Char!” it said.

“It’s a Charmander!” Dalton said in awe. “This is rare! I have to catch it! Gene, use Water Gun!”

Gene’s fur began to become spongelike as he yelled “Eevee!” and spat out a small stream of water, striking Charmander in the face. Charmander yelled, “Char!” and spat a flame at Gene. Gene’s fur absorbed the fire with his Damp ability. “Great job, Gene!” Dalton said. “Now, use Water Gun again!”

Gene spat out another water stream. Charmander leapt over it, and his claws became sharp and silvery.

“Chaaaaaar…” Charmander warned. “GENE, RUN! IT’S THE METAL CLAW ATTACK!”

Gene began to dash away from Charmander, but Charmander slashed Gene with its sharp claws, causing a lot of pain! Gene squealed, despairing. Dalton screamed, “Fight back! USE WATER GUN, ONE MORE TIME!!”

Gene spit out a long, wide stream of water, fizzing and splashing over Charmander like a miniature wave.

Charmander slowly sank to the ground, hurting. “Go, Pokeball! CATCH THAT CHARMANDER!!” The Pokeball flew through the air, caught Charmander in a single gulp, and began to wiggle.

Dalton and Gene looked on, with tension in the air. Finally, Charmander was caught! “WOOHOO,” Dalton yelled. “I HAVE A CHARMANDER!!”

Dalton took out Charmander and gave him a Potion, healing the small lizard. “You’re my friend now, Charmander,” Dalton said.

Charmander nodded, accepting that he had been captured. Then, Dalton yelled, “Gene! Use Water Gun on the tree!” Gene held his breath and spit out a long stream of water.

It didn’t do much at first, but some of the fire was quenched. Eventually, the tree was put out. Then, Dalton and his Pokemon kept walking. They suddenly stepped onto a muddy spot… and began to sink.

It was quicksand!! “AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Dalton yelled…

Meanwhile, Kristin and I were continuing to walk. We were getting very worried. We still didn’t know where Dalton, Gene, or even Diglett was. “Where do you THINK they are?” Kristin asked.

“I have no idea!! This is a dark and seemingly endless cave with no way out, so how would I know?” I responded.

Kristin sighed, “You’re right.” We felt along the walls, until we began to hear voices.

“What?” Kristin asked. “It may be Dalton!” I said, happy. We rushed forward until we reached a… small, underground tent?

“Okay, I’m confused,” Kristin said.

“Me too,” I said. “We should investigate it.”

We peeked inside slowly and carefully, but no one was inside. “Who would want to pitch a tent in these dark caves?” Kristin asked as we stepped inside. Her question was answered soon enough.

“Look!!” I screamed. “Team Rocket pitched this tent!” I pointed to a poster bearing the Team Rocket logo.

Kristin groaned. “They must be looking for something if they came down here.” Then, I found the source of the voices. A TV, turned on, was mounted on a small table inside the tent. I didn’t know how it was connected, but we watched it.

“Expert sources have revealed that two of the fossils (Originally located in Mt. Moon) have been trapped in an underground maze of tunnels after the plane crash. Team Rocket are searching for these fossils for reasons unknown.”

“We have to retrieve them!” I yelled.

Kristin said, “We must find Dalton first, though.”

I nodded. “Okay, so the battle plan is find Dalton and friends, then safely retrieve the fossils from Team Rocket.”

We dashed as quickly through the caves as we could. Not before long, we began to realize that wild Pokemon were also crawling inside of the caves. All of a sudden, a screeching echoed through the infinitely dark caves.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Look!” Kristin yelled. A Zubat was flapping its wings and making an annoying screeching sound, flying throughout the caverns.

“I’ve seen enough Zubat!” I screamed. “I have to put an end to it now!!”

What do you mean?” Kristin asked.

I yelled, “I’m going to catch it. Dark Spark, go!”

“Pikaaaa!” Dark Spark yelled. He dashed towards the Zubat, sparks flying from his cheeks. He leapt in the air.

“Dark Spark, use Thundershock!” Dark Spark zapped Zubat with a jagged bolt that illuminated the cave. The small purple bat Pokemon gave out a screech and fell to the floor, its wings paralyzed. “One more shot should do it,” I yelled.

Suddenly, Zubat’s wings twitched. Zubat leaned up from the floor and fired a Supersonic attack! “No!!” I yelled.

Dark Spark let the supersonic waves enter his big ears, and suddenly Dark Spark began to wobble and get dizzy. “Dark Spark looks confused,” Kristin said.

“Dark Spark IS confused,” I said. “Shake it off!” Dark Spark accidentally smacked himself and fell backwards, while Zubat flew in for a Bite attack.

“DARK SPARK! Snap out of it!” I yelled with worry. Dark Spark’s ears snapped to attention at last, and Dark Spark launched a thundershock at Zubat. Zubat screeched in pain and fell again.

“Pokeball, GO!” I yelled. The Pokeball launched itself Zubat’s way, and snared it. The shiny red sphere fell on the ground and gave a shake. “Come on!” I yelled.

Finally, the Pokeball stopped wiggling. “Zubat is mine!!” I yelled in triumph! Kristin let out a sigh.

“Good job. Let’s go,” Kristin said.

I checked Zubat’s moves on the Pokedex before moving. “Leech Life, Bite, Wing Attack and Supersonic. It’ll do for now.” Then, I got an idea. “Go, Zubat!” I tossed Zubat’s Pokeball, and he came out. He was a bat of pride, looking fairly strong. His sharp teeth looked like they would be useful in battle. “Zubat, use Supersonic to scan the caves!”

Zubat nodded, and let out a “Bat”. Zubat looked straight ahead at the tunnel ahead, and let out a shrill noise that was hardly audible to humans. Still, it could give a bit of a headache. “Tell me when you sense my Diglett!” I yelled. Zubat’s ears pricked up, and he let out a “Baaaaat!”, then zipped down the tunnel. We followed quickly, unaware that three pairs of eyes were watching us.

Out of the shadows came Clyde of Team Rocket. He snickered, “Those meddling kids are done for.”

Bonnie murmured, “When those fossils we stole get revived, they’ll turn into powerful Pokemon that will destroy them.”

Clyde asked, “Hey, where’s the other boy?”

Bonnie said, “We’ll find him eventually. Gwahahaha!”

Dalton was stuck in the murkiness of the quicksand, and screaming to get out. He thought silently, “It’s okay. It’s okay. I must take it one step at a time!” Remembering reading survival books, Dalton grabbed Gene.

“Okay, Gene. Don’t be worried. Try to float!” Dalton slowly raised one leg through the gooey sediment, and then another. This just upset the quicksand even more, and it began to sink at worrying speeds!

“OH NO!!!” Dalton screamed. Gene ran back and forth, and then shot a Water Gun at the quicksand.

“No, it’s dry quicksand!” Dalton screamed. “Gene, NO! It’ll turn into mud!!!”

“EEEVEEEEEE!” Gene screamed and tried to kick his way out of the quicksand. Too late, the quicksand was now a mud.

Dalton yelled, “GO! BEEDRILL!” He launched a shiny red-and-white capsule through the air, and out came Beedrill.

He buzzed around in a circle, but then stared down at Dalton.

“Beedrill! Pick me up!” Dalton held Gene tight in the quicksand. His body was already almost swallowed, but Beedrill tried to hold on to Dalton and pull him out.

Alas, to no avail. The quicksand was many times stronger than Beedrill was, and it couldn’t support Dalton any longer. The quicksand enveloped Dalton. “Bmmphhdll, rttohhhrn!” was the last thing Beedrill heard before he was sucked back into his Pokeball. Then, along with Dalton and Gene, the Pokeball disappeared.

Dalton, unable to breathe, was wriggling around in the quicksand for what seemed like forever. “MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!!” he screamed, very frightened and unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, he couldn’t feel any quicksand around him. He looked up. The quicksand was above him, somehow. A gooey ceiling of quicksand!

Now, Dalton was falling through thin air. He screamed, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” as he looked around through the darkness he was in, and was unable to stop himself from splashing into the water beneath him!!

Minutes later, he managed to resurface. He caught his breath, and realized he could hardly see anything. Picking up an unconscious Gene, he said, “I think we must be miles underground!!”

He felt his forehead. “Wow, it sure is hot in here.”

Then, he noticed something shiny and red floating in the underground river. He picked it up – it was Beedrill’s Pokeball! “Now, we have to find where the others are,” Dalton whispered to himself.

He tossed a Pokeball. “Go, Charmander!” He released Charmander, and yelled, “Charmander. Use your tail flame to guide us through the caves!” The orange lizard nodded, and then started to walk. It took hours for him to even notice anything, but eventually he saw someone that he knew.

He had black hair, messy and spiky black hair. It was parted in the middle, with bangs. He had piercing, evil emerald eyes that seemed to follow you wherever you went. He was even wearing sunglasses this time, something he didn’t normally do. Most shocking of all was the black “R” uniform on his shirt. It was Clyde of Team Rocket. And Dalton noticed that he was carrying a fossil. This one had a spiraling pattern.

“You’re a Team Rocket member!” Dalton screamed, catching Clyde’s attention.

“Shut up, you sniveling rat,” Clyde said. “I don’t want to deal with you, but I’m going to. Besides, you have a nice, Type-Z infected Pokemon that our leader is just dying to get his hands on…”

“No, you evil jerk!” Dalton screamed. “I’m never going to side with your dark schemes! Now, unhand that fossil before Charmander roasts you!!”

“Such big words are impressing me,” Clyde said. “Not! Now, GIVE ME THE EEVEE!”

“Not on my life,” Dalton coldly yelled. “Charmander, prepare for battle!” Charmander grinned. Dalton could tell that he had a tough Charmander, one that wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Fine, kid,” Clyde said. “If that’s the way you want it… Go, Drowzee.” Clyde tossed his Pokeball, and out came the fat and yellow psychic Pokemon, Drowzee. It grinned.

“Charmander, use METAL CLAW!” Charmander yelled, “CHAR!” and his claws became steely. Then, Charmander swiped at Drowzee.

“I don’t think so,” Clyde laughed. “Drowzee, use Confusion!” Drowzee’s eyes began to glow blue as its psychic vision traumatized Charmander.

“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!” Charmander wailed in a bout of pain.

“No, Charmander! Use Ember, then!” Charmander’s pupils dilated as he leaned back and spat out some fireballs. Drowzee retaliated with Confusion, and the two attacks melted into a kind of weird ray that blasted both Pokemon!

“CHARMANDER!” Dalton yelled. When the smoke cleared, Drowzee was still standing, and Charmander was getting up.

“Drowzee! Use Confusion on the stalactites overhead,” Clyde laughed.

