Chapter 64:
Bigger the Better
Florence and Stig had already left us by the time we were set for Route 222, but we understood. They had a Flower Shop to attend to after all.
Route 222 was beautiful. It was right by the sea and watching the waves crash on the rocks with Wingull flying overhead; amazing. There was a forest opposite, which was bursting with life unlike the lifeless husk from yesterday.
"We should take a break" Lyra said. "We've just saved the world after all, let's take it easy for today!" She immediately ran down the stone steps to the white sandy beach and sent out her Pokémon, Marill and Umbreon.
"Guess I should sent out mine to!" Ethan yelled. He sent out Typhlosion, Venomoth, Golem, Ampharos, Togekiss and to my amazement, Suicune.
I never thought I would lie my eyes on it; the Legendary Pokémon of the north wind. I went up and stroked its flowing purple mane. "Can't believe you own one of these" I said.
I decided not to get too distracted however; I sent out all of my Pokémon to. The ones I would be using to face the League with. Empoleon, Luxray, Drifblim, Blissey, Toxicroak and Mamoswine.
We had fun in the sun to say the least. Lyra built a small sand fort whilst her Pokémon pretended to be the invaders, Ethan just sort of sat in the sun and I was doing some training. I had made sand mounds and had each of my Pokémon target each one. It was a very efficient way of doing things. But I only did that for a little while as I knew everybody wanted some R&R and honestly, so did I. So after some work, we all lay down on the beach and had a nap.
"Excuse me." We were woke up by a man in a smart black suit and flat black hat. Let's just say that it wasn't proper beachwear. By his side was a Pikachu. I saw that this one was female, because it had a dent in its tail that looks like a heart, rather than the flat tail males have.
"Can I help you?" I asked. Just then, Lyra ran over to Pikachu. She knelt down to its face, her nose barely touching it.
"Aw it's adorable!" She jumped onto it and started hugging the Electric Type to the point of near suffocation. Suffice to say, Pikachu didn't like it very much. It shocked Lyra with a Thunderbolt, hopefully teaching her a lesson. Her hair was now ruined. "I'll... be over there" she said, getting her comb out and walking out of the conversation to sort everything out.
"My name is, well actually I will tell you that I am the head of the Pikachu Fan Club. I was wondering if you could give me a hand with something…"
Lyra pretty much said yes before I could answer; I mean I was going to help anyway but whatever. She had sorted out her hair quickly.
"My house is up there" he said, pointing to a wooden house. It had a green roof and white woodwork. We could also see that his door had Pikachu painted on his door.
Well, let's just say he isn't the President of this association for nothing. The house was FULL of Pikachu. They were playing on the floor, climbing on the TV and sleeping on the windowsill.
"Well if you want me to find your Pikachu then job done" I said.
"Well, that's sort of the case" the President told us. "I'd like you to find… the biggest Pikachu."
Okay, what?
"How are we going to do that?" Ethan asked, already checking the size between two random Pikachu. This seemed pointless.
"The man next door is looking for big Pokémon. I of course want to find the biggest Pikachu of the group to win a prize! Do you want to help?"
I glanced at the mass of yellow and scratched my chin. "Let's take them outside" I suggested. "It would be better to check them in a big location rather than in a small area like this house."
There was at least 52 Pikachu lined up on the beach ready to be measured. From a distance, there was barely any size difference.
"So… how are we going to do this?" Ethan asked.
I got two Pikachu and lined them up against each other. They seemed the exact same size. "Does anyone have a tape measure?"
Both my friends shook their heads.
"This will take some time" Lyra said. "We will line them up two by two."
I took two other Pikachu and one was shocked to find that one of them was a LOT bigger. About a foot bigger to be exact.
"That was easy!" I said.
However, it also didn't look like a Pikachu. On further inspection it had a… beak?
"Something's not right" I said. I pulled its beak, but it shot flames at me. My faced was singed with black soot. I wiped it off. "Don't use Flamethrower on me!" Wait a minute, Pikachu can't learn Flamethrower!
I got out my Pokédex for a reference.
Magby
200
Fire Type
Live Coal Pokémon
Region of origin: Johto
2'04" (0.7 m)
47.2 lbs (21.4 kg)
Its magma-like blood circulates throughout its body. Its body's heat can top 1,100 degrees F (593 C)
Baby Pokémon
"Maybe this one was for a cosplay contest. Sorry Magby."
We kept measuring each Pikachu. All the disqualified Pikachu (and the one Magby) were put in the sand fort that Lyra made. Eventually, we were down to two.
