AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here's chapter 8 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue sailing through the Orange Islands. Ruby from the anime makes an appearance in this chapter. Please feel free to read and review.
TEASER: Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu drift toward the Seven Grapefruit Islands for lunch, but unfortunately, someone is stealing all the grapefruit off of them, and they find out that a formidable and familiar adversary they first met in Kanto is the source of it all!
Chapter 8: THE GRAPEFRUIT OF OUR LABOR
(Music Cue: Route 1: The Road to Viridian City M18A)
After winning his Orange League Gym Battle on Navel Island and earning a Sea Ruby Badge from its leader, Danny, our heroes have decided to do a little more island hopping en route to their next destination.
"Hey, look!" said Tristan. "Seven tiny islands off in the distance!"
"If those are seven tiny islands," replied Hillary, "then I have a feeling that these aren't just seven tiny islands."
"What do you mean?" asked Tristan.
"Let me see the map a second," said Hillary as Tristan handed her the map. "Hmm. I thought as much. This pile of islands must be the Seven Grapefruit Islands."
"Seven grapefruits?" asked Tristan. "I'd be happy if I could have just one today."
"No, no, I mean the seven islands are called the 'Seven Grapefruit Islands.'" said Hillary. "These islands are known for their big and delicious grapefruits, including their tough peels."
"Oh, well if the Seven Grapefruit Islands are full of grapefruits, then I say we take a break for lunch!" suggested Tristan.
Pikachu agreed to the idea. It liked the idea of food almost as much as Tristan did.
"That's a wonderful idea, come to think of it," replied Hillary. "Besides, I'm getting awfully hungry, anyway."
"Then that's where we should go," replied Tristan. "Ready for the next stop, Lapras?"
Lapras replied happily and waited for his next direction.
"Then let's go full speed ahead to the Seven Grapefruit Islands!" commanded Tristan.
Lapras sped up toward the first of the seven islands.
A moment later, Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu came to a forest of grapefruit trees.
"Whoa!" said Hillary. "These grapefruits are gigantic!"
"I've never seen food that's as big as that!" added Tristan.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's eat!" said Hillary.
But before they could reach for the giant grapefruit, a voice called out. "Wait! Please don't eat the grapefruits!"
Tristan and Hillary stopped in their tracks just in time to see a lady with green hair wearing a pink collared shirt approaching them.
"Why? What's going on?" asked Tristan.
"We're experiencing a grapefruit shortage right now," answered the lady. "We had a Snorlax eat a lot of the grapefruit on many of the islands recently, and our harvest isn't turning out too well. "In fact, we have a deficit of 3,000 grapefruits!"
"Whoa! Three thousand?!" said Hillary. "No wonder you told us not to pick those grapefruits."
Tristan was shocked, too. "I never knew that a Snorlax could eat this many grapefruits. I knew it could eat and sleep, but I never knew it could eat that much.
"That's right," replied the lady. "But thanks to the able assistance of a Trainer named Ash and his friends, we managed to save the grapefruits just in time. And not only that, new grapefruit trees are starting to grow where Snorlax ate. Just look." And she showed Tristan and Hillary the buds growing out of the ground.
"That's marvelous!" said Hillary.
"I don't know if Snorlax intended to do that, but it looks like it's making a difference already," added Tristan.
"We need a lot of time to make sure those trees grow and the grapefruits grow on them," said the lady. "And we need to save every one of the remaining grapefruit trees that still exist on the island until they do."
"That makes sense," said Tristan.
"By the way, my name's Ruby," said the lady.
"Hi, I'm Tristan," said Tristan. "This is my sister, Hillary, and my Pokémon friend, Pikachu."
"Hi," added Hillary.
Pikachu greeted Ruby warmly.
"It's nice to meet you all," said Ruby. "Maybe I can show you around the Seven Grapefruit Islands.
Just then, a worker arrived. "Ruby! The grapefruits on the islands are being stolen!"
(Music Cue: Desperate Situation 1997-1998 (as heard in "Two Hits and a Miss"))
"What?!" exclaimed Ruby. "Where are they?"
"That's just it! We don't know!" replied the worker. "Whoever's stealing our grapefruits has also cut the power to our computer systems!"
"This is bad," said Ruby. "Now what'll we do?"
Tristan and Hillary were quick to take action.
"Please, Ruby, let us help you stop him!" implored Tristan.
"Yeah, it's the least we can do," added Hillary. "Even though we're hungry, we can wait for that because this is more important."
