Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Fifty-Two: Rest and Snorlaxation!
The sun was shining, the Pidgey were singing, and the water's scent was clean and fresh. Red walked across the bridge, made up of wooden planks that stretched for miles, worn after the many years of its existence yet sturdy enough to last for even longer.
The bridge was not devoid of people either; there were fishermen and -women going about their respective business, sat merrily with a fishing rod in hand, exclaiming excitedly whenever the lure bobbled beneath the river's surface. However, some were not content to simply fish, throwing down the gauntlet when they noticed Red, hoping their Tentacool, Goldeen, Poliwag, and Magikarp would give the young lad a challenge. Unfortunately for them, Pikachu and Lo's Electric-type attacks put them to the sword.
The further Red trekked, the less people he came across, the only living beings he spied being the wild Pokémon, the Flying-types soaring overhead and the Water-types splish-splashing in the river. Well, if there was no one about, why not let all his Pokémon out for a pleasant walk, at least until they arrived at what they needed to do.
He did just that. Beedrill hovered over the river, Pikachu riding along; Charmeleon marched next to his Trainer, glancing warily at the river and those who resided there; Clefairy hopped along, waving at everything she saw; Cubone and Lo were side-by-side, conversing about something only they would know.
Oh, but where was Red off to anyway? He needed to head to where his next Gym Badge was, didn't he? Of course, that is obvious, isn't it? However, before he could, he had a little task to do, nothing strenuous, no, not at all. Well, he hoped so.
It was Mr. Fuji who asked him, and it was on the way to Fuchsia anyway, so where was the harm? Leaf was also on the same mission, but hers was on the other side of Kanto, on Route Sixteen, although having three methods of flight to get there made the journey a lot simpler for her, didn't it? At least Red only had to trek south from Lavender.
But what was this task? What was this errand Mr. Fuji required of them? Well, the truth of the matter was that two paths were being blocked by a certain species of Pokémon, creatures that had fallen asleep and could not be moved on account of their great size and weight and who would not wake up no matter what anyone tried. So why wouldn't two Trainers entrusted by the legendary Professor Oak and who had butted heads with Team Rocket multiple times not try their luck against them?
"I am positive you can do this," Mr. Fuji had said, after teaching them a short tune on some flutes. "Just play this melody on your new Poké Flutes and they should awaken. Just be aware they may not be… appreciative of it."
Aha! Did Red just spy it lying on its back, the sun's rays warming its face and belly? Yes, it had to be it. It was blocking not just the path from Lavender to Fuchsia but a path that led to Vermilion if Red's Town Map could be believed.
It was indeed a very large Pokémon, seven feet from head to toe, with a huge belly that was covered in tan fur much like its face while the rest of it was dark cyan. Its feet were big and round, its arms were short, its ears small and pointed atop its head, and occasionally it would snore, revealing two tiny fangs set on its lower jaw.
Snorlax, a Normal-type Pokémon, and the evolved form of Munchlax. Will eat anything, even if the food happens to be a little mouldy. It never gets an upset stomach.
"I should've realised it was a Snorlax," Red said. "Someone had one at the last tournament and it was an absolute unit. We've got to be ready for this, guys."
His Pokémon responded determinedly in unison, although Cubone seemed less enthused, which did not go unnoticed by Red.
"Don't worry, Cubone," he said kindly. "You can just watch if you want. It wouldn't be fair throwing you into something like this straight away. Then again, I did throw Clefairy right into a Gym Battle…"
Clefairy swivelled and pirouetted and chirped, recalling her first ever battle under Red.
"Yeah, you did so well, so maybe Cubone could play a part here," Red said, giving her head a quick scratch before pulling out his Poké Flute, a yellow instrument with a Poké Ball insignia etched near the foot joint. "Now, let's get ready."
He held the Poké Flute to his lips.
He started to play.
o~o~o~o~o
Ah, there it was. It was as Leaf suspected: a Snorlax. This was the perfect opportunity to capture one, considering they were said to live in the mountains, giving her prime opportunity to add one to her Pokédex.
Fearow descended, his flapping wings blowing dust and strands of grass onto Snorlax's face. Snorlax did not even twitch.
Okay, what was the plan? Wake up Snorlax, set up the screens with Eevee, then send out Mankey to weaken it with Low Kick, maybe send out Venonat to try and poison it too? Or would Venonat's Stun Spore be preferable? How about Buzzy Buzz for the paralysis instead? Either way, she had a plan.
