POKEMON
Chapter Eleven:
Safari So Goodie
Danny and Pikachu rode a bus from Lavender Town to Celadon City's department store to buy a few more supplies before making the trek to Cycling Road, part of Route 16. Now that Danny had a Poké Flute, he could try to wake up the Snorlax sleeping in the road and capture it!
After leaving the store, Danny got on his bicycle and rode it down Route 16, with Pikachu holding onto Danny's back. Among arriving at the Snorlax, Danny pulled out his Poké Flute, tried a few scales, and then played a rather haunting melody that he had heard often used to wake up sleeping Pokémon on TV Pokémon battles. The Snorlax heard that, woke up, yawned and stretched, and then attacked in a grumpy rage!
Danny had his Venusaur attack using Razor Leaf. But after a critical hit, Snorlax used Rest, going back to sleep and regaining his health! So it took another hit of Razor Leaf while Snorlax was sleeping in order to weaken it enough to allow easy capture with an Ultra Ball. As it was being transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny grinned. "We got 'im, Pikachu!"
"Pi, pikachu!" Pikachu cheered.
And of course, Danny pulled out Dexter the Pokédex once again to learn more about his new capture. It said, "Snorlax. This Pokémon will eat anything, even if the food happens to be a little moldy. It never gets an upset stomach."
Danny chuckled. "I hope Professor Oak doesn't mind!"
Then they went through the gate. Shortly after, Danny was on his bike, on Cycling Road!
"Hey, this is pretty fun!" Danny said.
But soon they began riding on a downward slope. "Whoooooaaaaaaaaaaa!" Danny cried out, going faster and finding it hard to steer in any other directions. They sped past a sign, at an even speed enough for Danny to read it. "'Notice. Watch out for discarded items?!' I'd better be careful!"
But a little ways downward in the slope, a biker stopped Danny. "Nice bike! How's it handle?" He said it as a lead-in to a trainer battle, sending out his Weezing first.
But Danny's Pikachu was able to take down Weezing with his electric attacks. Then he had Charmeleon battle the biker's Muk with Ember and Slash, not letting the Poison Gas stop him. "Shoot!" the biker said.
Danny then seized the opportunity to battle a few other trainers on bikes or motorcycles. After battling one biker's four Koffings and a Weezing with his Charmeleon, the biker growled, "Are you satisfied?"
But then Charmeleon began to glow. "Char?" he asked uncertainly.
"Oooh, you're evolving again!" Danny said.
Sure enough, he glowed a bright white and started enlarging and slightly changing shape and growing wings. Then the light faded, revealing he was now a Charizard! Pleased with his new form, he let out a blast of flames from his mouth. Danny and several other bikers and nearby trainers gasped in amazement.
Then Danny got out his Pokédex and it stated, "Charizard. The evolved form of Charmeleon. When expelling a blast of super hot fire, the red flame at the tip of its' tail burns more intensely."
"Cool!" Danny said. "Two evolved starter down, one to go!" He gave Charizard an antidote after the poison from the battle he just finished and returned him to his Pokéball. "Maybe Wartortle will soon evolve, too!"
Danny resumed cycling and battling other trainers. After Wartortle defeated another biker's Koffings and Kadabra beat the biker's Weezing, the biker exclaimed, "Crash and burn!"
Then Wartortle glowed and began to evolve as well!
"Oh boy!" Danny said, quite excited.
Sure enough, Wartortle evolved into a Blastoise! Danny checked his Pokédex, and it said, "Blastoise. The shellfish Pokémon. The evolved form of Wartortle. Once it takes aim at its' enemy, it blasts out water with even more force than a fire hose."
"This is amazing!" Danny exclaimed. "I know have the fully-evolved forms of all three starters Professor Oak would give to new trainers!"
Pikachu was also very pleased.
…
Finally, they arrived at Fuschia City. After healing up at the Pokémon Center, Danny and Pikachu did some exploring. First they checked out the home of the Safari Zone Warden. But the Warden just muttered "Hif fuff hefifoo! Ha lof ha feef ee hafahi ho. Heff hee fwee!"
Danny noticed the Warden had no teeth. "Ohh, you lost your teeth in the Safari Zone? When I go in there, I'll try to find them."
"Ah howhee ho hoo! Eef ee hafahi ho!" the Warden said, shaking Danny's hand.
Next door was a small cottage with a little pond in its' backyard. Danny checked out who lived in there.
"I'm the Fishing Guru's older brother," the man in the cottage introduced himself. "I simply LOOOVE fishing! Do you like to fish?"