Ruby gave the matter a lot of thought. At last, she said. "All right, follow me." And she led everyone out of the forest into a large building.
A few moments later inside the building, everyone noticed that the power had been cut.
"What happened?" asked Hillary.
"It must have been the work of that poacher," replied Tristan. "My guess is that whoever cut the power made sure we wouldn't track his location right away until he gets all the grapefruit he can get his greedy hands on."
"That's right," confirmed Ruby. "I'm afraid all our grapefruit will be stolen unless we can pinpoint the exact location of that poacher. And we can't seem to do it without any electricity."
(Music Cue: Pikachu Appears!)
"Electricity, huh?" said Tristan. "That gives me an idea. Hey, Ruby, do you have some sort of generator we can use?"
"Yes, but our current reserve of electricity isn't nearly enough in order to get our computer systems back up to speed," replied Ruby.
"Pikachu can handle that, right, pal?" said Tristan.
Pikachu agreed.
Quickly, Ruby led Tristan and Pikachu to the generator. "If we can give it enough juice, we should be back in business in no time."
Tristan and Ruby quickly attached some wires to Pikachu's cheeks.
"All right, Pikachu, let's turn on the juice and give it a Thunderbolt!" instructed Tristan.
"Pikachuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Pikachu's electricity ran through the wires and powered up the generator. In no time at all, the lights came on and the computer systems were back up and running.
"It's working!" said Ruby. "Pikachu's electricity was just what we needed. Thank you."
"All right, Ruby, our generator's back!" said the worker. "We can stop the juice now."
Pikachu stopped its Thunderbolt attack and Tristan detached the wires, but not without getting shocked himself.
"Are you all right?" asked Ruby worriedly.
"Oh, don't worry," Hillary assured her. "Tristan's been zapped by his Pikachu's Thunderbolt so many times that he practically runs on it."
Sure enough, Tristan was sizzling with electricity, hair and all. Electricity didn't bother him as long as it wasn't too much at once.
"Now let's check the monitors," said Ruby. She flipped a switch and saw three of the islands, Seven, Six, and Five, had glowed red while another one was flashing red.
"What are those red lights for?" asked Hillary.
"The constant red glow means that the island has no grapefruit left while the flashing red means that it's disappearing," answered Ruby.
"Well, now we know where the poacher is," said Tristan. "Island number 4."
Sure enough, Island 4 was flashing red, indicating that someone was currently on the island, making all the grapefruit disappear.
"We've gotta get there as fast as we can and stop him," said Ruby. "My workers and I will take a boat over."
"Right, and we'll swim over on Lapras's back," added Tristan.
(Music Cue: Let's Run! (as heard in "Volcanic Panic"))
A few moments later, everyone ran to the water's edge.
Ruby and her team took a speedboat and it sped off.
"Lapras, I choose you!" shouted Tristan as he threw a Pokéball.
Lapras materialized from the white light that shot out of it as Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu hopped on its back.
"Hurry, Lapras, follow that boat!" ordered Tristan.
Lapras complied and quickly swam after the speedboat.
I hope we can get there in time, thought Tristan. Who knows what that poacher is up to...and why!
When everyone got to Island 4, they noticed that all of the grapefruit had been picked.
"Rats! We got here too late!" said Hillary.
"Now what do we do?" asked Ruby. "At this rate, all our grapefruit will be gone before we know it!"
Presently, Pikachu spotted something on the beach leading back to the water's edge, and it alerted Tristan at once.
"What is it, Pikachu?" asked Tristan.
Pikachu pointed to the beach.
Tristan saw what Pikachu showed him. "Look, everybody! Footprints! And it looks like there are two sets!"
Sure enough, there were two sets of tracks, and they were still fresh in the sand as they approached the beach.
"It looks like they belong to a human and a Pokémon," said Ruby. "It must not have been long before we arrived on the island and discovered them."
"And if we find whoever made those tracks, we'll find the poacher!" added Hillary.
"Still, it doesn't tell us what direction he went," said Tristan. "The poacher must have been using some sort of boat to get around the Seven Grapefruit Islands."
"Tristan, that's it!" said Hillary. "I think I know just where we can find our poacher! Come on!"
(Music Cue: Chaos)
And she hurriedly ran back to the water. "Hurry, Tristan, get your Lapras out!"
"Right!" replied Tristan. And he threw Lapras's Pokéball in the air.
Lapras emerged from the white light that shot out of it.