Drowzee moaned, “Droooooooooowwwwwwww…” and a strange glow overcame the cave. The stalactites broke off of the ceiling and all started flying towards Charmander like knives!!

“Charmander, RUN FOR IT!!” Dalton screamed. Charmander tried to melt the stalactites, which failed. Then, he turned and ran.

“CHAAAAR!” Charmander yelled, then tripped over a rock and fell on his stomach. “DROWZEE, USE BODY SLAM!” Clyde yelled.

Drowzee leapt onto Charmander with its massive bulk. Charmander screamed and fired an Ember in self defense. The flames licked Drowzee’s massive brown stomach and scorched it. “DROOOOOO!” Drowzee groaned.

“Drowzee is burned!” Dalton yelled.

“AAAAAAaaaargh,” Clyde screamed. Then, the flying stalactites slammed into Drowzee, who fell to the ground in pain. “Return, Drowzee,” Clyde groaned. Then he laughed.

“You know what, kid?” Clyde said.

Dalton slowly backed away as Clyde continued, “Bonnie loooves fire. She’s a pyromaniac. Me, I love gadgets and weapons. If they can make people feel pain, then I like to use them.” Dalton gasped as Clyde whipped out a long, steel whip.

“This is the TR-J01… or the Team Rocket JOLTER, Model One!” Dalton continued to back away, and Charmander too. Clyde brandished it in the air and pointed it at Dalton. “It’s a long pole packed with electricity. It has three modes. Safe, Stun, and Pain. You want it to be on Safe mode. You don’t want it to be on Stun mode, and definitely not Pain mode.”

Dalton yelled, “Why the hell are you doing this? I’m just a child, and you’re just a jerk who likes to mess around. Come on!!”

Clyde ignored Dalton and continued, “She’s a beauty, ain’t she? One wrong movement, and you and your Pokemon would get fried.”

Charmander eyed up the stick. He saw a spark crackle along its side. Charmander grinned. Dalton looked at Charmander, unsure of what he was up to. Charmander suddenly yelled, “CHAAAAR!” and shot an Ember at the stick, melting it!!

Clyde screamed, “You brat! You knew that fire melted steel, didn’t you?”

“Now GIVE US THE FOSSIL!!” Dalton screamed as he tossed two more Pokeballs. Out came Beedrill and Magikarp. “Magikarp, use Tackle! Beedrill, use Fury Attack!” Magikarp flopped around, and then slammed into Clyde’s stomach!

He groaned and yelled, “You stupid fish!”, then smacked Magikarp away. Beedrill began to launch its sharp needle arms at Clyde’s head, furiously ramming him! He gave a shout, and ran from the beelike Pokemon. Clyde groaned and tossed a fossil at Dalton, then sped away as fast as he could.

“Yeah… run like a baby!” Dalton said. Then, he picked up the fossil. He saw the same spiraling pattern on it, and pocketed it. “Now it’s in safe hands,” Dalton said to himself, and recalled all the other Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Kristin and I were still navigating the caves, now with Diglett detected, when Kristin noticed something nearby. A river was running through these caverns! She looked from side to side and walked over to the river, running her hand through it.

“That’s strange,” she mumbled. Then, she looked around. “Hey! Where’s Jordan?!” she asked. Then, she realized it. She’d let herself get sidetracked. “I’m so stupid,” she groaned.

She noticed another tunnel nearby. “Guess it’s worth a shot,” she decided. She ran into the tunnel, with the river running through it as well, and saw a Squirtle. “Hey… wonder why that Squirtle is here?” Kristin asked herself. She ran after the Squirtle, who ran through the cave as well. She tossed a Pokeball, and yelled, “GO! HOOTHOOT! Use Confusion!” Hoothoot launched a space-distorting ray through the air, straight at Squirtle. Squirtle gave out a yelp and ducked into its shell, which deflected the beam and launched it back at Hoothoot. “Hoothoot, return!” Kristin yelled.

She walked out into a large, open space, and Squirtle got there too.

It was a dead end.

Suddenly, a huge explosion burst from the ceiling, and in a blast of flames came a familiar-looking woman. She had an interesting steely gray hairdo, which was quite curly. Her eyes were piercing red, and they matched her spiky triangle earrings. But, something new about her was that she was wearing menacing black sunglasses. But, the most frightening of all was that she was wearing her black uniform, marked with a red R.

“It’s Bonnie,” Kristin gasped.

“That indeed,” Bonnie laughed. She twirled a lock of hair in her white glove, and then said, “It looks like it’s just you and me. I’ll make sure of two things: firstly, you’ll never get the chance to rescue my fossil. And second, you’ll never come out of these caverns alive!! Mwahahaha!”

Kristin yelled, “Oh yeah? Let’s have a POKEMON BATTLE!!”

Bonnie yelled, “Fine. Go, KRABBY!” She tossed a Pokeball, which revealed the red crab Pokemon that Kristin had seen once before.

“Go, Hoothoot!” Kristin yelled. “Use Confusion on Krabby!” Hoothoot used its psychic powers to lift Krabby into the air. Krabby was utterly useless now, pinching at thin air.

Krabby then gave out a groan of pain, its brain greatly harmed by the brainwaves. Krabby stared down at Hoothoot and launched a few bubbles. They popped in Hoothoot’s face, launching a burst of water. Hoothoot shook the water off his feathers in a wave of anger. “So, you still managed to do something? Kristin asked.

“Yes, I am far more capable of anything than a mere child would be capable of!!” Bonnie screamed, showing signs of obnoxiousness. A fire seemed to glow in her eyes, as she commanded, “Krabby! Be relentless in your attack!”

Krabby appeared to grin, and meanly blasted an immense group of bubbles at Hoothoot! It seemed almost game over for Hoothoot, until Kristin took charge.

“Hoothoot! Use Reflect, now!! Make your ruthlessness equal that of Krabby’s!” Hoothoot turned on a full shield of Reflect, and Krabby began ramming the shield with his claws.

“What?!” Bonnie screamed in anger.

“Your physical attacks used to be strong, but with Reflect, they’re no big deal to my favorite owl,” Kristin winked.

Bonnie incredulously asked, “Are you trying to mock me?! AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!! Well, Reflect can’t stop special attacks!” Kristin’s face faltered, and then Krabby let loose with bubble after bubble.

Meanwhile, Squirtle was staying in the back, getting angrier and angrier, until finally, she decided to strike. She launched her shell into Krabby. Kristin was so surprised, she yelled, “Squirtle?! Please stay out of this!”

Squirtle had a pleading look on her face as she stared at Kristin. Kristin said, “Fine. Squirtle, use Rapid Spin! Follow it up with Water Gun! Hoothoot, return!” She returned Hoothoot, and watched Squirtle slam into the big orange crab, time after time.

Eventually, Krabby began foaming at the mouth. Bonnie yelled, “Krabby?! NO!” as Krabby collapsed to the ground, its claws slowly stopping their pinching. Bonnie screamed, “YOU *****!”

Kristin was taken aback. “What did you just call me?”

Kristin was scared at this strong response from Bonnie. She was just a kid. She had no right to be called what she just thought she heard.

Bonnie responded, “I called you what you are. You’re an annoying little brat.”

Kristin fumed. “No, Bonnie. You’re worse than I am. You have a toadlike face, and you try to act so strong and smart. I bet the only reason you’re still in your little organization is because you give your employer…”

Bonnie got really ticked now, and just as Kristin said “employer,” she yelled “SHUT UP!!! You’re too young to speak such strong words, while I’m old enough to rave about your butt any way I want. Now…”

“You’d better give me the fossil,” Kristin said, acting extremely defensive now.

“No, you brat,” Bonnie said, recalling her Krabby. “I’m not going down yet!” She suddenly reached behind her and pulled out a small loop with eight green objects on them.

“What are they?” Kristin asked with worry, not knowing what a grenade was.

“They’re grenades,” Bonnie said. “You pull this pin here, which sets off a little fuse inside the grenade’s body, and after I do, I’ll throw it at you. You can find out what happens next.”

“They’re bombs?!” Kristin screamed. “NOOOO!!!” She started running out of the caverns. Bonnie chased after her with a newly lit grenade, and hurled it at Kristin. Suddenly, Squirtle shot up and launched a Water Gun at it!! Completely soaking the grenade, it crashed to the ground and laid there, with smoke rising from one end.

Bonnie let out a howl of rage and continued to toss grenades at Kristin, time after time. Noticing one coming at her, she had to think quick. “RAPID SPIN!”

Squirtle ducked into her shell and rapidly spun the grenade back at Bonnie. She ducked just in time before the grenade exploded, demolishing the cave wall behind her and filling the area with smoke.

“God, I love fire,” Bonnie screamed. She didn’t seem to be in a good mood, despite what she said. It must have been a random comment.

“Then why do you train a Water Pokemon?!” Kristin asked, confused.

“AAAAAAAH! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!” Bonnie screamed, her defused grenades lying in shambles around her. She tossed a fossil at Kristin, which was smooth and dome-shaped. “TAKE IT! Now leave me alone,” Bonnie whimpered, finally collapsing on the cave ground. She got up again, then stumbled off, leaving Kristin with a fossil.

“Phew, that was close,” Kristin said. “Thank you for your help, young Squirtle,” she said, patting Squirtle on the head and walking off.

Squirtle seemed to look a little sad after this was said. “Squirtle squirt,” Squirtle moaned, and then took off after Kristin.

Kristin turned around. “Thank you, Squirtle. But I have to go,” she said.

“SQUIIIIRTLLLLE!!!!!” Squirtle screamed, hopping up and down. Kristin looked sad for a moment.

“You want to go with me, don’t you?” Kristin said. Then, she smiled. She took out a Pokeball, and Squirtle smiled.

Saying nothing, Kristin calmly opened the Pokeball, and it zapped Squirtle inside. Then, it closed, and Squirtle was caught without resistance.

Kristin merely smiled, and calmly walked off, determined to meet up with her friends.

Meanwhile, Dalton was still walking along in the deep caverns. Gene, who had recently woken up, was tottering along in front of Dalton, while Charmander was lighting up the way with his flaming tail. “Hey, I hear footsteps,” Dalton said. He kept walking along, and noticed that there was a screaming sound getting steadily louder…

“WHAT THE HECK?!” Dalton shouted, hearing an echo through the caves. Then she noticed the woman, who was soaking wet and bruised, who was screaming through the caves. She quickly passed by Dalton.

“Is that the weird Team Rocket woman?” Dalton said. He decided to run the opposite way that she was running. So, he ran through the caves. “Let’s go, everybody!”