"One of you will be entered" I told them. One of the Pikachu though also felt a bit different. It didn't have a beak, but something wasn't quite right about it's face. It didn't look like a Pikachu's, rather a person's with yellow and red face paint…
"CAUGHT ME!" the Pikachu shouted. It wasn't a Pikachu; it was a Poké Kid dressed as a Pikachu! "Okay, you found me! Now let's have a battle!"
Nice battle strategy; become the Pokémon.
"Go Pikachu!" shouted Poké Kid Janet.
"I choose Toxicroak!" I yelled.
"Pikachu, use Discharge!" Pikachu sent sparks flying all over the place. Everyone was shocked by it and Toxicroak was hit for quite a bit.
"Toxicroak, Poison Jab!" Toxicroak jabbed Pikachu with its poisonous finger; Pikachu was also poisoned.
"Pikachu, use Discharge again!" This Discharge paralyzed Toxicroak. It couldn't move that turn, but it didn't matter; Pikachu went down to the poison anyway.
"Well that was a surprise" I said, giving a Full Restore to Toxicroak. Janet gave Pikachu a Full Revive, and then it stood next to the Pikachu that was going to enter.
"Hold up…" I measured them both. Then I lined it up to the Pikachu I was about to enter. "Janet, your Pikachu is bigger than any of these here!"
"REALLY?!" She was flattered. "I can't believe this! Okay, we need to enter it in that house over there!"
She pointed to the house next to the Pikachu Fan Club house, which was similar but didn't have a painted door. Well, I mean it was blue but not decorated.
The Judge was called the Size Master; he liked to judge Pokémon by how big they were. He was white skinned and wore and vest and shorts with sandals. A lot more suited to the beach that the Fan Club President to put it firmly.
So did we win? The short answer was..
No. We didn't win. Why was that?
"Oh I don't think you heard" he said. "I wasn't judging Pikachu, I was judging Remoraid." He got out a picture of a light green aquatic Pokémon that looked like a revolver.
Janet's jaw dropped, but not as much as ours.
"We did all that measuring… for nothing?!" We all shouted. "That took us 2 hours!"
Janet recalled Pikachu sadly. "Well, I'm just gonna break the bad news."
"Janet wait" I said. "How about we help you catch a Remoraid?" I got out my Good Rod. "Are they in the sea around here?"
"Yep" the Judge said. "Bring me the biggest one and you win a prize!"
Remoraid catching time!
By that I meant we were all just sitting by the sea with our Good Rod lures in the water. Waiting for a Pokémon to bite, or a wind to fly a kite.
"This is boring" Janet whined. I know she was like 5, but couldn't she be a little more patient? Well, to be very fair I found this sleep inducing to.
"It can take a while" I told her simply. "But something will bite…"
Sure enough, the Rod started to pull. I got up, excitedly yanked it and…
…it was a Magikarp. I simply plopped it back in the water. "You are free to get bored now" I told her.
What felt like an eternity came before we had another tug. "Oh boy!" I shouted as I pulled the Rod up and sure enough, it was a Remoraid!
Remoraid
132
Water Type
Jet Pokémon
Region of origin: Johto
2'00" (0.6 m)
26.5 lbs (12 kg)
It clings to Mantine to feed on the big Pokémon's scraps. This is an adaptation to avoid foes.
"Empoleon, use Surf!" Empoleon created a wave that swamped Remoraid, and it thankfully didn't knock it out. Remoraid then shot back a colourful beam.
"That's Aurora Beam!" Ethan shouted.
I was planning on doing that. I threw an Ultra Ball. It shook about in the water and sure enough…
I caught it!
"So, are you gonna try and find a bigger one?" Ethan asked.
"NOPE!" I just ran back to the Judge. I was not up for anymore waiting.
The Judge wanted specifically a Remoraid that was at least 27 inches long. That's almost a quarter on top of Remoraid's average size. I mean, my Remoraid looked slightly bigger. He had a PC in his home so I quickly switched Blissey for Remoraid so that he could rank it.
I stood there as he measured every scale of it. I really hoped this was worth it. Fishing was just as boring now as when I had tried it outside Jubilife City.
When he finished, he gave a nod. "Yep, this one just about makes it! You win a prize!" He went into his cupboard and pulled out a Pokéball; it was green and had a black net pattern on it. "The Net Ball! It really works on Water and Bug Types!"
Alright! This might just be helpful. But. Was it worth all the waiting? Debatable, only time would tell.
Everyone at this point had given up; I didn't blame them. "Good job everyone" I announced. "Okay, enough boring stuff. Onward to Sunyshore City!"
We ended the day by walking into the sight of my final Gym battle…