"Yes," Danny said.
"Grand! I like your style! Take this and fish, young one!" He handed Danny a different kind of fishing rod – a Good Rod. "A crummy Old Rod could only catch Magikarp, yes?" he explained. "But with a Good Rod, you can catch much better Pokémon."
The Fishing Guru's older brother let Danny try out the Good Rod in his backyard pond. After casting the line and waiting a while, he felt a tug. "Ho! It's a hit!" Danny said in a goofy voice. Then he told Pikachu, "I read that in a book."
Danny reeled in a Goldeen and tossed a Great Ball at it, catching it easily!
"Cool!" Danny said, getting his Pokédex out to read about his new capture.
"Goldeen," Dexter stated. "The Goldfish Pokémon. When it is time for them to lay eggs, they can be seen swimming up rivers and falls in large groups."
As Goldeen was transported to Professor Oak's lab, Pikachu did his little fishing bucket joke again. "Pika pikaaa… PIKA!"
Danny laughed. "I still don't get it," he chuckled, "but it's still pretty amusing!"
…
Danny then decided to check out the Safari Zone he had heard about. An old man told him, "The Safari Zone has a zoo in front of the entrance. Out back is the Safari game for catching Pokémon!"
Danny grinned. He heard some rare Pokémon could be found in the Safari Zone!
They checked out the little zoo, seeing a Slowpoke, a Chansey, a Voltorb, a Lapras, an Omanyte and a Kangaskhan. Finally, Danny and Pikachu came to the catching area entrance.
"Welcome to the Safari Zone!" a cashier told Danny. "For just $50, you can catch all the Pokémon you want in the park! Would you like to join the hunt?"
"For sure!" Danny said excitedly, paying the $50.
"We only use a special type of Pokéball here," the cashier said, handing Danny 30 Safari Balls. "We'll call you on the P.A. system when you run our of time or safari balls. Good hunting!"
Danny stepped into the Safari Zone. It was such a large area with lots of grass, trees and water bodies. He turned to Pikachu and said, "This will be fun! But we also have to find the Warden's missing false teeth."
Through the trek, Danny caught a male and female Nidoran and an Exeggcute. He also noticed a sign: "Win a free HM for finding the Secret House!"
"Hmm, that sounds cool!" Danny said. "Let's look for that as well."
Upon reaching Area 3, Danny found a set of gold dentures on the ground. He immediately snatched them up. "Hey, here's the Warden's false teeth! All gold, too! He'll be so pleased."
Then Danny noticed a small house of some kind in the area, and he and Pikachu went in.
A man in a safari hat greeted Danny. "Ah, finally! You made it to the Secret House! Not many people have been able to do so. Congratulations! You have won this fabulous HM… Surf!" He handed the Hidden Machine labeled "03" to Danny. "HM03 is Surf!" the man explained. "Pokémon will be able to ferry you across water! And, this HM isn't disposable! You can use it over and over! You're super lucky for winning this fabulous prize!"
After the man registered Danny's trainer info into the Safari Zone Secret House winner database, Danny left the Secret House to use up the rest of his Safari Zone time and balls, in which he managed to catch a Rhyhorn! Before Danny knew it, the P.A. system started up…
"Ding-dong!" the system announced. "Paging Danny, time's up! Your safari game is over!"
So Danny and Pikachu were escorted back to the front, where the cashier said, "Did you get a good haul? Please return any unused Safari Balls, and come again!"
Danny was pleased with how things had been turning out with his time in Fuschia City. Pikachu was pleased as well. Then he returned to the Warden's house and gave him the gold teeth.
Among popping his dentures back into his mouth, the Warden said, "Thanks, kid! No one could understand a word that I said. I couldn't work that way. Let me give you something for your trouble." He handed Danny a Hidden Machine labeled "04."
"Oooh, another Hidden Machine?" Danny asked.
"HM04 teaches Strength," the Warden explained. "It lets Pokémon move boulders when you're outside of battle, like the boulder at the other side of the room. Oh yes, I take it you found the Secret House in the Safari Zone and won the Surf HM!"
"Yup, sure did!" Danny said proudly.
"Congratulations, my boy," the Warden said. "You're on your way to becoming a great Pokémon trainer."
…
Back at the Pokémon Center, Danny taught the Surf HM to his Blastoise before depositing it and the Strength HM into his PC. He also briefly withdrew the Fly HM to teach it to Charizard. After that, Danny and Pikachu went to the Mart, located awkwardly within the Safari Zone's zoo, and bought some Hyper Potions and Full Heals. Danny had overheard that the Fuschia Gym Leader, Koga, had some very high-level poison Pokémon, and thus wasn't sure if his own Pokémon were ready to take on them yet, so he decided to go and do some more training first.