Dalton, Charmander and Gene walked and walked. About a hundred feet down the caverns, Kristin heard footsteps coming her way. She turned around, and noticed a growing light. “I see it! It’s the light at the end of the tunnel,” Kristin yelled in a strange euphoria.

Kristin ran towards the light, while Dalton kept running forward. Let’s just say that they both got a big surprise. Kristin, Dalton and their Pokemon crashed to the ground in confusion, and Kristin said, “Oh… it was you… Eh.”

Charmander laughed, “Chaaar!” while Dalton said, “It’s not your fault… That flame kind of looks like a bright, blurry light after spending so long in these dark caves. I’m beginning to feel a little weird myself…”

Dalton and Kristin got up, and then they got serious. “Okay, do you have any fossils?” Kristin said.

“Yep,” said Dalton. “It’s kind of spirally.”

“Me too!” Kristin said, pulling out her own domelike fossil. “Wow! We both got the fossils! Poor Jordan must be having trouble. We should go look for him, now,” Kristin said.

Dalton responded, “Wait! Did you meet and fight any Team Rocket members?”

“Yeah. I met Bonnie, so you must have met Clyde,” Kristin said.

“What happened?” Dalton said.

Kristin told the whole horrible story to Dalton, and Dalton frowned in shock. “That’s awful! I’m glad we retrieved both fossils safely.”

Kristin responded, “Yeah. We’re just kids, but it’s a good thing that we’re so brave. I was kind of scared, though.” Dalton nodded.

“It’s scary when you’re out in the world. There are so many evil forces that just seem bigger than you,” Dalton said.

Kristin said, “Never mind about that, for now. We’ve got to go and find Jordan!”

Both of them nodded, then ran off.

Meanwhile, poor old me was still looking for Diglett. Dark Spark and Zubat were leading the way for me, until we came upon a great crack in the earth. “Wow… Where did this come from?” I pondered to myself. “Must be the Magnitude attack…”

I kneeled down to the crack, and suddenly saw hundreds and hundreds of Diglett and Dugtrio!! “Which one is mine?!” I screamed in horror, as the Diglett stampede rushed through the massive crack in the earth. This was no crack, these were Diglett tracks! “Uh-oh,” I said.

Suddenly, Zubat flew over to one of the Diglett and started making noises. “Diglett!” I yelled. “Diglett, come here!”

Diglett noticed me and seemed happier, suddenly digging back towards me, letting out the cry of “Diglett dig, Diglett dig!”

“Finally! Diglett!” I yelled with happiness, welcoming Diglett. Then, we saw something in the dirt that the Diglett squad left behind.

It was Butterfree and Scyther. “Butterfree!! Scyther!!” I screamed, and recalled an unconscious Butterfree. I looked at Scyther, not knowing what to do with him. Next time I saw Kristin, I’d have to give him back. I grabbed Scyther’s shoulders and tried to drag him. That quickly failed. “Scyther is just too heavy, and I can’t catch him,” I moaned.

All of a sudden, two determined-looking Digletts came out of the blue and began pushing on Scyther. My Diglett went around to the other side and also began to heave. The three Digletts were working together to lift Scyther!

“Thank you,” I said gratefully, and noticed that Scyther was almost lifted up. Suddenly, all three Digletts gave one last great heave, and it worked!

The three Digletts joined together underneath Scyther in order to carry him. Now, all three Digletts were one mass, traveling together to transport Scyther. My Pokedex beeped, “Diglett has evolved into Dugtrio! Congratulations!”

“That’s so great,” I yelled. “Now I have a Dugtrio! I’m a force to be reckoned with. Team Rocket better watch out! Come on out, everybody!”

I called out all of my Pokemon. Sol, Butterfree, and Zubat emerged. Butterfree was awake now, maybe because the Pokeball replenished his health a little. “Okay, everybody. Let’s go!”

Sol, Butterfree, Zubat, Dark Spark, and Dugtrio, carrying Scyther, followed me through the caves. “Man, I’m starving. I want to see sunlight again, too!” I whimpered, but I was at least glad that all of my Pokemon were following me. Then, I saw Machop of Team Rocket.

“You’re Team Rocket’s Machop, aren’t you? You have a fossil, don’t you?!” I demanded to get questions out of the Pokemon.

The small muscular Pokemon simply laughed and said, “I no give fossil. You give Type Z Pokemon! AAATTAAACK!” Machop charged at me, and I began to get very angry.

“Sol, use Razor Leaf! Butterfree, use Gust! Zubat, use Bite! Dark Spark, use Thundershock! Dugtrio, put Scyther down for now and use Dig!”

The entire battle happened relatively fast. Sol let out a “SAUR!” and blasted a bunch of Type Z-powered leaves at Machop. “AAAAAARGH!” Machop screamed as he toddled backwards. I felt the entertaining grip of the battle on my brain.

Butterfree then shot a Gust at Machop. After the barrage of leaves left Machop sore, Butterfree flapped its wings, and a huge windy whirl knocked over Machop. I wanted to take out this evil as fast as possible!

Then, Zubat bit into a dazed Machop, who screamed in pain. He shook it off, and then Dark Spark zapped him, and left Machop lying. A weakened Machop could not handle much more, but he had the Type Z, so that was an advantage. Finally, Dugtrio dug underneath Machop and all three heads came up and slammed him, leaving him very weak.

Machop was lying on the floor, bruised. “That takes care of that, I said.” Then, I noticed the glow.

Machop was evolving into Machoke! “No,” I screamed in horror, and then I shot a defiant finger at the newly formed Machoke as the light faded. “You will never prevail!”

Machoke laughed. “Yeah right, puny creature. I new strength, you old weakness. I DEFEAT!! REVENGE!!!”

Suddenly, Machoke screamed as power coursed through his body. He launched a barrage of punches and kicks at all of my Pokemon, and left them all bruised.

“Sol? Dark Spark? Butterfree…?” I called out in shock.

Suddenly, Dalton and Kristin were beside me! They’d finally caught up. “Dalton! Kristin!” I yelled with happiness!

“Did Machop evolve?” Dalton and Kristin said, after they gave a friendly hug to me for finding me again.

“Yeah! Let’s take this stupid jerk down!” I yelled.

And, we all commanded our Pokemon to do attacks, after Kristin attempted to wake up Scyther. Dark Spark, Sol, Gene, Spirit and the whole gang launched powerful attacks at Machoke.

The battle was long, and hard. After a long time of battling, we finally overcame Machoke, but it was not easy. Machoke’s powerful arms were able to smack away many of our attacks. Surprisingly, it boiled down to a combination of Sol, Charmander and Squirtle to win. The three-starter effort used a combination of grass, fire and water, obviously, but we prevailed.

Machoke screamed as the last attack hit him. Sol used his Type Z to make his razor leaves even sharper than usual. Charmander used his flames to convert the sharp leaves into flaming daggers, and the attack wouldn’t have hit too hard if it weren’t for Squirtle using his Water Gun to jet propel the attack even further. It was a master plan that Dalton, Kristin and I were formulating throughout the battle. We aimed for the belt on Machoke’s stomach, which was its weak point because it suppressed Machoke’s power.

And so, Machoke fell to the ground, groaning. Bonnie and Clyde appeared at the scene.

“What, what…” Clyde said.

“I can’t even think of a swear for this,” Bonnie growled as she noticed what had just happened.

“You three twerps! Have the fossil! We don’t care, we can manipulate Pokemon some other way!” Clyde tossed the final fossil at me, and it went right into my hands.

It was the Ancient Amber, a pretty-looking gem that contained a bit of DNA from an ancient Pokemon.

As Bonnie and Clyde stalked off, dragging a bruised Machoke, Kristin said, “I never knew there was a third fossil?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought this was one of the two!”

Dalton and Kristin explained their own individual adventures of getting the fossils to me.

“… and I managed to get away safely, with my dome fossil in tow,” Kristin finished, out of breath.

“Wow. So, there are really three ancient fossils in Kanto. Amazing!” I said. “We will use these for good, won’t we?”

“Yes,” Dalton said. “Now, race you to Cerulean City!”

“Hold it, bucko. How do we get out of here?” Kristin said. I pointed right above me.

“There it is. That hole up there is the exit.”

“Beedrill, go!” Dalton screamed, worn out.

“Scyther, go!” Kristin yelled, feeling tired.

“Butterfree, go!” I said, feeling carpal tunnel in my wrist – or, that’s how tired I was, anyway.

We all used our Pokemon to return to the surface.

Kristin’s grandmother watched television back at Hoothoot Village. And this is what she heard:

“In the news, Team Rocket members have all scattered from the crash site of a Team Rocket plane. Bonnie and Clyde, two high-ranking agents of Team Rocket, and the unnamed executive with a Clefairy are among the few who escaped. Experts report that all fossils have been removed from the site by no description but ‘three heroic young children who seem to have a strong sense of courage’. Indeed, this must have been some sort of miracle for such small kids to do this. Back to you, Samuel. You still have a lecture to do, don’t you?”

Indeed. With a whole bunch of newly caught/evolved Pokemon, our heroes are about to reach Cerulean City! However, the author’s back is about to break from how funny he’s sitting in the computer chair, so you’ll have to wait a little before the next chapter. Chapter Eight is in the making!

To be continued…

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Finally, Chapter Eight is out.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8 – Rulin’ Cerulean

Cursing - Phew, a break for once. No.
Violence - Battling violence only.
Sexual - No.

Yet again, our heroes are found to be on a great journey. But there’s one problem today… everybody is dead stinking tired.

Indeed, everyone is tired. I was completely wiped out from my previous big adventure, in which I was searching for fossils in a great network of caverns and fighting against Team Rocket. Not only me, but also my Pokemon, were heavily bruised. We needed sleep – it was obvious. And, indeed, our underground trials had proved to be very long – the sun was nearly down. The adventure had taken roughly a day, take a few hours.

Kristin was still recovering from the horrific things that happened when facing off against Bonnie. She had never known anybody to be so brutal. Dalton was equally shocked at his near-death encounter as well, and as for me, I was just tired. At least we’d gotten a few new interesting items and Pokemon from the adventure.

I had gotten a Zubat, a strange amber fossil, and my Diglett evolved into Dugtrio. Dalton had gotten a Charmander and a spiral fossil, and Kristin had gotten a Squirtle and a domelike fossil. But it still didn’t change the fact that we needed rest. We were hungry for the next Pokemon Center.

Dalton groaned, “WE HAVE TO GET THERE… I’M SO HUNGRYYY… SO TIRED… COLLAPSE!”

Kristin groaned, “I… my body fails me… I… center…”

And I groaned, “Just… keep… going… Cerulean… badge! WE WILL… MAKE… IT!”

