Mystery Of The Bunyip

It was a beautiful day, as our heroes walk through the great hunter valley, a half day walk from Sydney. And by the looks of things, it sure was worth the walk.

"Smell the fresh air!" cried Misty.

"Feel it rush through your hair!" cried Brock.

"Livin' life without a care!" cried Lyle.

"See the pokémon everywhere!" cried Ash.

That was also true. There were pokémon everywhere, just waiting to be caught by a promising trainer.

(-o-)

Our heroes arrived in the small town of Medowie. They stopped off in the Pokémon Center there.

It was dark, as the sun was slowly setting. They entered the Pokémon center and Ash placed his pokémon on the table.

"Thank you, Ash," said the Joy there. "We'll have this lot healed in no time."

"Thank you," replied Ash.

Ash, Brock, Lyle and Misty sat down on a bench. Misty placed Togepi on the table and Brock poured out some of his pokémon food.

Moments later, a bell rang. Ding Dong!

Ash went and collected his pokémon. He placed Pikachu on the table and he joined Togepi in the eating of Brock's food.

Ash's eyes wandered past a beautiful girl standing nearby to a poster on the wall that said "reward" in large letters.

"Reward, eh?" he said. "Let's check it out!"

The poster said:

"REWARD

BUNYIP ON THE LOOSE

ROBBED FARM CROPS, ORCHARDS, AND HAS EATEN LEAVES OFF HARVEST TREES!

LARGE REWARD FOR ITS CAPTURE - DEAD OR ALIVE!"

On the poster was a large picture of a Bunyip. It was very hazy and dim. Like a close encounter of the blurred kind. (Joke, haha)

"There's another one over here!" shouted Lyle from the other side of the Centre.

Ash, Misty and Brock moved over to where the other poster was hanging.

This picture of a bunyip was drawn by a child. It said:

"WANTED: BAD BUNYIP

$50 BZILLION REWARD!"

"Never knew there was such a number as a bzillion," noted Ash.

"Look Ash," said Misty. "It says: 'Winner of the Bunyip Wanted Poster Competition: Christie Jack'"

Ash was dumbfounded. He did not like being made a fool.

"People must really hate the Bunyip," said Misty.

"That's right, sadly," interrupted Nurse Joy. "There are a lot of fruit orchards here, and they've been losing a lot of fruit lately, and they're blaming the bunyip for all the fruit that disappears."

"Gee, thats not really fair," said Ash. "Hasn't anyone tried stayed up to see if it was the bunyip?"

"Yes. They just fell asleep and assumed the Bunyip put them to sleep."

Nurse Joy turned on the Megaphone. She spoke into it:

"The Medowie Pokémon Centre is taking in visitors overnight, guys! We have enough blankets for all!"

An uncountable number of people ran into the Pokemon Center at once. Nurse Joy started handing out blankets.

She shouted: "Please stand clear of all tables!"

A moment later, she pushed a button under the front desk and all the tables sunk and beds appeared in its place.

She shouted: "Everybody move to the side walls please!"

Everybody moved. She pushed another button and panels slid out on the floor and small beds rose in their place.

Ash walked over to Joy. "Wow, this place is prepared for anything!"

"Sure is!" said Joy. "You haven't seen the least of it! We have a bunker, a generator, surface-to-air missiles..."

Ash, Misty, Brock and Lyle chose beds and everyone lay down to rest.

"Lights out!" called Joy at 10pm.

(-o-)

The next day, the sun rose to a cloudless sky. It was a beautiful day.

Everyone in the centre was aroused by a large crash outside. They rushed out to see what was the matter.

"ARGH!!! THAT BLOODY BUNYIP! I'LL KILL IT!!! I'LL KILL IT!!!" screamed an outraged farmer kicking down everything he could see, including any people who got in the way. He was very angry.

"Calm down," called out an Officer Jenny who happened to be passing by. The farmer calmed down. "Now tell me what happened."

"That creature took half me trees! They were supposed to be harvested today! I'm ruined! RUINED!!!"

He stomped off to his farm and slammed the gate angrily behind him. Ash and his friends decided to investigate.

They surveyed the damage done to the farmer's paperbark tree crops. There were more than 700 trees left, and just as many holes were trees once were. No way could a creature cause this much damage. Not even a Bunyip.

(-o-)

It was decided: Ash, Misty, Brock and Lyle would camp out and see what it was. They found a place that hadn't been attacked yet and camped inside some nearby bushes where they couldn't be seen from the air.

It was very late and Ash was just about to fall asleep when he heard voices.

"Here's the next target."

He knew that voice. It sounded a lot like James.

"Fresh, juicy apples. The boss will be pleased."

That voice was also familiar. It sounded like Jessie's

"And maybe I'll be top cat!"

Without a doubt, that was Meowth. Ash was about to take evasive action, but he thought otherwise.

He decided to listen more.

"Let's get the machinery. We'll wipe this crop clean!" came James' voice again

There was a lot of whirring, when suddenly it stopped.

"Wait! What if there's someone around?" asked Jessie.

"Right. They can't know we're here. As long as they think its that dopey Bun...yummy (or whatever its called) we'll get away with it."

"I'll get the sleep powder," said Meowth.

"Try not to sprinkle it on yourself this time!" giggled James.

A great slash was suddenly heard. Meowth obviously scratched James for bringing that up.

After Team Rocket conducted a thourough search (and passed the tent several times without seeing it) Meowth said "Nobody's here, I'll put it away now."

Some hours later, Team Rocket left, and sure enough, by morning the farmer who owned the apple orchard was in uproar, damaging whatever (and whoever) he could get his hands on.

He nearly attacked our heroes in their tent, when suddenly he recognised Ash.

"My deepest apologies, mate, did you happen to see that bunyip taking my apples?"