Danny battled some Birdkeeper trainers around Route 18, and had his Pikachu defeat them all. He even managed to catch a wild Doduo and a high-level Rattata! Then he went back up Cycling Road and battled a few other Bikers and "Cueball"-type trainers. After Pidgeotto defeated one of the trainers, he began to glow white.
"Whoa, Pidgo!" Danny said. "You're evolving now, too!"
Sure enough, Pidgeotto grew larger while completely bathed in a white light, and then the light dissolved to xreveal he was now a Pidgeot! He spread his wings in triumph.
Danny got his Pokédex out, and it explained, "Pidgeot. The evolved form of Pidgeotto. This Pokémon flies at Mach 2 speed, seeking prey. Its' large talons are feared as wicked weapons."
"Awesome!" Danny said. "This is really helping out my Pokédex, and may also help in beating the tougher gym leaders! But despite the evolution, the heart that beats within remains the same."
"Pika-pi!" Danny's Pikachu agreed.
A little ways up Cycling Road, Danny even caught a Ponyta for his collection! Then he and his Pokémon made it to Celadon City, where they stopped at a Pokémon Center to rest for a bit, and then to Saffron City, where they got dinner at a pizza parlor. But there were still a lot of Team Rocket Grunts in the city, including one blocking the entrance to the Saffron City Gym. Next to that was a smaller-looking gym building with a sign in front, "FIGHTING DOJO. – Not affiliated with the Pokémon League."
"Hmm," Danny said. "Maybe I can train at that Fighting Dojo! Let's try it."
…
There were quite a few guys in karate outfits inside the Dojo. "Hohoh!" a blackbelt fighter said, noticing Danny. "You're tresspassing in our fighting dojo!" He sent out his Machop, but Danny had his freshly-evolved Pidgeot defeat it with Wing Attack. Pidgeot also beat the blackbelt's Mankey with Fly, and Kadabra beat the fighter's Primeape with Psybeam.
After that, another blackbelt said to Danny, "I hear you're good! Show me!" But his Machop and Machoke were no match for Pidgeot's Fly attack. "Judge! One point!" the blackbelt said.
The next blackbelt to battle Danny exclaimed, "Nothing tough frightens me! I break boulders for training!" But his Primeape didn't stand much of a chance against Pidgeot's Fly attack.
"Hoargh! Take your shoes off!" another blackbelt demanded. But Danny's Kadabra managed to defeat the blackbelt's two Mankeys and Primeape with Psybeam. "I give up!" the blackbelt moaned.
But then the final trainer Danny and Pikachu confronted was heftier-looking than the others. He grunted, "I am the Karate Master! I am the Leader here! You wish to challenge us? Expect no mercy! Fwaaa!" He sent out his Hitmonlee to battle.
Danny had his Kadabra use Psychic on the Hitmonlee, effectively taking him down. Determined, the blackbelt sent out his Hitmonchan, but Danny's Pidgeot defeated him with Fly Attack, not letting Hitmonchan's Comet Punch stop him!
"Hwarrrgh!" the Karate Master groaned. "Indeed, I have lost! But I beseech you, do not take our emblem as your trophy! In return, I will give you a prized fighting Pokémon! Choose whichever one you like!"
Danny chose the Pokéball containing Hitmonlee.
"You want the hard-kicking Hitmonlee?" the Karate Master asked.
"Yes," Danny replied.
"It's settled!" the Karate Master proudly said. "The Hitmonlee is yours!"
After saying that, the Pokéball dematerialized, and Danny showed the Karate Master via his Pokédex that Hitmonlee was sent to Professor Oak's lab. It also recorded the capture data…
"Hitmonlee," the Pokédex stated. "A fighting Pokémon specializing in kicking. When kicking, the sole of its' foot turns as hard as a diamond on impact and destroys its' enemy."
"Technology is amazing nowadays," the Karate Master admitted.
…
After that, Danny trekked to Lavender Town, where he met up with the Name Rater to get the nickname for his Pidgeot changed from "Pidgo" to "Pidgot." Then he headed down Route 12, over Silence Bridge. Along the way, Danny and Pikachu battled and defeated a few fisherman that wanted to battle with their water Pokémon. But eventually they came across another Snorlax sleeping and blocking their path! So Danny got out his Poké Flute and played the same tune as before, waking the Snorlax. But since Danny had already caught one east of Celadon City and didn't feel like battling, the Snorlax just let out a big yawn, jumped into the water and swam off.
