Pokémon Indigo league
Episode 24: Mystery at the Lighthouse
"This is so relaxing," commented Misty.
"It sure is," agreed Ash.
"See? I told you guys this was a good idea," said Brock.
The three friends were lying on a beach of white sand, basking in the sun as they listened to the waves lapping against the shore.
"You were right Brock," said Ash. "Everyone needs to take a break sometimes."
"Pika pi." added Pikachu in agreement.
All the other Pokémon had been let out of their pokéballs in order to enjoy the sunshine. Pikachu, Nidorino, Mankey, Onix and Graveler were with the trainers, lying on the sand. Staryu, Poliwag, Goldeen, Krabby, Omanyte and Kabuto were enjoying a lazy swim in the water and Butterfree, Pidgeotto and Zubat were all stretching their wings by gliding gently through the air above them all.
Further up the beach, the sand gave way to grass, and a large tuft of it began to rustle. Pidgeotto's keen eyes spotted the movement immediately and she swooped down, Butterfree and Zubat following on behind her, wondering what she had seen.
"Pika?" muttered Pikachu, his ears twitching as he noticed the three flying Pokémon land.
"What's the matter buddy?" asked Ash.
"Pika pi," replied Pikachu, before bounding over to where Pidgeotto was investigating the grass.
Ash, Misty and Brock got up and followed Pikachu over.
Just as they caught up with Pikachu, a brown, fox-like Pokémon hopped out of the grass.
"Hey, what's that Pokémon?" asked Ash.
"That's an Eevee," answered Brock. "They're really rare."
"Eevee, huh?" muttered Ash as he took out his Pokédex in order to find out more.
Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Eevee's genetic code is so irregular that it can evolve in wide variety of different forms depending upon the circumstances. As such, Eevee has the most evolution possibilities of any known Pokémon. This unique trait, along with their cuteness and mostly gentle nature makes them very popular with Pokémon collectors and breeders and as pets while the various evolutions appear to battlers.
"I wonder how many evolutions there are," commented Misty.
"I only know of three," answered Brock. "There's Vaporeon, a water type, Jolteon, and electric type, and Flareon, a fire type. But if Eevee's genetic code is as irregular as the Pokédex suggests then it is quite possible that there are ice, grass, psychic, ground, poison or flying type varieties out there, waiting to be found."
"That's so cool," said Ash. "I'm gonna catch it!"
"No way," protested Misty. "I want to catch. Then I'll get it to evolve into Vaporeon and then I'll be guaranteed to win a place in the Seafoam Islands Tournament."
"I'm going to catch it," insisted Ash "Then I'll ask Professor Oak if there is a way to evolve it into a ground type!"
"Actually, I wouldn't mind catching it," said Brock. "Like the Pokédex said, Eevee are great Pokémon for breeders to have, and I wouldn't mind a Flareon."
"I called it first!" protested Ash. "Pikachu, get ready to battle!"
"Hey! No fair!" argued Misty. "Poliwag, get over here and help me catch this Eevee!"
"Uh, guys…" broke in Brock.
"WHAT?" demanded the bickering duo.
"Eevee's gone."
They looked around at the spot where Eevee had been and saw that the Pokémon was indeed gone.
"Where did it go?" asked Misty.
Ash turned to Pidgeotto, Butterfree and Zubat. "You guys take to the air and find Eevee."
The three Pokémon nodded and took flight as Ash took out three pokéballs and called out "Krabby, Nidorino, Mankey, return!"
A red beam of light shot out from the button on each pokéball and the three Pokémon in question were called back to their balls. Misty mirrored his actions by recalling Staryu and Goldeen while Brock recalled Onix, Kabuto and Omanyte.
All three then gave chase, keeping an eye on the flying Pokémon as they tracked down Eevee, while Pikachu, Poliwag and Graveler moved as quickly as they could in order to keep up.
