Poke-Odyssey 2001 chapter 5

The Jungle Gym Leader

Today we see Cameron, Ash, Misty, Tracey, and Reiko traveling through
the hot, leafy, and extremely viney Tabasco Jungle. "I hate traveling
through a scary jungle", whined Misty while holding onto Ash's arm
tightly almost squeezing his muscle out. "Why couldn't've Officer Jenny
come with us?"

"Because her jurisdiction is only in Chutneyville", said Ash while
releasing his squished arm from Misty's grip and putting it around her.

"And she says that the first Ryooku gym leader lives in the heart of
this jungle", said Cameron.

"But don't worry", smiled Ash proudly, "Your big strong boyfriend's
here to protect you."

"Strong is right!" thought Misty while smelling his sweaty shirt and
trying to hold her breath.

Reiko saw the loving sight and wanted to do the same thing to Cameron.
But Pallet Jenny's Growlithe would just growl and bark at her telling
her to keep her distance.

"Reiko", asked Cameron. "Are you all right traveling through this
jungle?"

"Do not worry about me Came-chan", smiled Reiko. "Like the Rhyhorn that
has a strong rocky back, my backbone will be the same way. But I do
not mind protecting you Came-chan if you're afraid." And she winked at
him. Cameron just silently blushed.

"Besides", smiled Tracey. "The Tabasco Jungle isn't so bad. I've
traveled through here a couple of times before. Just look at the
beauty of this magnificent rainforest." Our heroes looked around and
it was kind of beautiful. Lots of tall green trees with Mankeys
peacefully playing in them, Bellsprouts dancing around in the rich
fertile soil, and Doduos in the trees chirping beautiful songs of the
tropic.

"Gee Tracey", said Misty now calm, "Now that you mention it. The
jungle is kind of pretty. And the sounds here are quite relaxing."

"Are those planes I hear up in the sky?" asked Ash.

"Planes?" asked Cameron as he heard the soaring sound that was getting
louder by the second. He looked up in the sky and saw a huge swarm of
winged things coming right towards them.

"I do not think those are planes", said Reiko. "I fear that they are
the things that Misty-chan fears."

"B..B..BUGS?!!" cried Misty while shaking. Sure enough they were bugs.
Huge dragonflies with long wings making a humming sound that was quite
irritating. But Misty's screaming had drowned out the humming.

"Quick Pikachu", cried Ash. "Stop them with your th..."

"No wait Ash!" cried Tracey. "Don't fry them! Just let them pass by
us!"

"Are you insane?!" cried Misty. "We'll become bug chow if we don't
fight back!"

"Trust me", said Tracey. "Those are Yanma. They only like to eat
other bugs!"

The gang just stood there nervously with their eyes shut while Tracey
stood there smiling calmly. The Yanmas just flew right past them not
harming an inch of their bodies. Cameron opened his eyes and saw the
Yanmas flying away into another part of the jungle. "Hey you were right
Tracey", smiled Cameron. "Those bugs didn't harm us one bit", and he
took out his Pokedex and aimed it at the leaving Yanmas.

"YANMA: the clear wing Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Its large eyes can
scan 360 degrees. It looks in all directions to seek out insects as
its prey."

"You mean there are bugs out there that like to eat their own kind?!"
groaned Misty. "Oh, I'm gonna be sick!"

"Just be thankful you're not a bug Mist", smiled Ash.

"Please don't put any more repulsive thoughts in my head Ash!" groaned
Misty. "I hate the thought of me or someone I know looking like a bug!"

* * * * * *

In another part of the jungle we see Team Rocket dressed up in bug
costumes. "Jessie was wearing a beautiful Butterfree suit, James a
Beedrill suit, and Meowth a funny looking Kakuna suit. "Why do I have
to be the cocoon?!" whined Meowth as he started scratching his costume.
"I can't even scratch my unmentionables through this thick material!"

"You can scratch all you want once we get those twerps!" said Jessie.
"Thanks to these new bug costumes, we'll be able to blend in with this
jungle habitat and sneak up on those bothersome twerps."

"And best of all", continued James. "These suits are equipped with
awesome attacks. Check out these pin missile cannons." And he aimed
the pointers stuck to his hands at a nearby palm tree and fired a bunch
of sharp pins at it.

"And this Butterfree fashion is equipped with a lovely but painful
psybeam feature." Said Jessie as she pushed a button on her belt and
the feelers on her head shot out powerful psychic beams blasting a
nearby boulder in two.

"How come my Kakuna costume doesn't have any cool weapons?!" whined
Meowth.

"You're a Kakuna", grumbled Jessie. "All your kind can do is harden
yourselves. If you're head isn't hard enough already."

"Hey look", said James as he pointed his pointer to the sky. "I think
we might be getting some new buggy recruits."

"What?!" asked both Jessie and Meowth. Sure enough, a whole swarm of
bugs were zooming down towards the Rockets. They were the same Yanmas
that passed by our heroes. The Yanmas looked down at the larger than
life bugs and started to get hungry eyes and salivating mouths. The
minute the saliva plopped onto James's face, he cried. "Looks like
we're the blue plate special for those Yanmas!"

"Not for long!" growled Jessie. "No skinny bugs are gonna get the best
of Team Rocket. Come on James, let's play exterminator!" And they
started firing pin missiles and psybeams at the approaching swarm. But
the Yanmas were extremely speedy and they dodged the attacks easily.
Then the Yanmas released some sonicboom attacks blowing away Jessie's
feelers and destroying James's pointer cannons.