"Huh," Danny said. "I didn't know Snorlaxes could swim."
"Pika…" his Pikachu agreed.
A little ways down the bridge, Danny saw a small house on a dock with "FISHING GURU" on its' mailbox. He and Pikachu decided to pay a visit…
"I'm the Fishing Guru's brother!" the Guru introduced himself. "I simply looove fishing! Do you like to fish?"
"Yes," Danny said, getting a sense of déjà vu.
But this time, the Guru said "Oh no! I had a gift for you, but you have no room for it!"
"Please wait a bit," Danny said, as he and Pikachu then headed towards the direction to Vermillion City…
…
As Danny headed down Route 11, he ended up encountering a couple more trainers to battle, along with capturing a Drowzee for his Pokédex!
Danny was able to deposit and sell a few excess items he had no need for, along with briefly withdrawing a few Pokémon to bond with, train and evolve, including his Ratatta, whom evolved into Raticate, his Gastly, whom evolved into Haunter, and both Nidorans, whom evolved into a Nidorino and Nidorina, respectively. He also withdrew his Cubone. But at one point when going through the Underground Path, he came across a small girl who asked, "Hi! Do you have Cubone? Want to trade it for Machoke?"
"Sure," Danny said.
"OK," the girl said, leading them to a trading machine, where they made the exchange. But among getting the Machoke's Pokéball, it started wiggling in his hand.
"Go ahead," the girl said. "Open it."
So Danny opened the ball and let Machoke out, just in time to see it evolve into Machamp!
"Pretty cool, huh?" the girl grinned. "His name is Ricky, so call him that."
"Wow," Danny said, as he got his Pokédex out.
"Machamp," Dexter explained, "the evolved form of Machoke. One arm alone can move mountains. Using all four arms, this Pokémon fires off awesome punches."
"Thanks, pal!" the girl said with a smile.
…
Back at the Vermillion City Pokémon Center, Danny swapped his Machamp Ricky for his Kadabra again from Professor Oak, who was now quite proud to see Danny had so far owned 51 types of Pokémon!
On the way down Route 11, Danny stopped to check out the observation deck in the border crossing building leading to the Silence Bridge. Up there, he met up with a certain scientist…
"Hi!" the scientist said. "Remember me? I'm one of Professor Oak's aides! If you caught 30 kinds of Pokémon, I'm supposed to give you an Itemfinder! So, Danny, have you caught at least 30 Pokémon?"
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Danny said, handing his Pokédex to the aide.
The aide checked the Pokédex and gave a surprised smile. "Great! You have caught 51 kinds of Pokémon! Congratulations! Here you go!" He handed Danny the Itemfinder and explained, "There are items on the ground that can't be seen. The Itemfinder will detect an item close to you. It can't pinpoint it, so you have to look yourself!"
"Thanks," Danny said, taking off with Pikachu again.
…
Danny and Pikachu rearrived at the Fishing Guru's brother's house. "I'm back!" Danny announced.
"Grand! I like your style," the Guru said. "Take this and fish, young one!" He handed Danny a Super Rod, which was the next step up from the Good Rod. "Fishing is a way of life!" the Guru added. "From the seas to rivers, go out and land the big one!"
Danny was now able to continue down Route 12, which it later became Route 13. When checking out a patch of grass, he and Pikachu were able to come across a Farfetch'd!
"Wow, those are rare!" Danny said. "Let's catch it!"
So he did. As it was transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny checked his Pokédex on the new capture, and it stated, "Farfetch'd. The wild duck Pokémon. It lives where reedy plants grow. They are rarely seen, so it's thought their numbers are decreasing."
"Pi, pikachu!" Danny's Pikachu happily said, pumping a victory fist.
…
Along the route, Danny and Pikachu battled a few more trainers, and tried out the Super Rod, where they managed to capture a Horsea! After battling a Picknicker and defeating her Meowth, two Pidgeys and Pidgeotto, Pikachu managed to learn the move Thunder!
"Wow! You totally won!" the Pickincker girl said.
"Great job, Pikachu," Danny said to his Pikachu.
But Pikachu replied with a "Piii-kaaaa!" and sent a Thunder jolt at Danny.
"OW!" Danny yelled. "You don't have to demonstrate it on ME," he reminded his Pikachu, who just laughed.
…
Going through Route 15, Danny was able to catch a Venonat for his collection of Pokémon. Then he came to another border crossing building, just outside of Fuschia City, also with an observation deck. Danny and Pikachu looked through the binoculars at the different sights, and then ran into another one of Professor Oak's aides!