Dark Spark was crawling on all fours, drooling for water as if we were in a desert.

I yelled, “Look!”

We saw a sign right in front of us. It said “CERULEAN CITY ”.

“YES!” we screamed, and then we began to whoop and holler pathetically.

“Weeerrrreee heeeeerrreeeeyy!” Kristin giggled like a drunken person, while Dalton slumped down on his knees and praised the sky.

I raised Dark Spark up in the air, provoking confused looks from my little buddy. “THANK YOU ALL! Gooooooodnight.”

We shook off our tiredness, and entered the city gates. “I’d like to thank all my Pokemon for getting this far,” I laughed. Kristin danced around, and Dalton admired the blue buildings.

“We’ll do the important stuff tomorrow,” I said. “First, we’ve got to get to the Pokemon Center!”

“What important stuff? The Pokemon Center IS the important stuff,” Dalton said as he promptly walked over to the familiar red roof.

Upon entry, yet another Nurse Joy said, “You’d better heal your Pokemon quickly. It’s getting late.”

“Okay. Please heal all of our Pokemon,” I said, submitting Dark Spark and all my Pokeballs to the Nurse. “Good,” she said, as she went into the back room and checked them up.

Half an hour passed in the waiting room of the center, as we waited for Nurse Joy to finished. We were all getting so drowsy, we could barely live. “Please…” I murmured from between my knees, my head bowed.

Finally, she came out, and gave us back all of our Pokemon. “Our convenient healing systems have managed to replenish your Pokemon’s health. Please go upstairs to the trainer’s beds. They will help you get a great night’s sleep.”

And so, we went.

“Goodnight, Jordan. Goodnight, Dalton. Goodnight, Dark Spark.”

“Goodnight, Kristin. Goodnight, Jordan. Goodnight, Dark Spark.”

“Goodnight, Kristin. Goodnight, Dalton. Goodnight, Dark Spark.”

“Pika-Pi! Pikachu! Chu-ka-piiii!”

I slept like a log that night. A big, fat, tired, lazy log.

The next morning, I woke up bright and early, a grin on my face. Dark Spark hopped off me, and soon Kristin and Dalton were stretching and out of their beds.

“It’s a great day! Let’s go!” I said, as I went down the Pokemon Center elevator. All of my friends followed, and then we walked out of the Pokemon Center. Then, I noticed what Cerulean City really was like.

It was a fairly big town. It was a lot more hustle-and-bustle then the previous, humble towns that we visited. All of the roofs were blue, and the roads were pleasant and well-paved. It was a perfect place to fly a kite, to ride a bike, or to go fishing. Also, there was a river running through the north part of this town, which made it a town oriented towards water. The sun overhead was just rising, making a beautiful, deeply-colored sky. All of the shops changed their signs to Open, and many people came out.

“Now this is a city I could live in,” Kristin said with a satisfied grin. “What will we do here?”

“I’m going to fight the gym leader and gain my second Pokemon League badge,” I said. Dalton looked a little sad.

“What’s wrong, Dalton?” I asked Dalton.

“I want to go to the Pokemon League too. But I’m not the one who gains the badges. You are,” Dalton said.

“Well… we can find something,” I said. “Don’t worry. We’ll go into the Pokemon League together. We can even have a battle,” I continued.

“I hope you’re right,” Dalton said.

“Well, don’t dwell on it now,” Kristin remarked. “We’re in Cerulean City! Keep things alive!”

We laughed. Kristin said, “Let’s split up, and find interesting things to do.”

I nodded. We said our temporary goodbyes, and started walking separate ways.

First of all, Kristin happened upon an interesting little shop that seemed to advertise bikes. She walked inside, and noticed the smartly-dressed shopkeeper. After thinking it over, she told the shopkeeper, “Can I have a bike?”

“Sure,” the shopkeeper said. “That’ll be a million dollars. Would you like to pay with cash or a check?”

“Ooooookay,” Kristin said, running out the door. She wasn’t going in there again.

Meanwhile, Dalton was at the Pokemart. He was getting a lot of money lately from his adventures, and it was time to spend it a bit. “I’d like a Super Potion, and… er… one of each status effect helper thingy,” Dalton said with a cheesy grin. He paid his money and walked out of there.

Finally, Dark Spark and I were walking towards the Pokemon Gym of Cerulean. It had a slightly circus-like look about it. It was a huge and colorful, high-roofed stadium that appeared to have a large, seal-like Pokemon advertised on the front. I slowly walked in, and noticed how cute and homely the interior was. The red and fuzzy carpet was easy on the feet, and the tranquil bubbling noises of the aquarium on either wall was nice too. I pressed my face up to the glass to view the beauty of the water Pokemon swimming inside. There were hundreds of them, and many of them I’d never seen before. There were seahorse Pokemon, beautiful frilled Pokemon, starfish Pokemon, and more. I truly learned the beauty of water just by viewing the sights of that aquarium, and Dark Spark seemed amazed too!

Then, we entered the door into the actual gym. It was like a giant stadium, and it was currently occupied by thousands of cheering fans! I wondered what the big deal really was, however, as I noticed there was no battling going on. Instead, there was a young girl dressed as a mermaid, with red hair, standing on a diving board above a giant glass cube filled with water. “Wow, she’s quite cute,” I said to myself.

An announcer said, “Since the Three Sensational Sisters are currently on a vacation around the world, our young and talented Misty Waterflower will perform the Water Pokemon play!”

Misty, obviously embarrassed at the sight of her in front of such a big crowd, mumbled, “I would like to dedicate this play to a friend of mine… he’s currently traveling in the Hoenn region.” At that, Misty dived into the gigantic pool, and began swimming around.

The announcer continued, “Misty Waterflower has been rumored to be a young child of the water. This means that she is one of the few people who is able to speak under water, and has a passionate nature when it comes to water. Some water children are even able to swim from birth! These strange abilities benefit such children, and thus we are honored to have her living here, in our own city.”

Misty waved to the audience, and then her Pokemon surrounded her. First, there was a five-pointed star Pokemon, which I later learned was Staryu. Then came a blue ten-pointed star Pokemon, and a young seahorse. After that came a green frog, and a pink coral-like creature, and even an awkwardly-swimming yellow duck who appeared to have a constantly blank expression.

They swam around for a long, long time, enrapturing everybody in the audience with their delicate moves (or, in the duck’s case, not so delicate). It went on for quite a while, until finally, Misty jumped out, her tailfin waggling and her Pokemon having fun. At that, the play ended, and Misty climbed out of the pool, making hundreds of fans scream and cheer. I began to clap too, as I enjoyed the performance. Dark Spark jumped up and down, smiling.

Soon, Kristin and Dalton came to the gym, just as I was exiting the stadium. As I walked into the comfortable lobby, I saw them looking at the aquarium.

“Hey, guys!” I said.

They turned to me and smiled, and Kristin bent down to pat Dark Spark on the head. Dalton said, “So, did you gain a badge?”

“No,” I replied. “The gym leader wasn’t taking challenges because she was performing in a special show for the gym. Apparently, this gym is also an aquarium, and a theater for watching performances in the water!”

“Neato,” Dalton laughed. “But you are going to get a badge now, right?”

“Yes,” I said.

I saw Misty afterwards, dressed in normal clothing. I went up to her and was about to ask her a question, but she said, “I don’t take autographs.”

I responded, “No. I want a gym match! After all, you are the Gym Leader, right?”

“Well, yes,” Misty said. “That said, we’re gonna have a hot battle. I’m going to the stadium right away!”

I followed her to the stadium and faced her on the opposing side of the battlefield. Our Pokemon would be placed on special rafts.

“Here are the rules,” Misty said. “It’ll be a three-on-three match. If I lose, I’ll give you a badge and a special device called a Technical Machine. If you lose, we’ll have a rematch later.”

“That’s fair,” I said. “So, let’s start this! Go!”

Misty asked, “What’s your policy on Pokemon battling? My policy is an all-out offense with Water Pokemon! Let’s go!” – but I don’t think she meant that as a question.

MISTY
Horsea
Staryu
Starmie

Vs.

JORDAN
Bulbasaur
Zubat
Pikachu

Misty shouted, “Go! Horsea!” Out appeared a small seahorse-like Pokemon which was colored a pretty blue, and had red sparkling eyes.

I responded, “Go! Sol!” I took out my big, Type-Z infected Bulbasaur, who was ready for battle.

Misty yelled, “Horsea, use Smokescreen!” Horsea shot an inky puff at Sol, which blurred his version. “Bulbaaa!” Sol cried out in confusion.

“Sol, try to fight it! Use Vine Whip to lasso Horsea!” I yelled. Sol tried to shoot a powerful vine at Horsea, but it somehow missed Horsea’s body through the smoke.

“Hahaha!” Misty yelled. “Use Bubble, and follow up with Water Gun!” Both attacks didn’t do much to Sol, but they did daze him further.

“Sol, shake it off! You’re okay. Use Vine Whip!”

Sol smiled and launched the vine right at Horsea this time. He lassoed Horsea around, then launched it in the air, and while Horsea was in mid-air, I screamed, “Use Bullet Seed, now!”

Sol shot a steady stream of bullets at the airborne little Pokemon, which recoiled it up into the stadium roof. “HORSEEEEAAAAAAA!” Horsea screamed. I felt the heat of battle coming on harder now.

Misty yelled, “DON’T GIVE UP! Horsea, use Tackle as you come back down, and slam Sol on the head!” Horsea dropped down through the air for a long time.

“Take advantage of the time and dodge it!” I yelled. Sol dodged it, but inadvertently fell into the water. Horsea fell on to Sol’s raft, and Sol began swimming crazily, trying to get back on to the raft.

“No! Sol! Wait a minute,” I said. “Build a raft using your Razor Leaf!”

Kristin and Dalton were watching from the stands, amazed. “No way,” Kristin said.

Dalton responded, “He isn’t that smart, is he?”

Kristin scolded him. “Don’t try to be mean like that! He plans battles well!”

Sol shot a huge flurry of Razor Leaves in the air, and they somehow melted together to form a large raft of leaves.

“Leaves float in water,” I said. “Normally though, if you put something onto a leaf, it’ll sink quickly. So, I decided to put Sol on a huge RAFT of leaves!”

“A kid like you can’t be that clever,” Misty laughed. “Did you see that on TV?”

“Nope,” I honestly said. “But I did read quite a few books!”

Misty laughed. “Okay, then. Horsea, knock him off his perch! Another Tackle!”

“Use Bullet Seed to force Horsea back!” I yelled. As Horsea launched at Sol, Sol shot his Bullet Seed attack, knocking Horsea halfway across the water, and splashing into the other end of the aquatic arena.