"I'd think we'd better head for a hive before we break out in hives!"
cried James as he, Jessie, and Meowth all ran down a hill while the
Yanmas flew after them.

The Yanmas had completely surrounded the Rockets and started chomping
on their costumes while they were running for their very lives. But
Meowth had tripped and he started rolling down the hill thanks to the
cone shaped costume he was wearing. In fact, he rolled right under
Jessie's and James's feet causing them to roll on Meowth like a huge
log. Luckily, that was the extra speed they needed to escape the
Yanmas. The Rockets rolling journey had finally stopped when they
landed into a water hole and stayed under breathing through hollow
reeds while the Yanmas flew off trying to find their missing prey.

Meowth had suddenly bobbed out from the water thanks to his costume
and started floating back on land. "I'm getting this stupid thing off
right now!" cried Meowth as he started slashing the wet Kakuna suit off
piece by piece. "Wait a minute", he thought. "If I break out of this
Kakuna, I might evolve into something pretty and powerful." And he
started fury swiping his costume off like mad and looked at his
reflection in the water. "Nope, I'm still the same old furry, sexy,
loveable Meowth." He said proudly.

"And don't forget overbearing!" called out an angry Jessie. "I'm the
one who's supposed to be the prima donna on this team!" Meowth looked
up and he saw Jessie and James walking out of the water. Meowth
quickly covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

"And what is so funny?" asked Jessie angrily.

"Jessie, look at yourself!" said James who was also trying to cover a
laugh. Jessie shrieked when she saw her reflection in the water. The
Yanmas had eaten most of her costume until all she had left were a
purple tank top revealing her belly and a purple loincloth.

"Oh yeah, just look at yourself nature boy!" grumbled Jessie while
giggling through her grumbles. James became shocked when he saw his
reflection. All he had left was a yellow loincloth.

"Well, what do you know?" smiled James as he admired himself. "I look
like the lord of the jungle. And you can be my lady. We'll be famous!
Explorers and talent agents will want us to star in movies!" and he
started beating his chest while making out a loud. "AAAAAAAH!" but
Jessie just stuffed a coconut in his mouth.

"Please Lord Bizarre-zan", growled Jessie. "If you think I plan on
living with you in a bug infested cluster of trees and vines. You've
got Zubats in your belfry!"

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad", smiled Meowth as he took what's left of
the shredded Kakuna suit and formed it into a crown and put it on his
head. "If I stay here, I can convince the other Pokemon living here to
make me king of the beasts!" But then he felt his crown get pulled off
of his head. "Hey, who did that?!" he cried. The trio looked up and
saw who did that. It was a strange looking giraffe peeking its head
through the trees while chewing up Meowth's new crown.

"Hey!" growled Meowth. "As king of the beasts, I'll chop off your long
neck for wrecking my new crown!" But the giraffe looked angry eyed at
Meowth. "Never mind", said Meowth nervously. "Crowns give me a rash
anyway."

Then the giraffe looked funny at Jessie and James. James stood there
shaking as the giraffe slowly extended its neck to him. Then James
stopped shaking and opened his eyes as he saw the giraffe cuddling its
nose up to his bare chest and cooing out a friendly. "Giraf!"

"Hey, you're not a vicious jungle Pokemon at all", smiled James as he
happily patted the giraffe's snout. "Maybe you'd like to be my Pokemon
and we can do wonderful chaos together. What do you say?"

"GIRAF!" wailed the giraffe as its neck was suddenly yanked back into
the trees. "Hey, where are you going?" cried James as he peeked into
the forest.

"You probably scared it away with that chaos talk", said Jessie. "That
spaghetti necked Pokemon seemed too much like a sickening goody-good to
ever be a member of Team Rocket."

"But I still like it!" whined James. "Oh little long-neck! Please come
back! I want to be your friend!" Suddenly he heard that same soft coo,
only it said, "Farig!"

"Is that you my little baby?!" asked James. But instead, out popped a
black ball on a stick with huge eyes and a big toothy mouth. "Farig!"
it shouted as it chomped on James's head like the way his old
Victreebel did to him in the past. James started mumbling and wailing
inside the black ball's mouth as it dragged him into the forest.

"Hey wait!" shouted Jessie. "That's our friend you're dragging away!"
and she and Meowth charged after them into the darkness of the forest.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile, our heroes were walking into a much more scary part of the
jungle. Misty held onto Ash tightly as she looked around and saw Ekans
slithering all over trees and Murkrows looking mean-eyed at just about
anything. "Tracey, I thought you said that this jungle was a pretty
peaceful place!" whined Misty.

"Well actually", said Tracey blushing. "I've never really been into
this section of the jungle before."

"WHAT?!!" screamed Misty.

"Please Misty-chan", whispered Reiko. "Like the Arbok that silently
uses stealth, we must do the same thing and not scare any wild Pokemon
that might want to attack us."

"Oh, okay", said Misty now whispering.

"If It'll make you feel better, I'll have Donnie lead the way for us",
said Cameron as he took out a green Pokeball and released his Donphan
right in front of the group. "Donnie, you're the leader of this safari.
What do you say?"

"Phan!" said Donnie in a soft trumpet.

