7. Fun at the Beach!
It was another bright and shiny summer day, as Danny and Richard advance towards Mt. Moon, their last trespass before they could enter Cerulean City, the place where Misty lived, the second gym leader.
Unfortunately, Richard decided to give Danny a change with the map, and that's where the story starts.
"Are you sure we are on the right way?" Richard asked. Danny looked at him. "Sure, look in front of you, that's Mt. Moon right?" Richard nodded. "That's true, but what is that over there?" Danny looked towards the place Richard was pointing, and it was a big surprise.
"That is a beach…" Danny murmured. "Yes, that's a good observation, can you tell me, is there a beach on our map?" Richard said sarcastically.
"Yes, close to Fuchsia City is a beach, but not here." Richard laughed. "So I guess you aren't that good at map reading after all." Danny wanted to answer, but got interrupted from a middle-aged man walking towards them.
"I see you are confused?" The man asked. He had brown hair, with some grey hairs spread over his head. He had a small beard, with the same composition. He was wearing a blue vest, and blue trousers.
"Well, that beach over there, that doesn't belong here." Danny said, which made the man laugh quite hard. Danny looked at Richard, both had a questioning look in their eyes.
When the man finally recovered from his burst of laughter, he tried to explain. "That beach over there, isn't a real, nature-made beach. It is made by a group of people, I was one of them." The man saw the still questioning look in the boys eyes, and continued the explanation.
"This used to be a small lake, for the local Pokémon to enjoy, but since a few friends and I live near here, we decided to change it. You see, my only Pokémon is a Seel, a Pokémon who prefers to live in a sea environment, such as a beach. Multiple of my friends had the same problem, so we bought a lot of sand, and made a small beach of it, which is enjoyed by us, our Pokémon, and most local Pokémon enjoy it as well. Even some wild Pokémon travelled here.
"How can wild Pokémon, probably sea Pokémon, travel here?" The man looked at Richard. "That is a very good question you ask there. Some Pokémon who came here where able to walk, like Krabby and Seel, others, like Goldeen or Horsea, aren't able to. We captured some of those Pokémon, and later released them here, they don't seem to mind."
"So, this is an island of water in the middle of a big sea of land." Danny stated. The man laughed. "That's how you can call it. How rude, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Steven, I am the principal of the beach."
"I'm Richard, and this is my friend Danny." "Wow, principal, talking about chic. So you run this place." Steven nodded. "Can we spend a day at your beach?" Steven laughed. "Sure, I was about to ask you. Have a nice day, and I'm sure I'll see you guys around." Steven said, as he walked away.
"Well, let's enjoy our day here, right Danny?" Richard said. Danny nodded, as they walked towards the beach, feeling the sand underneath their feet as they put off their shoes. "I think our Pokémon should enjoy this as well. Charmander, Beedrill, Abra, Bellsprout, enjoy the beach." "Squirtle, Sandshrew, Have fun"
The six Pokémon looked around, and seemed to be happily surprised, expect Bellsprout, who looked to be ready for a battle, but the Flower Pokémon quickly adjusted to the situation, and went with it. Squirtle, as a Water-type, couldn't wait to get into the cool water. Others, like Sandshrew, where already happy when lying on the sand, the same Bellsprout and Abra also did. Abra, however, felt asleep as soon as his head hit the ground. Beedrill flew over the water, and landed next to Sandshrew, on the other side of Bellsprout. But on a shining day as these, even those two didn't wanted to argue.
Only Charmander seemed to be a little bit out of place. He walked back as far as possible, not even wanting to go near the water. Danny noticed it, and walked towards his starter Pokémon.
"What's wrong Charmander, you aren't afraid of a little bit of water, are you?" Danny asked, but directly realized that was exactly the problem here. Charmander was terrified, even more than the average Fire-type Pokémon.
"I'm sorry buddy, come with me, we'll find you a place on the beach without water. How does that sound." Charmander walked after Danny, still a bit nervous. "Look Charmander, there are a lot of Pokémon here, that's incredible, don't you think." Danny said, to distract Charmander from the water, but unfortunately, Charmander looked for Pokémon, but his eyes wandered back to the water, which made him nervous again.
"Come with me, here it is, a nice and warm place for us to relax as well." Danny sat down, and looked over the beach. Charmander sat down next to him.