“Horsea has fainted!” The referee said. “Misty, switch Pokemon now!”

Misty sympathized with the poor seahorse Pokemon. “You did well,” she cooed in a motherly tone. She returned Horsea and tossed another Pokeball. “Gooooo… STARYU!”

Out came a new Pokemon, which had five points and looked like a star. It was very odd, having no face or anything.

“Now, I’m getting serious!” Misty shouted in defiance. “This Staryu is strong and speedy! You’d have to have top-notch skills to beat this one!!”

“Grr,” I said. I turned to a slightly bruised Sol. “Can you keep going?” Sol nodded with confidence. Sol wasn’t a pushover. I felt silly even asking him, what with his Type Z and all. “Okay then!”

Misty shouted, “Staryu! Use Rapid Spin!”

“Hiyah!” Staryu shouted with defiance, transforming into a frisbee and launching itself at Sol. It knocked Sol over, causing him to scream “Saur!” in pain.

”It must be a ninja star,” Dalton joked to Kristin.

“Shut up,” Kristin said. “Watch!”

Sol slowly got up, and began glowing. Jordan said, “Wow! Sol’s gaining a new attack!” I checked my Pokedex.

“Sol has learned Z-Leaf!” the Pokedex said. I said, “Hmmm. Better try it out. Sol, use Z-Leaf!”

Sol shuddered, and suddenly he created a gigantic sharp leaf shaped like a boomerang. He launched it hard at Staryu, who was knocked away by it like a ragdoll, and then it came back to hit Staryu again, launching him into the water.

“Wait!” Misty said. “I think Staryu broke a leg!”

“Oh no!” I said. Misty raised Staryu out of the water. Indeed, the attack had severed one of Staryu’s points!

“It’s okay,” Misty laughed. “That happens all the time. Staryu regenerates a limb quite quickly. Staryu, use Psybeam. NOW!!”

Staryu launched a strange psychic ray at Sol, who flew back several feet, wailing loudly!! “SOL!!” I screamed.

“How is that Staryu’s psychic power so great?” Misty responded, “I’ve trained him for a long time. Now, Staryu, use Rapid Spin now!!”

Sol, who was on the floor beside the pool, got slammed again with Staryu’s powerful rapid spin! Then, Staryu came back towards Sol and launched him with another Rapid Spin!

“Sol, use Vine Whip to…” I said, but that was when Staryu slammed into Sol’s stomach with a powerful force and jumped away, then bounced off the walls and into the water.

“That Staryu’s too strong…” I said, backing off. Slowly, Sol got up, and I said, “Sol! Use Vine Whip!” Sol launched a vine at Staryu, which roped Staryu up and lassoed him around, like I did with Horsea.

“Staryu! GET OUT OF IT WITH RAPID SPIN, NOW!!” Suddenly, Staryu spun so fast, that part of Sol’s vine got shredded to bits! Sol flinched and retracted his vine, feeling the hurt!!

“Sol, are you okay?” I asked, but Sol was clearly very dizzy. “Sol, return! Go, Zubat!!” I called on Zubat again, and yelled, “ZUBAT!!! USE BITE!!!!”

Zubat swooped in for a fierce bite on Staryu, who knocked it out of the way with one arm. Then, Staryu used Rapid Spin and knocked Zubat out of the air, slamming him deep into the water!!!

“ZUBAT!!” I yelled. I heard a muffled screeching from under the water, and jumped in the water to get him out. I couldn’t swim very well, but managed to hold onto Zubat’s body well enough. I swam back up, running out of breath, and set Zubat on the surface.

“Aaaablblblh!!” I gurgled from beneath the water, fizz filling up my lungs. I weakly attempted to crawl back out, while yelling, “Zubat! Use Wing Attack!”

Zubat swooshed in towards Staryu. “STARYU, DODGE IT!!!” Misty screamed, and Staryu spun out of the way. “STARYU, USE PSYBEAM!”

Staryu shot another ray of energy at Zubat, which messed up Zubat’s brainwaves and launched the poor bat backwards. Zubat screeched in horrendous pain!!

“ZUBAT! USE BITE AGAIN!” Staryu kept dodging every time Zubat went in for a bite, which annoyed the poor bat.

“ZUBAT! USE SUPERSONIC AND MESS UP THAT STARYUUUUUUU!!!” I screamed, which made Zubat launch a horribly loud sonic wave at Staryu, which made it so dizzy, that it splashed into the water and sunk slowly.

“Staryu!” Misty said.

“Staryu has fainted! Please select your next Pokemon!!” The ref said.

“Poor Staryu,” Misty said, recalling her Pokemon. “I know just who to use! The toughest one of the three… GO, STARMIE!!!!!”

She launched her final Pokeball through the air, revealing a much bigger starlike Pokemon. It had a purple body, and ten sharp points. Its brilliant core shined like all the colors of the rainbow. “Starmie has great endurance and a fighting spirit. I’ve trained with it on my many journeys. I will not lose!! Starmie, use Swift!!”

Starmie shot a huge stream of star-shaped projectiles at Zubat. “ZUBAT! DODGE IT!” I yelled, as they approached the bat, who was ready to roll. Zubat flew up and away, but the star-shaped projectiles followed.

“Swift never misses, and it never stops until it makes contact with an object,” Misty said. The barrage of star-shaped projectiles slammed into Zubat, causing a great screech.

“Zubat…” I said. Zubat began to slowly sink in the air, his left wing aching and sore. “Zubat, don’t give up. Bite it, HARD!!!”

Zubat bit into one of Starmie’s arms, but Starmie spun him away, breaking Zubat’s tooth in the process. A battered Zubat, getting angry, flew back at Starmie and launched a flurry of several enraged wing attacks, battering Starmie, but not too much.

“Starmie! Finish him off with Water Gun!” Starmie shot a large spray of water at Zubat, soaking him. Zubat landed in the water, unconscious.

“You were great, Zubat,” I said, while the ref called out, deeming him unconscious. I returned Zubat. “Now, for MY best Pokemon,” I said. “Go… DARK SPARK!”

Dark Spark, who was sitting in the sidelines with Dalton and Kristin, quickly dashed down at full speed, until he reached the battling arena.

“Hmmm. A Pikachu. How interesting! My friend has a Pikachu too. But I bet he could beat yours,” Misty taunted playfully.

“Yeah, right! Dark Spark, THUNDERSHOCK!!” I yelled.

Dark Spark fried the giant star with a zap, and caused the Starmie to become extra crispy.

“That’s it. You’ve made me mad. Use Psybeam, Starmie!” Misty said. Starmie shot a ray at Dark Spark, which launched him into the wall, screwing up his brain.

“Dark Spark?! Are you all right?!” I said, noticing how much Dark Spark was shaken up by the attack. Dark Spark looked dizzy now.

“Dark Spark, don’t be confused! Show that blue straggler who’s the real king of the constellation with an Iron Tail!!”

Dark Spark slammed into Starmie with his metallic tail, but Starmie spun backwards, out of the way! I growled. “Jump onto the Starmie and don’t let go!” Dark Spark did so, and immediately latched on to the star.

Misty shouted, “Starmie! Dunk yourself underwater quick!” Starmie did so, which obviously made Dark Spark let go.

“That’s a good move,” I said. “But not good enough. DARK SPARK, ZAP STARMIE IN THE WATER, NOW!!!!!!!!!”

“Starmie deflect the blast!! DON’T LET HIS TRICKS OVERCOME YOU! Use Rapid Spin to deflect all of the electricity, NOW!!!!!!!!”

Electricity and water mixed… nature took its toll!!!! A huge explosion overcame the arena as Pikachu zapped the water, but Starmie’s Rapid Spin repelled some of the excess shock. Steam rose from the water of the arena that was boiling because of the clash!!!

As the steam cleared the area, it showed two different Pokemon, lying on the ground.

They had both fainted.

The ref yelled, “It is a tie!! Both trainers must commence a tiebreaker…”

“NO!” Misty yelled. “Jordan’s Bulbasaur is still conscious! He deserves the win!”

Misty was right. I had withdrawn Bulbasaur from the match because I hoped he could be of use later. Since all of her Pokemon fainted anyway, I still won, having Bulbasaur conscious.

The ref said, “Well, then… Jordan deserves to have the Cascade Badge!!”

Misty smiled, and walked over to me, handing me the Cascade Badge. “Well, you win. You deserved it, too. That was a really close battle that we had,” Misty continued.

I smiled. “Thank you.”

Misty then said, “With that badge, your Pokemon’s powers will get even greater, and the bond that you form will be stronger. You now require six more badges to get in to the league, so you’ve got a long way ahead of you!”

Then, I responded, “I know it! And did you say you’d give me a TM?”

“Yes,” Misty said. She handed me a blue disc. “That is TM 03, and it contains Water Pulse. The attack’s quite simple – it’s just what it says, a powerful pulse of water. It may come in handy.”

“Thank you,” I said, even though I knew I didn’t have a Water Pokemon.

“Hey, bro!” Dalton called from the stands, and Kristin waved her hand in the air. “Hey! Good job out there!” “Thank you!” I smiled as I made my way to them. Dark Spark happily followed along, slowly recovering from the big blast.

“Let’s go to our next adventure,” Dalton said, and Kristin nodded. We left the gym, but not before saying goodbye to Misty and everyone there. After we finished waving, we made our way to the Pokemon Center.

While Nurse Joy took us in, we found another poster on the wall.

“This has information about the Pokemon League, Dalton,” I said. “Maybe it will tell us alternate ways to get to the Pokemon League.” Dalton grinned as we read down the list.

Pokemon Gym Challenge – The standard challenge for all Pokemon Trainers. Trainers are required to battle nine specially trained Gym Leaders throughout Kanto. They must hold a battle with the leaders and defeat them, while the leaders carefully analyze their abilities and take notes. Once you have nine Gym Leaders, you will be able to challenge the Pokemon League Tournament.

Pokemon CD Challenge – Trainers may find mysterious CDs throughout Kanto. If they upload the CDs into their Pokedex, they will be able to transport into a battle simulation system. Trainers gain points based on the battle style, and if enough points are accumulated, they can pass. Trainer must do this with 10 CDs in able to win and take on the Pokemon League Tournament.

Pokemon Contest Challenge – This was first introduced in a far off region named Hoenn and has now spread to Kanto. A special type of trainer called a Pokemon Coordinator will enter five tournaments and gain ribbons in order to participate in the Kanto Grand Festival. Pokemon Coordinating differs from a normal Pokemon battle, depending on beautiful appeals and flashy displays.