Our heroes were now getting closer to the heart of the jungle with
Donnie leading the way. The Ekans and Murkrows seemed to cautiously
back away once they saw this huge elephant. "You were right Cameron",
sighed Misty of relief. "Donnie does make a great bodyguard."

"Thank you", said Cameron. "And Donnie thanks you too."

"Phan!" said Donnie while twisting his trunk and blushing.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?" asked Ash. They all looked forward and
they saw what looked like another Donphan. Only this one was pink
colored.

"Wow, I've never seen a pink Donphan before", said Ash. "Come to think
of it, I've hardly ever seen a Donphan before, except for Cameron's."

"Wow, what do you think of that Donnie?" asked Cameron. "Donnie? Uh,
Donnie?" But Donnie wasn't listening to his master. He was gazing at
the pretty pink pachyderm while spitting out little heart bubbles from
his trunk.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" asked Cameron surprised as he
held onto one of the heart bubbles.

"Yes", said Tracey. "And by the looks of it, I'd say that pink
Donphan's a girl!"

"A girl?!" gasped Cameron. Sure enough, the pink Donphan was a female
with beautiful eyelashes. She made a sly wink at Donnie and ran off
into a darker part of the jungle. "PHAAAAN!" trumpeted Donnie as he
stormed off after her. "Donnie, come back!" cried Cameron as he started
chasing after his Pokemon while the other followed after him. "It's not
a good idea to just go out and elope at first sight!"

Our heroes chased the Donphans through the jungle until they were clear
out of sight. But they kept running hoping they would eventually catch
up with them. Suddenly, a group of weird looking creatures dropped
down from strings right in front of them. "What the heck are they?!"
gasped Ash as he saw the green pod shaped creatures with smiling faces.

"Oh, they're so cute!" said Misty with stars in her eyes. But those
smiling faces were actually just designs on their backs, for the
creatures turned themselves over on their strings and they turned out
to be huge green spiders with long creepy legs. "Spinarak", they
replied.

"AAAAHH!" screamed Misty as she backed away from the dangling spiders.

"What are they?" asked Cameron as he aimed his Pokedex at them.

"SPINARAK: the stringspit Pokemon", replied Dextra. "It spins a web
using fine, but durable, thread. It then waits for prey to be trapped."

"Just like a ninja", smiled Reiko thinking about her sticky net weapons.

"Quick guys!" cried Tracey. "We gotta get out of here before those
Spinarak..." But it was too late. The Spinaraks had shot some sticky
silk around the humans' torsos putting them in white sleeveless
sweaters unable to move their arms.

"This is truly the worst thing that's ever happened to me!" cried Misty
struggling to get free but with no luck. "And this color isn't even the
latest fashion!"

"GROWWWL!" howled Growlithe as it tried to use its flamethrower to burn
away the Spinaraks, but one of them was too quick and it sprayed some
more silk sealing up Growlithe's mouth unable to launch its fiery
breath. Sandy, Pikachu, and Togepi thought they could try taking on
those spiders, but the Spinaraks managed to catch them in a huge spider
web.

Luckily, Reiko managed to reach for her katana and was able to cut
herself free from her bonds and then she quickly grabbed one of the
Spinaraks and pointed her katana at its throat. "Make one false move
and your friend gets exterminated!" said Reiko in a serious voice. The
other Spinaraks hung there nervously not wanting their ally harmed.
Just then, a bunch of womans' voices shouted out. "Spinarak, return!"
and all the Spinaraks, including the one that Reiko was holding captive,
were sucked into Pokeballs. The shadows that were holding those balls
slowly approached the tied up group. They turned out to be 7-foot tall
amazon women.

"Uh oh!" thought Cameron nervously as he looked up at the pretty, but
terrifying faces of the mean looking women. He heard about what amazon
women like to do with captured males in those adult movies. The leader
of the group smiled, approached Misty, and cut her free from her bonds
with her spear.

"Greetings my female friends", smiled the leader as she picked up Misty
and Reiko and hugged them tightly almost causing their eyes to pop out.
"Welcome to the heart of the Tabasco Jungle!"

"Uh, thank you", said Misty gasping for air while trying to figure all
of this out.

"Yes Arigato", said Reiko doing the same.

"Excuse me", called out Ash. "We boys are still tied up. Can you do
the same thing for us?"

"Silence!" scolded the leader as she bopped Ash on the head with the
side of her spear. "Lowly weak males should not be heard, or seen for
that matter!" Cameron and Tracey decided it would be best not to say
anything and let Misty and Reiko do the talking for them.

"We are sorry for what our Spinaraks just did to you girls", said the
leader. "But it was important that we keep overbearing males from
finding our hidden village."

"But my loving Ash isn't like that", said Misty, "Usually."

"And neither is my Came-chan", said Reiko as she put her arm around
Cameron's shoulder and kissed him. Tracey looked around hoping a girl
would defend him.

"These males are your lovers!" asked the leader. "We did not know. We
apologize. But why have you brought your males out here in this
dangerous part of the jungle? Do you not know that males are too weak
to survive in the wild without a female to protect them?" Ash sneered
at what this amazon had said.

"We came to your beautiful jungle so Came-chan could challenge the gym
leader for a badge", said Reiko.

"We heard that the gym leader is a girl named Amanda", said Misty. "And
her gym is located in the heart of the jungle."

