VIII
The sun was in the western sky as we hiked along a forested path on our way to Olivine. Ash and I talked the whole time; I had so much I wanted to talk to him about. We talked about everything, from the hot girls he associated with to how he tamed his Charizard to how he spent his time inside Mt. Silver.
At length, we came to a junction gate.
"Now what?" I asked.
"This is the gate leading to the Ilex Forest." Said Ash. "We gotta go through if we want to get to Olivine."
"Alrighty, then." I said. I could use an extra hike.
We passed through the gate into a dense, wooded forest where the trees completely blocked out the sky, and cries of forest Pokemon could be heard in the brush. This was Ilex Forest. Contrary to our talkative nature on the open road, the walk through the forest passed in silence.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled east of us, and a wild Scyther jumped out, snarling. Scyther is a Bug Pokemon, is very fast, and has very sharp claws. Ash and I froze.
"What do we do?" I whispered to him.
"Catch it." Said Ash. "Would you like to do the honors?"
"Absolutely." I threw down my Charizard's Poke Ball. "Let's go, Charizard!" My fire dragon appeared with a roar, and it was Scyther's turn to freeze.
"Let's have your Flamethrower, Charizard!"
Charizard unleashed a stream of flames that struck the Bug Pokemon hard. It staggered, but then it did something unexpected. It began to glow, and soon it jumped right up and started snarling again.
"Oh, crap!" I muttered, "It's holding a Gold Berry."
Now the Scyther jumped up and took a hard slash at my Fire type, causing a deep cut.
"Damn," I muttered, "OK, Charizard, return! Let's go, Gengar! Put it to sleep!"
Gengar used Hypnosis to send Scyther into a deep sleep.
"OK, we've got it, now!" I cried. "Um…I don't have any Balls on me," I said to Ash, "Do you?"
"Um, let me check. Hold on…" Ash began fumbling around in his bag, looking for a Ball.
Suddenly, we heard loud cries of Pokemon in front of us. Then a whole bunch of monsters came running at full speed out of the trees toward us. We dodged them, but then we realized that they weren't running to attack us… they were running away from something up ahead.
As the last Pokemon scuttled away into the brush, I said to Ash, "What the hell was that?"
"Well, they were obviously running from SOMEthing. Let's check it out."
We cautiously tiptoed up to the gap in the trees and parted the bushes. What we saw made us gasp. There were about ten members of Team Rocket standing in a clearing, apparently locked in conversation. Team Rocket is an evil society of trainers that use Pokemon to commit crimes, do their dirty work, and basically wreak havoc. According to the story of the video games, both Ash and Gold disbanded them, but I guess they were still in business.
We tried to hear what they were talking about. We could only make out snippets. "…Ultra rare Pokemon…" , "…Forest Protector…", "…could sell it…" , "…big plan…"
"What are they talking about?" I whispered to Ash.
"I don't know," said Ash. "But they mean nothing but trouble."
"Yeah…" I said. We tried to edge closer, but then I accidentally stepped on a twig, and the Rockets spun around.
"Who's there?" said one of them. "Show yourself!"
"Stay down…" whispered Ash, but he was too late, because I had already stepped into the clearing.
"And who are you?" asked the Rockets.
"I am Paul Glicklin!" I declared. "Lover of Pokemon and hater of Rockets!"
"Is that so?" sneered one of them.
"Yes it is!" I said. "And I am not alone, either! Allow me to introduce my new friend, Ash Ketchum!"
Behind the bush, Ash slapped his head and muttered, "Stupid kid," but got up anyway and stepped into the clearing.
"Oh-no, not that kid again!" snarled one of the Rockets. "He's the one who broke us up three years ago!" A murmur rose among the group of Rockets. Ash gave a weak wave.
"That's right!" I said, "And together, we're unstoppable! C'mon, ya wanna battle, punks?"
The Rockets exchanged looks with each other. Finally, the leader said, "Look. We don't like messing with kids. You'd be incredibly stupid to challenge us."
"Ya want me to make you eat your words?"
"Shut up, you little brat. We don't have time to deal with the likes of you now. Team Rocket will deal with you later. C'mon, men, let's get out of here." The Rockets formed a line and marched down a wooded path, eventually leaving view.
Ash and I stood in the clearing in silence for a moment, and then I threw my hat up in the air.
"Whoopee! We scared off Team Rocket!"
Ash just stood and looked at me. "You're really bright," he said sarcastically, "Now that you've made them mad, they're just gonna come for you later. They take no prisoners."
"Yeah, whatever. If they come for me, I'll beat them back."
"Sure, whatever." Said Ash. "Come on, let's get out of the forest." Suddenly he started looking all around. "Oh-no, where's Pikachu?" We searched the entire clearing, calling out Pikachu's name, and then we found him trying to wrestle a piece of food away from a Butterfree.
"Pikachu! Let's go!" called Ash. Pikachu reluctantly let go of the pellet and hopped on Ash's shoulders. And with that, we hiked deeper into the woods, our destination being the port town of Olivine.
