POKEMON

Chapter Four:

Meet Bulbasaur, Charmander and Misty!

Danny and Pikachu had arrived in Cerulean City. They knew from Brock that there was another Pokémon gym here. But first, Danny had to heal his teams at a Pokémon Center. While there, Danny deposited his Zubat and Clefairy into the PC's Pokémon transfer system, sending them to Professor Oak's lab, since he knew he could end up catching more Pokémon in the area.

After that, Danny noticed a small house next to the center. He and Pikachu went in and found an older girl taking care of an Oddish, a Sandshrew and a Bulbasaur. Danny knew Bulbasaur was one of the Pokémon that Professor Oak offered to beginning trainers, and Danny may have gotten one if he wasn't late that morning. But by now, it no longer mattered, as Danny and Pikachu were already becoming good friends!

"I take care of injured Pokémon," the woman explained. "I nursed this Bulbasaur back to health. It needs a good trainer to take care of it now…" She then noticed Pikachu smiling and the Pokéballs on Danny's belt. "I know!" she said. "Would you take good care of this Bulbasaur?"

Danny beamed. "Of course I would! That Bulbasaur would make a great addition to my team of Pokémon friends!"

Bulbasaur looked eager among hearing that. It ran up to Danny and rubbed against his legs.

Danny knew he made another new great Pokémon companion. So he allowed Bulbasaur to be captured into a Pokéball with great ease.

Grinning, the woman said "Please take care of Bulbasaur!"

"I sure will!" Danny happily said.

…

Outside of the house, as he headed up towards a bridge, Danny checked his Pokédex on Bulbasaur…

Dexter said, "Bulbasaur. A seed Pokémon. It can go for days without eating a single morsel. In the bulb on it's back, it stores energy. Bulbasaur are usually difficult to capture in the wild."

Danny just grinned. Pikachu hopped happily. "Pikachu!"

But it wasn't long until they came across Butt Oak once again…

"Yo! Danny!" Butt called out. "You're still struggling along back here? I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon! Here, let me see what YOU caught, Danny!"

Of course, that meant he wanted to battle him again. However, by this point it was a fairly easy battle. Pikachu was easily able to defeat Butt's Spearow using Thundershock, Bulbasaur took down Butt's Sandshrew with Vine Whip, and Mankey was able to take care of Butt's Ratatta and Eevee with Low Kick.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Butt complained. "You won already! Oh hey, guess what? I went to Bill's and got him to show me his rare Pokémon. That added a lot of pages to my Pokédex! After all, Bill's world famous as a Poké-maniac! He invented the Pokémon Storage System on PC that sends your Pokémon to Gramps's lab back in Pallet Town! Since you're using his system, go thank him!"

This was right. Earlier at the Pokémon Center, Danny had deposited the Clefairy and Zubat he had captured, along with a Geodude that was automatically transported to the lab from Mount Moon.

"Well, I better get rolling!" Butt said. "Smell ya later!" He marched away with his usual sneer.

"Come on, Pikachu," Danny said to his partner. "We're still not gonna let that pain in the Butt beat us, are we?"

"Piii-kaaaa!" Pikachu cheered.

So Danny and his Pokémon began to go up the bridge to meet up with Bill, like Butt told him about. But a bug catcher initially stopped them…

"This is Nugget Bridge! Beat us five trainers and win a fabulous prize! Think you got what it takes?" the boy said.

"Of course I do," Danny said, getting all his Pokémon ready.

The Bug Catcher had a rather powerful Caterpie and Weedle, but Danny's Pikachu and Pidgeotto were able to defeat each.

"Whoo! Good stuff!" the Bug Catcher said.

Then Danny came up to a Lass, who announced, "I'm second! Now it's serious!" She had a Pidgey and a female Nidoran. But Pikachu and Butterfree could easily knock them out. "How could I lose?" the Lass exclaimed.

The next trainer to battle was a youngster who claimed, "Here's number three! I won't be easy!" But Pikachu and Butterfree were able to easily beat the youngster's Ratatta, Ekans and Zubat. "Ow! Stomped flat!" the youngster said after he was defeated.

Another Lass met with Danny and teasingly said, "I'm number four! Getting tired?" But her Pidgey and female Nidoran were no match for Danny's Pikachu and Mankey. "I lost too!" she moaned.

The fifth trainer was a boy in a Boy Scouts uniform (a.k.a. a Camper) with a tough Mankey of his own. Before calling it out, he said "OK, I'm number five! I'll stomp you!" But for Danny, his Butterfree was able to take it down.

"Whoa! Too much!" the camper exclaimed. Then all five trainers said in unison, "I did my best, I have no regrets!"