"Oh, you mean our glorious Queen Amanda", smiled the leader.

"All hail Amanda, Queen of the Amazons!" said the other women as they
started dancing around the group in a circle.

"You mean the gym leader is also a queen?" asked Misty.

"Yes", said the leader. "Training and raising Pokemon is her royal
hobby. Very well, we will take you all to meet our queen."

"Does that mean you'll untie us?" asked Ash.

"I said silence!" shouted the leader. "You three are still
untrustworthy males and in order for you to enter our village, your
arms must be bound along with your eyes so you will not find our
village a second time."

"GULP!" went Ash, Tracey, and Cameron all together.

* * * * * *

The amazon women were now leading our heroes through the jungle to
their hidden village. Misty, Reiko, and the Pokemon were sitting
comfortably on a huge pillow being carried by some of the amazons while
the others were marching Cameron, Ash, and Tracey along still tied up
and blindfolded as well.

As Cameron marched through the darkness, he thought about his poor
Donphan. "Will I ever find him or see him again?" he wondered nervously.
"Or will I ever see again for that matter?!" Just then, he felt the
hands of an amazon stop him and making him kneel onto the ground.

"All hail Amanda!" said the leader's voice. "Queen of the Amazons!"

"Greetings my loyal ladies", said a young woman's voice. "And who do
we have here?"

"Your majesty", said the leader. "We've brought these fine, strong
women here because they want to visit you. But unfortunately, they
brought their worthless males along as well."

"Really now!" said Amanda. "Must you always do this to every boy who
wants to see me?"

"It is tradition my queen", said the leader. "We all know that males
cannot be trusted. It's been decreed by every queen we've ever had."

"Well I'm different from all those other strict queens", scolded Amanda.
"Now be good girls and let those boys loose."

"Yes my queen", said the leader and she and the other amazons removed
the boys' blindfolds and cut them free from their sticky straitjackets.

"Thank you", said Amanda. "You girls may go now." The women quickly
left the hut. As Cameron put his glasses back on, he found himself in
a huge castle made of bamboo. And in the center was a bamboo-made
throne. And sitting on the throne was a 20 year old woman with short
purple hair, glasses, and wearing a spotted dress like the one Jane
wears in those Tarzan movies.

"Howdy, you all", smiled Amanda as she got out of her throne. Cameron
was surprised that a jungle queen would wear glasses and say something
like howdy.

"Uh, hello", said Misty nervously. Everyone replied in the same way.
Cameron looked over in the corner and found a relieving sight.

"Donnie!" cried Cameron as he approached his Donphan who was on the
floor holding trunks with the same pink Donphan they saw today. "Uh,
Donnie?" asked Cameron. "Earth to Donnie", but Donnie was busy
concentrating on his new pretty pink girlfriend to notice that his
master was speaking to him.

"Oh, so this is your Donphan?" smiled Amanda. "My Pinkella has taken
quite a shine to your gray but beautiful Donnie.

"Donnie, in love?" gasped Cameron surprised, yet happy for his sixth
Pokemon.

"Amazing", said Tracey as he took out his sketch book. "I've never seen
a pink Donphan before."

"Nobody really has", said Amanda. "You see, I was born on an island
called Pinken Island. The Pokemon there love to eat these rare berries
called Pinkenberries. They're delicious, but with one side effect.
Any Pokemon who eats them turns pink. Pinkella here has eaten so much
Pinkenberries that her once gray skin has permanently become pink
forever."

"Pink Pokemon?" smiled Misty. "That's so pretty!"

"Yeah, if you like pink", said Ash.

"And what's wrong with pink?!" growled Misty.

"Uh, nothing", said Ash nervously. "I like pink, it reminds me of the
color of your eyes."

"WHAAATT!" screamed Misty.

"Hmmm, maybe my subjects are right about overbearing males", said
Amanda. "Well anyway. I was really happy that Donnie here has
stampeded into her life. It's hard to find any male Donphans in this
jungle lately."

"Maybe it's because your women have chased away every male species in
this jungle", said Reiko.

"Please forgive my subjects", said Amanda. "They believe that males can
not be trusted and feel that they have to be cautious around anything
they sense has a Y chromosome."

"But you're not like that at all", said Misty.

"That's because I'm not really a native here", smiled Amanda. "Many
years ago, I came to this jungle to start up my Pokemon gym. The women
of this village became impressed how my Pokemon obeyed my every
command. And they became even more impressed that I had a pink Donphan.
They believed that I was some kind of sorceress and wanted to make me
their queen."

"And you accepted?" asked Reiko.

"Who wouldn't?" smiled Amanda. "It is nice to be waited on hand and
foot. But the only problem is that they keep harassing any male
trainers that want to challenge me."

"Just like poor Came-chan here", said Reiko sternly.

"Yes, that reminds me", said Cameron as he bowed to Amanda. "My name is
Cameron Fusterman and I'd like to challenge you to a Pokemon battle."

"My, what a polite bow you've made", smiled Amanda. "Very well then.
I accept your challenge."

"So how many Pokemon will we be battling?" asked Cameron.

"We do things a little differently in the Ryooku League", smiled
Amanda. "Come outside everyone." And they all followed the queen out
of the bamboo palace leaving the two Donphans still making googly-eyes
at each other while forming their trunks into one big heart.

