CHAPTER 5

As it became night, the Squirtles thought it time to return to the lab for the night. They walked back to Professor Oak's lab in silence. They were upset that they hadn't found the piece yet. None of the Squirtles wanted to return empty handed. They were just getting close to Professor Oak's lab when they heard a loud noise in the bushes at the side of the road.

"What was that?" Squirty exclaimed. He cowered behind Bubba anxiously.

"It is probably nothing, Squirty. Calm down!" Bubba reached behind him and pulled Squirty in front of him. "The Squirtle Squad isn't afraid of anything. Even at night when bushes are making scary noises…"

"I have a flashlight!" Dewey pulled a flashlight from his shell and handed it to Bubba. Dewey always had interesting things in his shell.

"Good work Dewey!" Steve smiled, and took the flashlight from Dewey. "Who's gonna look in the bush?" The other Squirtles slowly backed away.

Bubba looked at the other Squirtles and shook his head. "Squirtle Squad members are not afraid of anything or anyone!" He proudly put on his sunglasses. Then he realized he couldn't see at night wearing them and took them off. "I will look, but you guys have to be right behind me!"

The bushes rustled again. Squirty jumped and tried to run away, but Bubba caught him by the shell. Squirty sighed and stood next to Steve. Steve seemed to be thinking really hard about something. Then again, Steve was always thinking really hard about something.

"Bubba? Are you sure it is a good idea to just go tearing into things? I mean you don't really know what is behind there! There could be a really mean Rattata in there…" Steve stammered.

"Not you too! What wimps! I can take it on…Can't I?" Bubba replied hotly. The bush rustled again. "I will get to the bottom of this!" Bubba grabbed the flashlight from Steve. He pushed back the branches and was surprised to see…

"Well what is it, Bubba?" Squirty exclaimed and tried to peer over Bubba's shoulder.

"It's…Oddish." Bubba stood stunned and moved out of the way so the other Squirtles could see.

The Oddish stared silently at the five Squirtles, and then after a few minutes said, "Who are you? What are you doing here at night?"

Bubba pushed the other Squirtles behind him and made himself look tougher. "What do you care? We are on an important mission, and then you come along…"

"If you must know," the Oddish said sharply, "I am lost, and I can't find my way back to my trainer. Do you think you could help me?"

Steve tapped Bubba on the shoulder. Bubba, quite startled by Steve, jumped and angrily turned around. "What is it, Steve? Can't you see I am talking here?"

"Bubba, I think we should help this young Oddish. We are the Squirtle Squad you know." Steve said quietly.

Squirty piped in, "Yeah, Bubba! Let's help the Oddish! Maybe his trainer has seen the…"

"Shhh!" Bubba said. "We don't want just anyone knowing about that." Bubba turned back to the Oddish. "Ok, we'll help you. What does your trainer look like?"

Oddish thought for a moment. "Well… He always wears this green hat and this blue shirt with a face on it. The face is really happy, just like his when we win a battle!" The Oddish smiled, and then grew sad. "I bet he isn't happy now…"

"Don't worry, Oddish." Dewey said. "We'll find him! Remember that boy we played with in the park? He dropped a card with some writing on it. I can't read it, but I bet if we go to the park, someone around there will know about it!"

"Good old, resourceful Dewey!" Steve exclaimed. He gave Dewey a high-five.

"What are we waiting for?" Bubba cried. "Let's go!"