Finally having crossed the bridge, Danny came across some brown-haired man, stopping him and telling him, "Congratulations! You beat our five contest trainers! You just earned a fabulous prize… this nugget!" He handed Danny a large gold nugget. "By the way," the man continued, "would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"What?" Danny asked.

"We're a group dedicated to evil using Pokémon!" The man explained. "Want to join?"

"No thanks," Danny said, chuckling.

"Are you sure?" the man asked.

"I'm sure."

"Come on, join us!"

"I don't want to!"

"I'm telling you to join!" The man was beginning to sound peeved.

"No!" Danny firmly answered.

"OK, you need convincing!" the man said. "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!" And with that, he ripped off his clothes to reveal a black Team Rocket uniform underneath! The man then put on a black Rocket Grunt's cap and a black eye mask, completing his ensemble.

Danny gulped. He knew that he was tricked, and in trouble now!

…

But Danny was able to beat the Team Rocket member's Ekans and Zubat with the help of his Butterfree and Pikachu. "Arrgh! You are good!" the Rocket grunt said. "With your ability, you could become a a top leader in Team Rocket! Don't let the opportunity go to waste!"

"Yeah, sure," Danny said, walking off with his Pokémon.

A little ways up, Danny came across some other boy who appeared kind of depressed. "What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"I'm not good at raising Pokémon," the boy said. "I should release my Charmander because I haven't raised it well… If you promise me you'll care for it, it's yours."

Danny smiled. "A Charmander, huh? OK!"

The boy smiled and handed Danny a Pokéball. Danny opened it, and out came a Charmander, looking a little beat up but capable of battling and being a great partner for Danny.

"Take good care of my Charmander!" the boy said.

"OK," Danny said, returning Charmander back to its Pokéball. Then he pulled Dexter out again, to check out about his newest addition to his team of Pokémon…

"Charmander," the Pokédex reported. "A fire Pokémon. The flame at the tip of its tail makes a sound as it burns. You can only hear it in quiet places."

"So far, we're doing great! Welcome to the team, Charmander," Danny said. "Now let's go see Bill!"

…

Along the way, Danny caught an Oddish and a Bellsprout to add to his Pokédex, and battled a few more trainers. Eventually, he found himself outside a large lighthouse with a sea cottage attached. Danny rang the bell, and the voice on the other side said, "Please come in!" sounding a bit tense. So Danny entered.

The first thing he saw was something looking like a strange human/Pokémon hybrid. It looked like it was half-man, half-Rhydon, and only four feet tall. Pikachu scampered right over to the strange creature and asked, "Pika-pika, pikachu?" clearly confused.

"What the heck is up with that?" Danny asked, and he went to investigate too.

"Hiya! I'm a Pokémon!" the creature said. "…no I'm not! Call me Bill! I'm a true blue Poké-maniac! Hey! What's with that skeptical look? I'm not joshing you, I screwed up an experiment and got combined with a Pokémon!"

Danny couldn't believe this. It seemed so unreal.

"So, how about it? Help me out here!" Bill/the Mutant Pokémon said.

"Well, OK," Danny said.

"When I'm in the teleporter," Bill instructed, "go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System!" Then he went into a chamber labeled "1."

Pikachu followed and stood outside of the chamber. "Pikaaa…" he said, obviously perplexed by the whole ordeal.

Danny, also seeming a bit confused, went over to the nearby computer, and initiated the teleporter's cell-separation system. The computer and the teleporter machine made some unusual electronic noises, and after a while, it dinged, and out of the chamber labeled "2," Bill exited back in his human form.

"Pi-PIKACHU!" a shocked Pikachu cried out. He couldn't believe what had just happened!

Danny started laughing, and then Bill joined in as well. "Yee-haw! Thanks bud! I owe you one! So, did you come to see my Pokémon collection?"

"Well, I…" Danny began.

"You didn't?" Bill interrupted. "That's a bummer. I've got to thank you… oh here, maybe this'll do!"

Bill handed Danny a ticket of some sort. Danny checked it out. "A ticket for the St. Anne cruise liner… the famous St. Anne?!"

"Yes," Bill explained. "That cruise ship, the St. Anne, is in Vermillion City this week. Its passengers are all trainers! They invited me to their party, but I can't stand fancy do's. Why don't you go instead of me?"

"I sure will!" Danny said. He then went over to Pikachu, still standing near the teleporter. "Pikachu?"

"Pika-pika, Pikachu?" he asked, still confused by what had happened.

"I know it was indeed confusing," Danny chuckled, "but we have to go battle the Cerulean gym leader, and then it's off to Vermillion City!"

…

Later, after stocking up on supplies and healing his Pokémon, Danny headed for the Cerulean City Gym. He knew this gym specialized in Water Pokémon, and figured it would be a snap, since he had Pikachu and Bulbasaur on hand.