* * * * * *

Amanda had led them outside where her amazon subjects were standing in
two straight lines on each side. Cameron looked around and saw the
huge bamboo castle in the center of a whole cluster of trees and vines.
"In the Ryooku league, we like to test to see how trainers' Pokemon can
handle themselves in different habitats." Explained Amanda. "And my
turf is the jungle. The first round will be a swinging contest."

"A swinging contest?!" asked Cameron. One of the amazons quickly
pulled a boom-box out from nowhere and started playing some funky music
while all the other amazons started dancing wildly.

"No not that kind of swinging!" shouted Amanda. "You silly girls. I
meant a tree swinging race!" The amazons stopped dancing and cut off
their music and bowed their heads down apologetically.

"They also do this all the time whenever I mention swinging", said
Amanda. "And this here is my champion swinger", and she released a cute
little purple monkey with huge ears and a long tail. "Aipom!" it
replied.

"Aipom?" asked Cameron as he took out his Pokedex.

"AIPOM: The long-tail Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Its tail is so powerful
that it can use it to grab a tree and hold itself up in the air."

"Is that a hand on the end of its tail?" asked Misty. Sure enough,
Aipom's tail did have a long fingered hand and it was waving hello to
the group.

"That's right", said Amanda proudly. "Aipom, are you ready for another
ride on the treeway freeway?"

"Aipom!" said the monkey as it leapt onto a tree and used all five of
its appendages to easily climb it and perch itself on a top branch.

"So which one will you choose to be your swinger?" asked Amanda.
Cameron slowly looked down at his Pokebelt and then at Sandy.

"I never expected this", said Cameron. "I've never really taught my
Pokemon to swing from trees at all."

"I suggest you choose a Pokemon with opposable thumbs", said Ash.
Cameron looked down at Sandy while Sandy looked at his sharp claws.
They may be powerful for digging, but they might snap apart a vine if
he tried swinging on one.

"I know", smiled Reiko. "How about your Electabuzz? He has thumbs."

"Yes, that's brilliant Reiko!" smiled Cameron as he hugged her. "And
maybe Lt. Surge has taught Buzz how to swing through those army
obstacle courses." And he released Electabuzz who saluted his master
and let out a loud, "BUZZ EL BUZZ!"

"At ease Buzz", said Cameron. "Buzz, are you any good at swinging from
tree to tree or vine to vine?"

"BUZZ EL BUZZ!" replied Buzz as he quickly climbed up the same tree
Aipom was on and did some rotations on a branch.

"I guess that's a yes", said Misty.

"Okay", said Amanda. "Our Pokemon will circle around this area once
through the trees. The first one to make it back to this white line is
the winner. Are you ready Aipom?" "AIP!" shouted Aipom as it gave a
thumbs' up with its tail.

"How about you Buzz?" asked Cameron. "BUZZ EL BUZZ!" said Electabuzz
saluting his master while making a mean smug face at Aipom.

"All right then", said Amanda as she took out a gun made of bamboo. "On
your mark, get set. BANG!" and a little pecan shot out of the gun.
Aipom took an early lead gracefully swinging across the vines and
branches while Buzz was doing his best to catch up.

"Come on Buzz, I believe in you!" shouted Cameron trying to cheer him
on. Buzz then started to catch up coming neck and neck with Aipom.

"Aipom, use your swift attack!" commanded Amanda. Aipom complied by
throwing little stars from his free hands at Buzz. The stars caused
the vine Buzz was swinging on to snap making him fall on his back onto
a huge lower branch.

"Hey, that's not fair!" shouted Cameron.

"Anything goes in this kind of race", said Amanda. "After all, this is
the art of Pokemon battling." As Buzz lay on the branch, he started
flashing back to his army days with Lt. Surge. Surge would make Buzz
go through a tough obstacle course almost every day and every night too.
Buzz then got up, took a deep breath, and continued swinging pretending
that Lt. Surge was there yelling and insulting him along the way.

"That's it Buzz!" smiled Cameron. "You can do it!"

"But Cameron", said Misty. "Aipom's way ahead in the lead. There's no
way Buzz can beat it."

"Amanda did say that anything goes", smiled Cameron. "Buzz, make
Aipom's path more difficult with your thunderbolts!"

"Buzz!" nodded Buzz as he watched Aipom swinging with great confidence.
Buzz then pointed his fingers at a few branches and vines ahead of them
and zapped all of them. Aipom had grabbed one of the zapped branches
causing it to break off and making it fall. But luckily, it managed
to grab a low branch with its tail. But unluckily, that branch broke
off too making Aipom fall into a mud puddle. Aipom looked up with a
dirty face and saw Buzz in the trees taking the lead.

"Quick Aipom!" shouted Amanda. "Get back on those branches!" "Aipom!"
said Aipom as it patted the mud out of its big ears and got back into
the trees trying to catch up with Buzz.

The race became quite a battle. Buzz and Aipom were swinging like mad
trying to dodge the thunderbolts and swift stars they were throwing at
each other. Finally they leapt down from the last tree and onto the
finish line panting really hard. "That was a really awesome match",
said Tracey who just made sketches of the entire race.

Amanda walked over to the two tired Pokemon and examined the finish
line. "It looks like a tie to me", said Amanda. "Nice work Aipom, you
earned a nice long rest and bubble bath", and she pulled the dirty
Aipom back into its ball.

"Nice job Buzz", smiled Cameron. "I salute you!"

