CHAPTER 14

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Before they left Goldenrod City, Zora stopped by the Department Store to buy some more Poké Balls, medicine and whatever else they needed for their journey. She sold her Revive and bought ten Great Balls, two Poké Dolls and two Escape Ropes before leaving, not having much money left.

"Didn't even give me a bonus Premier Ball," Zora grumbled as they exited the Department Store. "You give me one when I buy ten Poké Balls but not Great Balls…"

"It's just a Premier Ball," Kale said, trying to cheer Zora up, but it didn't help much.

"Let's just go," Zora said. "We have Pokémon to catch."

They went north and left Goldenrod City, entering Route 35. They ran into a camper who wanted to battle. She had a Vulpix, but it was too weak to know any damaging Fire-type moves, so Zora let Kale take it out with two Headbutts. They beat the Trainer and took her money before moving on.

They went around the lake and stopped as Zora spotted two Trainers standing together, keeping a lookout.

"I smell a double battle," Zora said quietly and kept her distance, instead bringing out her notes. "If I'm not mistaken… Hmm, it's not safe to say. Let's go around them for now and fight the lone camper over there."

Zora and Kale carefully walked around the two campers, avoiding detection, instead facing against a lone camper that kept lookout in the direction the two others weren't. He had two Digletts and a Zubat.

Kale missed his first Razor Leaf on the first Diglett, but the next one hit after a weak Astonish from the Diglett, and it was taken out. Zora decided to switch in Bambi when the camper's Zubat was sent out, and he one-shot it with Thunderbolt. Kale was sent out again to take care of the last Diglett with a Razor Leaf. The camper was beat and his money taken.

"Alright, now I know which Pokémon these two others have," Zora said as she walked away from the lone camper. "One of them has a Pikachu, the other has a Sandshrew and a Marill. We could take out the Pikachu with a Magnitude… but that would cause damage to one of you as well. I could have Dingbat or Fly Boy out… but Pikachu could take either of them out with a ThunderShock…"

"Can't we just fight them one on one?" Kale asked.

"We can try," Zora said. "I'll have Crisper fight the girl with the Pikachu."

After sending Crisper out, Zora went behind the camper girl and poked her on the shoulder. The girl turned around and immediately sent out her Pikachu, which Crisper took out with a single Magnitude 7. The girl was beat, and now Zora could defeat her boyfriend with Kale, taking out both his Sandshrew and Marill with Razor Leaf.

With the campers beat, Zora moved on and spotted a juggler ahead. She checked her notes and found he had four Voltorb, one of them with Explosion, so she decided to have Crisper out in front again to take them all on. Crisper used Magnitude 4 on the first two, weakest Voltorb, then a Magnitude 7 at the third Voltorb after using SonicBoom at her, and finally Magnitude 6 on the last, strongest Voltorb, which only used a weak Tackle that practically didn't do anything. The juggler was beat, and Zora took his money.

After declining exchanging phone numbers with the juggler and healing up Crisper, Zora moved on and faced a firebreather with two Magmar. Crisper used a Magnitude 8 to take out the first Magmar, then a Magnitude 7 to almost take out the second one. Crisper got burned by Ember but managed to land another Magnitude 7 to take out the Magmar and win the battle.

After Crisper learned Rollout and forgot Defense Curl, Zora declined the firebreather's offer on exchanging phone numbers and decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City to heal up before they moved on. After eating another meal and getting outside, Zora saw to her small disappointment that the sun had set and darkness had fallen.

"Great, now we can't get a Sunkern," Zora grumbled. "Though maybe that's not too bad either. We might as well go to the National Park right away and just get the Hoothoot encounter over with. Let's go."

They returned to Route 35 with Omelet in the front to get more experience. They ran into a police officer who wanted to fight, so Zora engaged him in battle.

He had two Growlithe, the first of which Omelet took out with three Extrasensories, though not without getting burned by two Embers. Zora decided to send in Bambi to take care of the second Growlithe with a single Thunderbolt. The officer was cool with losing the battle and let Zora pass, though she decided to return to the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod yet again to heal up before moving on.

This was quickly done by bike, and they soon arrived in the gate leading to the National Park. They met a lady with a Persian who gave them a Quick Claw – much to Zora's delight – and went to the tall grass to find a Pokémon. Zora made sure to keep Bambi in the front for paralysis, and they immediately ran into a Hoothoot.

"Okay, Bambi, use Thunder Wave," Zora said.

The Thunder Wave landed and paralyzed the Hoothoot, making it unable to move. Zora threw a Poké Ball at it. It shook three times and clicked for capture immediately.

"Excellent," Zora said and picked up the ball. "It's a male, for once. I will name him Ulric."

"An actual normal name?" Bambi remarked.

"Not everything has to have a weird name," Zora said. "Well, at least now we got the Hoothoot out of the way. Let's return to Route 35 and get us something new."

