- BREAKING NEWS! LANCE ADMITS TO DOPING HIS DRAGONS WITH FULL RESTORES TO WIN ALL SEVEN OF HIS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS – Ha! Got that off Bulbapedia!
Got a nice response to the first episode of this rewrite. Here's the second. You'll probably see that a good deal of it is similar to the original second episode, but there are a few changes. If it is a totally new episode you want, you'll have to wait until episode three.
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Pokémon Indigo League
Episode 2: Pokémon Emergency.
On the suburban borders of a city, the houses were bathed in the glow of the evening sun, which was drying the puddles from the earlier storm.
Over a public address speaker system the voice of a police woman was making an announcement for all nearby citizens to hear.
"People of Viridian City are reminded to be aware of the presence of Pokémon thieves, who have been sighted in this area recently-" The voice broke off.
At her station on the edge of the city, the police woman saw a boy running along the road towards the station. Seeing as he had a Pokémon in his arms, she stopped him.
"Hold it you," she said, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt "Where are you off to?"
"My Pikachu's hurt," replied the boy "I need to get him to the Pokémon centre."
The police woman frowned and remarked "It's very unusual to carry a Pokémon around with you rather that put it inside a pokéball. How do I know you aren't trying to steal it?"
"I'd never do such a thing," replied the boy "I'm a Pokémon trainer, and this is my Pokémon."
The police woman frowned "You got any I.D. to prove it?"
"Any what?" asked the boy.
The officer saw something out of the corner of her eye and looked down to see that sticking out of the boy's pocket was something red.
"Aha!" she exclaimed, snatching the item from him "A Pokédex. This'll solve our problem."
She flipped the Pokédex open and pressed a few buttons, and then the Pokédex began to speak;
"I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon TrainerAsh Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."
"Good enough for me." said the officer "Now then, you said your Pokémon is hurt?"
"Yes," replied Ash "Pikachu got attacked by a whole bunch of Spearow."
The police woman nodded and replied "I know the ones you mean. They've caused trouble for several trainers. Don't worry, I'll get you to the Pokémon Centre soon enough."
/\/\/\/\/\
With the roar of its engine, a police motorbike raced along the streets of Viridian City. In the side car, Ash maintained a firm hold on his seat with one hand, and an even firmer hold on Pikachu with the other.
As the sun finally dipped down below the horizon, a large, dome-shaped building loomed up in front of them.
"Hang on," shouted the police woman before slamming on the breaks and turning the bike into a skip.
Ash thought for a moment that they were going to crash into the Pokémon centre, but at the last moment the glass double doors whirred open and the bike shot between them before coming to a stop right in front of a large reception desk.
A pink-haired woman in a nurse's uniform was behind the desk, and she did not look happy.
"We have a perfectly good car park you know, Jenny."
"Sorry Nurse Joy," replied Officer Jenny "But we've got a Pokémon emergency."
On shaky legs, caused by Jenny's driving, Ash got out of the sidecar and made his way over to the desk.
"Can you heal my Pikachu?" Ash asked, placing the yellow Pokémon down on the desk.
"Oh my!" exclaimed Nurse Joy, after seeing the state that Pikachu was in "How on Earth could you let this Pokémon get hurt this bad?"
"We were attacked by a whole flock of Spearow." said Ash.
Nurse Joy nodded "I know the ones you mean. Alright, I get Pikachu fixed up. Chansey?"
Ash turned and saw a large round pink Pokémon with an egg in a pouch on her stomach. The Pokémon pushed a gurney along in front of it. Pikachu was set atop the white sheets and Nurse Joy and Chansey pushed it from the room.
"I'm sure your Pikachu will be fine." Officer Jenny said to Ash "Nurse Joy and her Chansey can work miracles."
"I hope you're right." said Ash, taking a seat.
He heard Jenny drive her bike out of the Pokémon centre.
Ash sat there for a long while, his only company the sound of a clock ticking on the wall nearby. After a time, he looked around and saw that over on the opposite wall there was a line of phone booths, each telephone attached to a video screen.
Intending to call home, Ash got up and approached the videophones.
After a couple of rings his mother answered.
"Oh, hi Honey." she greeted him excitedly "I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. Where are you calling from?"
"The Pokémon centre in Viridian City." replied Ash.
"Oh, that's wonderful. You know, it took your father four days to get that far when he was starting out as a trainer. Oh, you really are the apple of his eye."
Ash shifted uncomfortable "I don't know about that. Pikachu got beat up pretty bad by a bunch of wild Pokémon."
"That happens, sweetie. It's all part of the learning curve for you and your first Pokémon."