"I don't get it, Hillary," said Ruby. "Why are we going back out to sea in such a hurry?"
As Hillary, Pikachu, and Tristan hopped on Lapras's back, she explained why. "If Islands Seven through Four had their grapefruits wiped out first, then this poacher must be going backwards. So if we hurry and get to Island Three, we should be able to intercept and catch him red-handed."
"That's an excellent observation," smiled Ruby. "Let's hurry over to Island Three!"
"You heard her, Lapras, let's go!" commanded Tristan.
Lapras squealed with delight as it sped along the water to Island Three followed closely by Ruby and her workers in the speedboat.
In a few moments, Island Three was seen in the distance.
"Look! Another boat!" said Tristan. "You were right, sis. Somebody else must already be on that island."
"And I bet it must be the poacher!" said Ruby as the speedboat roared alongside.
Everyone arrived on the island and Tristan returned Lapras to its Pokéball. Then everyone ran to the forest of grapefruit trees as fast as they could.
Meanwhile, on another part of the island, a bearded man was smiling wickedly as a yellow humanoid Pokémon blasted the grapefruit out of the trees. "Heh heh heh heh heh," he snickered. "Nice work, Electabuzz. Thanks to this many grapefruit, we'll make a quick buck."
Electabuzz agreed with him.
"Just two more islands after this one, and then I'll have all the grapefruit I need to be rich!" And he laughed.
"Stop right there!" shouted a voice.
It was Ruby, and Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Ruby's workers were with her.
"And who might youse be?" said the bearded man suspiciously.
Tristan and Hillary gasped in disgust. They knew who it was. "It's Taz!"
Ruby was shocked at the sudden revelation. "You know him?"
"Yeah," said Tristan. "We battled him once before. He was the one who tried to steal an entire flock of Butterfree near Fuschia City in the Kanto Region."
Now it was Taz's turn to be disgusted. "Arrgh! It's youse two meddling kids again!"
"We should've known it was you stealing the grapefruit off all seven islands!" said Tristan disdainfully.
"Drop the grapefruit right now, you thief!" shouted Ruby.
"It belongs to Ruby, not you!" added Hillary.
"Youse guys got no right to boss me around," replied Taz sternly. "These grapefruit are about to make me a bundle of money!"
"Ugh! How selfish can you get?!" exclaimed Hillary as she took out a Pokéball. "Go, Squirtle!"
Squirtle emerged from the white light that shot out of the ball.
"So that's how it's gonna be? Have it your way!" said Taz. "Go get 'em, Electabuzz!"
(Music Cue: Kanto Trainer Battle (as heard in "All Fired Up!"))
Electabuzz charged at Squirtle and quickly threw a Thunder Punch at it, scoring a direct hit, knocking Squirtle out instantly.
"No, Squirtle!" cried Hillary.
Squirtle lay on its back as it moaned weakly.
"Squirtle, are you okay?" asked Hillary.
"All right, that does it!" said Tristan as he angrily took out a Pokéball. "Venusaur, I choose you!"
Venusaur emerged from the white light that shot out of it.
Tristan knew he had to avenge the honor of his sister and her Squirtle. And the stolen grapefruit was the perfect reason. "Venusaur, we have to get that grapefruit back!"
Venusaur nodded.
"All right, Electabuzz, do another Thunder Punch attack!" commanded Taz.
Electabuzz charged at Venusaur with a punch full of electricity.
"Knock it off balance with your Vine Whip, Venusaur!" ordered Tristan.
Venusaur shot two vines from the flower on its back and kept Electabuzz and its Thunder Punch in check.
Taz growled in anger as Electabuzz kept getting hit with Vine Whip. "You're getting in my way, and your Venusaur ain't helping me! Electabuzz, get it out of my way!"
Electabuzz backed away and shot another Thunder Punch, striking Venusaur.
"Hang in there, Venusaur!" encouraged Tristan.
Venusaur shook off the shock from Electabuzz's Thunder Punch.
"Heh heh!" snickered Taz. "All right, time for a surprise!" And he threw a second Pokéball.
A red bipedal Pokémon with yellow flames emerged from the white light that shot out of that ball.
"A Magmar!" gasped Tristan.
"Hey, that's not fair!" exclaimed Hillary.
"Ha!" laughed Taz. "I'm not known for playing fair."
"Be careful, Tristan," advised Hillary. "It looks like this guy has become more powerful since last time."
"Right," replied Tristan as he took out another Pokéball and threw it. "Charizard, go!"