Butterfree was the first one to spot Eevee again and cried out loudly to Pidgeotto and Zubat. The two Pokémon whirled about and flew over to join Butterfree. On the ground the three trainers spotted this movement and made for Butterfree's position.
"That Eevee must be running fast," observed Ash, panting as he ran.
"It looks like it might be heading for that lighthouse," said Brock.
"What lighthouse?" asked Misty.
"Up there on that clifftop," answered Brock.
Ash and Misty looked and saw the tall building that was situated barely twenty five feet back from a sheer drop into the sea below.
Eevee was indeed running for the lighthouse, bounding up the hillside to it with relative ease. Pidgeotto, Butterfree and Zubat were easily able to keep up with it though. Eevee reached the lighthouse and bounded up a set of stone steps to two large, stone doors.
It stopped there and sat down on the top step, curled its thick, fluffy tail around itself looked up. Pidgeotto, Butterfree and Zubat were now flying in circles above it to denote Eevee's location to their trainers.
"There it is!" said Ash as he began hurrying up the steps.
Eevee looked at him and got up, turned around and slipped in through a gap in the stone doors.
"Oh, it went inside." said Misty as she caught up with Ash.
"Maybe it lives here," suggested Brock. "It's probably the pet for the person who monitors the lights."
Ash sighed in defeat "Guess you're right."
Suddenly Eevee's head appeared through the gap in the door.
"Vee!" it squeaked before ducking back inside.
"I think it wants us to go in," said Misty.
Ash placed a hand on the door and gently pushed it open. Inside it was almost pitch black. Pausing for a moment he recalled Pidgeotto and Butterfree to their pokéballs before heading inside. Brock did the same with Zubat and Graveler and Misty with Poliwag and then both followed Ash in.
"Eevee?" Ash called out. "Where did you go?"
"Pika!" Pikachu added.
"Vee!" cried Eevee from a little further ahead.
Ash took a step towards the sound, only to stop when the door swung shut behind them, making the darkness absolute.
Ash heard the sound of someone trying to open the door, only for Brock to say a moment later "It's no good. It won't budge."
"I can't see anything!" complained Misty. "I wish there was some light in here."
And as if in response to her request, there was suddenly a dim orange glow around them. The group spun around and saw that Eevee had come back for them, and this time it had friends.
All three Pokémon looked rather like Eevee, being four-legged, fox-like in appearance with large ears, but at the same time all three were different. One had a long and smooth looking blue body with a long tail which ended in a fish-like tail, and it had a white, fin-like collar. The second was yellow with barely any tail. Its fur was long and spikey and had a collar of white fur. The third was red with a fluffy yellow tail and collar.
This last one was the source of light – its head was tilted back and it was breathing out a gentle stream of fire from its mouth.
"Vee" said Eevee before turning around and heading off. The three others followed it and, after a moment of hesitation, the group went too.
They followed Eevee and its three friends up a winding staircase until they got came to the topmost room of the lighthouse, where large windows on all sides allowed the sunlight from outside to stream in.
"I guess this must be where the light comes from," commented Ash.
"Uh, excuse me?" said a voice.
They turned around and yelled in surprise. The voice appeared to have come from a Clefable. A rather oversized Clefable at that.
"Hello," said the Clefable without moving its mouth, clarifying once and for all that this was a fancy dress costume. "Would you be so kind as to help me? I'm stuck."
"Uh, sure," said Ash. "What do you need?"
"The zip on the back of this thing is wedged shut. Can you get it open for me?"
Ash exchanged looks with Misty and Brock before shrugging his shoulders and moving to help out.
The zip was jammed alright, but after a couple of attempts it came free and the costume fell to the ground, revealing a man in his early twenties with tousled brown hair and a purple shirt.
"Wow, thanks for that," he said. "I've been stuck inside that thing for hours."
"No problem," said Ash. "But why were you in there in the first place?"