"Buzz El Buzz", said Buzz in a tired voice while saluting.

"Congratulations Cameron", said Amanda, "You've raised a very skillful
Electabuzz."

"Thank you", said Cameron bowing. "But someone else kind of raised Buzz
to be like that."

"No matter", smiled Amanda. "You've managed to tie this first match,
but wait till the second match. You might find yourself in quite some
trouble."

"Did you say trouble?" called out Jessie's voice.

"How about making it double?!" called out James's voice.

"Oh no", groaned Misty. Sure enough, Jessie and James had appeared.
They were saying their usual motto while swinging around on vines
wearing their new jungle clothes.

Jessie: "Me Jessie."
James: "Me James."
Jessie: "Team Rockets are the new queen and king of this jungle."
James: "Surrender now or prepare to rumble."

"Jungle does not rhyme with rumble!" shouted Meowth as his vine snapped
and fell onto the grass. Jessie and James joined him but landing on
their feet instead.

"I thought Meowth's were only supposed to land on their feet", groaned
Meowth.

"You watch too many cartoons", said Jessie.

"Oh look Jess", smiled James. "The twerps have befriended some really
pretty women. And they're coming right at us with spears. SPEARS?!!!"

"What, is Britney here?!" asked Meowth as he eagerly pulled his face
out of the grass but instead was looking at the point of the leader's
spear. "Who're the babes?" he asked while pointing his claw at the even
sharper spear.

"What brings you to our village without our queen's permission my
strong sister?" the leader asked Jessie. "And why did you bring this
smart-mouthed male Meowth and this man along with you?"

"I wouldn't say that James is a man", said Jessie. "Or that this Meowth
is smart. We originally came here to do away with some twerps. But
now that I've learned that there's a queen here. I think it'll be a
good idea if I overthrow her and become your new queen. Doesn't that
sound nice?"

"They're not serious, are they?" asked Amanda.

"I am afraid so", sighed Reiko wishing she'd never have to hear her
former bosses talk about monarchy ever again.

"Oooooh", smiled James. "Does that mean I can be your king just like in
the old days?"

"Hey, how about making me your king this time?!" shouted Meowth.

"You've got to be kidding!" laughed James. "There's no way someone as
intelligent as Jessie would want a lower-species like you as her king."

"Take that back!" shouted Meowth. "You've always been too dumb when you
were king in our last kingdom! And I'm here to see that Jessie's new
kingdom will be run right!" and he slashed James's face.

"Why you miserable furball!" shouted James while beating up Meowth.
Everyone watch puzzled as they saw the man and cat duke it out.

"Are you not going to stop your males from fighting?" an amazon asked
Jessie.

"And break up a glorious fight over me?" laughed Jessie. "Are you daft?"

"It's time to put a stop to this", shouted the leader as she and the
other amazons released their Spinaraks. "Spinaraks, imprison those
fools with your spider web!" All the Spinaraks complied by shooting
their threads all at once snaring all three Rockets in a huge sticky
net.

"Why do I suddenly have an urge to eat curds and whey?" said Meowth all
tangled up. "And I've never even heard of the stuff neither."

"Quick James", shouted Jessie. "Break out that new Pokemon you caught
to help free us!"

"If I do will you make me your king?" asked James with puppy-dog eyes.

"I'll crown you if you don't comply!" shouted Jessie.

"All right Jess", said James meekly as he reached into his loincloth
and pulled out a Pokeball. "Go Girafarig!" and a tall giraffe-like
Pokemon appeared right in front of the netted Rockets.

"Team Rocket has a new Pokemon?" gasped Cameron as he took out his
Pokedex.

"GIRAFARIG: the long neck Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Its tail has a
small brain of its own. Beware! If you get close, it may react to
your scent and bite."

"Giraf!" said Girafarig's long-necked head. "Farig!" said the smiling
black ball at the end of its tail.

"A Pokemon that has a brain on both ends!" gasped Ash.

"You could certainly use a helper brain here", said Misty pointing to
Ash's butt.

"Spinaraks", commanded the leader. "Seize that beast with your string
shots!"

"Girafarig!" commanded James. "Use your confusion attack!" Before the
Spinaraks could tie it up, Girafarig had released a psychic blast
causing the threads to get fired back at the Spinaraks and the amazons
tying them all up instead.

"Nice work Giraf", smiled James. "Now Farig, I need you to bite us free
from this web."

"Farig", said the tail as it bit a hole in the web freeing the Rockets.

"I always said two brains were better than one", smiled James as he
patted Girafarig's tail. "And now that you're my Pokemon, you now have
three brains." But the tail only replied to that remark by chomping on
James's head again.

"Make that two brains and a half", sighed Meowth. Girafarig's head
became angry for it really liked James a lot. So it grabbed James by
the seat of his loincloth and the head and tail started to have an all
out tug of war while poor James was wailing for it to all stop.

"And he wants to be my mighty king?" sighed Jessie.

"How dare you barge into my village and torment my subjects you
fiends!" shouted Amanda as she marched over to Jessie with her bare
feet.

"Oh, so you're the queen of this jungle", smiled Jessie. "Funny, you
don't look like queen material to me. Which is why I must ask, no,
force you to turn your throne over to me!"

"Over my dead body!" said Amanda.

