Pokemon in Australia

Welcome back to the wonderous world of Pokémon. A world of opportunity, learning and discovery.
Ash, Misty, and Brock are in Professor Oak's Lab.

Professor Oak was in the day room. He looked like he was in deep thought. Ash, Misty and
Brock approached him.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ash.

"Are you OK?" asked Misty.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Brock

"Thank you for asking, I am in a bit of deep thought," replied Oak.

"What about?" inquired Ash.

"Well, I have a friend who lives far away from here, who has found some interesting pokemon.
I'd normally go and see it, but its a very long way away and I just haven't the time."

There was a moment of silence between all.

"Hey! I know!" said Oak. "How would you three like to do some travelling?"

"Sure would!" replied Misty.

"This friend of mine lives in a land called Australia." Oak showed them a map of Australia.
"This land is the only country with its own continent. Its got a warm climate and it has some
very interesting pokemon on it."

"Cool," said Brock. "I've heard of that place. I hear there's pokemon running along the
streets of the cities."

"What about you, Ash?" asked Oak.

"Hmm...... OK! Count me in!" said Ash.

"Great! I'll book the flight straight away!"

Australia?? Hmm, looks like we're in for another exciting adventure.. goodness, I'm repeating
myself.

(-o-)

About a week later, the time to leave came. Ash, Misty and Brock were checking into the
airport.

"Here's your tickets, Mr Ketchum," said the lady at the check-in counter. "Your flight to
Sydney will be boarding at gate three."

"Thank you, miss," said Ash. He turned to his friends. "C'mon guys! We're going to AUSTRALIA!"

(-o-)

Ash's mother, Professor Oak and a number of other familiar faces from Pallet Town were there
to see them off.

"Bye Ash!" shouted Ash's mother. "Don't forget to change your you-know-what!"

"Mom!" shouted Ash.

"Sorry, it is important, you know."

"I know. Bye mom!"

Ash handed his ticket to the flight attendant. She ripped the end off it and handed it back.
"Enjoy your flight, sir," she said.

Ash, Misty and Brock found their seats, and sat in them. A couple of flight attendants gave
a presentation about flight safety. After that, the plane began to run down the runway, then
took off, leaving the island of Kanto behind them.

About five minutes later, an announcement came on the loudspeaker inside the plane.

"Hello, this is your captain speaking. We are cruising at about 30,000 feet. I have turned off
the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign, and you may wander freely in the cabin. I must ask, however, that
you keep your seatbelt fastened in your seat, should we run into unexpected turbulence. The
Flight to Sydney will take approximately 19 hours."

"19 HOURS?!?!?" shouted Ash.

"Yes, 19 hours." Everybody laughed. "Please enjoy your flight, and if you have any problems,
please don't hesitate to ask one of our experienced flight attendants."

Ash and his friends spent the next few hours wasting the hours away. Suddenly a familiar voice
came on the loudspeaker.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make that double!"

"I'd know that voice anywhere!" yelled Misty. "That's Team Rocket!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meeeeeyowth! That's right!"

"Oh no, not them again!" whined Misty.

"What do they want now?" wondered Brock.

Team Rocket - Jessie, James and Meowth - appeared at the end of the corridor.

"All right, you all know the deal!" yelled Jessie.

"Hand over all your pokémon!" continued James.

There was a few moments of silence. Then everyone in the cabin roared in laughter.

"How dare you find us funny!" retorted James.

"You're supposed to be scared of us!" yelled Jessie.

"You don't scare anyone anymore!" laughed Ash.

Meowth walked up to Ash, claws out, and scratched him on the face.

"Aaauugh!" screamed Ash, holding his face in agony.

"Well? Are you going to give us your pokémon?" asked Jessie.

"Not a chance!" yelled someone up the back.

"Very well. James, hand us our new weapon."

James handed Jessie what looked like a metal detector.

"This is a super strong magnet," announced Jessie.

"We made it ourselves," said James.

Jessie turned it on. Suddenly, the plane began to shake.

"We appear to be experiencing some turbulence. Please be prepared to brace yourselves."

The plane began to go downward, and Team Rocket were thrown down the aisle.

"Turn it off, Jessie!" pleaded James, "its stuffing up the plane!"

Jessie turned it off, and everything went to normal. Luckily, there was an Officer Jenny
on board the plane. She put handcuffs on them and tied them together.

"Are we going to wait until we land to take care of these?" asked Ash.

"Maybe, but we can send them off in style," Jenny said, with a wink.

"She doesn't mean-" started Jessie.

"I think she does!" whined James.

Jenny and Ash entered the cockpit.

"Is it possible to get rid of Team Rocket here?" asked Jenny.

"Yes," said the captain, "but not at this altitude. We'll have to drop down a bit."

The captain turned on the plane loudspeaker.