"If you caught 50 kinds of Pokémon," the aide was saying, "I'm supposed to give you an Exp. All! So, Danny! Have you caught at least 50 kinds of Pokémon?"
"Already did," Danny said, handing him the Pokédex to look over.
The aide was impressed. "Great! You have caught 54 kinds of Pokémon! Congratulations! Here you go," he said, handing Danny the Exp. All helmet. "Exp. All gives experience to all the Pokémon with you, even if they don't fight. It does, however, reduce the amount of experience for each Pokémon. If you don't need it, you should store it via your PC.
"Thanks, sir," Danny said.
…
After arriving at Fuschia City again, Danny healed up his Pokémon and swapped his Pidgeot for his Snorlax. Then he returned to the Safari Zone Warden's house to demonstrate the Strength HM he had just taught Snorlax. He was able to have Snorlax push a large boulder that had been blocking a Rare Candy that the Warden let Danny take for his Pokémon.
Then after that, Danny and Pikachu did another run in the Safari Zone to find more interesting Pokémon. They were even to use the Super Rod and catch a wild Dratini!
"Cool!" Danny grinned. "We got a Dratini! I heard they're pretty rare!"
As the Dratini was automatically transported to Professor Oak's lab, Danny pulled out his Pokédex, and it stated, "Dratini. A dragon Pokémon. The existence of this mythical Pokémon was only recently confirmed by a fisherman who caught one."
"Wow!" Danny was amazed.
"Pika pi," his Pikachu concured.
Danny even managed to catch a Chansey and a Tauros. But a Kangaskhan ran away with Danny's bait before he could catch her.
…
Among arriving back at the Pokémon Center, Danny was surprised to see his brother Billy also there!
"Hey, Billy!" Danny waved. "Check out the Safari Zone yet?"
"Not yet," Billy answered. "Just waiting for my Pokémon to be healed. My Graveler is pretty strong, and I want to evolve him into a Golem, but you have to trade to do it."
"Say," Danny realized. "I have a Graveler as well, along with a Haunter and a Kadabra, and they too can only evolve when traded. When our guys are healed up, why don't we swap our Pokémon with Professor Oak for the ones we want to evolve, and then trade to evolve them ourselves?"
"Oh?" Billy asked. "And then we can trade them back?"
"Yes," Danny was explaining, "because each Pokémon Center actually has a trading area where we can do the exchanging and evolving."
A chime sounded, and the Nurse Joy at the main desk told Billy, "Your Pokémon are ready, Billy!"
…
After Danny and then Billy did the swapping from Professor Oak, they went up to a doorway that another woman was guarding. "Welcome to the trading area! Please apply here," she said. "Do you both want to trade Pokémon?"
"Yes," Danny and Billy answered in unison.
"OK, please wait just a moment," the woman said. She pushed a few buttons on the wall and the door opened. "Please enter," she said.
Danny and Billy went up to the trading machines. First, Danny and Billy decided to trade their Kadabras to each other. After they did, they had evolved into Alakazams!
"Look at that," Danny said, getting out his Pokédex…
"Alakazam," it stated. "The evolved form of Kadabra. A Pokémon that can memorize anything. It never forgets what it learns. That's why this Pokémon is smart."
Billy also had his Pokédex out as well, but it said, "Alakazam, a Psi Pokémon. The evolved form of Kadabra. Its' brain can outperform a super-computer. Its' I.Q. is said to be 5,000."
"Hey," Danny realized. "Your Pokédex gave a different description than mine did!"
"Huh, how about that," Billy said.
…
After trading their Alakazams back to each other, Danny had his Haunter and Graveler evolved into Gengar and Golem respectively via trading, and Billy evolved his own Graveler and Machoke into Golem and Machamp, respectively. Then they left the trading room, and deposted a couple of their evolved Pokémon back into Oak's lab for their usual partners. Danny kept his Alakazam out, for when he would battle Koga later on, since Koga was a master of poison-type Pokémon, and psychic types were strong against poison. Then Billy showed the Pokémon he had been traveling with for much of his journey, including his own Blastoise and Pikachu, a Pidgeot, a Graveler, a Rapidash and a Snorlax. Danny then showed off his own Pokémon party to Billy.
"That's very impressive," Billy said. "But now I'm going to the Safari Zone to see what Pokémon they have and win an HM!"
"Good luck," Danny said. And Billy recalled all of his Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and left.
TO BE CONTINUED