Danny started to smile when he saw his Pokémon, having fun, or relaxing.
"Things surely have turned out great. A little time ago I couldn't imagine I would sit here, with a group of Pokémon. It really is great to be a trainer, look at those four Pokémon, they are so great. Especially my buddy Charmander, I can't exactly tell what it is, but there is a connection between us, a connection I don't share with Beedrill, Abra or Bellsprout. Of course, I love them, and we are a good team, but Charmander feels different, more special. Of course, he is my starter Pokémon."
Danny looked aside, and saw Charmander finally relaxing. He petted Charmander on his head. "We are a great team aren't we?" Charmander nodded, and closed it eyes.
Richard walked over. "Don't you want to swim, the water is cool, and me and my Pokémon are really enjoying it."
"No, I stay with Charmander, he is really afraid of that water, I won't let him alone." Richard nodded. "Okay, if you want to swim, just tell me, and I will watch Charmander for a while." "Thanks." Danny answered, and he laid down, as Richard ran back into the lake, chasing his Squirtle, who was just coming after him.
Later
Danny woke up, looking around him. "Man, I must have dozed off." He looked at his side, Charmander was still sitting, looking at the other Pokémon. The Pokémon looked up as Danny spoke. "Haven't slept?" Danny asked, and Charmander shook his head.
Danny looked at the water, and he felt something pushing him up, he looked down, and saw Charmander pushing him, and pointing at the water.
"Are you sure you don't mind if I take a swim?" Danny asked, Charmander shook his head again. Richard saw the conversation, and walked over to Danny.
"Go. I will watch Charmander for a while, Squirtle sat down next to its friend, which Charmander was happy with." "Thanks, both of you. I'll go for a swim." Danny laughed, as he ran towards the water.
Things almost went the wrong way, and Danny almost fell, the cause: Bellsprout thought to be funny and used let its trainer stumble, which made the other two Pokémon present and awake laughing. Danny, however, couldn't really laugh, but had a good revenge plan.
All of a sudden, he picked up Bellsprout, and jumped into the water. Bellsprout was frightened to death, but quickly adapted, and started a water fight with Danny, who happily participated.
"Beedrill, come join in." Beedrill flew over, and started to splash the water by moving its wings quicker. Abra was still asleep, not noticing the things happening around him. Danny just submerged Bellsprout under water again, for a few seconds, and then pulled the Flower Pokémon up again. Bellsprout had the time of its life, it laughed, and splashed both Danny and Beedrill with its two leaf-like arms. When Bellsprout finally escaped from Danny's grip, it got submerged again, this time by a unexpected guest.
Abra had just woken up, and saw his friends play in the water. He didn't think about it for a second, and jumped it. He had just reached Bellsprout in time to submerge it again. Bellsprout didn't knew what it had. It's first thought was, that Danny was quick enough to capture it again. When it saw Abra, it quickly planned a revenge attack, and pulled the Psi-Pokémon under the water with its root-like legs.
While Danny was busy with playing with his Pokémon, he didn't fell that one of his empty Pokéballs got loose, and sunk into the water.
Under Water
Underneath Danny and his Pokémon, a group of Krabby made their way towards the shore, when something strange hit the bottom of the lake. One of the Krabby's, more adventurous than the others, decided to investigate the unknown subject, and looked at it. When it was sure there was no danger to expect, it started to hammer the thing with its claw, wanting to break it.
Unfortunately for this Krabby, the subject lying before its claws was nothing less than Danny's lost Pokéball, and when the Krabby hit the right spot, the Pokéball opened, and gobbled by a red light. It was too confused to get out in time.
Back at the surface, Danny finally realised one of his Pokéballs to be missing.
"Bellsprout, Beedrill and Abra. I've got a minor problem. One of my empty Pokéballs has drifted off, can you help me look for it." The three Pokémon nodded, and started looking. Beedrill flew over the lake, while Abra and Bellsprout swam through the water, sometimes looking at the bottom, hoping to find the lost Pokéball. Danny dived further into the water, until he was at the same level as the lake floor, and started swimming close to the ground.
"Wow, look at those Krabby over there. I need to remember to catch one as I get back on the shore. They are cool Pokémon, and I need a Water-type in my team."
The group of Krabby where still walking towards the shore, not really interested in the fact one of them got captured by a Pokéball, cause that happened a lot. Maybe not the first thing someone thinks off, but a lot of trainers passing by the lake end up having a Krabby in their rotation.