"Oh… ha ha," laughed the man nervously. "See, one of my passions is cosplay and one of my fellow cosplayers has a birthday coming up and I had that costume custom-made. Her favourite Pokémon is Clefable you see. I was trying it on to make sure it fit and got stuck."
"You bought this costume just because a girl likes Clefable?" asked Ash, the idea of such a thing seeming completely insane.
"Oh, that's so romantic!" exclaimed Misty.
"It really is a testament to the power of love that a man would do so much to impress a fair lady," proclaimed Brock. "I myself once dressed up as a Machoke for that very same reason."
"Did it work?" asked the man.
"No it did not." answered Brock without a touch of shame.
"Seems like a lot to go through to get a girl to like you," commented Ash.
Misty shoved him out of the way. "Don't mind him. He's too naïve to understand."
"I see. And will you be the one who helps him to understand?" teased their host.
Misty blushed a brilliant shade of red while the comment completely sailed over Ash's head.
"Oh, where are my manners?" said the man. "Here you are having helped me out and I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Bill. I'm a Pokémon researcher, and a true, blue pokēmaniac through and through."
"A pokē-what?" asked Ash.
"A pokēmaniac," replied Bill. "I live and breathe for all things Pokémon. If there is a new kind of Pokémon discovered, I try and be first in line to see it. If a researcher has written a paper on a Pokémon, I do everything I can to get a hold of a copy and read it as soon as I can. I can tell you all about just about every Pokémon known of, from how big they are to where they live to what they prefer to eat as well as list every move that they could possibly learn."
"I don't believe that last part," said Ash.
"Oh, it's quite true," said Bill. You can test me if you want."
"All right," replied Ash. "List every move that my Pikachu could learn."
"Very well," said Bill. "Let's see… a Pikachu. Well obviously there are the electrical attacks, of which there are Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt and Thunder. Then we have Growl, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Agility, Swift, Light Screen, Slam and Double Team. Those are the ones that all Pikachu will learn naturally on their own. Then with special training they can also learn Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Toxic, Body Slam, Take Down, Double-Edge, Pay Day, Submission, Seismic Toss, Rage, Mimic, Reflect, Bide, Skull Bash, Rest, Substitute, Flash and, in extremely rare cases, Surf."
Ash frowned, realising that he had absolutely no way of either confirming or denying whether or not Bill was correct. But he was stubborn and so said "Now do Butterfree."
Bill opened his mouth to reply, only for Misty to interrupt him with a hurriedly stated "No, that's ok. We believe you."
"So, you said that you are a Pokémon researcher," stated Brock. "That's quite interesting. I'm aiming to become a Pokémon Breeder myself. The name's Brock. Nice to meet you."
"Ah, an honourable goal," said Bill. "There are many Pokémon in the world that are extremely rare. Many breeders work to rectify that. And how about you two?"
"I'm Misty. I'm aiming to become a top class water type specialist."
"Interesting," said Bill. "Did you know that the sea regularly turns up more new Pokémon than any other habitat in the world? You can't go too wrong with water types – there are always new ones to find, learn about and train."
"And I'm Ash. My goal is to become one of the best Pokémon trainers in the world."
"Well, they always say that variety is the spice of life, and if there is one thing I know about Pokémon trainers, it's that they have to try all manner of different things in order to be the best."
"So, being a researcher must mean that you learn quite a lot about Pokémon," said Brock. "Have you done anything that we might have heard of?"
"Well, to be completely honest with you, while my true passion is studying Pokémon, my greatest achievements have been on a more technological side of things. Have any of you heard of the Pokédex?"
"Heard of it?" said Ash, reaching into his pocket. "I have one, look."
He held out his Pokédex and Bill took it to get a better look.
"Ah, the Version 3.3 model. Very nice. Back when I was a still an undergrad I studied with Professor Oak. I helped him to develop the prototype model. Of course, back them my role was mainly data input, but I was able to add a few of my own tweaks here and there. The entries for Eevee and its evolutions are entirely my own work."