"Oooh, I love temptation!" smiled Jessie as she released her Arbok.
"Now be a good exqueen and step down or my poisonous prime-minister
here will have to convince you otherwise!"

"AAAARBOK!" hissed Arbok looking hungry-eyed at Amanda.

"PINKELLA!!" cried Amanda in her loudest voice. Suddenly, a loud
trumpet came from the bamboo castle and out charged a rolling pink
ball."

"Hey, who ordered the Hostess Snowball?" asked Meowth. The ball
suddenly uncurled itself revealing a pink Donphan.

"A pink Donphan?" gasped James who had freed himself from Girafarig's
feud and placed it back in its ball. "I thought I'd never see those
kind again after I gave up the nights at the bar."

"Well, we're definitely never gonna see this pink pipsqueak again once
I'm through with it!" laughed Jessie. "Arbok, poison sting attack!"

"Pinkella, endure the attack!" commanded Amanda. Arbok fired its
poison needles at Pinkella, but Pinkella had developed an extra thick
pink skin causing the needles to bounce right off. "All right Pinkella",
smiled Amanda, "Now finish off that serpent with a rollout!" Pinkella
complied by rolling back up into a ball and heading full speed at Arbok.

"Arbok, remember that trick you used when Fusterman's Donphan tried to
roll you over?" said Jessie evily.

"AARBOOOKK!" hissed Arbok as it smiled, curled up like a spring and
bounced out of the way of the rolling pink ball. Then Arbok landed on
top of the still curled up Pinkella and started squeezing the very life
out of her. "PHAAAN!" cried Pinkella until all you can see sticking out
of Arbok's coils was her trunk.

"Oh no, Pinkealla!!!" cried Amanda as she tried to call her back into a
Pokeball, but the beam couldn't get through Arbok's coils.

"Surrender your queenship to me or Pinky here becomes a pink pancake",
laughed Jessie. Just as Amanda was about to sadly speak, Arbok
suddenly made a painful cry. Everyone looked and saw Cameron's Donphan
holding Arbok by the throat causing it to release a panting, but okay,
Pinkella.

"That's it Donnie!" smiled Cameron. "Now punish that snake with your
flail attack!"

"PHAN!" shouted Donnie as he started slamming Arbok around like the way
Bamm-Bamm Rubble does whenever he grabbed onto an adult's finger.

"Now send those Rockets out of this village!" commanded Cameron.
Donnie complied by swinging Arbok around in the air really fast and
throwing it at Team Rocket causing them all to get thrown out of the
village and down a hill.

"Looks like Team Rocket's rolling out again!" they all cried as they
rolled out of sight.

Donnie then looked concerned at Pinkella and offered his trunk to her.
"PHAN!" smiled Pinkella as she wrapped her trunk around her hero's
trunk and used the tip of it to kiss him on the cheek. "PHAN!" said
Donnie smiling like a fool while blushing a bright red which went
beautifully with Pinkella's pink skin.

"Thank you Cameron", said Amanda as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"You've trained a very heroic Donphan. Me, Pinkella, and all of my
subjects are indebted to you. Is there anything I can reward you with?"

"Well", said Cameron blushing. "Can you go ahead and give me that
badge?"

"Not yet", said Amanda. "You have to earn it by winning one final
battle. It's the league rules."

"Oh well", thought Cameron. "It was worth a shot."

* * * * * *

Next, we find everyone gathered around a long rope bridge that was
hanging over a huge ravine. Our heroes were on one side while Amanda,
Pinkella, and the amazons were on the other. "This will be a one
against one match on this bridge", called out Amanda. "No time limit."

"But what happens if one of our Pokemon falls off it?" asked Cameron.

"I don't know about your Pokemon", smiled Amanda. "But my champion here
hasn't fallen off it once. Go Rhyhorn!" and she released a small rocky
rhino onto the bridge.

"A rock type", thought Cameron. "And by the look of its size, it
probably won't be able to dodge any attacks standing on that small
bridge. What do you say Sandy? You'd be perfect for taking out that
Rhyhorn. And I don't mean on a date."

"Shrew!" said Sandy eagerly waiting to rock-smash that Rhyhorn, but he
was immediately grabbed by Donnie and pushed aside.

"Donnie, what are you doing?" asked Cameron. For Donnie was now
charging onto the bridge ready to challenge Rhyhorn.

"So the mighty Donphan hero wants to challenge my Rhyhorn", smiled
Amanda. "This should be interesting. Rhyhorn, make a scary face!"

"RHY!" growled Rhyhorn as it made a huge frightening face causing
Donnie to cover his eyes and shake in fear.

"Okay Rhyhorn", said Amanda. "Now finish it off with a take down!"
Rhyhorn started charging full speed at the quivering Donphan causing
the bridge to shake.

"Quick Donnie!" cried Cameron. "Shake it off and use your rollout
attack!" Donnie complied and rolled himself up making him roll over
Rhyhorn's rocky body and putting him face to face in front of Amanda,
the amazons, and his beloved Pinkella. Donnie trumpeted to her asking,
"How am I doing?"

"I guess Donnie wanted to battle so he could impress Pinkella", said
Tracey.

"That's so sweet!" sighed Misty.

"Wow!" smiled Cameron. "That's a neat way to motivate a Pokemon. Make
it fall in love."

"Quick Rhyhorn!" called out Amanda. "Use your horn drill while he's
distracted!"

