Okay people, I'm terribly sorry for the late update, but I recently bought Okami for the PS2, and it is sweet. People who own the game know what I'm talking about. To make up, I made this the longest update yet. I've added a new feature: whenever some time passes, or it's between a flashback and the present, I'll put a line in the story. Anyway, for the next update:
APS 106: Buggy hardware
"Pidgey, use Gust!" Jimmy opened.
The small Bird Pokémon flapped its wings, sending gusts of wings at his opponent. The opponent, a large green insect with blades as arms, was too strong to be blown away, and stood his ground.
"Scyther, use Slash!" Jimmy's opponent replied. Scyther jumped at the bird, blades at the ready.
"Pidgey, dodge and use Tackle!" The bird quickly flew out of the way and hit the mantis in the back. It was knocked out of the sky, and it fell down.
"Scyther, are you okay?" his trainer asked. The Pokémon replied by jumping back on his feet, fixed his gaze upon the bird.
"Pidgey, use Sand Attack!" The bird flapped its wings at the ground, blowing up a cloud of sand. But the opponent was prepared.
"Scyther, use Fury Cutter!" The mantis began slashing in front of his body, blowing the sand away.
"Pidgey, get out of there!"
"Scyther, jump up and hit Pidgey!" The bird was not fast enough to dodge the attack of the mantis, and took the full force of the Fury Cutter. The bird was knocked down.
"Pidgey, try to get up and use Quick attack!" The bird had enough strength to lift itself, and launched himself at the mantis. The relaxed look in his opponent's face made Jimmy realize that he made a mistake.
"Scyther, use Fury Attack!" Unable to dodge, Pidgey fell into the flurry of blades that forms Fury Attack, and was knocked back.
"Pidgey!" Jimmy shouted. The bird tried to get up, but collapsed. The trainer raised a Pokéball, sucking the bird in. "Good job, buddy. Take a rest." he whispered. As he looked up, he saw Scyther's trainer walking up to his Pokémon, patting it on the back. Then he approached Jimmy, with Scyther right behind him. The trainer was wearing a dark green shirt, with a matching pair of slacks. His black hair was covered by a straw hat.
"Nice fight, but never jump right at a Scyther. That's no good idea." he held out his hand. "My name is Hector."
"Yeah, I figured. I'm Jimmy, by the way." Jimmy shook his hand.
"Say, battling always makes me hungry. How about we have lunch together?" Hector asked. Before he could reply, Jimmy's stomach rumbled. Hector grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes."
After making some lunch for his Pokémon, Hector pulled three Pokéballs from his belt. "Okay guys, lunch's ready!" he threw them up, and revealed three Pokémon. A Medapod, another cocoon Pokémon, and a brown beetle. Jimmy took out his Pokédex, and checked them.
Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon. Able to move only slightly. When endangered, it may stick out its stinger and poison its enemy.
Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokémon. Grips its prey in its pincers and squeezes hard! It can't move if it's cold, so it lives in warm places.
He also aimed at Scyther.
Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon. Leaps out of tall grass and slices prey with its scythes. The movement looks like that of a ninja.
"You've got a lot of Insect types. Are they your favourite?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, I'm here in Viridian Forest to catch all kinds of Insect Pokémon. Scyther was my first Pokémon, and he also is my main battler now. That guy over there," he pointed at Pinsir, who was bickering over some food with the afore-mentioned Scyther. "is my first catch around here. I'm trying to become the best Insect Pokémon trainer. What about you?" Hector asked.
"I'm questing to become a Pokémon Master." Jimmy said, not without a decent amount of pride.
"Ah, a noble goal, but a quite difficult one. Shouldn't you let out your Pokémon, too? I bet they're hungry."
"I was getting to that." Jimmy took the two Pokéballs from his belt, and opened them. Pidgey and Medapod, the former still tired from the fight earlier, appeared in front of their trainer.
"So you've got a Medapod, too?" Hector asked.
"Yes, I caught him as a Caterpie back at the forest between Pallet and Viridian." Jimmy replied.
"Pallet? Are you from Pallet Town?" Hector sounded surprised. "Do you know Professor Oak?"
"Yes. It's because of him I caught Pidgey, although it didn't go the usual way..." Pidgey smiled, and Jimmy turned to his Pokémon. "Are you guys hungry?"
Pidgey nodded, but Medapod shook his head. It didn't need food. Jimmy understood, and began to unpack his backpack.