We all looked at eachother. Suddenly, Dalton and Kristin began to speak at once. Dalton was pleading to take the CD challenge, while Kristin favored the contests.

I nodded and said, “Of course. You can both enter whatever you want. Kristin, remember. You won’t be in the Pokemon League. You’ll be in a Grand Festival.”

Kristin shook her head. Look at the fine print. She pointed to a small line at the bottom of the poster: “Coordinators have the ability to choose between Grand Festival and Pokemon League upon obtaining all five Contest Ribbons.”

“So…” I said. “Does this mean we’re ALL going to enter the Pokemon League?”

Both of them nodded firmly. I smiled and put my hand down on the table. Dalton and Kristin followed, then we released our hands. “We’re gonna challenge the League together, then!!”

To be continued in Chapter Nine: That's the Ticket!

 

[Pokémon Guard]

Chapter Nine: That’s the Ticket – Part One!

Cursing - Moderate
Violence - Mild
Sexual - Mild

We began walking out of the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, after I’d beaten Misty to get the Cascade Badge. It was a close and harrowing fight – if I had made a stupid move, it would have been Pewter all over again. But I was happy, and still well-rested. The rest of my group agreed.

Dalton said, “According to the Pokedex, the nearest gym battle is Saffron City. That’s directly south of this town, so we’ll have no problem getting to there.”

“Good,” I said with a smile. “I’m eager to get there already!”

We walked through the streets until we reached a house. Apparently, this house’s back door was the only way of getting to Saffron City by Cerulean City, bafflingly.

“What? That’s very stupid. Why couldn’t they build a wider path so we could go around the house?” Kristin asked.

“They must get a lot of visitors,” I said.

We were about to go inside, but all of a sudden, a police car drove up. Out came a smart-looking woman dressed in a police officer’s uniform. She gave a salute to no one in particular, and then said, “Kids, you’ll have to excuse us now. Nobody can go through this house until two robbers are caught.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. “Two robbers?”

“They’re making their getaway to the north of this city. We’ve closed off this house for police inspection,” the officer told us.

“What were they even doing?”

“Apparently, they are carrying a large shipment of Type-Z infected Pokemon belonging to certain trainers in the area. We are looking to liberate these Pokemon and give them back to their respective trainers.”

I gasped, then thanked her. “Gang, we’re going straight to the northern routes – Routes 24 and 25, in order to liberate all of the infected Pokemon from their greedy hands!!”

Kristin nodded, but Dalton protested.

“What could they do to them? The Type Z Pokemon will just kick their butt. We’ve experienced what our Pokemon could do to the Rockets already, why should they be any different?” Dalton asked.

“You’re getting cocky again, Dalton,” I warned.

“Shut up! We’re not saving those Type Z infected Pokemon! They’ll kick their butt just like we did!” Dalton screamed in my face.

“Listen, bro. You’ve got to stay calm,” I said. Dalton was getting worked up again, like he frequently did at home. I had no idea why he did this. It was as if something invisible messed up his head, and I desperately wanted to find out why.

“NO!” Dalton screamed. He took a swing at me blindly, knocking off my glasses. That was it. I was ticked off.

“Okay, that’s it. I didn’t want to do this, but I’m tougher than I look,” I said, grimacing. I knew karate.

“HIYAAAAAAAAH!” I screamed, as I sent a kick flying to his face. But there was no face to kick.

Dalton was on the floor before I even hit him. Crying.

“Dude. Dude,” I said, kneeling down to him. “You’ve got to get yourself together!”

Dalton’s eyes, aside from being wet with tears, looked like a madman’s. His pupils were dilated, and his eyebrows seemed to wiggle with frustration. Finally, he let out a gasp and began to breathe normally.

Kristin was just watching silently. “Dalton, what is going on with you?” She asked in confusion.

She’d never seen this side of Dalton before. This wild, fluctuating, highly unstable side. As I pulled on my glasses, I simply told her.

“He gets like this.”

Dalton slowly shook his head and got up, dizzy. “I get like what?”

“Nevermind,” I muttered.

“Nevermind.”

Later…

We were on Route 24, crossing a huge bridge.

“What’s this bridge called?” Kristin asked.

“The Pokedex seems to call it the Nugget Bridge,” Dalton said. “Hmm… maybe that means that it has chicken nuggets?”

“You wish,” I laughed.

We noticed someone coming my way on the bridge.

“It’s HIM,” I said.

“Who?” Both people asked.

“It’s HIM. He’s a dumbass. I hope he dies,” I said intensely.

“Woah,” Kristin said. “Calm down. Don’t swear, because it makes me sad. But who is it?”

“IT’S MATTHEW HENRY!!! MATTHEW HENRY, THE BIGGEST RETARDED JERK ON THIS PLANET, AND I HOPE HE DIES NOW!!!!!!!!” I screamed, making Kristin nearly scream in fear, and Dalton shocked.

“Hi, Dorkster,” Matthew said. His appearance was that of a tall boy with black hair. His face looked like a monkey’s.

“You’re so pathetic, Matthew! You’re so stupid that all you can call me is a dork. Yet, you still manage to annoy me so much! How do you do it, you stupidhole?!” I screamed at Matthew.

“Shut up, dork,” Matthew said. “You can’t hurt me, so I still win anyway.”

“OH, YES I CAN HURT YOU!!!” I screamed in his face. “AND I HAVE POKEMON!!!”

Matthew smiled. “You have Pokemon? A pleasant surprise, you silly dork, you. Let’s fight, right on this bridge. Shall we?”

“YES! WE SHALL!!” I erupted with horror and anger, making Kristin actually start to break tears.

“Oh? Who is this chick? Your ****ty girlfriend?” Matthew laughed as soon as he noticed Kristin.

“SHUT UP!!!” Kristin screamed, hot tears slipping down her face. “YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, DO YOU? KEEP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS, WON’T YOU!?!?”

“Come on, lady,” Matthew said. “Ditch him. How about getting with me instead?”

Dalton said, “We’re going to kick your ***, Matthew.”

Matthew laughed. “I find that unlikely. You’re going to fight me now. You and me, dorkster! And the prize is, that girl!”

“We just met a few freaking days ago!” I screamed. “You’re so stupid to make assumptions like that!!”

“Yeah, sure I am, dork!” Matthew laughed.

“I agree, Jordan!” Kristin said. “He sure can’t insult much, but he manages to annoy you as soon as he opens his mouth!”

I laughed, “IT’S THREE ON THREE”, in a cold manner that made everyone but Matthew send chills down their spine.

Matthew gave a sickly smile. “Now this is what I’m talking about. Heheheheh. Dorkster, let’s fight! Goooo…”

“…PIDGEOTTO!”

“…BUTTERFREE!”

“Hahahahaha,” Matthew laughed. “Butterfree is for girls.”

“NO!!!” I screamed. “BUTTERFREE IS AN EARTH DEMOLISHER!!! HE WILL DESTROY YOU!!!” I screamed in an odd manner, as if my head had come off.

“Dork,” Matthew simply said. “Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack and show that Butterfree who’s boss!!!”

I screamed, “Butterfree, DODGE IT!!!”

Pidgeotto flapped its wings and tried to slam Butterfree with them, but Butterfree twirled out of the way speedily. I yelled, “Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!” and Butterfree began scattering a fine dust over the battlefield. Pidgeotto ingested this dust, and fell asleep.

Matthew roared, “You dork!” He tried taking a swing at me, but I blocked it, and slowly backed down. I wasn’t going to take the chance that he’d beat me up. Still, I thought he was probably a coward. If he saw anyone a year older than he was, he would scream and hide. Also, he did a few stupid things in school – I remember when he fell. He landed safely on his own backpack, and still began to cry.

Finally, Matthew recalled Pidgeotto. “Go… GRIMER!!”

Here it was. Butterfree vs. Grimer. I was having nostalgia already. “Last time I did this, I put Grimer to sleep, no problem,” I smirked.

“This isn’t a normal Grimer, I don’t think…” Matthew said. “It likes to fire bolts from its mouth. AND ZAP PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!!!”

Matthew commanded Grimer to shoot a bolt of lightning from his mouth. Grimer yelled, “GRIME!” and shot a Thunderbolt attack at Butterfree, frying the poor butterfly. “Butterfree, return!” I yelled in shock.

“See, that really is a puny Butterfree, you dork,” Matthew manically shouted.

“YOU STUPID IDIOT!! I’M GOING TO BEAT YOU!!!!!!” I utterly screamed, feeling my face twist with hot blood. “Go, DUGTRIO!!!”

Matthew laughed. “Oh. A group of three little moles can beat my cool wad of sludge! THUNDERBOLT, GRIMER!!!”

Grimer shot a huge bolt of lightning at Dugtrio. Fortunately, it didn’t work at all. The thunderbolt seemed to sparkle out on contact with the team of moles. “WHAT!!!” Matthew yelled.

“Dugtrio is a ground-type. Grimer is an electric type because of the Ty—er, I mean, because he’s special,” I said, sweat on my face.

“Well then, use SLUDGE, Grimer! Beat that dork!!” Matthew screamed in anger. Grimer shot a ball of purple grime at Dugtrio, which completely covered the three poor moles.

“That hurt them!” I yelled. “Dugtrio, use Earthquake!!”

Dugtrio concentrated greatly on shaking up the earth, until a huge earthquake was unleashed! Grimer, being a ball of sludge, was shaken into a muck puddle by the sheer force of the attack. Now, a dazed and angered Grimer sludged close to Dugtrio, wanting to attack.

“GRIMER!! USE SLUDGE!!” Matthew shrieked in insanity. Grimer shot another huge wad of grime at Dugtrio.

“DUGTRIO! Dig it to dodge it!” I yelled. Before Dugtrio could go shooting into the earth, however, grime completely splattered the poor three moles.

“Now, Grimer… use Sludge… AGAIN!”

Another round of sludge splashed onto Dugtrio’s skin, and each of the three moles let out a small howl of pain.

“What’s wrong with Dugtrio?!” I screamed. Dugtrio shuddered.

“Dugtrio’s been poisoned,” Dalton yelled.

“DUGTRIO! USE EARTHQUAKE!!” I screamed. An earthquake shook the bridge hard, causing me to cry out. Grimer got shaken again, and was now just a weak puddle of sludge that was trying to survive.

“DORK!!!” Matthew screamed. “USE SLUDGE ON DUGTRIO!”

Grimer used Sludge on Dugtrio all right, spitting a final wad of sludge on the poor three moles, and soaking them with acid. “Duuuuuugtrio…” The Dugtrio groaned, and then fainted.

“You did well,” I groaned. “Dugtrio, return.”

I recalled the trio of Digletts back to my Pokeball, and then I held out my next Pokeball.