"Attention, this is your captain speaking. We are going to drop down to 10,000 feet in order
to get rid of Team Rocket. We may experience a bit of turbulence, but it will be over
momentarily."

The nose of the plane pointed down, and the plane began to drop. Screams and cries were to be
heard from the cabin. When the plane reached 10,000 feet, the plane levelled out.

"Ok, do it now," said the captain.

Ash, Misty, Brock and Jenny opened the side door. They then pushed Team Rocket out.

Team rocket fell towards the ground, shouting, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

The rest of the flight was peaceful, except that someone up the back really snored. The
plane landed without a hitch.

Ash, Misty and Brock walked into the waiting area at Sydney Airport. A man in a suit approached
them.

"Are you Ash, Misty and Brock?" he asked.

"Yes," said Ash, "that's us."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, mate. I'm Professor Eucalypt, and Professor Oak sent you about
the pokémon, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"Follow me to my car. I'll take you to my lab."

They went to the collection carosels and collected their bags. As they left the terminal,
they realised that, despite what they had heard, there was not a pokémon to be seen.

"I heard there were pokemon roaming the streets," said Brock, "but there isn't one to be
seen here."

"That's just a silly rumour, Brock," said Eucalypt. "People overseas seem to think we are
really primitive, but thats not true at all."

They got into his car, and fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the lab. They walked into
the lab, and sat down in the Day Room.

"Wait right here, I'll be back in a few minutes." said Eucalypt.

A few minutes later, he returned with some sheets of paper inside a plastic bag.

"Allow me to show you the pokemon," he said. He pulled out a picture of a creature that looked
reminiscent to a bear, but had a short snout.

"This one is called 'Koalabere'," he said. "It's one of the native pokémon here. It feeds
on the leaves of the Eucalypt tree."

He pulled out a picture of a pokémon that looked like a Kangaskhan that had been through
the wash.

"This one is called 'Joeskhan'. It's the young of the Kangaskhan, and doesn't leave
the mother's pouch for a whole year."

He pulled out another picture. This one looked like a yellow dog.

"This one is called 'Din-go'. It's a native pokémon here. They were once subject to
culling, but then people realised they could be captured from the wild and trained for
pokémon battles."

He pulled out another picture. This one was quite grotesque.

"This one is called 'Bunyip'. It's native talk for 'Odd mythical creature', and it
sure fits, because its one of the rarest native pokémon I've found."

He placed the pictures into the bag and handed the bag to Ash.

"Take good care of these, and make sure they get to Professor Oak safely."

"I will," said Ash. "May I call Professor Oak, please?"

"Certainly, the phone is in my lab, and his number is programmed into the speed-dial."

Ash found Oak's number in the speed-dial list, and a few moments later, he answered.

"Oh, hello, Ash!" said Oak. "I see you made it to Australia safely."

"Sure did," said Ash, "it's a nice place. I have the information and I will have it to you
as soon as possible."

"Good work, Ash." The buzzer rang. "Oh, that would be my pizza. Coming!" Oak disappeared for
a few moments, then returned.

"It's been nice talking to you Ash, and I will see you soon. Mmmm, anchovies and chicken
-Click-"

"Hey Ash, want to go and get something to eat?" asked Misty.

"Sure would!" said Ash. "I'm starving!"

"Mind if I come, too?" asked Eucalypt. "My shout."

"Cool!" said Misty.

"Great!" said Brock.

"Thank you!" said Ash.

(-o-)

At a local restraunt, Ash was digging in, as usual.

"Mmm, this is good!" said Ash.

A waiter approached the table where they were sitting. He placed the bill on the table and
then looked at Ash.

"Hey, I've seen you before," he said. "You won the Orange League competition, didn't you?"

"Yes," said Ash. "I did."

"Congratulations, mate!" He held his hand out to Ash.

"Thank you." Ash shook hands with the waiter.

"I reckon you could take on the Oz League."

"The Oz league?"

"Yeah, its a pokémon league here. You travel all over Australia and compete in the gyms in
the capital cities. There's a competition held every year in our country's capital, Canberra."

"Cool, I'd like to give it a go."

"Ash!" said Misty. "We should get that information back to Professor Oak first!"

"Maybe we can ask him."

(-o-)

When they got home, Ash called Oak again. A few rings later, Oak answered.

"Hello again, Ash," said Oak. "What can I do for you?"

"I have something to ask you," said Ash.

"Sure, go ahead."

"While I'm here, I'd like to compete in the Oz League."

"The Oz league? Hmmm... well, there is nothing I can do to stop you, really."

"Yes!!"

"Although I am a bit anxious to read those files, but it is important you get into some
rigorous training."

"Ok, which reminds me, I should find out what 'rigorous' means, too. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Ash. And good luck. -Click-"

And so, our heros set out on another adventure. Who knows what challenges and excitement await
them. But whatever you do, Ash, look after those files!

- To be continued... -