After lunching and talking for an hour, the two trainers packed their belongings, and were ready to go on.
"Alright, Hector, I guess I'll see you later." Jimmy said.
"I guess. Keep trainer, and one day we'll fight again." Hector replied.
"Yes, and then I'll beat you." Jimmy grinned.
"That'll happen the day the Lickitung turn yellow." Hector smiled. He held out his hand. "Take care."
"I will, Hector. I will." Jimmy shook the hand.
Then, a strange note was heard coming from the forest. It was a long, deep tune, and both trainers looked up. The forest stirred, and they heard a large group approaching fast.
"Get to the ground!" Hector shouted, jump down. Jimmy followed, curious of what was attacking them. As they lay down, a large group of Pidgey and Spearow flew over, followed by a group or Rattata, Caterpie and Weedle. Hector carefully got up, and looked around.
"What was that all about?" Jimmy asked.
"I have no idea, but it can't be good." Hector was still looking around the area. "You think we should go check it out?"
"It can be dangerous, but we have our Pokémon for protection." Jimmy got up, and looked around. "I think that the sound we just heard chased them away. But what sound can cause this stampede?"
"I don't know, but it's dangerous to the wild Pokémon here. We should check it out." Hector turned to the direction the sound came from.
"Agreed." Jimmy began to walk.
After a few minutes of walking through the forest, they got to a clearing. In the clearing stood a jeep, and next to it was someone working on a small radio tower. The person heard the two trainers approaching, and turned around. He was a man, around his mid-thirties, and had greasy black hair and thick glasses. He was wearing a white lab coat, with a small red R on the chest.
"Who are you?" the man asked, slightly angered.
"We're two trainers from around here. Who are you?" Hector returned the question.
"I am Professor Abraham Bel, the soon-to-be famous inventor of the soon-to-be famous Evolution Frequency!" he proclaimed.
"Evolution Frequency?" Jimmy asked. It sounded oddly familiar. "What's that?"
"Glad you asked, lad." the professor replied. "As you know, as Pokémon gain strength, they eventually evolve. There are only a few reasons known on how to do this. Some require training. Others can evolve in different ways, like with evolutionary stones or by trading it with another Trainer. Upon hearing the tone, this frequency triggers instantaneous evolution on any Pokémon that is capable of evolution, effectively eliminating the time needed to train the afore-mentioned Pokémon." he explained. "But it doesn't work perfectly... yet. All it does now is chasing away wild Pokémon." he sighted. "If I just knew how to fix it..."
"Wait a minute!" Hector interrupted. "I've read about that before. It wasn't your idea, the concept was thought up by Professor Sebastian. He..."
"Don't speak that name out loud!" Bel flew into a rage. "He stole that idea from me! I thought it up, but he got all the credit for it!"
"Oh, now I remember!" Jimmy replied. "Didn't some wacky Professor at the Viridian University was fired for that because the people thought it was immoral to force Pokémon to evolve? Yeah, that was Sebastian." he looked at Prof. Bel. "You call that credit? People think he's an immoral monster!"
"But they thought it was his idea!" the scientist began to shout. "He was hired by Team Rocket afterwards, and he got all the funding! He stole my idea!!"
"He was hired by Team Rocket?" Jimmy asked. "But what about that R on your coat? Are you with Team Rocket, too?"
Prof. Bel grinned an ironic smile. "He isn't making any more progress with it then me, and I've assured the boss that I could deliver results earlier then he could..."
"But you can't just evolve Pokémon by letting them listen to a tone! That defies the job of being a trainer!" Hector replied. "I won't allow you to hurt the wild Pokémon around these parts!" he pulled out a Pokéball.
The man laughed. "Do you really think you can stop me? I've been studying and training Pokémon before you were born, kid. My Pokémon were the best back at the university! And now some brat thinks he can defeat me? Don't make me laugh."
"We'll see who'll be laughing! Scyther, go get him!" Hector threw the ball he had in his hand, and the green mantis emerged.
"Ah, this will be interesting." he pulled a Pokéball from his belt. "Go for it, Muk!" he opened the ball, and a dark purple mass appeared. Jimmy pulled out his Pokédex and aimed at the Pokémon.
Muk, the Sludge Pokémon. Smells so awful, it can cause fainting. Through degeneration, it lost its sense of smell.
Living up to the description, a horrible stench emerged from the Pokémon. Scyther pulled a face and began waving its blades in front of it. Hector began to cough heavily, and Jimmy held his breath. Bel, on the other hand, just laughed.