"Are those the evolutions?" asked Ash, nodding to the three Pokémon who were watching the group beside Eevee.
"Yes they are," said Bill. "Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon. They're quite the sought after Pokémon amongst collectors, but they're also very popular Pokémon for trainers too, each one being quite decent battlers and excellent examples of their respective types."
Ash aimed his Pokédex at the three Pokémon in order to learn more.
Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon. An Eevee will evolve into this Pokémon when exposed to the mysterious radiation generated by a Water Stone. Vaporeon love fresh clean water and the composition of the cells in its body can make it appear to melt into water and vanish from sight. Sightings of its tail are believed to have given rise to the myth about Mermaids.
Jolteon, the Lightning Pokémon. An Eevee will evolve into this Pokémon when exposed to the mysterious radiation generated by a Thunder Stone. When angered or frightened, the hairs on Jolteon's body can become like needles, which are then fired at the opponent. Its body absorbs charged atoms and as a result it can produce ten thousand volts of electricity.
Flareon, the Flame Pokémon. An Eevee will evolve into this Pokémon when exposed to the mysterious radiation generated by a Fire Stone. Flareon has an internal flame which burns at all times. The air that it inhales can be ignited by this flame and then expelled as a fiery blast. Its body temperature can reach a shocking three thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
"Actually, it was your Eevee that brought us here," said Misty. "It came over to us when we were down on the beach and we wanted to catch it. It ran off and led us here."
"I suspect Eevee went out looking for someone to help me," said Bill. "That you wanted to catch it only made it easier for it to get you here."
"So, does this lighthouse actually operate still, or do you just live here?" asked Brock.
"Actually the lighthouse has just been recommissioned," replied Bill. "A new shipping route has recently been implemented so it was decided that the lighthouse should be put back into working order for the first time in thirty years. Although I own the building and live here, I agreed to the place being fixed up. The work has been a little slow going though and the shipping lane was opened before the work was completed. The electrics don't work correctly yet, so as the sun sets I have Flareon produce a flame to light up the beacon while Jolteon uses its electricity to rotate it. It's not ideal but it gets the job done until the work is completed."
Ash wanted to get back on the topic of Pokémon. "Bill, since you love Eevee so much, can you tell me what other kinds of evolutions it has?"
"Well, Eevee evolves differently under different circumstances, so not all of its evolutions appear in Kanto. In fact the three I have here are the only kinds regularly encountered here. However I do hear of different evolutions from far away, even if I have never actually encountered them. Currently I am working on the belief that Eevee has two special evolutions, one that relates somehow to the sun and one that relates somehow to the moon."
"Wait," said Misty. "If Eevee evolves into Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon with the water, thunder and fire stones, then surely it would evolve into the moon form when exposed to a moon stone."
Bill shook his head. "Believe me, I have tried. It doesn't work. For some reason, using a leaf stone also doesn't work, even though I have heard of a possible grass type evolution for Eevee."
"That doesn't really make much sense," said Ash. "If the first three evolve with elemental stones then why would the moon and leaf stones have no effect."
"I couldn't tell you," said Bill, sadly. "One day though I'm going to visit some far off regions and see for myself just how many evolutions of Eevee there are. For now though, I have another research project."
"What's that?" asked Brock.
"Well, there is a Pokémon that lives out to sea," replied Bill. "Many people have speculated as to what it is but no one has ever gotten a good look at it. From its large size some say it must be a Gyarados while others think it may be an ancient Blastoise that has grown gigantic over time. Myself, I think that it is something much rarer."
"How do you plan on seeing this Pokémon?" asked Misty.
"Actually, you are in luck. Through my research I have determined that this Pokémon is only ever spotted when the weather is acting in a certain way. Those computers over there are monitoring the weather constantly and if I'm right, the mysterious Pokémon may very well show up tonight."
Brock looked out of the window and observed "It looks like there's a storm on the horizon."
