AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here is Chapter 35 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue through the vast Johto region. This chapter will most likely remind you of the time where Ash catches his own Totodile in "The Totodile Duel." But unlike that episode, Tristan and Hillary won't have to battle for it. I decided to have this Totodile cause a few painful problems at Hillary's expense. This chapter is a trifle shorter than some of the other chapters I wrote, but please feel free to read and leave responsible reviews at your leisure.

TEASER: A wild Totodile causes painful problems, and chomps off part of Hillary's hair in the process! Now they want to catch this Totodile. But the question is...can they do it?

Chapter 35. DILE IN THE NEXT CATCH

Our heroes are still on their way to Goldenrod City. But today, we find them relaxing at a shady mountain stream. They don't know it yet, but something is sure to get their undivided attention.

"This is so good," said Tristan as he lay next to the river with Pikachu and Togepi. "We needed this."

Hillary nodded in agreement. "I almost forgot what it feels like to relax for a moment.

Tristan gazed up at the clouds and thought about his next Gym Battle in Goldenrod City. "I can't wait to get my next badge."

All of a sudden, Hillary felt something biting her hair lightly. "Pikachu, would you please stop biting my hair?" But suddenly, she felt her hair getting tugged harder. "Ow! Knock it off, Pikachu!"

But Pikachu scratched its head.

Tristan sat up. "What's the matter, sis?"

"Pikachu's got my hair and it won't let go!" cried Hillary.

Tristan quickly turned around, but noticed that Pikachu was right next to him. "Pikachu's right here." Then what he saw next shocked him.

A blue bipedal crocodilian Pokémon had latched its teeth tightly onto Hillary's hair.

(Music Cue: Chaos)

"Wow, it's a Totodile!" cried Tristan excitedly. "I've gotta catch it!"

"Great, just get it off me, will you please?" replied Hillary as she tried in vain to shake the Totodile off.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" ordered Tristan.

Pikachu got ready to attack as sparks sizzled from its cheeks.

"No, Tristan!" shouted Hillary. "If you hit Totodile with a Thunderbolt, I'll get shocked, too!"

"Sorry, sis," replied Tristan. He took out his Friend Ball and threw it. "Chikorita, I choose you!"

Chikorita emerged from the white light that shot out of it.

"This'll hurt a little, but I'll do what I can to get that Totodile off your hair," said Tristan. "Chikorita, Vine Whip!"

Chikorita extended two vines from the bud necklace and gripped them around Totodile.

"Good, Chikorita!" commended Tristan. "Now pull!"

Chikorita strained as it pulled hard, even as Hillary cried out in pain.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey, take it easy! My hair doesn't grow on trees, you know!"

"Do you want that Totodile to stay on your head forever?" asked Tristan.

"Good point," sighed Hillary.

Chikorita kept pulling as hard as it could, but still, the Totodile wouldn't let go.

Hillary winced in pain as Chikorita tugged hard.

"It's no use!" grunted Tristan. "That Totodile's teeth are too strong!"

Chikorita was starting to lose its grip on Totodile.

"Hang in there, Chikorita! We're coming to help you!" said Tristan as he and Pikachu grabbed on to it.

"Why don't you guys try worrying about me for a change?! I'm the one in pain here!" exclaimed Hillary.

Tristan and Pikachu pulled as Chikorita strained and tugged with all its might. But as hard as they pulled, the Totodile's grip was still too strong.

Then suddenly, they heard a rip, and just as suddenly, they and Totodile felt themselves flying backward.

Totodile had snapped a portion of Hillary's hair off her head. It then spat it out and shot a powerful blast of water in everyone's faces. Totodile had such a delight that it did a victory dance and jumped into the water.

Tristan quickly ran over to Hillary. "Are you okay, sis?"

Hillary felt her hair, and sure enough, it was shorter at the end. "My hair's ruined! I'll get that Totodile if it's the last thing I do!"

But Hillary's ranting was cut short by the sound of snickering coming from Tristan, Pikachu, and Chikorita. But they couldn't hold it in and laughed themselves silly.

Hillary got very angry. "SO IS THAT HOW YOU CHEER ME UP?!" she screamed. "I'LL SHOW YOU!" And she chased them all over the stream endlessly as they laughed.

After a time, everyone had run out of breath.

"Just look at those split ends," complained Hillary as she gently stroked her bitten hair. "Why did that Totodile's teeth have to be so sharp anyway?"

"Let's see what Dexter has to say about Totodile," said Tristan as he looked up the entry in his Pokédex.

"Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon. Its highly developed jaw is so powerful, it can crush practically anything. Trainers beware: this Pokémon loves to use its teeth."

"That's an understatement," agreed Hillary. "It bit down on my hair. I'm not sure I'm ready to handle a Totodile on my own yet. It's a good thing I got Cyndaquil instead."