“He’s weak to poison types,” I whispered to myself. “But he might win! GO, SOL!!”

I called out my Type Z Bulbasaur. Matthew looked confused.

“Dork, you got some mutated-looking Bulbasaur there!” Matthew laughed. “He must have a disease! What will he do, hit me with his wheelchair?”

“He’s stronger than your Grimer is, I bet,” I yelled in anger. “SOL!! USE Z-LEAF, NOW!!”

Sol let loose with a gigantic razor-sharp leaf. It sliced the sludge puddle clean in half, and turned Grimer into nothing but a stain. Grimer had fainted, and the leaf came back at Sol, where he caught it.

“Grrrrrrr!” Matthew said. “Well, my Grimer was already weak. NOW, I’M ANGRY!!”

“Oh yeah?! I’M STILL ANGRY. Come and get me with your next Pokemon!!”

“FINE!” Matthew said. “Goooo… CHARMELEON!!!!!!!”

Out came a big red lizard. It looked very mean and tough, and had a horn on its head. Also, it had big arms and legs, and a long tail, with a giant flame burning on the end.

“Oh crud! That’s no good for Bulbasaur,” Kristin yelled. Then, she had an idea. She slowly started to back away…

“Charmeleon, use Flamethrower,” Matthew smirked evilly. Charmeleon let loose with a giant blast of fire from its mouth, striking Sol and setting him on fire!

“Oh no! SOL!!” I yelled.

“Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire,” Matthew laughed. “Charmeleon, use Metal Claw!!”

Sol cried out and tried to run away from Charmeleon, his bulb still burning. Charmeleon slashed at Sol, who jumped in the air and dodged.

I was desperately thinking of a way to beat Charmeleon. “I can’t use Grass Moves,” I murmured.

“CHARMELEON, USE RAAAAGE!” Matthew screamed.

Charmeleon began to roar in anger, and he charged at Sol brutally. The attack slammed Sol, but it luckily didn’t do too much.

“I get it now! SOL! USE SKULLBASH!”

Sol weakly looked up, bruised. Sol nodded, and with all the bravery he could muster, he began to rush at Charmeleon, his hard head ready for slammin’ action. Then, he leapt in the air and slammed into Charmeleon with his head!! “MEEEEEEEEELEEEEEEEEOON!” Charmeleon screamed in pain, clutching its stomach.

“Charmeleon… USE RAGE AGAIN!!!” Matthew screamed, getting desperate. Charmeleon angrily charged at Sol again.

“Sol! Use Vine Whip to catch Charmeleon!!” I screamed.

An increasingly aggressive Charmeleon was caught by Sol as he was charging, and began to get so angry, he screamed. The tip of Charmeleon’s tail began to glow a great bluish white color!

“SWING YOUR TAIL, CHARMELEON!” Matthew yelled. Charmeleon’s tail slammed Sol’s way, knocking him over like a great weight.

“Sol, stay strong and use Skull Bash!” I yelled.

A weak Sol slowly glanced up at Charmeleon and gave a grin, then charged at Charmeleon.

“Charmeleon, use Flamethrower, now!!” Matthew screamed.

“Sol! Skull Bash your way through the flames!!” I screamed.

Sol began to corkscrew through Charmeleon’s flames, somehow withstanding that amazing heat. Charmeleon tried burning hotter and harder, which slowed Sol down. Eventually, the two attacks collided!!

As Charmeleon’s smoke cleared, the two competitors were still standing. Charmeleon was incredibly bruised, and Sol was trying very hard to breathe, his bulb charred and blackened.

Bulbasaur collapsed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed. “I LOST?!”

Bulbasaur slowly, slowly opened his eyes. Charmeleon slowly and painfully stalked over to Bulbasaur.

“The dorky Bulbasaur he calls Sol is still awake,” Matthew chuckled, as Charmeleon stepped on Bulbasaur’s head.

“Deal the final blow, Charmeleon!”

Sol roared in anger and suddenly grasped Charmeleon by the neck with his vines, just as Charmeleon was about to lower his claw.

“Sol is special too, you know,” I said. “SOL! TOSS HIM!”

Sol tightened his grip, and launched Charmeleon through the air, flying over the trees and landing in a ditch some ways away.

“Charmeleon! YOU DORK!!” Matthew screamed. He gave up, and just ran off to get Charmeleon.

Sol collapsed.

“Sol, Return,” I said.

I slowly continued walking towards the northern routes, Dalton and Kristin following me.

“That ruled,” Dalton said.

“Thanks,” Kristin said.

“Hehehehehehe. I think he learned his lesson,” I said.

Eventually, we reached a girl who was dressed in schoolgirl clothes. She said, “EEEK! Don’t touch me,” as I approached.

“What?! I just wanted a battle!” I said.

“Oh,” the girl said. “Sorry about that. LET’S GOOOOOO!!”

“Go, Dark Spark!!” I yelled.

“Go, Bellsprout!!” the lass said.

As she tossed her Pokeball, it revealed a small plantlike Pokemon with a yellow bell-like head and leaves for arms. It was rather small, and probably had a hard time moving.

“Okay then. Let’s get this party started, Dark Spark! Use Thundershock!!”

Dark Spark zapped the little plant, but it seemed to keep its defenses up well.

“Bellsprout, use Acid! NOW!!” the lass yelled. Bellsprout sprayed acid at Dark Spark, who dodged it.

“That’s some Bellsprout… Use Quick Attack, Dark Spark!”

Dark Spark launched himself into Bellsprout, who easily dodged. Bellsprout then turned around and shot acid at Dark Spark, squirting Dark Spark in the eyes and dizzying him.

“My Bellsprout has quite fancy footwork, don’t you think? Bellsprout, use Absorb!”

Bellsprout quickly absorbed Dark Spark’s energy, and made him weaker.

“Grrr,” I said. “Dark Spark, use Pound!”

Dark Spark slammed Bellsprout with his steely tail. The tail smashed into Bellsprout’s yellow head in such a way that its head rebounded like a punching bag and knocked over the electric rat.

“Whoops,” I said. “Er… Dark Spark! Thundershock!” Dark Spark sent out another sparkling zap, which shocked Bellsprout to his core. Bellsprout shook it off, however, not feeling too much pain yet.

“Use Absorb!” the lass said, which caused Bellsprout to sap more of Dark Spark’s energy. An angry Dark Spark proceeded to walk closer to Bellsprout and get ready to attack.

“Dark Spark, show him who’s boss! Use SLAM, NOW!”

This time, Dark Spark rammed into Bellsprout and knocked it over. Bellsprout got back up quickly and nimbly and retaliated with a Slam of its own! “GRRR!” I shouted. “DARK SPARK, USE SLAM AGAIN!”

Dark Spark slammed into Bellsprout, and then Bellsprout swung back by smacking Dark Spark with a leaf!!

The girl yelled, “BELLSPROUT!!!! Move in for ONE MORE SLAM!!”

Bellsprout slammed into Dark Spark again, sending him flying a short way, into a bush. Dark Spark slowly got out of the bush, holding one of its branches in his mouth… “DARK SPARK, SLAM THE BRANCH NOW!!!” I screamed. Dark Spark slammed hard with the branch, and conked Bellsprout out in one hit, sending it wobbling to the earth!

“NOO!” the girl screamed in anger. She had lost, and fell to her knees. The poor Bellsprout lay gently on the grass as she yelled, “Return, Bellsprout!”

“Good match,” I said. The girl smiled, and stood up.

“That is all right,” she said, with a broad grin on her face. “My name is Alice, but just call me Ali for short. Good job at beating me.”

I smiled. “Okay, well, we’re off! I’m going to take care of something.”

“Wait,” Ali said. “I have two gifts for you. First of all, I want to give you my number in the Vs. Seeker.”

“Er…”

“Wait a minute,” Ali smiled. “I know what your beef is. You don’t know what the Vs. Seeker is, do you?”

“No, I don’t have a Vs. Seeker,” I asked.

“Well,” Ali said. “A Vs. Seeker is a device that allows you to have rematches with trainers. I know a lady who has a whole lot of them. She lives in Vermillion City, which is where Lt. Surge’s Pokemon Gym is. She will give you it. But meanwhile, can you at least have my number?”

“Sure,” I said. I took out a piece of paper, and Ali began to tell me the numbers.

“No, don’t transpose that one. Make sure you make the 3 look like a 3, or else you may dial the number wrong,” Ali nagged, as I wrote down the number. Kristin and Dalton stared on, amused.

“Okay, there we go,” I said.

“And, one more thing,” Ali said. “This is a weird case that I got. I don’t really know its purpose.”

She took a small case out of her skirt pocket, which seemed to contain a disk.

“Erm, I already have a TM case,” I said.

“No, you silly,” Ali said. “This isn’t a TM case. It’s a case that holds these weird CDs. I don’t know what they’re for, but you should have the case,” she continued.

“Thanks,” I said, as Dalton looked at me expectantly. I nodded briefly in his direction, then I continued to talk.

“Well, nice battling you,” I said. Ali smiled, and then we took separate paths. Ali went in one direction, and we went in another.

After we were out of earshot and eyeshot, I handed the CD case to Dalton.

“So, these battling CDs… these will help me get into the Pokemon League?” Dalton asked.

“Yes,” I responded. “Remember, you need to prove yourself by overcoming ten different disks on your adventure. They will digitally evaluate your skill, and determine if you’re worthy.”

Dalton asked, “Having to complete ten disks seems tough…”

“It’s not as tough as beating gyms, probably. I should know, I have two badges already,” I said.

“Who knows what Contests will be like,” Kristin groaned.

“Who knows,” I sighed. “Oh, yeah. Kristin, I have something to give you.” I took out a TM and dropped it in Kristin’s hand. She stared down at the peculiar disk, flustered.

“What is this?” Kristin asked.

I smiled and responded, “It’s a TM. It’s the one Misty gave me in the Cerulean Gym. That one has Water Pulse, which is a fantastic water move. Your Squirtle deserves it!”

“Thank you!” Kristin said, smiling. She grabbed the TM case from me, and put the disk in it. I grabbed Squirtle’s Pokeball and opened it for her.

Squirtle was looking around, a mask of curiosity on her face. She noticed how Kristin was holding the strange case at her.

What is she gonna do with that? Looks pretty cool, Squirtle thought, smiling goofily. Kristin pressed the button, and suddenly, a bunch of new data seemed to implant itself into Squirtle’s head. Squirtle let out a grin of amazement, and then she thought, I better do what I just learned. Squirtle leaned back, and gave out the call of “SQUIRTLE!!!” Closing her eyes and tightening her cheeks, she puffed out a gigantic bubble, which then burst. A big blast of water suddenly splashed towards us, and bathed our feet.