"Okay," Bambi replied.

They left the National Park and returned to Route 35, running into the tall grass. The first thing they encountered was an Abra, which they couldn't run away from… after which it teleported away. Zora shrugged and moved on through the grass.

The next thing they ran into was a male Nidoran. Zora smiled.

"Alright, we can catch this," she said. "Use Thunder Wave, Bambi."

Bambi paralyzed the Nidoran with Thunder Wave, making it unable to move. Zora threw a Poké Ball at it. It shook twice before breaking out, but was still unable to move. Zora threw another Poké Ball. This time it shook three times and clicked for capture.

"Good," Zora said and picked up the ball. "He could be useful later, maybe. I will name him… Wade."

The Poké Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Bambi exited the grass to go through the gate again and return to the National park. They ran along the dirt path and avoided the tall grass, which had Trainers in it, instead going through the east gate and entered Route 36.

"Alright, we have a new encounter here," Zora said after plucking an Apricorn. "But it looks like we'll have to fight through some Trainers here first. There's a psychic right there. I think he has two Abra and a Kadabra. The Abra aren't dangerous, but the Kadabra could be. We can have Dingbat take out the Abra, and then Kale can take out the Kadabra. He has the highest special defense on the team."

"Okay," Bambi said. "Good luck."

Zora switched Bambi with Dingbat and confronted the psychic. Dingbat easily took care of the two Abra with one Bite each. As the psychic sent in his Kadabra, Zora sent out Kale to Headbutt it. The Kadabra used Confusion, which Kale was able to take little damage of and almost knock out the Kadabra with Headbutt. With another Headbutt and some damage from a second Confusion, the Kadabra was taken out, and the psychic was beat.

"There's only one other Trainer on this Route, it seems," Zora informed Dingbat as they moved on, Kale having returned to his Poké Ball. "And he only has a Tangela. You should be able to take care of it, Dingbat."

"I will," Dingbat said confidently.

They eventually found a school kid, which was the one with the Tangela. Dingbat did much damage with Wing Attack, but not enough to get it below half health. In return, the Tangela used Sleep Powder to put Dingbat to sleep. Zora kept calling Dingbat's name until he woke up and used another Wing Attack to almost knock out the Tangela. With another Wing Attack, it was taken out, and the school kid was beaten.

Zora declined exchanging phone numbers with him, and now that there were no more Trainers on this route to beat, Zora brought out Bambi again so they could catch their new encounter.

They walked around in the grass until they encountered a Vulpix. Zora restrained herself from screaming of joy.

"A Vulpix!" she exclaimed. "Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave!"

Bambi paralyzed the Vulpix with Thunder Wave, but the Vulpix was able to use a Tail Whip. Zora threw a Poké Ball at the fire fox. It shook twice before breaking free. Zora threw another Poké Ball. It shook three times… then broke out.

"Come on, please, I really want a Vulpix!" Zora said and threw a third Poké Ball.

It didn't even shake before breaking free. Zora threw another ball. It broke free again without shaking. Another ball. It shook once… twice… thrice… then clicked for capture. Zora threw her arms in the air in victory.

"Yes!" she exclaimed and picked up the Poké Ball. "Aw, it's a male. Oh well, it's still a Fire-type. I'll call him… Tails."

"Really?" Bambi remarked. "Because he has a lot of tails?"

"Why not?"

The Poké Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and Zora and Bambi moved on. Suddenly Zora got a call from the Bike Shop and took it.

"Hello?" Zora said.

"Oh, hey, this is the Bike Shop!" the Bicycle Man said. "I've been selling a lot of Bikes lately!"

"Oh, good for you," Zora replied.

"It's because you've been riding around on that Bike advertising for me! I was wondering how best to thank you, and I thought I'd just give you that Bicycle you're riding around. It's yours! Thanks so much!"

"You're welcome," Zora replied. "And thank you too."

The man hung up, and Zora put her Pokégear away. She smiled down at Bambi. "Looks like I got a free bike after all. Alright, let's move on."

They moved up some stairs and found a girl standing and staring at the strange tree they had seen earlier on the same route.

"Hey," Zora said. "I'm Zora. Who are you?"

"I'm the Flower Shop's Floria," the girl introduced herself. "Listen, listen! When I sprinkled water on that wiggly tree, it jumped right up! It just has to be a Pokémon. If you soaked it… Oh, that's the SquirtBottle! Soak the tree for me! I want to see what happens!"

Zora looked between the tree and Bambi. She stood in front of the tree and gazed at it in thought.

"I'm not certain whether I can catch this or not," she wondered. "I mean, it's just standing there, and if I don't use it, just keeping it in the box until I can lift this curse of mine…"

"We could try," Bambi voiced. "Won't hurt, will it?"

Zora hummed. "Either way, this thing has to go. Let's do this."