"Well, now I want to catch that Totodile even more!" said Tristan.

"Are you sure, Tristan?" asked Hillary. "I don't want it to bite you like it did me."

"It's a risk I'll have to take eventually, Hillary," replied Tristan. "You know that I can't have things easy for me every time, right? So catching this Totodile will be a great first step!"

"I guess," said Hillary.

"Great, then let's go find that Totodile!" said Tristan. "Come on, everybody! Let's do it!"

Pikachu, Togepi, and Chikorita agreed.

But Hillary wasn't so sure. "I don't know about this," she said to herself as she followed them.

Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu walked through some tall grass as they continued their search.

"That Totodile has to be around here somewhere," said Tristan. "If its teeth could bite your hair off, there's no doubt it's strong. And those are the best kind of Pokémon to have, if you ask me."

"How long will it take for my hair to grow back, Tristan?" complained Hillary. "I'm sick of feeling these split ends."

"It'll grow back eventually, sis," Tristan assured her. "Besides, it's not like it did permanent damage to your hair."

"Well, it could have!" yelled Hillary.

Tristan shushed her. "Let's keep it down, or we'll scare that Totodile away."

"I'll give it something to be scared about when all is said and done!" retorted Hillary. And she ran through the grass and searched for Totodile with her bare hands. "All right, come out, Totodile! I'll teach you to bite my hair!"

"Hillary, wait!" warned Tristan.

But she didn't listen. She wanted to get her payback for her ruined hair, and that was the only thing she thought about as she searched for Totodile in the tall grass. But all she felt were the petals of a Gloom, and it began to emit a powerful cloud of gold powder from them.

"Run! Stun Spore!" cried Tristan as he dragged Hillary and Togepi away from the Gloom as fast as he could.

Pikachu ran right on their heels.

A few minutes later, Tristan and the others were catching their breath.

"That was a close one," said Hillary. "I almost got hit by that Stun Spore."

"That's for sure," agreed Tristan. "You really should be more careful about that."

"Sorry," replied Hillary. "I'll try and not let my ruined hair ruin our fun."

"That's the spirit!" said Tristan excitedly. "Now why don't we have a little break? No one could ever catch a Pokémon on an empty stomach, much less a Totodile."

Hillary reluctantly agreed.

(Music Cue: Route 29)

And so a short time later, Tristan and Hillary settled down to have lunch with their Pokémon.

Tristan's Venusaur, Blastoise, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Pikachu shared their food with each other while Hillary's Squirtle, Cyndaquil, Eevee, Furret, Lapras, and Togepi took time to enjoy their meal and the warm sunshine.

However, the only thing on Hillary's mind was her hair while the only thing on Tristan's mind was catching the Totodile.

Either way, neither of them could concentrate on lunch very much.

"There has to be a way to catch that Totodile," said Tristan to himself.

"And there has to be a way to get this hair to grow back quickly," added Hillary.

It was then that the Pokémon were still eating, seemingly ignoring them.

Tristan and Hillary lost patience at being ignored and got upset. "Hey! Weren't you listening?!"

The Pokémon turned around in surprise.

"Oops," said Tristan. "Sorry, guys. Just ignore us."

"Yeah, you keep eating while we talk amongst ourselves," added Hillary.

And so they did.

"I guess we could learn from our Pokémon, huh?" said Hillary.

"Yeah," agreed Tristan. "I guess our Pokémon are teaching us a lesson. Boy, am I embarrassed." As he said that, he took a bite from one of his grandmother's freshly made sandwiches.

Hillary did, too, and with each bite, she and Tristan forgot all about their problems and focused on their meals.

"You know, sis, I'm very happy to be in a place like this," smiled Tristan. "Being with friends and Pokémon alike...it's the best."

"No doubt about that," agreed Hillary. "Hey, do you know how close we are to the Daycare Center run by Great-Grandma Rachael and Great-Grandpa Stuart?"

"Let's see." Tristan checked out the map on his Poké Gear. "We should be close. As soon as we finish, we'll set off at once."

"All right!" said Hillary excitedly. "I can't wait to see them again!"

After lunch, Tristan and Hillary cleaned up and were just about to set off.

"Are you ready to go, guys?" asked Tristan.

"I know I am," replied Hillary. "Let's all go to Goldenrod City!"

But before Tristan and Hillary could return their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, the Totodile suddenly came out of the water.

(Music Cue: Desperate Situation 1997-1998 (as heard in "Two Hits and a Miss"))

Tristan and Hillary quickly turned around. "It's Totodile!" they cried.

Sure enough, it was Totodile, and it motioned someone to bring on a challenge.

"What's it doing?" wondered Tristan.

"I think that Totodile wants to challenge you to a battle, Tristan," replied Hillary.