Leaf extracted her Poké Flute and took a second to admire it, remembering Mr. Fuji and the conversation she had with him…
o~o~o~o~o
"I take it the Pokémon blocking Route Twelve and Sixteen have been causing major disruptions for everybody," Leaf said to Mr. Fuji as Red sorted out his rucksack for the journey ahead. "Everyone's probably taken longer, alternate paths in the meanwhile or just flown if they can."
"You are exactly right, Leaf," Mr. Fuji said. "It's not their fault though, the Pokémon, they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We only need to get them out of the way. If you and Red were to capture them or usher them to the mountains, then so much the better for everyone involved."
Leaf could not help but like the old man, but the diary was still driving her crazy, telling her that the name of its owner was the fellow before her. But how could he be the same conducting experiments such as the Mewtwo one, someone who saw it fit to create artificial life, who did create artificial life? And not just any artificial life, but a life they sought to make the most powerful Pokémon of all. Why would anyone with good intentions want that in the first place? Yet, she could not ask Mr. Fuji outright, could she?
"Mr. Fuji," Leaf said, ignoring a shrieking Red who caught his finger in his zip, "have you heard of Mew?"
The old man's face did not change. "Indeed, I have. It is said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon, would you believe?"
"I've met Mew. Or at least, a Mew."
His visage still did not alter, but Leaf swore there was the ghost of a new expression there. "Oh, really? I beg your pardon, but are you positive it was not another Pokémon? Perhaps it was a Ditto? Considering Mew is a Mythical that has not been seen –"
"I'm certain," Leaf said, ignoring a grimacing Red who was receiving first aid from Reina. "The amount of power it showed was beyond anything I could ever imagine, and even then I think it was only a portion of it. Mew saved my life."
Mr. Fuji's wrinkled forehead creased more so. "I see." He paused. He smiled. "Well, I suppose you are a very lucky person. Oh, how I would have loved to have encountered it…"
"Did you have an interest in Mew?"
Mr. Fuji picked up an Oddish that was craving attention. "A long time ago, Leaf. A time that is better left forgotten."
"Oh." Leaf twiddled her fingers, pretending to be disappointed. "I got my hopes up for a second. Since you said you had an interest in Mew, I thought that maybe, even if you never saw it, you might have at least had evidence of it. Maybe a half-eaten fruit, faeces, hair, I don't know…"
Leaf trailed off for Mr. Fuji had jerked his head sharply, the very moment she mentioned hair.
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Silence. A silence filled with realisation.
Mr. Fuji hugged Oddish to his chest. "Apart from the mansion, did you enjoy Cinnabar Island, Leaf?"
"I did, thank you for asking."
"And did you happen to meet Blaine? How is he? I only ever see him on television nowadays. It has been years since we worked together."
"He was very well last I saw him," Leaf said. "Took good care of me."
Mr. Fuji smiled. "That's good to hear. All he wants to do is help others, whether that is by battling them to make them stronger or simply entertaining them."
"And you?"
"For the rest of my life, all I desire is to help abandoned and orphaned Pokémon, give them a home." Mr. Fuji caressed Oddish's leaves. "I have need for nothing else in my life. These Pokémon have done nothing wrong. They should not be punished by the world."
Leaf reached out and gently rubbed a finger across Oddish's face. "You genuinely care for them?"
"It took me a long time to do so. But is it not better late than never? My life is theirs and no matter how many find their way to my door, I will care for them."
The old man spoke slowly, eloquently, yet with such passion he might have been shouting his declaration for the world to hear. This was someone who truly cared, someone who wanted to do good for others, to be even a pinprick of light in an increasingly dark world, someone who had crawled from even murkier places.
"Thank you, Mr. Fuji," Leaf said, bowing her head. "There are still things that I know, about the… about your… well, colleagues and… it, and it's hard to forget all that, but you do seem like a different person from back then."
"Aren't we all?" Mr. Fuji said, taking a treat out of his pocket and feeding it to Oddish. "But the only difference in ourselves we strive for is to be better than we who were yesterday. But there are some things we cannot forget, nor should we. We need to always remember them so we do not repeat our actions, no matter how painful it may be to recall them, no matter how easy it would be to pretend they never happened. That is the only way we become better, not just for ourselves but for everyone else. This world is not just one person, it is not you nor me nor Red, but all of us. We need to continually improve ourselves, no matter how marginally, so we can make the world a better place. However, it is so simple yet so difficult at the same time. But I know we can do it. I like to think that Blaine and I are living proof of that."
