"Mister Shabboneau! We're back!" Shauna yells as she opens the door to Castle Shabboneau. Mister Shabboneau turn and his face breaks into a smile.
"Shauna, Mike, it's good to see you. Did you have any luck at the Parfum Palace?" Mister Shabboneau asks.
"Yes sir, we got the Pokeflute." I say taking out from my backpack and handing it to him.
"Ah yes, this certainly is my old Pokeflute." He says holding it carefully. "Well let's go take care of our Snorlax problem." With that we head out for the bridge. When we get there we see the Snorlax is still blocking the road.
"Well let's see if these old finger still have some music in them." Shabboneau says. He positions his finger and puts the Pokeflute to his lips. The most beautiful music I have ever heard started flowing from the Pokeflute. Gentle and soothing though it was, it had the strange effect of perking me up, as if I had just drank five cups of coffee. I could see the effect of the Pokeflute on the others also; they seemed more alert and awake. The only one immune to the sound was Shabboneau; his fingers were gliding across the flute with steadily. After a full minute of playing the Snorlax started to stir. With a grunt it stood up and looked around slowly.
"Be careful, it might be angry that we woke it up." Shabboneau says, lowering the Pokeflute. As it wakes up, an angry look comes across it's face. It stands, ready to fight.
"It looks like it is going to attack. I'll take care of it." I tell the others. "Let's go Fennekin!" She appears in a flash of light stretching. Seeing our opponent she crouches and her fur bristles.
"Be careful you two!" Shauna calls. I flash her a thumbs up and focus on the battle. "Fennekin, let's start it off with a Flame Charge!" She leaps forward and charges the Snorlax, flames whipping around her as she runs. In a burst of fire she collides with Snorlax. She drops to the ground and jumps back. The Snorlax is looking down at her, barely fazed by the attack. Quicker that I thought it could move, it reaches down and swipes a claw at Fennekin. Caught off guard she is sent sprawling across the ground. She quickly recovers.
"Keep your distance and use Ember!" I call. She backs up and spits out a group of fireballs. They all hit but, again, it doesn't look like it did anything. With a roar Snorlax charges and, with a small jump tries to Body Slam Fennekin. She sees it coming and is able to get out of the way. "Flame Charge again then move back right after!" I call.
"Why is he using Flame Charge again?" Shauna asks from the sidelines.
"Flame Charge attacks the opponent but it also raises the speed of the Pokémon using it. He must be counting on speed to help win the battle." Shabboneau explains.
"Dodge and one more Flame Charge!" Fennekin dodges another swipe from the Snorlax and hits it again. The Snorlax is starting to look tired but is still fighting hard. It suddenly rushes Fennekin, trying to hit her with a body slam. "Dodge and use Ember!" Just as it starts to fall Fennekin jumps to the side and unleashes another burst of fireballs. They hit but the Snorlax feinted the Body Slam and swings a huge paw, catching Fennekin with a hard blow and slamming her into the tree line on the side of the path.
"Fennekin!" I call and start to rush into the tree. Before I can get to the trees a purple and pink beam shoots from between the trees and hits Snorlax hard, sending him sliding across the ground. Fennekin steps out of the trees but she is no longer a Fennekin. Standing to two legs now and holding a flaming branch in her paw, Fennekin has evolved into Braixen.
"Alright Braixen, are you ready to finish Snorlax off?" I ask. She nods and steps between me and the Snorlax, who has gotten up and is getting ready to attack. The Snorlax charges again, but before it can get close it is hit with another Psybeam and send backward.
"Braixen, wait until it attacks again and dodge to the left, then hit it as hard as you can with another Psybeam." I tell her. She nods and gets ready to dodge. As, in a rage, Snorlax charges again and Braixen darts to the left, aims her branch, and lets loose a Psybeam bigger than the others. It hits Snorlax square in the back, Iifts it off the ground and throws it backward. With a huge splash it lands in the river, unconscious, and floats on its back down the river. Exhausted, Braixen falls to her knees panting. I run over and hold her up.
"Great job girl, take a nice long rest." She smiles at me and I return her to her Pokeball. As I stand I hear a squeal and brace myself. Seconds later Shauna slams into me in a big hug.
"You two were so good and Braixen evolved, I'm so happy for you both." She says.
"Yes you did a good job and I would like to thank you." Shabboneau says. "Unfortunately I don't have anything to give you but my thanks."
"Don't worry about it, you helped us as much as we helped you, we needed to get that Snorlax out of the way too." I tell him.
"In that case maybe I can offer you a place to rest your Pokémon and have a bite to eat." Someone says. On the other side of the bridge an elderly man, dressed in overalls and wearing a sun hat, is walking across the bridge towards us. "My wife and I's business has been suffering lately because of that Snorlax. The least we can do is give you a place to rest for a little while."
"That would be great, I'm sure my Braixen would appreciate it too." I tell them.
"In that case I will be taking my leave." Mr. Shabboneau says, "On behalf of everyone, thank you sincerely." With that said, he turns and walks away, twirling the Pokeflute between his fingers.
"Well if you would follow me, well get you two some food." We followed the old man, whose name was John, to a large ranch-style house. We are greeted at the door by a smiling older women, dressed exactly the same as John, whose name is Sally. After introducing ourselves, she leads us out a backdoor into their huge backyard. They have a dozon different environments scattered in the yard and we can see Pokémon of every type playing or lounging in the sun. In a grassy area, by a huge tree, are a couple of picnic tables, both loaded down with food, both human and Pokémon. Shauna and I release our Pokémon and, after thanking our hosts, we all dig in. As we eat, John and Sally tell about all the different Pokémon they have raised over the years. As we finish eating the sun starts to sink below the horizon and our Pokémon start to settle down and fall asleep.
"Well now, its looks like your Pokémon have the right idea." John says with a huge yawn. "We have a couple of extra rooms; you are more than welcome to use them."
Shauna's own yawn answers for us and, leaving our Pokémon to sleep outside, we head inside. After using the shower I settle down to sleep. Just as I'm falling asleep, I hear a quiet knock on my door. Knowing who it is I open and gesture Shauna inside. With a whisper of thanks we crawl under the covers and quickly fall asleep.