Zora pulled out the SquirtBottle and started soaking the tree with water. The tree cried out and jumped. It didn't the water. The tree dropped its disguise and turned out to be a Sudowoodo.

"Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave!" Zora ordered.

Bambi paralyzed the Sudowoodo, and it began flailing at Bambi. Zora threw a Great Ball, knowing it wouldn't be as easily caught as the other Pokémon they had so far.

It broke out immediately, but it was unable to attack because of the paralysis.

"Okay, I'll try another one," Zora said and threw another Great Ball.

It shook once before breaking free this time. The Sudowoodo used a Low Kick on Bambi and got a critical hit, doing a good amount of damage, worrying Zora. She healed him up, after which the Sudowoodo used Rock Throw, doing more damage. Zora sighed.

"Well, we already have an encounter here anyway," she said. "Use Thunderbolt and just take it out, Bambi."

Bambi looked disappointed but nonetheless used a Thunderbolt on the Sudowoodo. It didn't get to half health though, and threw another rock at Bambi, getting him to a dangerous health level. Zora cringed.

"Bambi, get back," Zora said and took out a Poké Ball. "Crisper, go!"

Crisper was sent out, but the Sudowoodo launched a Low Kick at her. Luckily it didn't do much damage, but Zora knew it was too dangerous to try catch it.

"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered.

Crisper launched a Magnitude 7, which almost knocked out the Sudowoodo, but not entirely. Furthermore, it was rendered unable to attack because of the paralysis. Zora felt her heart racing.

"Maybe we can catch it after all," she said. "I'll try another Great Ball."

She threw a Great Ball at the Sudowoodo. It broke free immediately and threw a rock at Crisper, which did more damage than Zora liked. She healed up Crisper again. But then Sudowoodo used Mimic and learned Magnitude, which very much worried Zora.

"No, we can't catch it," she decided. "Use Magnitude and take it out! Quickly, before it does the same!"

Crisper immediately launched another Magnitude 7 and took out the Sudowoodo. Zora felt her shoulder slump as the Pokémon fainted, followed by it slowly crawling away into the woods. This was the first time a capture had failed, though without it being the first encounter in an area.

"We can… always find another one, right?" Bambi asked as Crisper was returned to her Poké Ball.

"I… don't think so," Zora replied somberly. "At least not without getting it from another region, maybe. Sudowoodo are very shy and uncommon, plus they look like trees, which makes it even harder to find them. I don't think we'll encounter another wild Sudowoodo again."

"Oh…" Bambi's ears and tail slumped as well at the news. "Well, at least no one died. That's the important thing, right?"

Zora looked down at the Flaaffy and smiled, patting him on the head. "Right," she said. "That's the most important thing. I mean, I wouldn't use it anyway, it doesn't matter."

The girl from before walked up to them, not having heard what Zora had talked with her Pokémon about.

"That was fun!" she said, startling Zora, who had forgotten she was there. "I want to give you this for entertaining me!"

The entertained Floria handed over Zora some Berry Pots, which she accepted and put in her Key Items pocket, though not without giving her a subtle judgmental look, which she didn't catch.

"With the Berry Pots, you can grow any Berry from any region with no worries! That's right! I'll give you some Berries, too. Berry Pots won't do any good without Berries."

The Floria handed over some Oran Berries and Pecha Berries to Zora, who put them in her Berry pocket.

"You have to plant Berries in the soil," the Floria explained. "You should water them from time to time. Then they'll grow strong!"

"Thanks," Zora said. "I'll make good use of this."

The Floria nodded. "I have to go back to Goldenrod," she said. "Are you heading for Ecruteak?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," Zora replied.

"Then you should go north of here. See you around!"

With that, the Floria left, heading back to Goldenrod City, leaving Zora and her team in the fork between the paths to Goldenrod, Violet and Ecruteak. Zora checked her map.

"We're not far from Violet City," she said. "We should probably go there and heal up before we head for Ecruteak City."

"Okay," Bambi said.

They arrived in Violet City in no time at all. They broke a rock on the way to the Pokémon Center, finding a Max Ether inside, then went to heal up the team. Zora then decided to go to the lounge and make new plans with the team.

"Alright, everyone," Zora said. "Since we have Headbutt, we now have the ability to get encounters in towns and cities like this one. However, we won't be doing that yet, since the Pokémon roaming the trees can be weak or much stronger than we are right now. So we should wait with encounters in settlements at least until we get the ability to fly."

"So what, until then we just keep running in the grass and beat Gyms?" Fly Boy asked.

"Pretty much," Zora replied. "Now we'll be going to Ecruteak City. We'll catch a Pokémon on Route 37 on the way there. It will probably just be a Stantler, since anything else we can encounter in Route 37 are things we've already caught."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dingbat said. "Let's go already!"