“Aaaah!” I yelled as the fizzy water splashed me nearly to my knees.

“Wow, that’s just great. My shoes are soaked,” Dalton groaned.

Kristin smiled. “Cool, Squirtle! We’ve got to use that sometime,” she laughed.

“Heheh,” I said. “Let’s keep going now.”

We began to keep walking, even though Dalton seemed reluctant. Dark Spark, who was pretty short, was shocked most of all by the water. He had almost let out a huge electric charge, which would have zapped everybody who had touched the water. Luckily, he caught himself in time.

Soon, we saw a neatly-trimmed maze of hedges. “That’s a beautiful garden,” Kristin remarked, smiling at how neat and nice the hedges were. “In my village, we never had neatly-trimmed hedges like that. Whoever tends to that must have a green thumb… and probably has a lot of money as well.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe Team Rocket will be in that maze, or maybe somewhere ahead.”

“Hopefully,” Dalton said. “I’m going to kick their sorry tails.”

“Er, I thought you didn’t want to earlier,” I said.

“Erm, what are you talking about?” Dalton asked with a confused look on his face. I was about to make a remark about him lying, but then I noticed the genuine look, and remembered that Dalton didn’t have any memory about his little black-outs.

“Okay, then,” I said. “Sorry, I was talking about Matthew and got the two confused.” I was hoping that he didn’t catch on that I was lying. When I saw him nod and return to walking, I let out a breath of relief.

“Pika,” Dark Spark said. “What’s up, buddy?” I asked.

“PIKAAAACHUUUUUU!” Dark Spark screamed, and I noticed that his body was twitching. Dalton and Kristin looked on in silent awe.

“Is he having a seizure or something?!” Kristin cried out.

“Don’t be stupid!” Dalton shouted.

Dark Spark gave out another call of pain. His body seemed to be responding to some unseen force.

I picked up Dark Spark, and felt a huge vibration that made me drop him. “Dark Spark!” I yelled.

Dark Spark’s tail shone brightly in the sun, and suddenly I saw something glow within Dark Spark’s body.

It was very weird. Dark Spark seemed to become transparent, as I saw a bunch of weird multi-colored waves. Some of it was in his main body, but most of it was in his tail.

“I think it’s the Type Z that’s responding!!” I yelled.

Dalton sighed, and responded, “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

“Let’s go! All those Type-Z infected Pokemon must be up ahead!”

“Yeah!” Dalton yelled. I guess he was feeling better or something, or maybe he was just over the weather, because he dashed ahead of us quickly, seeming alive.

We worked our way through the maze. “Hmm, this is almost as bad as the maze of caverns!” I complained.

“Don’t bring that up! PLEASE!! No, just don’t!” Kristin suddenly blurted out, shuddering.

I frowned at Kristin. “Nah, we’re going to be brave. And, we’re going to be smart-brave, not stupid-brave like Chuckles here.”

“I heard that!” Dalton said, as he kept trying to avoid dead ends. “There must be some wild Pokemon in here,” he continued, on a calmer note.

“There probably are,” I responded. Not to my surprise, I heard Dalton yell something not a minute later.

“I did find a Pokemon! Come on over!!”

We rounded a corner to find good old Dalton. He was staring across a row of bushes, and we followed his eyes to see a small Pokemon sitting in the grass. It was small, and a tannish-yellow color, big ears and small nostrils, with eyes that seemed to be squeezed permanently shut. It also had a tail, and some clawed hands – the overall appearance was that of a sleeping baby possum with armor, or something of the like.

Dalton sent out his Pokedex. “This Pokedex says it’s an Abra, but it doesn’t give many details,” he muttered.

“You might have to catch it first,” I helpfully added.

“Well, then… catch it, I will! This Pokemon looks quite interesting, anyway,” Dalton said with a grin. He tossed a shiny red Pokeball onto the soft grass, and it revealed Dalton’s Charmander. “I ought to train him a little more,” Dalton said. “Charmander! Use Ember!”

Charmander shot a few weak flames at Abra… who completely vaporized in thin air, avoiding the attack!! “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Dalton screamed in surprise.

“What the heck happened?!” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Kristin responded, her body quivering from the shock.

“Something happened,” Dalton said.

“No duh, Dalton,” I sarcastically quipped. “If… but why and how?”

Kristin closed her eyes. “I remember…”

“What do you remember?” I asked Kristin.

“About a year ago, some trainer came to our village and asked my family to take care of this Pokemon,” Kristin said, slowly running over the words in her mouth as if she was trying a new flavor of popsicle. She was trying to think whether she got all the facts right, I think.

“Yeah. Basically, it suddenly disappeared into thin air when we first tried to feed it. We found it in the basement,” Kristin continued.

“So, it must be somewhere else right now,” I said.

Suddenly, I heard a low moaning a few hedges away. I said, “I hear something!”

Kristin and Dalton followed, trying to find a word to say. I looked around the nearest hedge, and noticed what it was.

Of course, it was Abra. Dalton came tearing around the corner with Charmander, and yelled, “Charmander! Use Ember!”

Charmander sent a blast of fire at Abra, which seemed to scorch him considerably. “Hmmm, that seemed easy,” Dalton said. “Pokeball! Go!”

He took out one of his Pokeballs, tossed it at Abra, and sent the poor little guy into the virtual world.

“I heard that Pokeballs have been designed not only to safely contain Pokemon, but to keep them in a contented state. Hopefully, Abra won’t attempt to get out,” Dalton remarked with a grin.

The Pokeball wiggled once, but eventually, the light on its button faded.

“Wooo,” Dalton exclaimed. “I CAUGHT AN ABRA!!!!!”

“Congratulations, Dalton!” I replied with a grin, Kristin joining in too.

“Well, let’s keep going,” I said. “We’ve got to start doing something or else something bad will happen to all of those Pokemon.”

“Indeed,” Kristin said.

“Isn’t it cool to be so young and already being so brave? I’m in euphoria!” Dalton laughed as we kept walking.

“Yeah,” Kristin said. “You guys taught me to be brave, and to stand up for myself.”

“It’s still quite a perilous time for us,” we said. “Bonnie and Clyde aren’t the guys we see on TV all the time.”

“Errr, what are you talking about?” Dalton asked.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Kristin wondered.

“Er, never mind. Let’s just say they aren’t comedy acts,” I responded.

Eventually, we came upon a big green house at the end of the great maze of hedges. It looked like it belonged to a very rich man. “Hmmm… it’s too small to be a mansion. I’d call it a cottage,” I remarked.

“Yeah,” Kristin said. But she wasn’t concentrating on us. She was looking out at the sea next to the cottage. “It’s… beautiful…”

“What?” I asked Kristin.

“I’ve never seen the sea before in my life,” Kristin said.

“You… you’ve NEVER… seen the sea… in your life?” I asked in bewilderment. Dalton’s jaw had already dropped by the time Kristin was halfway through her sentence.

“Not really,” Kristin said. “I love water, and I’ve seen a few lakes and rivers before. But the closest I’ve ever really been to seeing the sea was being in the bathtub.”

“Oh well,” I said. “The sea is beautiful, but let’s check out this cottage.”

I tried to speak random words into the voice recognition box mounted by the large and creepy door, hoping to get a response of any kind. Suddenly, Dalton looked up and noticed the great lighthouse mounted on the top of the cottage.

“This is creepy,” Dalton said. “Let’s go in.”

The door swung open by itself. Kristin gulped.

“Well, who goes in first?” I asked.

“Let’s all go in at the same time,” Dalton said.

Feeling that familiar feeling of I’m-not-so-sure, we walked into the cottage.

It looked MUCH bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. And, it was dark.

Very, very dark.

We walked through this room, wondering if we were really welcome here. “Something is so going to pop out at me, like that creepy woman from the movie ‘The Exeggcutor’,” Kristin murmured, walking stiffly like a robot.

“Let’s hope not,” I replied, staring up at the ceiling, which appeared to be at least three stories high!

“Hey, look! A phone!” Dalton said, pointing to the wall. It was shaped like a Bellsprout.

“Come on,” I said to a frightened-looking Dark Spark. I walked over to the payphone and picked it up, viewing expectant glances from the others. “But who should I call?” I asked with confusion.

“Our mother?” Dalton suggested. “Professor Oak?”

“My grandmother?” Kristin asked.

First, I decided to ring my mother. Dialing the number, I waited for several seconds. Someone picked up the phone. It was my mother.

“Hey, it’s me, Jordan,” I said.

“Hi, honey,” Mom said.

“Er… well, how are you doing at home? I haven’t seen you for weeks,” I said.

“I’m doing very well, honey. How are you and Dalton doing?”

I told her pretty much everything about my journey, but I then held back when I was about to tell her about my clashes with Team Rocket. I didn’t want to make her worried.

“Are you okay? You’re silent all of a sudden,” my mother said.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m finished now.”

“You’re doing brilliant, honey,” my mother continued. “You already have two badges and everything. Your father would be overjoyed.”

“My father,” I muttered to myself.

Suddenly, it grew very quiet between everybody in the room, as if it was twenty after.

“Well, nice talking to you,” I groaned.

“You too honey, bye,” my mother said, almost expressionlessly.

As my mother hung up with a loud click, I turned pale.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I whispered.

“That conversation was very sober, to say the least,” Dalton laughed.

Kristin said, “I’ll talk to my grandmother.”

I handed the phone over to Kristin, and let her dial the numbers, while I walked over to Dalton.

“All of a sudden, I want to go home,” I stated simply.

Dalton nodded. “I want to turn back time, to pretend this never happened.”

Dark Spark stared up at me and twitched his ears. I patted him on the head and said, “We’ll get out of here soon.”

Feeling emotions overflow, I suddenly knelt down to Dark Spark and laid my head on his fur, letting tears stream freely. “God, why do people even ALLOW ten-year-old kids to go out on Pokemon Journeys? Do they expect everything to be rainbows and Butterfrees? OH YEAH, WE CAN BEAT A HUGE GUNG-HO CRIMINAL MASTERMIND WITH TEN THOUSAND FIGHTING POKEMON, AND WE CAN SURVIVE SUFFOCATING IN A STEEL DUNGEON WITH ELECTRIC WALLS, AND WE CAN EASILY JUMP OFF A CLIFF WHILE AN ANGRY MOB BRANDISHES PITCHFORKS AND RUNS AFTER US!!!!!!!!”

Kristin turned around, just finishing her conversation.

“Oh… my god…”



…To be continued in Chapter TEN!! “That’s the Ticket – Part 2”.

 

[eonteam123456]

Good. No further comment.