"I didn't see the bunyip," reported Ash, "but I heard voices. Human voices."

"Human voices?"

"Yeah." Ash said no more on the subject and returned to the town centre, in some shock as to what he had discovered over the course of the night.

But it came to him as little suprise. Paperbark was a type of tree that was only grown in Australia, and was kept in Australia. Team Rocket could take some back to Kanto and Johto and other places in the world, and they would be able to sell it and make a fortune! Apples weren't worth a great deal, but Australian apples were especially tasty, and would be worth a pretty penny elsewhere.

The people of Medowie would be very angry, but none the wiser. They would all think it was the Bunyip doing it, and would never suspect Team Rocket.

Ash thought it better not to tell anybody about it. But he had to tell his friends.

"Team Rocket?" said Misty in surprise.

"That makes a lot of sense," said Brock. "But why is everybody blaming the bunyip?"

"Bunyips," explained Lyle, "are known in the native stories as creatures that aroused much mischief. They would steal food, knock down shelters and put hunters to sleep. People around here know these stories and naturally blame the Bunyip when something goes missing or gets damaged on their farms."

"Ash, we have to tell someone!" cried Misty.

"No," said Ash, "not until we get some solid proof. Even though it may be undeniable that Team Rocket did those crimes, people are still going to blame the Bunyip. We need some solid evidence that it's not the Bunyip."

"But where are we going to get that?" asked Brock.

"Well," said Lyle, "it just so happens that I have some sound recording equipment in my bag. Their voices may just be enough evidence to nail them."

They camped out at another, unattacked farm, and Lyle, who had been in the Army and gained a lot of experience in hiding and camouflage, chose a careful position where they would not be seen, smelt or heard.

Sure enough, Team Rocket were at it again. Ash turned the recording equipment on and it collected their entire conversation.

"Mmmm, oranges!" came Jessie's voice. There was a sniffing sound. "Fresh and ripe, the boss will be very pleased!"

"I have the sleep powder, there's a farmer up there." was voiced by James.

There was a blowing noise, then the loud snoring came from the farmer.

"Ok, we're clear," said Meowth.

Much whirring was heard as Team Rocket stole as many oranges as their machine could pick.

"OK, we've got enough," said Jessie.

"Everybody's going to blame that silly Bun... whatever its called," said James.

"Let's roll," said Meowth.

When there was no more to be heard from them, Ash pushed the stop button on the recording equipment.

"Gotcha," he said.

(-o-)

The next morning, Ash, Misty, Brock and Lyle were awakened by smashing coming from nearby. The farmer had seen the damage and was shouting every curse word under the sun at the Bunyip.

Ash leaped from the tent. "Hey mister!"

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BLOODY BUNYIP! LET ME AT 'IM! LET ME AT 'IM!" screamed the farmer.

"It wasn't the bunyip! We have proof!"

"Really?"

Everyone in town was interested to hear the proof that Lyle presented.

"We have to stop them! We have only one working farm left!" cried Officer Jenny.

"YEAH!" yelled the farmers simultaneously.

"But we can't just roll on in and stop them!" yelled one man. "They've got all sorts of reinforcements!"

"There is one lifeline," said Misty, "these guys that are doing it are pretty dopey. They dug a hole for us to fall into and they forgot where it was, and they fell into it themselves."

The crowd roared with laughter.

"We can probably give them a taste of their own medicine," said Lyle, "dig them a hole to fall into."

There was an agreed consensus amongst the townspeople.

What the town of Medowie weren't aware of was that a soldier from Team Rocket had recorded this, and was on his way back to TR headquarters, which was in a hole underground several miles from town.

"They're planning an ambush for you guys," he warned Jessie and James.

"They'll wish they never thought of that," said Jessie.

"We'll show them what happens when they mess with us," said James.

That night, in a strategically placed tent near the farm that hadn't been attacked yet, where a hole had been placed for Team Rocket to fall into. Ash and his friends were watching from the tent.

A rock rolled across a pathway, towards the hole. The rock caused the hole to be revealled.

"Oh no, they found the hole!" whispered Misty in desperation.

Jessie and James came past, armed with flamethrowers.

"Time to show them what happens when they mess with Team Rocket," said Jessie.

"Let's make it flamingly clear," said James, chuckling at his own joke.

Jessie and James were torching the last farm. Ash had to do something.

"No!" cried Misty, "you can't!"

But Ash had had enough. He had three nearly sleepless nights in a row and he wasn't about to let Team Rocket get away with this.

He jumped out of the tent. "Hey!" he shouted.

"What's this?" asked Jessie.

"The brat!" exclaimed James.

Meowth emerged from bushes nearby, a flamethrower in hand. "You're toast!"

Ash began to stumble backwards, three flamethrowers aimed in his direction. He was most definitely a goner.

Suddenly, without warning a beast emerged from nearby bushes. Ash instantly recognised it as.. "A Bunyip!"

The Bunyip jumped in between Ash and Team Rocket. Jessie, James and Meowth Stood ready, and fired their flamethrowers. It didn't even scratch the pokémon. The Bunyip swung its tail and sent Team Rocket sky-high.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

The commotion had aroused the whole town. They were massed on a nearby hill. They all cheered loudly. Everyone came to meet the Bunyip, who was actually quite a tame creature.

(-o-)

The next day, our heroes were thanked by the farmers for showing them the err of their ways.

"We salute you!" said Officer Jenny.

"Aww," said Ash, blushing. "It's no big deal."

The heroes left the town with smiles on their faces. They had seen a Bunyip, one of the rarest pokémon in existance. They had saved a town from ruin at the hands of Team Rocket. All in all it had been a good stay at Medowie, but they had to move on. The next gym was in Brisbane, and it was a long way there!

- To be continued... -