"Well, it's late," Zora said. "We should rest up for the night and then continue tomorrow."

"Why can't we just go to Ecruteak City and rest there?" Omelet suggested.

Zora hummed. "I mean, I guess we could," she said. "If you guys are up for it."

"We are," everyone said in unison.

Zora chuckled by the response. "Very well then," she replied. "We'll move on just until Ecruteak City's Pokémon Center. Let's go."

With everyone in their Poké Balls except for Bambi, Zora left the Pokémon Center, stopped by the Poké Mart to buy ten extra Poké Balls and a Premier Ball, and then exited Violet City, entering Route 36 and heading north to Route 37. She found a Hyper Potion on the ground before entering the tall grass for their new encounter.

They ran into a Stantler, the only Pokémon they could catch on this route.

"How convenient of it to appear right away," Zora commented. "Alright, Bambi, use Thunder Wave."

The wild Stantler used Stomp and did some damage, but Bambi managed to land a Thunder Wave on it and paralyze it. Zora threw a Great Ball at it, and it caught immediately. Zora picked up the ball.

"A female," she remarked. "What to call her… Maggie."

The Great Ball materialized away to the Pokémon Center, and the team moved on. Zora brought Kale in the front to prepare for Trainer battles.

The first Trainers Zora faced was a pair of twins standing under a tree. They sent out a Marill and a Mareep, so Zora sent out Kale and Omelet to take them on.

Kale used Razor Leaf and took both of them out in one hit, ending the battle without Omelet even getting a chance to land a hit on either. After taking their money, Zora went on and faced the next Trainer, a psychic with a Drowzee. Kale took it out with two Razor Leaves and beat the psychic.

Zora went through the tall grass and plucked three Apricorns from trees, then remembered she had Berry Pots and decided to plant some berries in them. She decided to plant a Rawst Berry, a Pecha Berry and two Oran Berries, then watered them.

"It will definitely be easier to take care of them since I'm carrying them with me," Zora remarked. "Instead of having to run around the region to look for the spot where I planted them. Highly convenient."

They ran out of the tall grass again without encountering anything, then went to face the next pair of Trainers in another forced double battle. It was a pair of beauties, each with a Clefable and a Wigglytuff. Zora was worried about the Clefable as she knew they had Metronome.

She decided to have Dingbat and Crisper in the front, so when they entered the battle against the first Wigglytuff and Clefable, Crisper could use Magnitude without Dingbat getting hurt, since he was a Flying-type and thus immune.

Dingbat weakened the Clefable with Wing Attack. It used Metronome but thankfully it gave it Calm Mind. Crisper used Magnitude 7 which took out the Clefable but left the Wigglytuff with half its remaining health. The Wigglytuff pounded Crisper, and the other Wigglytuff was sent out alongside its comrade.

Dingbat weakened the new Wigglytuff with another Wing Attack, and Crisper weakened them further with another Magnitude 7, but not quite knocking them out. Dingbat took out one Wigglytuff with Wing Attack, and Crisper took out the other with yet another Magnitude 7.

The other Clefable came out, and Dingbat used Wing Attack on it. The Clefable used Metronome and landed Barrage in four hits on Dingbat, but thankfully it didn't do much and only got him to half health. Crisper took out the Clefable with one last Magnitude 7, and the two beauties were defeated.

"No more Trainers in this route," Zora said as she brought out Kale in the front again. "Now we just have to walk the rest of the way to Ecruteak City and get some rest."

"Sounds good to me," Kale said. "I'm exhausted."

They went through the last patch of tall grass without encountering anything, and they immediately went inside the Pokémon Center to heal up and rest.

However, as they entered, they saw the desk was occupied by a young man. Zora walked over, and he turned around as he noticed her presence.

"Hi, I'm Bill," he greeted. "And who are you?"

"I'm Zora," Zora greeted. "I'm a Pokémon Trainer."

"Hmm, Zora, huh?" Bill replied. "You know what? I'm the one who developed the system to transfer Pokémon. But it couldn't have been done by me alone. For example, do you know the Hoenn region? This girl Lanette from Hoenn made the Pokémon Storage System easier to use. My friends all over the world are working together to improve the Pokémon trade and storage systems."

"Oh, cool," Zora said with a smile.

Bill left the desk and walked past Zora. "I have to hurry on back to Goldenrod and see my folks," he informed and waved with a smile. "Buh-bye!"

With that, he left the Pokémon Center. Zora fell in thought. "Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, that Bill has something I want," she said. "And I intend to get that tomorrow. Before we enter the Gym."

Zora healed up her team and then went to the lounge with Kale.

"Let's rest up for the night, Kale," Zora said. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Can't wait," Kale replied.

They bundled up together on the couch, and within minutes, the tired Trainer and Bayleef fell asleep, everyone else tucked comfortably in their Poké Balls.