"Can't you boys take a little smell? Muk, use Sludge!"
The poison type gathered some sludge, and hurled it at Scyther. The Pokémon was caught unaware, and got the full force of the attack. It was knocked down, but quickly got up. He raised his blades, and looked over its shoulder at his trainer for commands.
"Scyther, use Fury Cutter!" Scyther leaped at his opponent, but as he was about to strike, the stench made him stagger.
"Muk, Pound!" Muk jumped up, and hit Scyther full in the face. The mantis was knocked back again. His trainer looked at Jimmy.
"I need some help over here!" he asked. Jimmy pulled a Pokéball from his belt, and threw it up. Pidgey emerged from it, and was ready to fight.
"Pidgey, use Gust!" the bird began flapping its wings at Muk, but was unable to lift the Pokémon off the ground. Bel laughed again.
"Your bird isn't strong enough to blow Muk away!" he already tasted victory. But Jimmy's smile made him think different.
"I don't need to blow Muk away, Professor. I only need to blow his stench away." Bel realized what the boy was planning, and turned to his Pokémon.
"Muk, use..." he began.
"Fury Cutter!" Hector interrupted. Slashing with its arms, Scyther jumped at the Poison type. Unaffected by the smell this time, the attacks hit home, driving the Pokémon back. Hector smiled, but his smile faded as he saw that Muk was unaffected.
"Muk's sludge-like body protects it from normal attacks like that. You'll need something stronger." Bel was the one to smile now.
"Pidgey, Sand Attack!" Pidgey blew up a cloud of sand, which covered Muk. As the sand lay down, it was visible that Muk was covered in sand, and was unable to shake it off. The sand obscured some of its movement.
"Now we're even." Jimmy said.
"I don't think so." Bel said, and pulled out another Pokéball. "Golbat, get him!" A dark blue bat emerged from the Pokéball, and Jimmy reached for his Pokédex again.
Golbat, the Bat Pokémon. Emits ultrasonic cries while it flies. They act as a sonar used to check for objects in its way.
"Now we're even. Golbat, use Wing Attack!" Golbat's wings lit up, and he struck Pidgey with it. Pidgey fell down, but recovered before he hit the ground.
"Pidgey, Quick Attack!"
"Golbat, Bite! Muk, Body Slam!" as Pidgey hit Golbat in mid-air, Golbat grabbed the bird in his mouth. Muk threw himself on Scyther, pinning the mantis down.
"Good, keep them there while I activate the radio!" Bel turned around and began pushing buttons on the tower.
The fight had reached a stall, with Golbat holding Pidgey and Muk holding Scyther. Jimmy pulled his other Pokéball from his belt, and called out the Pokémon inside of it. "Medapod, tie Golbat to the ground with String Shot!"
The green cocoon Pokémon appeared, and shot sticky threats at the wings of the bat. It tied the wings together, and Golbat fell to the ground. When it crashed into the ground, it opened its mouth, and Pidgey quickly escaped. Hector got the same idea, and called out Kakuna and his own Medapod.
"Okay guys, use String Shot on Muk!" both cocoons fired their webs, but Muk caught both threats in mid-air! Muk grinned, and he pulled the web, launching both Pokémon into the air. He spun the web around for a few times, and suddenly let go. The two cocoons were flung back to their trainer, who caught them against his chest. Because of the sudden force, he fell backwards. Jimmy knew that Hector almost ran out of Pokémon, and tried to free Scyther himself.
"Medapod, use Harden, then Tackle!" a shimmer went over the Pokémon, and the cocoon launched itself at Muk. The sludge was taken completely by surprise, and the force of the blow caused it to tumble backwards, off Scyther. The Mantis quickly got up, and raised his blades.
"Scyther, use Slash!" the mantis hit Muk on the head with a tremendous blow, but although the Pokémon was dazzled, it was not injured. Pidgey, Medapod and Scyther then turned to Bel, who was still working on the radio tower.
"Give it up, Bel! We've beaten you!" Hector had gotten up again, after recalling his two cocoon Pokémon.
"Oh, not yet..." Bel grinned, and he pulled a lever. The tower began to emit a low tone, similar to the one heard before. Bel quickly withdrew his Golbat, who was unable to battle. The three Pokémon belonging to the two trainers began to shake. Scyther fell to its knees, holding its head with its blades. Pidgey fell from the air, and began flapping its wings uncontrollably. Medapod began to make short jumps, and tumbled around. Muk, however, was unaffected. His trainer laughed in triumph.