"I guess," said Ash "But Pikachu was really hurt bad."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," replied Mrs Ketchum. Suddenly there was the sound of an egg timer going off "Oh, the cake I'm baking is ready to come out of the oven. I'll talk to you again soon, Ash."
Ash set the receiver down and returned to his seat. A few minutes later a wooden Pidgey popped out of the clock on the wall and cuckooed. A moment later the videophone that Ash had been talking to his mother on began to ring.
Ash got up and answered it. It was Professor Oak.
"Ah, Ash. You're in the Viridian City Pokémon Centre, I see."
Ash blinked in surprise "Professor Oak? How did you know I was here?"
"Your mother rang and said you seemed a bit down, so I thought I'd check on you."
"I'm fine," replied Ash "But Pikachu's pretty hurt. There was a flock of Spearow…"
Professor Oak nodded "Ah yes, I know the ones you mean. Last I heard they had moved on, but I guess not. Well, at least you made it to Viridian City. And I'll bet that you caught a whole bunch of new Pokémon as well. You know, I bet my grandson Gary that you would have a new Pokémon by the time you reached Viridian City. I said I'd eat my hat if you didn't!"
"Er…" said Ash uncomfortably "It's not a big hat, is it Professor."
Professor Oak got the message and hung his head "Actually it's a ten gallon cowboy hat," he perked up "But never mind. You got the Viridian City in one piece. The first hurdle of your journey has been passed."
"I guess you're right." said Ash before spotting something on Professor Oak's desk "Hey, what's that?"
Professor Oak looked down "Oh this?" he held it up so that Ash could see "It's a stone tablet depicting several of the legendary Pokémon, creatures that some say simply do not exist."
Ash studied the tablet and said "Hey, I saw a Pokémon like that one."
He pointed to a bird-like Pokémon in the upper right corner. Professor Oak looked at it "It's unlikely that you did. Many researchers look for these Pokémon for their entire lives and never see them."
"I'm telling you I saw it," said Ash "After the storm this afternoon, it was flying towards a rainbow."
Professor Oak thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders "Well, who am I to say whether you did or you didn't? All that I will say is that it is unlikely."
The doorbell rang "Ah, my pizza's here. Gotta go!"
And with that the call was cut off.
"Hey, you!"
Ash spun around to find an enraged girl standing behind him, holding the charred remains of a bicycle.
"I knew I'd find you here,"
"Hey, what happened to your bike?" asked Ash stupidly.
"YOU happened to it." she shouted back.
"Oh, yeah. I guess it must have gotten fired when Pikachu…"
As if suddenly remembering the Pokémon he had had in his arms the day before, the girl set the charred remains of her bike down as the expression on her face turned from anger the concern.
"How is it?" she asked.
Ash turned towards the doors through which Nurse Joy and Chansey had taken Pikachu earlier "Not so good."
Just then the doors opened and Nurse Joy and Chansey appeared, pushing Pikachu on the stretcher.
"How's Pikachu?" asked Ash.
"Pikachu's going to be fine," replied Nurse Joy "He's resting for now."
Just then speakers on the walls around the room began to relay a message. It was Officer Jenny again, reminding them all to vigilant about Pokémon thieves.
No sooner had the message finish did the glass in the skylight smash as two pokéballs dropped through them. Both pokéballs snapped open, unleashing a purple snake-like Pokémon, and a purple cloud-like Pokémon.
The cloud-like Pokémon emitted a large amount of greenish smog that filled the air. When it cleared, three more figures were revealed, one a woman with long red hair, one a man with blue hair and one a cream coloured cat-like Pokémon.
"Prepare for trouble!" said the woman.
"And make it double!" said the man.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!" finished the cat Pokémon.
"Uh… What?" asked Ash, completely confused.
"We're Team Rocket and we're here to steal all your Pokémon." said the cat Pokémon.
"Then why not just say that?" asked the girl.
"Never mind," said Nurse Joy "Come on."
She led them into a back room as the two purple Pokémon began wrecking the reception area.
Safely locked in the back room, Ash looked around "Hey, there's a lot of pokéballs in here."
"Yes, it's our main storage area," said Nurse Joy.
Suddenly everything went dark.
"They've cut the power." remarked the girl.
"Don't worry." said Nurse Joy "We've got our own Pika-power."
Suddenly all the lights came on, revealing that in the middle of the room there was a whole group of Pikachu who were using their electricity to power the lights.
As Nurse Joy approached the computer in the corner, Ash opened up his Pokédex to look for information on the Pokémon that they had seen earlier.
"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon. Meowth loves to roam at night to gather coins and other objects that sparkle, but it spends most of the daylight hours sleeping."
"Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. It moves silently and stealthily and eats the eggs of birds, such as Pidgey and Spearow, whole. The older it gets, the longer it grows."
"Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon. Koffing hovers in the air, thanks to the poisonous gases it contains, which have a foul odour and can explode."
Ash looked up from his Pokédex "Did anyone notice that the Meowth was talking? That's not normal, right?"
"That's what you're worrying about?" asked the girl, incredulously.
Ash went to reply before frowning, as though something had just occurred to him "I don't actually know your name."
"It's Misty." replied the girl.
"Got it. I'm Ash."
"That's great you two," said Nurse Joy "Now get over here and help me."
"What's going on?" asked Ash.
"I'm transporting the pokéballs to other Pokémon centres where they'll be safe" explained Nurse Joy.
Suddenly there was a beep and a voice that sounded almost exactly the same as Nurse Joy's spoke "Pewter City Pokémon Centre is ready to receive pokéballs from Viridian City."
There was another beep and another voice, again sounding exactly like Nurse Joy's spoke "Cerulean City Pokémon Centre is ready to receive pokéballs from Viridian City."
"Right," said Nurse Joy "that device over there," she pointed to a large and complicated looking machine "is a Pokéball transporter. Grab as many pokéballs and place them inside. The transporter will automatically send them to another Pokémon centre."
Ash, Misty and Joy each grabbed an armful of pokéballs from off the shelves and began putting them, one by one, into the transporter.
Suddenly there was a loud crunch and Koffing, the cloud-like Pokémon crashed through the door, Ekans the snake rearing up behind it.
Misty dropped the pokéballs that she was carrying and grabbed one of her own.
"Staryu, help us out!" she threw the pokéball and it snapped open, revealing a brown starfish Pokémon with a smooth red jewel in its middle.
"Staryu, Water Gun attack."
Staryu aimed its top point and fired a powerful jet of water at Koffing. The attack hit and Koffing was blasted backwards to crash into Ekans.
Ekans recovered and lunged forwards to inflict a Bite attack.
"Staryu, use Tackle," commanded Misty.
Staryu sprang into the air and shot towards Ekans, landing a powerful blow to its throat.
Misty turned to Ash "How about a little help?"
"I've only got Pikachu." replied Ash as he put another pokéball into the transporter.
"Fine then," said Misty, turning back to the opponent Pokémon "Staryu, let's have another Water Gun."
Both Ekans and Koffing were blasted back by another powerful jet of water, but suddenly Meowth sprang through the door, the claws on his forepaws fully extended. Its Fury Swipes attack landed several heavy blows on Staryu before it got in another Water Gun attack to send the Scratch Cat Pokémon flying.
"That's the last of them," said Nurse Joy.
Misty turned and said "Ash, you better get Pikachu out of here."
"Right," said Ash before grabbing Pikachu's stretcher and pushing it out of the room.
Ash pushed Pikachu along a corridor and out into the wrecked reception area. However Jessie and James were there. Ash skidded to a stop.
Jessie held out a hand "Alright kid, hand over your Pokémon."
"Not gonna happen." replied Ash as Ekans came back into the room, Koffing and Meowth following.
"You don't have a choice kid." said Jessie "Ekans, use Wrap."
Ekans reared up and lunged towards Ash. He ducked, but didn't need to. Ekans took a blast of water the face and tumbled backwards. Misty and Staryu ran up to Ash's side.
"Koffing, use Tackle," ordered James.
Koffing shot forwards, but its attack was blocked by a blast of electricity.
As Koffing reeled backwards, Pikachu got up.
"Pika pika." he said to Ash, confidently.
"Are you sure you can fight?" asked Ash.
Pikachu nodded.
"Ash," said Misty "water and electricity make a dangerous mix. If we combine Pikachu's Thundershock with Staryu's Water Gun we can probably get rid of these bozos."
"Right," said Ash "Are you ready, Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
"Oh no you don't!" shouted Meowth, jumping forwards, claws extended.
He got a face full of water for his efforts and was blasted back into Ekans and Koffing. All three Pokémon were then thrown at Jessie and James, resulting in the entire group lying injured on the floor.
"Alright, let's finish this," said Ash, flipping his baseball cap backwards "Pikachu, use Thundershock."
"Staryu," commanded Misty "give 'em one last Water Gun."
A jet of water left Staryu as a blast of electricity left Pikachu.
The five would-be Pokémon thieves yelled in pain.
Koffing had the worst reaction though. Due to the pain it unleashed some of the poisonous gases inside its body. Unfortunately for the Rockets, this only made things worse for them; the gases ignited and there was an explosion.
Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Staryu dove beneath the reception desk as a large hole appeared in the front wall and part of the roof.
Not far away Officer Jenny was already on her bike, racing towards the Pokémon Centre. Upon hearing a loud explosion, she looked up to see Jessie, James, Meowth, Ekans and Koffing hurtling high up into the air.
Nurse Joy and Chansey came out of the back room and froze in shock at the sight that met them. Half of the reception area was missing.
As one, Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Staryu crawled out from under the front desk.
"Do you think we might have overdone it a bit?" asked Ash.
"A bit?" asked Misty, incredulously "I think we did more damage than Ekans, Koffing and Meowth did combined."
With a screech of tyres, Officer Jenny's motorbike came to a halt.
"What the-" she asked, looking around in surprise "What happened here?"
"Water Gun and Thundershock have terrifying results when combined." was all that Ash offered by way of an explanation.
"Are we going to be arrested?" asked Misty.
"Of course not," relied Jenny "This sort of thing happens all the time."
"It does?" asked Ash.
"Oh yes." said Nurse Joy "Think about it. We live in a world where ten year old kids are left to be responsible for creatures that can breathe fire, manipulate water, emit electrical charges, create poisons and manipulate telekinetic energy."
Ash shrugged and said thoughtfully "Well, when you put it like that…"
"Are you two going to want to stay the night?" asked Nurse Joy "It's pretty late."
"Sure," replied Ash "how much is a room for the night?"
"Free." replied Joy.
/\/\/\/\/\
Ash and Misty both remained at the Pokémon centre that night before heading out the next morning.
"Do you have any advice on where I should go?" Ash asked Nurse Joy as he was leaving.
"Well, most trainers had North toward Pewter City." replied Nurse Joy "But you have to go through Viridian Forest in order to get there."
"Sounds like a place to catch plenty of Pokémon," said Ash, eagerly.
"It is," replied Nurse Joy "There are plenty of bug and flying type Pokémon there."
"Then that's where I'll go," said Ash, leaving the Pokémon centre.
He hadn't gone far when he and Pikachu both became aware that they were being followed. They turned around and saw that Misty was walking along behind them.
"Why are you following us?" asked Ash.
"Actually," replied Misty, trying to sound dignified "You just happen to be going the same way that I am."
"Why?" Ash asked "Weren't you fishing on the road between here and Pallet Town? Why not go back?"
"I would go back if I had my bike," replied Misty "The bike you ruined, remember?"
"Relax," said Ash "I told you I'll pay you back someday."
Misty scowled "In that case I'd better follow you until you do."
"That seems like a flimsy excuse." said Ash as Pikachu nodded sagely by his side.
Misty shrugged her shoulders "It's the excuse I was given."
With a roll of his eyes Ash turned away from her "Fine. But if you're going to follow us, keep up."
They got halfway down the next street when a small, blue-green frog-like Pokémon with a bulb on its back bounded around the corner ahead.
"Hey, is that a Bulbasaur?" asked Ash, who ran forward for a closer look.
He stopped however when a girl joined the Bulbasaur's side.
She was a tiny bit taller than Ash, though about the same age. She had long brown hair that flowed down her back, and she wore a black dress.
She grinned at him "Ash Ketchum. I was wondering when I'd see you."
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A/N: Yes, that was the female trainer who started with Bulbasaur right at the end. And yes, she is based on the design of the unused female character from the Generation 1 games. I know that makes her look like what's-her-name from the Adventures series (see how I avoided that?) but I don't care. At one point I was going to have her be the girl whose legs Pikachu runs between in the original opening, but in a freeze frame I discovered that she looked ridiculous. And I didn't want to make her too much like the lass design as Giselle is based on that, and I might include her yet, though maybe in a different context. Anyway, the question is what should I name her? I am leaning heavily towards Robyn (to me she looks like a Robyn in the Adventures series, and is also a play on what that character does to red when they first meet).
Also, when researching for this one, I discovered several interesting things: Despite appearing in the series for so long before evolving, Ekans has never been scanned with a Pokédex in the anime. Arbok hasn't either. So I used the red and blue entries for it. Similarly, Koffing had to wait until the Black and White series to be scanned with a Pokédex, Weezing has never been scanned. Meowth had to wait until the Advanced series, and only then because it was in disguise as a less-than-convincing Kirlia. Persian had to wait until the Black and White series as well.
Also interesting was the fact that in this episode and the next, Misty never introduces herself to Ash in the English language dub of this episode. We only learn her name when Nurse Joy mentions it near the end of the episode. At that point Ash is nowhere nearby to hear it, and yet by the next episode he knows it.
Yes, characters will be breaking the fourth wall now and again. Get over it.