"Me?" Tristan was puzzled at first, but soon, he was delighted with the idea. "Is that right, Totodile? Do you wanna battle me?"

Totodile jumped happily as a response and motioned Tristan to bring it on.

"All right, get ready, Totodile," said Tristan. "This time, you will be caught."

"Hey, Tristan, don't forget about the Lure Balls that you have," suggested Hillary. "Kurt and Maizie said that that kind of ball works best on Water Pokémon."

"Thanks, sis, I'll try it," agreed Tristan. "Are you ready, Pikachu? We've gotta catch that Totodile!"

(Music Cue: Johto Wild Pokémon Battle (as heard in "Mild 'n Woolly"))

Pikachu nodded in agreement and ran in front of Tristan, positioning itself for battle against the Totodile.

"Let's get in there right away, Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" commanded Tristan.

Pikachu leaped up into the air and unleashed a powerful yellow bolt of electricity straight toward Totodile.

But Totodile was not a Pokémon that could be defeated so easily, as Tristan and Pikachu found out, for Totodile jumped into the air and dodged Pikachu's Thunderbolt, much to their shock. Then it shot a powerful blast of water from its mouth right at Pikachu to counterattack.

"It's using Water Gun!" cried Hillary.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" ordered Tristan.

Pikachu ran out of the way from Totodile's Water Gun attack.

"Pikachu, give it a Quick Attack now!" commanded Tristan.

Pikachu quickly streaked toward Totodile as a white line trailed behind it.

But as fast as Pikachu moved, Totodile got out of the way just by moving to the side at the last second.

"No way!" exclaimed Hillary. " How can that be? First attacks like Quick Attack are almost always sure to hit!"

Totodile then proceeded to scratch Pikachu furiously using its claws.

Pikachu took on the damage and slid on the ground.

"That was a powerful Scratch attack!" gasped Hillary.

Next it used its teeth to bite down on Pikachu's tail, tossing it on the ground again and again while dancing. Then, with all its might, it thrust Pikachu down onto the ground.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Hillary. "That Bite attack combined with Scratch couldn't have been fun! Even I couldn't have enjoyed that rough ride!"

"Don't give up, Pikachu," encouraged Tristan. "This isn't over yet."

Pikachu managed to get back on its feet, nodded in agreement, and charged back into the battle.

Tristan then noticed that Totodile was just inches away from the river. That's it! he thought. If I can lure Totodile into the river, we'll have a chance to catch that Totodile. "Quick Attack, Pikachu, now!" he shouted.

Once again, Pikachu streaked toward Totodile as a white line trailed behind it, and once again, Totodile got out of the way by dodging to the left.

But this time, Totodile was focusing so hard on dodging Pikachu's attacks that it found itself slipping and falling into the river. It had no idea how it got there.

This was the chance Tristan was waiting for. "We've got it now, Pikachu! Thunderbolt now!"

Pikachu charged up the electricity in its cheeks, then it shot a powerful bolt straight at Totodile, scoring a huge direct hit on it.

"Yeah!" said Hillary excitedly. "Tristan must've known that water conducts electricity, so he must've used Quick Attack to lure Totodile into the river. And once Totodile was in, it was vulnerable to Pikachu's Electric attacks!"

Tristan took out a Lure Ball from his backpack, per Hillary's suggestion, and threw it. "Lure Ball, go!"

The Lure Ball hit Totodile, causing the ball to open and transform Totodile into red energy and putting it inside. Then the Lure Ball fell to the ground and wiggled as the button flashed.

Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and the other Pokémon watched anxiously as seconds went by, hoping that Totodile would be caught.

The ball continued to shake until at last, the button stopped flashing and the ball stopped wiggling. That meant one thing.

(Music Cue: Ending 1997-1998 (as heard in "Fowl Play"))

Tristan smiled as he picked up the Lure Ball, raised in the air, and proclaimed, "I just caught...a Totodile!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" agreed Pikachu happily.

All of Tristan and Hillary's other Pokémon cheered excitedly.

"Congratulations, Tristan," said Hillary. "You definitely earned it."

"Your suggestion helped, sis, so thank you," replied Tristan. Then he held the Lure Ball close to him and said. "Welcome to the team, Totodile. It's good to have you with us."

That evening, Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi continued on their way.

"You know, having Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile reminds me of the time when I first caught Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, all as a Bulbsaur, Charmander, and Squirtle," said Tristan. "It's like I'm reliving my first days as a Trainer when we explored the Kanto region."

"That sure takes us back, doesn't it?" agreed Hillary. "You've made some great Pokémon friends, just as I have."

Pikachu and Togepi agreed.

Tristan has now added a Totodile to his ever-growing family of Pokémon friends. And with that, he and Hillary have gotten one step closer to their goal. And so, their journey to Goldenrod City and the Johto League continues!

► TO BE CONTINUED