A white shot out and Charizard materialized from it.
"Charizard, use your Slash attack on Magmar!" commanded Tristan.
Charizard flew in and slashed Magmar with its sharp claws.
"Magmar, Electabuzz! Team up and attack Charizard!" yelled Taz.
Electabuzz and Magmar charged toward Charizard with their Thunder Punch and Fire Punch attacks respectively.
"Look out, Charizard!" cried Hillary.
"Venusaur, SolarBeam!" shouted Tristan.
Venusaur got in front of Charizard and absorbed fragments of sunlight in its flower. Then, because it was such a sunny day, it quickly let loose a powerful Solar Beam at Electabuzz and Magmar, scoring a direct hit and blasting them into Taz, causing him to send the bag of stolen grapefruit into the air.
"The grapefruit!" cried Ruby.
"Venusaur, you know what to do!" said Tristan.
Venusaur extended its two vines into the air and neatly caught the bag of grapefruit. It was safe and sound.
"Nice catch!" said Hillary.
"All right, Pikachu, Thunder attack now!" ordered Tristan.
Pikachu leaped high into the air over Taz and his Pokémon, then it let loose a huge bolt of electricity at them, creating an explosion and sending them all blasting off into the sky.
DING!
Tristan quickly ran over to Hillary and her Squirtle, who was still unconscious. "Hillary, how's Squirtle?" he asked.
"Squirtle's still out of it, I'm afraid," answered Hillary. "That Thunder Punch really did a number on it."
"Maybe I can help with that," said Ruby as she showed Hillary a special box.
"What's that?" asked Hillary.
"These medicine tablets have the same look and the same taste as the grapefruits themselves, and they have very special properties, which were in all the grapefruit grown on the Seven Grapefruit Islands," explained Ruby. "Once your Squirtle eats these, it should be back up to full strength in no time."
"Thanks, Ruby," said Hillary. "We'll try it." Then she opened the box and saw the tablets. Sure enough, they looked exactly like the grapefruits, only they were miniature. She gently opened Squirtle's mouth. "Here, Squirtle, try these." She dropped them in Squirtle's mouth.
Squirtle chewed and swallowed the tablets, and sure enough, it was back to full strength in no time at all.
(Music Cue: All's Well That Ends Well)
"All right!" said Tristan. "Those miniature grapefruits really did the trick!"
"Oh, thank you, Ruby," said Hillary. "Your grapefruit medicine really helped us out."
"Actually, it was you two who actually helped us out today," replied Ruby. "If it hadn't been for you, we never would have stopped that poacher and gotten our grapefruit back. Thank you."
"But what do we do with the grapefruit since it's been picked?" asked Tristan.
"We process it back at the processing plant, where it's turned into grapefruit juice, candied grapefruit peels, and all kinds of stuff," explained Ruby. "Come on, we'll show you."
At a big building on Island Seven, Tristan and Hillary watched as the grapefruit was broken down into bits and squeezed out to make candy on one end and juice on the other.
"Wow!" said Tristan. "These guys must really work hard in order to make the best grapefruit."
"You said it," agreed Hillary.
"Our processing plant is staffed 24 hours a day," explained Ruby. "And in case our workers find anything wrong with the grapefruits, they can fix it right away without worrying about it being contaminated."
"Hey, Ruby!" said a worker as he ran over. "I found some packaged candied grapefruit peels on the ground, and they're still fresh!"
"I wondered where those went," replied Ruby as she took them. Then she said, "Tristan, Hillary, why don't you two take these candied grapefruit peels as our way of saying thank you."
Tristan and Hillary happily accepted the grapefruit peels. "Thank you so much, Ruby!" they said.
Tristan opened one of them and gave it to Pikachu to try.
Pikachu enjoyed it very much.
"These peels are delicious," smiled Tristan.
Ruby smiled. She knew Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu would be satisfied by the taste.
A little bit later, Ruby waved goodbye to Tristan and his friends as they began sailing away from the Seven Grapefruit Islands on Lapras's back.
(Music Cue: To Be Continued (sample))
"Goodbye!" called Ruby. "And thanks again!"
"Bye, Ruby!" called Tristan and Hillary.
"Thanks so much for the grapefruit peels!" added Hillary.
Having saved Ruby and the Seven Grapefruit Islands from going out of business, our heroes begin setting off for new adventures. And thanks to the candied grapefruit peels, they won't go hungry again...at least for now.
► TO BE CONTINUED