"RHY!" shouted Rhyhorn as it started charging again while its horn
started spinning around.

"Look out Donnie!" cried Cameron. "Horn drill coming right behind you!"
Donnie tried to turn around but couldn't. For he was much wider than
Rhyhorn which meant he couldn't turn to face his opponent. "Try your
endure power, fast!" shouted Cameron. Everyone covered their eyes as
Rhyhorn's horn had stuck itself into Donnie's rear end. As Cameron
peeked with one eye, he saw Rhyhorn trying to burrow itself into
Donnie's skin, but couldn't for Donnie had used endure just in time.

"That's showing him Donnie!" smiled Cameron. "Now back up over it."
Donnie complied by walking backwards onto Rhyhorn's back putting him
right behind Rhyhorn. "Now give it your flail attack!" commanded
Cameron. Donnie then grabbed Rhyhorn by the leg and started swinging
it around like mad and then hung it over the side of the bridge as
revenge for scaring him earlier. Rhyhorn covered its eyes with its
front legs trying not too look at the deep scary ravine.

"No, you wouldn't!" cried Amanda while Pinkella did the same.

"Nyaah", smiled Cameron. "We'd never do that to an innocent Pokmeon.
Donnie, bring that Rhyhorn over to safety if you would." Donnie smiled
and flung Rhyhorn over to the other side of the bridge right at
Amanda's feet.

"Rhyhorn, are you all right?" asked Amanda. "Rhy!" it said shakingly.
"Well, my Rhyhorn is unable to continue battling. So I guess that
makes you the winner Cameron."

"YAY!" all of Cameron's friends shouted while Reiko gave him a big
victory kiss.

"You did it Donnie!" shouted Cameron proudly. "Come here and give me a
hug!" But Donnie ran over to the other side of the bridge instead where
he hugged Pinkella happily.

"Gee, it's going to be tough for Donnie to leave Pinkella behind once
we continue our journey", said Ash.

"I guess so", said Cameron now concerned.

* * * * * *

Everyone was now back at the village where Amanda presented Cameron
with something. "I now prouldy present you with the first badge of the
Ryooku League", she said. "The Vine Badge!" It was a badge shaped like
a cluster of green leaves and vines.

"Thank you", smiled Cameron as he showed everyone the badge. "I did
it!" he shouted. "I won a Vine Badge!"

"Why does that sound so familiar?" asked Ash.

"Congratulations Cameron", smiled Amanda. "Now I suppose you and your
friends will be off to take on the next gym leader. I'm just sorry
that you'll be taking your Donphan with you. Pinkella will be so sad."
And they all looked over at the two Donphans holding trunks like
nothing would ever separate them.

"I've been meaning to ask you something about that", said Cameron
quietly. "I'd like Donnie to stay here in your village. That way he'll
never have to leave Pinkella again."

"You'd really want your champion Donphan to stay here with me and
Pinkella?" asked Amanda surprised.

"Yes", said Cameron. "I want Donnie to be happy and it seems like he's
found happiness right here just like I have with Reiko", and he looked
at Reiko who was smiling silently at him. "What do you say Donnie?"
Cameron asked his Pokemon.

"Phan!" trumpeted Donnie as he gratefully wrapped his trunk around
Cameron's waist while his tears plopped onto his master's shoes.

"Donnie!" sighed Cameron as he hugged Donnie while his tears plopped
onto his rubbery head. Then they both had flashbacks about the
adventures they both had together. From when Cameron first met Donnie
in the Safari Zone and how he rescued Donnie from that tarpit and
became fast friends. When Donnie performed his trumpet solo in that
karaoke contest and won. And when they battled Blaine and competed in
the Indigo League and all the times they got the best of Team Rocket.
"Thank you for being my friend Donnie", whispered Cameron.

"Phan!" cooed Donnie as he gave his master a kiss on the cheek with his
trunk.

"Okay, Cameron", said Amanda. "I'll accept your generous offer. And
you are welcome to come to our village any time to visit Donnie."

"Thank you", said a tear filled Cameron.

"Did you hear that?" Amanda turned to her subjects. "Remember this face
and the name Cameron Fusterman. For he is now a life-time friend of
our amazon family."

"I hear and obey", said the leader while making a fake smile for she
still didn't like males very much.

* * * * * *

Cameron and his friends had left the village while Amanda, the amazons,
and the two Donphans waved them all goodbye. Cameron walked backwards
until his Donphan was no longer in sight. "Came-chan", asked Reiko.
"Will you be okay?"

"Don't worry Reiko", smiled Cameron as he put his arm around her
shoulder. "I'll be fine. You know, I always thought I'd keep all six
of my Pokemon with me forever"

"I thought that was sweet of you to think of Donnie's happiness",
smiled Reiko. "And like the Squirtle that sacrifices all its water to
help a dehydrated Poliwag, you truly are kind and giving. That's why
I love you." And she kissed Cameron affectionately. Growlithe was
about to growl Reiko away from Cameron, but then thoughtfully changed
its mind.

"Reiko!" sighed Cameron as they held each other while walking behind
the others off into the unknowns of the Tabasco Jungle ready for their
next Pokemon adventure.

TO BE CONTINUED

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well it looks like Cameron won his first Ryooku badge but lost one
Pokemon in the process. But cheer up everyone, another Pokmeon might
come into Cameron's life. To find out, please keep reading. ^_^