While looking for the leader, a girl in a scout uniform…a picnicker…stopped Danny. "I'm more than good enough for you!" she said. "The Cerulean Sisters can wait!" She sent out her Goldeen to battle, but of course, Pikachu could easily shock it.

"You overwhelmed me!" the picnicker said. "But the Sisters are out right now…"

"HOLD IT!" a girl's voice rang out. "I can handle this!"

A girl, roughly around Danny's age, if not a bit older, approached them. She had orange-y hair, with one end in a side ponytail. "Hi, you're a new face! What's your policy on Pokémon? What is your approach?" She didn't wait for Danny to answer. "My policy is an all-out offensive with water-type Pokémon! Misty, the fourth of the Cerulean Sensational Sisters, is your host!"

The picnicker sneered at Misty. "You mean the three sisters and the runt!"

But Misty growled at her, and that sent the Picnicker running off. "Are you ready, sweetie?" she then asked Dan.

"You're on!" Danny said, blushing. But he still did as he was supposed to.

First, Misty sent out her Staryu. "Hyah!" the starfish-like Pokemon called out.

Sure enough, Pikachu's initial Thundershock attack did some substantial damage, but Staryu could still attack. Its' Water Gun put a damper on Pikachu for a bit, but a second Thundershock caused Staryu to faint.

"Not a bad start," Misty commented. "Now I chose STARMIE!"

"Oonh!" the larger, violet-colored starshape Pokemon cried out among being released from its Pokeball.

"Thundershock, NOW!" Danny ordered.

Starmie tackled after that, but a Thunder Wave from Pikachu managed to paralyze it. After another Thundershock, however, Starmie sent out a bubblebeam that sent Pikachu flying!

"CHAAAAAAAA!" Pikachu cried out as he fainted.

"PIKACHU!" Danny cried out. "Go Bulbasaur!" he sent out his backup Pokémon to finish the job.

Bulbasaur's Vine Whip was able to finish the job. Starmie collapsed in the pool, having fainted!

"YES!" Danny shouted for joy.

"I can't believe I lost!" Misty commented. "All right! You can have the Cascade Badge to show you beat me!"

"Thanks!" Danny said. "Bulbasaur? Now what?!" Bulbasaur's bulb began to glow. Then the whole body glowed white as it grew a bit larger, and the bulb opened to reveal a pink flower bulb underneath after the white glow faded. Bulbasaur had evolved into an Ivysaur!

"Wow!" Danny said. He pulled out his Pokédex once again, and it reported…

"Ivysaur. The seed Pokémon. The evolved form of Bulbasaur. The bulb on its back grows by drawing energy. It gives off an aroma when it is ready to bloom."

Misty handed the Cascade Badge to Danny and explained, "The Cascade Badge makes all Pokémon up to the Thunder level obey. That includes even outsiders! There's more: you can now use Cut anytime! You can cut down small bushes to open new paths! But you'll learn about that in Vermillion City. You can also have my favorite TM!"

So Danny got his badge AND a technical machine of "Bubblebeam" from Misty! After exchanging contact info, Danny headed over to the Pokémon Center and healed up his team, and was on his way once again. But along the way, he saw a female police officer standing next to a house, Jenny. Danny stopped as Officer Jenny explained, "These poor people here were robbed. We're positive that Team Rocket is behind this terrible deed. Even our police force has trouble with Team Rocket!"

Danny looked over and saw behind the house there was a Rocket gang member in the usual black uniform and hat. He decided to investigate, and entered the house. Everything inside was mostly topsy-turvy from the robbery, and a hole was broken into the back wall. A man moaned to Danny, "Those miserable Rockets! Look what they did here! They stole a TM for teaching Pokémon how to dig holes! That cost me a bundle, it did!"

Danny went out the hole and confronted the Team Rocket member. "Why did you do that?!" he said. He was angry.

The Rocket grunt just said, "Hey! Stay out! It's not your yard! … Huh? Me? I'm an innocent bystander! Don't you believe me?"

"Of course not!" Danny said, getting his Pokémon ready.

Sure enough, Danny battled the Rocket grunt. The Team Rocket member's Machop didn't stand a chance against Danny's Pidgeotto, and neither did his Drowzee against Pikachu.

"Stop! I give up! I'll leave quietly!" the Rocket grunt pleaded. "OK! I'll return the TM I stole!" He handed Danny the technical machine. "I better get moving! Bye!" He ran off in a flash.

Danny figured he should return the TM of "Dig" to the man in the house. But when he tried, the owner said, "I figure what's lost is lost! I decided to teach Diglett how to dig without a TM! You can keep that."

"Thanks!" Danny said. Then he and his Pokémon were off to Vermillion City…

TO BE CONTINUED