The search continued, as Danny and his Pokémon scoured more and more of the lake's surface. Danny was about to call it a day, he could buy new Pokéballs in Cerulean, when Bellsprout started shouting. Danny swam over, and found, on the bottom of the lake, his Pokéball. It was quite funny though, since it was really close to the point Danny started searching. It is like you call it, looking with your eyes closed.
"Really, thanks Bellsprout, I was about to quit." Bellsprout made a happy gesture, glad to be at service.
"Danny!" Richard screamed, standing on the shore, accompanied by Squirtle, Sandshrew and Danny's Charmander.
"Should there be something wrong?" Beedrill, as possible of reading Danny's mind, looked at his trainer with the same thought. "Come on guys, better get there quickly."
As the four of them swam over, they quickly saw there was nothing to worry, Richard waved and laughed. So much for the stress.
"Look at this Danny." Richard said, giving a voucher at Danny, as the 15-year old left the water.
"Events today, 16 August. 14:30: Water race at the lake. Try out your Pokémon in a race against others. The prize: A set of 10 Pokéballs, and a week supply off food (outgoing of normal proportions.) Only Water-type Pokémon allowed to access." Danny read from the voucher.
Richard took the voucher back, as Danny handed it over. "I'm thinking about entering with Squirtle. Too bad you don't have a Water-type Pokémon, I would love to have a competition with you." Danny smiled. "I would so to. Maybe I can capture myself a Water Pokémon here. As Steven said, capturing these Pokémon is allowed." Richard nodded. "Anyways, you are allowed to cheer for me." He laughed, Danny laughed with him. "If I don't succeed capturing a Water-type, than I will cheer, and not earlier." Richard looked at his friend. "We'll see. Even if you capture a Water-type, that Pokémon needs to defeat my Squirtle, and that is close to impossible." Richard said, petting his Squirtle. "I'll sign in. Come guys. Good luck for the capture Danny." Richard walked away, Squirtle and Sandshrew following.
Danny looked at his four Pokémon. "Well guys, we should try to find and catch a Water-type, even if it only was to wash that funny expression on Richard's face away." The four Pokémon nodded, and each of them walked (flew) away.
"Which Pokémon should be a good match, I bet a Seaking or a Seel would be a good Pokémon. Although I really would like to have a Krabby with me, it, and its evolved form Kingler, are probably my favourite Water-type Pokémon."
He ran into the water again, diving deep, so he had a great view. That is, when his eyes stopped hurting from the fresh water. He did saw a big Seaking swimming by, but when he wanted to call Bellsprout, he saw a trainer diving into the water next to the Seaking, and they started to swim, no, to race.
"Probably training for the race." Danny thought.
When he came above the water to get some air, he saw Bellsprout, again, waving at the shore. A few seconds later Beedrill had arrived at Danny. He made a little noise, pointing at the shore.
"So guys found a wild Pokémon?" Danny asked to ensure himself from the event. Beedrill nodded. Danny quickly swam towards the shore, and shivered as he walked out of the water.
Beedrill and Bellsprout led him to a wild Krabby, ready to get back into the water.
"Krabby, wait a minute. I want a battle. Bellsprout go!" The wild Krabby looked at Danny, and then at Bellsprout, and decided to go for it.
Before either Danny or Bellsprout realized it, the Krabby had moved, and held Bellsprout in a Vice grip. "Bellsprout, quick, use Vine Whip to get loose." Bellsprout hit the Krabby on its head with the Vines, and the Krabby let go, and stepped back a few steps.
"Bellsprout, one more Vine Whip, lift it up, and throw it." Krabby was lifted up, not knowing what happened, and later felt down, completely confused of what happened. "Pokéball, Go!" Danny threw the Pokéball he had just lost, and then something happened what all of the spectators, Charmander, Abra and Beedrill had come to watch the battle, and the battlers themselves didn't see coming.
Out of the Pokéball, another Krabby emerged, a little bit dizzy because of the surprising capture, but quite glad to be in the open air again.
Danny was in all states. "How on earth did I capture a Krabby?" The Krabby, the one Danny wanted to capture, walked towards the Krabby, the one Danny did capture, and they shook their claws, as humans do with their hands when they are saying farewell. The first Krabby walked back into the sea, while the captured Krabby remained on the sand, waiting for orders.