The sun was in the western sky as we hiked along a forested path on our way to Olivine. Ash and I talked the whole time; I had so much I wanted to talk to him about. We talked about everything, from the hot girls he associated with to how he tamed his Charizard to how he spent his time inside Mt. Silver.
At length, we came to a junction gate.
"Now what?" I asked.
"This is the gate leading to the Ilex Forest." Said Ash. "We gotta go through if we want to get to Olivine."
"Alrighty, then." I said. I could use an extra hike.
We passed through the gate into a dense, wooded forest where the trees completely blocked out the sky, and cries of forest Pokemon could be heard in the brush. This was Ilex Forest. Contrary to our talkative nature on the open road, the walk through the forest passed in silence.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled east of us, and a wild Scyther jumped out, snarling. Scyther is a Bug Pokemon, is very fast, and has very sharp claws. Ash and I froze.
"What do we do?" I whispered to him.
"Catch it." Said Ash. "Would you like to do the honors?"
"Absolutely." I threw down my Charizard's Poke Ball. "Let's go, Charizard!" My fire dragon appeared with a roar, and it was Scyther's turn to freeze.
"Let's have your Flamethrower, Charizard!"
Charizard unleashed a stream of flames that struck the Bug Pokemon hard. It staggered, but then it did something unexpected. It began to glow, and soon it jumped right up and started snarling again.
"Oh, crap!" I muttered, "It's holding a Gold Berry."
Now the Scyther jumped up and took a hard slash at my Fire type, causing a deep cut.
"Damn," I muttered, "OK, Charizard, return! Let's go, Gengar! Put it to sleep!"
Gengar used Hypnosis to send Scyther into a deep sleep.
"OK, we've got it, now!" I cried. "Um…I don't have any Balls on me," I said to Ash, "Do you?"
"Um, let me check. Hold on…" Ash began fumbling around in his bag, looking for a Ball.
Suddenly, we heard loud cries of Pokemon in front of us. Then a whole bunch of monsters came running at full speed out of the trees toward us. We dodged them, but then we realized that they weren't running to attack us… they were running away from something up ahead.
As the last Pokemon scuttled away into the brush, I said to Ash, "What the hell was that?"
"Well, they were obviously running from SOMEthing. Let's check it out."
We cautiously tiptoed up to the gap in the trees and parted the bushes. What we saw made us gasp. There were about ten members of Team Rocket standing in a clearing, apparently locked in conversation. Team Rocket is an evil society of trainers that use Pokemon to commit crimes, do their dirty work, and basically wreak havoc. According to the story of the video games, both Ash and Gold disbanded them, but I guess they were still in business.
We tried to hear what they were talking about. We could only make out snippets. "…Ultra rare Pokemon…" , "…Forest Protector…", "…could sell it…" , "…big plan…"
"What are they talking about?" I whispered to Ash.
"I don't know," said Ash. "But they mean nothing but trouble."
"Yeah…" I said. We tried to edge closer, but then I accidentally stepped on a twig, and the Rockets spun around.
"Who's there?" said one of them. "Show yourself!"
"Stay down…" whispered Ash, but he was too late, because I had already stepped into the clearing.
"And who are you?" asked the Rockets.
"I am Paul Glicklin!" I declared. "Lover of Pokemon and hater of Rockets!"
"Is that so?" sneered one of them.
"Yes it is!" I said. "And I am not alone, either! Allow me to introduce my new friend, Ash Ketchum!"
Behind the bush, Ash slapped his head and muttered, "Stupid kid," but got up anyway and stepped into the clearing.
"Oh-no, not that kid again!" snarled one of the Rockets. "He's the one who broke us up three years ago!" A murmur rose among the group of Rockets. Ash gave a weak wave.
"That's right!" I said, "And together, we're unstoppable! C'mon, ya wanna battle, punks?"
The Rockets exchanged looks with each other. Finally, the leader said, "Look. We don't like messing with kids. You'd be incredibly stupid to challenge us."
"Ya want me to make you eat your words?"
"Shut up, you little brat. We don't have time to deal with the likes of you now. Team Rocket will deal with you later. C'mon, men, let's get out of here." The Rockets formed a line and marched down a wooded path, eventually leaving view.
Ash and I stood in the clearing in silence for a moment, and then I threw my hat up in the air.
"Whoopee! We scared off Team Rocket!"
Ash just stood and looked at me. "You're really bright," he said sarcastically, "Now that you've made them mad, they're just gonna come for you later. They take no prisoners."
"Yeah, whatever. If they come for me, I'll beat them back."
"Sure, whatever." Said Ash. "Come on, let's get out of the forest." Suddenly he started looking all around. "Oh-no, where's Pikachu?" We searched the entire clearing, calling out Pikachu's name, and then we found him trying to wrestle a piece of food away from a Butterfree.
"Pikachu! Let's go!" called Ash. Pikachu reluctantly let go of the pellet and hopped on Ash's shoulders. And with that, we hiked deeper into the woods, our destination being the port town of Olivine.