On that note, Red and Leaf's time to leave Lavender arrived, and thus beckoned the two sleeping Snorlax whose dreams were quickly being disturbed by a strange melody that seemed to circumvent their ears and drill directly into their brains.
o~o~o~o~o
Leaf and Eevee leapt backwards as Snorlax awoke and attacked in a grumpy rage.
o~o~o~o~o
Red and his Pokémon leapt backwards as Snorlax attacked in a grumpy rage.
It roared and stretched, its arm…
o~o~o~o~o
…smashing into the ground where Eevee was stood only half a second earlier. Snorlax tried again, Eevee barely evading its fist and hitting back with Baddy Bad, the purple shield materialising not a moment too soon, allowing Eevee to absorb the follow up Mega Punch.
"Okay, Eevee, hit it with Buzzy Buzz!" Leaf shouted.
Eevee's body emitted streams of electricity at Snorlax…
o~o~o~o~o
… shocking it. However, Shock Wave had little to no effect.
"Darn it," Red said. "I don't think special attacks are going to cut it. But let's try again to be sure. Pikachu, Shock Wave."
Pikachu's Shock Wave hit again, which was no big deal really since it is an attack that is not supposed to miss. Nevertheless, Snorlax still did not look too bothered by it. In fact, Shock Wave might have done less damage the second time. It might have been to do with the confused expression Snorlax wore on its face just before the attack connected.
"Oh, don't tell me," Red groaned, taking out his Pokédex so it would tell him. "Please."
Amnesia, a Psychic-type technique. The user temporarily forgets about something to sharply increase its special defence each time it is used.
"Great," Red muttered. "We're going to have to make do. Pikachu, return. Beedrill, you're up. Hit hard and fast with Poison Jab."
Beedrill's stinger transformed from white to purple and she struck Snorlax in its substantial belly. However, the poisoning…
o~o~o~o~o
… did not take effect. The purple spores that were Venonat's Poison Powder fell daintily upon Snorlax, who simply sneezed, suffering no wooziness, eyes shadowless.
"It must have Immunity as its Ability, and it had a Cheri Berry on it for the paralysis," Leaf said to Eevee, slapping her thigh in frustration. "Okay, Venonat, return." She switched Poké Balls and gazed at the new one, which was ironically her oldest one. Venusaur had not battled since taking on Archer, but he did not seem as aggressive whenever it was time for meals, although he still kept to himself. Maybe it was the stress of evolution combined with the memories of almost being eaten by an eldritch abomination that set off his rampage against Electrode? Was it possible a random battle would cure what ailed him, or at least ease him to his old self? There was only one way to find out. "Venusaur, let's go!"
Venusaur appeared in all his glory. Well, 'glory' may be pushing it. To be honest, it was as far away from glory as possible. You see, the thing is, he was asleep.
"Venusaur?" Leaf said, running up to him. "Venusaur?"
Eevee whined and hopped on her friend's head, batting his face with her paws.
Snorlax growled, as though saying 'You dare wake me up yet one of your own gets to rest so peacefully?'. It stomped forward. Then it stopped, distracted by loose berries on the ground. Hunger took over anger, albeit briefly, and the Normal-type behemoth put its face to the ground to scoff them up, eating great quantities of dirt for that extra zing.
"Venusaur, are you okay?" Leaf said, nudging to try and rouse him. "Come on, we've got to capture this Snorlax. You're super strong, so you should be a good match for it."
Snoring was the response.
"Come on, Venusaur," Leaf pleaded. "A couple Vine Whips ought to do the trick."
The plant dinosaur's eyelids flickered yet his eyes still did not open.
A vein throbbed in Leaf's temple. "Fine," she said, her voice even, ushering Venusaur back into his Poké Ball. "We'll see how you feel later. I hope you'll be in a better mood then." She nodded towards Snorlax, who had finished his snack and was glaring at them again. "Eevee, set up Reflect again with Baddy Bad."
An exchange of Baddy Bad and Mega Punch followed, both Normal-types recoiling from the hits, both still far from going down.
"Back to me, Eevee. Growlithe, I choose you."