"You'll never beat technology!" he exclaimed.
Jimmy recalled his Pokémon, and Hector switched his Scyther for Pinsir. The stag beetle was, like Muk, unaffected.
"Pinsir, use Vicegrip!" Pinsir jumped at Muk, with his pincers at the ready.
"Muk, grab him by the pincers!" as Pinsir closed in, Muk quickly reached out and grabbed the beetle by the horns. Bel smiled.
"Okay, now slam him into the ground with all your strength!" Muk brought his hands behind his head, still holding Pinsir by the horns, and slammed the beetle into the ground in front of him. A cloud of sand was blown up by the sheer force of the blow, and the beetle didn't get up. Hector, gritting his teeth, recalled his Pokémon.
"You kids have any other Pokémon to lose at the hands of Muk?" Bel knew that he had won.
"Jimmy, I'm out of ideas..." Hector whispered.
"Me too... we'll need a miracle to beat him..." Jimmy replied.
On cue, a white flash spun through the air, and hit the radio tower. Sparks emitted from the point that was hit, and a small explosion shorted the installation out. The three humans and the Pokémon followed the white flash back, and they saw a hand reach up to catch it. Jimmy once again pulled out his Pokédex.
Marowak, the Bone Keeper Pokémon. The bone it holds is its key weapon. It throws the bone skillfully like a boomerang to KO targets.
"Wait a minute..." Jimmy looked at the picture of Marowak on his Pokédex, and then at the Marowak looking at them. "Marowak are brown, not green!"
"No!" Jimmy turned around, and saw an enraged Prof. Bel. "My radio tower has been destroyed! You will pay for this! Muk, get ready!" the sludge Pokémon braced itself for an attack.
"Jimmy, we can use our other Pokémon now!" Hector has already summoned his other three Pokémon. Jimmy did the same, so that Muk was outnumbered 5 to 1.
"Muk, use Pound!" Bel ordered.
"Medapod, use Harden and Tackle again!" Jimmy replied.
The Pokémon launched itself at the Poison type, knocking it back.
"Pidgey, Quick Attack!" Jimmy said.
"Scyther, Fury Cutter!" Hector kicked in. Both Pokémon hit the Poison type, this time with greater effect. Muk was hurled into the air, and landed on top of its trainer. Bel was forced to withdraw his Pokémon. He quickly got up.
"You haven't seen the last of me!" he shouted. He jumped into his jeep, started it, and quickly drove away. "I'll be back!" he yelled as he drove away. As the dust settled, the trainers looked at each other.
"We've did it." Hector smiled.
"We've did it!" Jimmy replied in joy. "Nice work, guys!" his two Pokémon jumped in joy.
Hector looked at the spot where Marowak stood. "I'm wondering what's up with that strange Marowak..." Hector thought aloud.
What they did not know, was that they were being watched by a group of three men. Marowak was standing next to one of them.
"Good job, Marowak. Return." a flash of red energy hit Marowak, and it returned to its Pokéball.
"Don't you think it was a bit risky sending Marowak to help that boy, Adam?" one of the men asked.
"Relax, Lee. He'll never know what we're up to." Adam replied.
Jimmy and Hector were about to part ways again.
"I'll be heading back to Viridian City to report to the police about what happened here. What about you?" Hector asked.
"I'm going to Pewter City. Should I also report this to the authorities there?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't think so. Bel drove away in the direction of the Indigo Plateau, and Viridian is closer to that then Pewter. Take care." he held out his hand for the third time.
"As always." they shook hands for the third time that day.
Whoa, that was longer then I expected. I hope you like it, because I put quite some work into it. Anyway, next time we get to Pewter City!
Important events:
Story: Jimmy meets Hector, a specialist on the Insect type. Together they beat the Team Rocket scientist Prof. Abraham Bel, who appears to be the source of Prof. Sebastian's idea for making Pokémon evolve by radio waves.
Pokémon: Adam owns a shiny Marowak, Hector owns a Scyther, Pinsir, Medapod and Kakuna.
Battles: Jimmy's Pidgey fights Hector's Scyther, and loses. Hector's Pinsir, Medapod and Kakuna lose to Bel's Muk, Jimmy's Medapod defeats Bel's Golbat, Jimmy's Pidgey and Medapod, together with Hector's Scyther, defeat Bel's Muk.
Please review, and good catchings to all! See you next time!