Just as Bellsprout, who didn't knew what to do. Danny knelt down towards the Krabby. "I don't know how I captured you, but I'm sure glad I did, welcome to the team Krabby." Danny shook Krabby's claw as well, and Krabby made a happy gesture, glad to be on board of the team.
Danny's other Pokémon hurried them around the new team member, which made the Krabby a little bit shy, and the only thing it could think off, was to use Vice grip on the closest target, unfortunately, that would be Abra. The poor thing didn't knew what it had, he jumped around over the sand, having Krabby holding on to his tail.
"Krabby, stop it. These Pokémon are your friends, there is no need to be afraid." Krabby looked up to its trainer, and decided to let go of Abra's tail, who started petting it.
"Look who it is. The kid with my Abra.!" Danny heard a familiar voice. "Wait a minute, you must be Marcel, that boy who lost from my Weedle." "That would be me. I see you finally managed to evolve that Weedle of yours, but Abra is still just an Abra. You obviously can't handle him." Danny started to irritate himself again. "Of course I can handle him, Abra even defeated Brock's Geodude, and fought in several other matches." Marcel laughed.
"My Bulbasaur defeated both Geodude and Onix, and my Raticate has won more battles than all of your Pokémon together." "That thing is evolved." "Something your Pokémon will probably never be." Marcel said laughing. "I would love to stay, but I need to sign in for the Water race, I'll use my Tentacool, I guess you won't participate at all, than you will get the chance to look how a real pro works." "You captured a Tentacool?" Danny asked, which made Marcel laugh again. "Of course not, I traded it over, the kid I traded with told me that this Tentacool is the fastest swimmer there is. See ya later." Marcel walked away.
"You know what, I sign in with Krabby, and we'll see what happens, right Krabby?" Krabby looked up, and didn't really know what to do, so it just followed Danny, as he followed Marcel towards the Pay box to sign in.
When he arrived, he saw Marcel had just left, so he was free to go.
"I want to participate in this Water race." Danny said. "That is quite alright, with which Pokémon will you participate?" The woman in the Pay box asked. "With my newly caught Krabby." Danny said proudly, but the started to laugh. "You won't win this contest with a Krabby." "I do, you'll see." "Okay then, but I won't give you much of a change."
That afternoon.
*Welcome ladies and gentleman, by this Water race. The rules are simple, the Pokémon swim to that buoy over there, and back. The first one to come back wins the price: 10 Pokéballs, and a week supply food. Good Luck, when you hear the pistol, the Pokémon may go.*
Richard and Squirtle and Danny and Krabby stood next to each other. "Danny, not to anger you, but I still don't think it is a good idea to participate with Krabby, it isn't the fastest swimmer you know. Especially with Marcel and Tentacool participating." "I know, but I can at least give it a shot."
The pistol sounded, and the Pokémon swam away.
*It seems to be a good day for Tentacool, it is currently ahead. Squirtle and Seaking are really close behind, switching between second and third place. After that are Seel, Seel and Goldeen. At the end of the queue is Krabby, it seems hard for the crab Pokémon to keep up with all the strong swimmers, maybe not a really good call from its trainer.*
"Come on Krabby, you can do it."
"I told you Krabby wouldn't win." Marcel walked towards the two boys, laughing. His Bulbasaur followed him with the same facial expression.
"Krabby will win, you'll see." Danny said, still not doubting his newly captured Pokémon.
* Krabby is getting far behind, it is still lucky that the wind is blowing it forward. The way back however, it won't have that profit. The way back will be a real struggle for all of them, cause the winds are getting stronger. Tentacool and Squirtle are still in the lead, Seaking seems to be in a bit of trouble, having the first of the two Seel closing in on it. Squirtle and Tentacool have just rounded the buoy, and are now on their way back. You can see them struggle against the big winds.*
"Krabby is falling back, I'm sorry Danny, but you won't win this one." Richard said. "Come on Squirtle, you can do it, I'm sure you can."
Marcel looked over the water, and saw Tentacool taking over the lead again. "Ha, you won't win this one either." He laughed. Richard looked towards Marcel. "We'll see."
Both Squirtle and Tentacool where facing the strong wind, which was blowing them back. They were having a really hard time.