The puppy Pokémon appeared, cloaked in the purple shield he borrowed from Eevee, and flipped onto his back, wiggling on the grass.
"Play time is later, Growlithe," Leaf said, still peeved at Venusaur's decision to stay asleep. "Hit Snorlax with Flame Wheel."
Growlithe hopped back onto his paws and curled into a ball, a ball which ignited as he headed straight for Snorlax. The flames…
o~o~o~o~o
… scored a direct hit on Snorlax, yet the hefty Normal-type shrugged off the attack as if it was nothing and retaliated with Body Slam, over one thousand pounds about to pulverise Charmeleon into a pancake, the lizard only avoiding it thanks to Flame Charge's added effect.
Red swivelled his hat on his head and puffed out his cheeks. This was trickier than he first thought. Beedrill's Twineedle finally managed to poison Snorlax, but lo and behold the crafty creature had a Pecha Berry stored away somewhere. If only Beedrill had not taken too much damage from Body Slam, then they could have resorted to a Focus Energy-inspired onslaught.
But they could still do it. Beedrill, Pikachu, and Charmeleon had dealt damage to Snorlax, and now it was up to everyone to work as a team to weaken it and force it to flee back to whence it came.
"Clefairy, Flash!" Red shouted, his pink fairy bouncing forth and lighting up. Snorlax put its hands to its face and moaned.
"Again!"
Snorlax moaned louder, stamping its feet.
"Good work, Clefairy, return! Cubone, you're up!"
Cubone tiptoed up to Snorlax, holding his bone up as a sort of inefficient shield. Snorlax lashed out an arm, which sailed miles over Cubone's head.
"Cubone, show Snorlax your Growl!"
Oh, what was this? Why did Snorlax suddenly find its strength was failing? That noise, that growling, was so cute in trying to be so fearsome. Was there any point in fighting such a foe? No, no, Snorlax still had to be fight; being disturbed during a siesta was an unforgiveable sin! Battling on was the only recourse!
But the Growling continued until Snorlax's limbs felt heavy (more than usual), and its surroundings were still blurry and shadowy, barely able to make out its foes.
"We've got it on the ropes!" Red declared. "Okay, Lo, your turn!"
Cubone and Lo shared a high five as they passed by each other.
"Thunder Wave," Red said. "Just get a Thunder Wave in."
Yet, before it could, Snorlax dove forward and connected with a lucky Headbutt, shaking the environment as it smashed into the ground. Lo was certain it would not have noticed the attack had it not seen the huge mass making its way like a torpedo towards it.
Thin lines of electricity flickered off Lo's head and frolicked and skipped their way onto Snorlax, who…
o~o~o~o~o
… overcome by the paralysis from Eevee's Buzzy Buzz, sat itself down, its legs no longer able to hold it up.
"This should be it now," Leaf whispered to herself, picking out a Great Ball. "Wish I had an Ultra Ball, but this should be enough. I just hope you don't end up…"
o~o~o~o~o
"… breaking out," Red said through gritted teeth. "I said that, didn't I, guys? I said I didn't want Snorlax to end up breaking out on the first throw." He hurled his head back and groaned at the heavens. "We'll just make it easier." He reached into his pocket and picked out a Razz Berry. With exquisite aim, he tossed it into the surprised Snorlax's giant gob, who gushed and smacked its lips, lost in the berry's scrumptiousness.
It was Poké Ball time again. Capturing Snorlax was not on his mind prior, not at all, but how could he opt out of adding such an obviously tough Pokémon to his team, something that needed his entire party working together to weaken it?
He pulled back his arm and threw…
o~o~o~o~o
… and the Great Ball opened, absorbing Snorlax in a red light, sucking it in until it was completely encased in the device.
o~o~o~o~o
A bead of sweat ran down Red's cheek as the Poké Ball shook once.
o~o~o~o~o
Leaf gulped as the Great Ball shook twice.
Then it shook for a third time.
Snorlax did not burst out.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
And on the opposite side of Kanto, her friend celebrated with his party at their successful capture of the same Pokémon, his first 'traditional' capture as it were.
They had completed Mr. Fuji's task.
Leaf was one step closer to completing the Pokédex.
Red had a powerful ally who would aid him in his quest for the Indigo League.
The dark clouds* of recent events that hid the clear blue sky were still there, but the sun was beginning to shine through.
(*This is no condemnation of literal dark skies as one does prefer them to sunny days.)