Ash, Misty and Bill all came over. "Yes," said Bill. "A storm. Just like every other time."
/\/\/\/\/\
The storm came in quite fast. Above the sun was blocked out by dense black clouds and the wind picked up greatly. Rain pounded down upon the lighthouse and far below at the base of the cliff, violent waves crashed against the rocks.
Flareon lit up the beacon and Jolteon began rotating it.
"If anyone out there has got any sense they'd have taken their ship to the nearest port before this storm could come in," said Bill. "But there usually is someone stupid enough to be out in this."
"How long will it take for the Pokémon to appear?" asked Ash.
"Who knows…" replied Bill.
Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, rain lashed against the windows and still there was no sign.
Hours passed. Bill had nodded off in a comfy arm chair with Vaporeon curled up at his feet, Misty and Brock had pulled out their sleeping bags and Pikachu was snoozing next to the beacon, relishing the warmth that Flareon was producing.
Ash remained awake though, leaning on a wooden rail, staring out into the gloom, watching for any sign. The clouds overhead were so thick that it was hard to tell the hour, but night had certainly fallen.
Eevee came over and hopped up onto the rail next to Ash. It was a bit of a precarious position, but Eevee was nimble enough to handle it. Ash smiled and scratched the normal type Pokémon behind the ears for a moment.
Then his watch beeped. Looking down at it, Ash saw that it was midnight. Bill had asked to be woken up then. With a sigh of disappointment, Ash pushed away from the rail and turned towards the armchair.
"Vee?" said Eevee, prompting Ash to look back.
"What is it?" he asked, approaching the window again.
Though the black clouds still hung in the air, there was no more thunder or lightning and both the wind and the rain had eased up to a gentle breeze and a light drizzle while the sea below had become still.
Then Ash heard it. Something in the distance was calling out. It sounded big.
He hurried over to the armchair and woke up Bill before waking up Misty and Brock.
They all came over to the window and stared out.
"I don't see anything…" muttered Misty.
"No," said Brock. "But I can hear it."
Behind them the beacon turned and the beam of light travelled across something out to sea. Something very big.
"Why isn't it coming closer?" asked Ash.
"Maybe it's frightened by the light," suggested Brock. "Bill, didn't you say that the lighting up this lighthouse was only recent?"
"You're right," said Bill. "Maybe this change is scaring it."
He turned around "Flareon, make your flame burn a little less harshly, Jolteon, try and slow the rotation a little bit."
The two Pokémon complied and the beam of light began turning more slowly. When it passed in roughly the direction they wanted it to, the saw that the light no longer reached quite so far out.
The cry came again and when the beam from the beacon passed by again, they saw that the mysterious Pokémon had come closer.
With every pass of the beam of light, the Pokémon came closer and closer until it was standing right alongside the lighthouse, peering in.
Its feet and most of its legs were underwater, but the Pokémon was so tall that is still had to bend its head low in order to peer in at them.
"Wow, that's big…" said Misty,
"It's huge," said Ash.
"It's a Dragonite…" said Bill, in awe.
Predictably, Ash pulled out his Pokédex.
Dragonite, the Dragon Pokémon. This Pokémon is extremely rare and highly intelligent. It is said to live out at sea. Its wings enable it to fly fast, apparently being able to fly in a circle around the planet in only sixteen hours. Old tales tell of this Pokémon recuing people who were drowning at sea. There are rumours of them growing to colossal sizes in rare instances, though these are unconfirmed.
"I think that they just became confirmed…" said Brock.
"What do we do now that it's here?" Ash asked of Bill. "Are you going to try and capture it?"
"Only on film," replied Bill, who was already setting up a camera.
Just then the overgrown Dragonite bent low, its head disappearing from view, leaving only its wings visible to the camera.
"What's it doing?" Misty wondered aloud.
Moments later the Dragonite stood up once again, this time holding something in its arms.
"What's that?" asked Ash.