*Almost all of the Pokémon are now on their way back, but they barely get forward. Oh o, I don't see Krabby anywhere, maybe its trainer called him back?*
All the trainers cheered for their Pokémon, and then Danny spotted Steven, standing between the mess. "Steven!" Danny called the older man, which happily waved once he recognized the two boys, and walked towards them.
"Hi guys, are you participating in this race as well?" He asked. "Yeah, I use Squirtle, who just took the lead again." He said, smirking at Marcel. Steven looked at Danny. "And which one is yours, the Seaking I guess?" Danny shook his head. "The Krabby is mine." Steven stood there surprised for a second. "A Krabby, but why would you enter a Water race with a Krabby? It is even behind my Seel, and that one is currently not doing too well." Danny looked up at the older man. "I wanted a Water-type Pokémon, and I really like Krabby's, so I decided to capture one." "Well, it is your choice, but you won't win it." The older man responded.
Danny nodded, and looked back at the water, suddenly realizing what the announcer just said. Krabby gone? He started to look at the water, but he couldn't find the crab Pokémon, and that made him worried.
"What if something happened to Krabby?"
He suddenly felt something at his left trouser leg, and he saw his Charmander pulling at it, and at the same time pointing at a point in the water. Danny followed the line of Charmander's paw, and saw something crawling at the bottom. When the water was getting a shallow again, he could see what it was, and apparently, so could the announcer.
"This is truly incredible, when all the other Pokémon can't move forward fast enough, Krabby decided to skip the swimming, and dived deeper into the water. It is currently walking over the lake flour, advancing more and more.*
The crowd went crazy, as they all spotted Krabby walking over the bottom of the lake, trespassing both Seels and Goldeen, and now chasing Seaking. Marcel, Richard and Steven looked shocked, while Danny felt victorious. He hadn't won yet, but he sure as hell showed them already what a Krabby is capable off.
* Squirtle and Tentacool are still striving for the lead, Krabby is currently third, while Seaking is getting further behind.*
"A little more Squirtle, you can still win this."
"Come on Tentacool, don't make me regret that trade."
"I believe in you Krabby, I know you can pull this off."
Krabby was now second, following Tentacool, Squirtle was getting exhausted, and couldn't continue without little break.
* This is ridiculous, the last Pokémon to arrive at the buoy, seems to be the first Pokémon to end the race.*
It was getting pretty close, with only 100 metres to shore, Tentacool and Krabby where neck a neck, and the winner would be determined at how much energy and speed both had left, to make one final run.
Krabby had that energy, while Tentacool didn't.
* The winner is the most surprising of all: Krabby and his trainer won this Water race. Tentacool comes in second, and I see Squirtle just arrived, taking the third place.*
Danny ran towards Krabby. "You did an excellent job, I knew you could do it." He said, as he picked the Pokémon up, and hugged it. "I think you deserve my apology." Richard said, walking towards Danny. "And my congrats, well done Danny." Danny started laughing. "Never mind it. That's what friends are fore, they criticize each other." Richard laughed as well.
Marcel walked towards his Tentacool. "Couldn't you be faster? That trainer scammed me, you aren't really that fast. However, I guess I should start to get to work and train you, since that trainer didn't" And with those words, Marcel called his Tentacool back to its Pokéball.
* The winner is Danny, with his Krabby. Congratulations. The next race will be cancelled due to too heavy winds.*
Danny walked onto the stage, holding his Krabby in his arms. He needed to put it down however, when it got the beaker, the ten Pokéballs, and the weak supply of food. Krabby looked around, it had never saw so many people around him before, since it mostly lived deeper into the water. It scared it a little, but it amazed it as well.
That Afternoon
After Danny and Richard walked away, they saw Steven running after them. They stopped. "Congratulations on winning that water race Danny, you did a really great job. I didn't thought you could pull it off, but you see, I'm wrong." Steven shook Danny's, and later Richard's, hand, and waved them goodbye, as they walked towards the still bright shining sun, to have a camp near the foot of Mt. Moon. This time, with a new Pokémon on their side.
Quite a long one, I liked to write this one. I hope you like to read it. I have currently made a Wikia about this story, cause I'm determined to continue this story. I think I will upload a trailer for Danny's Journey on Youtube again as well. The links:
wiki/Dannysfanfiction_Wikia
channel/UCJ8sGWrAekH3aONNfiKco5Q