"It looks like a container ship to me," said Brock.
He was right. As they watched, Dragonite leaned forwards and deposited its armful onto the clifftop next to the lighthouse. When it pulled back they saw that it was indeed a container ship, though there was no cargo on board.
There was, however, a massive hole in the portside of the ship.
"It must have struck rocks," stated Bill.
"I hope everyone's ok," said Misty.
"Come on, let's get down there," said Ash.
Camera forgotten, they hurried out of the lighthouse with Pikachu, Eevee and Vaporeon following them.
By the time they got outside almost two dozen people had already disembarked.
"Is everyone ok?" shouted Bill as they ran over.
"Yeah," replied one of the Sailors. "We did a headcount while we were being carried here. Everyone is accounted for."
"Any injuries?" asked Brock.
"Miraculously there are just a few bruises," answered the Captain as he joined them. "I dread to think what they're going to say back at HQ though. Not only is the ship ruined, we lost several tons of cargo when we capsized."
Bill shook his head. "Ships and cargo can be replaced. Lives cannot."
"Aye, I reckon you're right lad. Say, if there a telephone inside? We probably should give the nearest hospital a call."
"Right this way," said Bill, leading the Captain back inside.
"Bill," said Ash. "The Dragonite."
They all turned to look, just in time to see Dragonite's humungous tail disappear beneath the waves without even making a splash.
Bill sighed and commented "Oh well. I'm sure that there will be other opportunities to get the perfect shot. For now we need to help these people."
Before long three ambulances had arrived outside the lighthouse, though thankfully no one was hurt enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. The weather outside remained clear for the rest of the night and due to everything that was happening, the next few hours passed in what seemed to be no time at all. Before they knew it the sun was coming up over the horizon.
The last man had been given a clean bill of health when the door opened and a man in a business suit entered. "Captain! You're alright!"
"Aye," replied the Captain. "Just a bit banged up. Shame I can't say the same for the ship."
"Who is that?" Ash asked one of the Sailors.
"He's the director of the shipping company." replied the Sailor.
"Well, so long as everyone is safe," said the Director. "And we've still got our cargo too."
"What?" asked the Captain. "No, I'm afraid that you must be mistaken sir. We lost all the containers when the ship capsized."
"Well that certainly is strange," replied the Director. "Because I just ran by several containers on my way in here."
Confused, they all headed back outside where they all saw that there were indeed multiple cargo containers placed hap hazardously around the wrecked ship.
"Well, what do you know," said Bill. "Dragonite must have collected the containers and brought them back while we were all inside."
"Vee!" cried Eevee, getting everyone's attention.
They all turned and saw that Eevee was looking out to sea. Looking that way as well, they could see Dragonite about half way to the horizon, most of its body now submerged. It gave a cry and then disappeared below the waves.
"Well, how about that?" said Bill.
/\/\/\/\/\
A/N: Well, that's another chapter down. I tried stick to some of the original premise of this episode while removing Team Rocket and paying homage to Bill's love of Eevee and to Dragonite's Pokédex entries.
That thing that came up about how Eevee should be able to evolve with Moon and Leaf stones is, I think, something we have all wondered about as some point, though since the introduction of Sylveon I'd say that the Moon stone should evolve Eevee into the fairy evolution while evolution into Umbreon happens through the Dusk stone. The Sun stone should be for Espeon, Leaf stone for Leafeon, Shiny stone for Glaceon and then the Dawn stone could do something like… I don't know… a bug type Eeveelution maybe?
Anyway, this has planted into the minds of Ash, Misty and Brock that they wouldn't mind obtaining Eevees someday. Will that happen? Only time will tell!
Also, on an unrelated note, does anyone else find that Bulbapedia is terrible to use while on Google Chrome? The pages just seem to take forever to load for me and it's a real pain in the ass because while Serebii is great for looking up in-game stuff, it is terrible for looking up information on the anime.