Chapter 2: Pokepalooza
Later that night, it started to rain, so we managed to get to the Pokemon Center before we really got wet. Anyway, that night, I got back to the dream I left off yesterday, until…
"Derek!"
…until Zack woke me up.
"Derek, do you know what day it is!" Zack said with enthusiasm on his face, but his very words gave me deja-vu.
"Who are you, Zack or my mom?" I replied.
"I guess you didn't check your calendar." Zack said as he looked out the window. Meanwhile, I saw Pikachu trying to wake Eevee up. "Today's the day!"
"The day for what?"
"Pokepalooza, of course!" Zack said. However, I laughed instead.
"Dude, even if Pokepalooza's today, it's all the way in the Hoenn region," I replied. "How are we supposed to get there?" Zack then shoved a flyer to my face.
"It says here that Pokepalooza is having a tour, and today, they're starting it in Bright town," Zack said. "I saw this flyer last night, and I told Marie, so she's coming today to Bright town to join along, too."
"That's cool and all," I said. "But, it was raining last night. Surely, they postponed it by now."
"Oh, really? Check outside."
I got off my bed, looked out the window, and I couldn't believe it. It was peacefully sunny outside, and I couldn't see any signs of the rain last night. Everything seemed as if it was magically dried up. In the distance, I could see a bunch of giant balloons shaped like Pokemon, and what seems like a roller coaster.
"That must be Pokepalooza," I said, pointing towards the giant balloons for Zack. "See it?"
"Cool! They must have finished it," Zack said. "C'mon, let's go!" Zack already left the room, while I got on my clothes and my gear.
"Wait for me! C'mon guys!" Pikachu tried smacking Eevee with its tail which stirred it up. After I left the room, they followed.
As we headed to Bright town, the place was pretty packed. There were kids and their families, playing many games and riding on the attractions. Today was a pretty perfect day to host Pokepalooza.
"Where should we go first?" I asked.
"First, we gotta find Marie," Zack replied.
We looked everywhere until we found her eating some cotton candy with a Swablu perched on her shoulder.
"How's it going, guys?" She said.
"Pretty good," Zack said.
"Hey Pikachu!" She said, scratching the mouse behind its ear. "Is that an Eevee?" Marie said as she saw it. "It's so cute!" As she hugged it, Eevee blushed in satisfaction.
"Hey! Let's try that Magikarp fishing game!" I said as we walked to the booth.
"So,who wants to play?" The vendor said out loud to make anybody want to play the game.
"Me first!" I said. There was a big fish tank (and I mean humongous).
"Okay then, in order to play, you'll need a fishing rod. Do you have a fishing rod?"
"No, not really."
"Alright then, I'll give you one, to keep." The vendor handed me a fishing rod.
"Here's how to play;" The vendor said. "You must simply cast away in this large tank here. It is filled with Magikarp, and once you caught one on the line, capture it with these lure balls." He handed me 20 lure balls. "I need these Pokemon, so don't keep it or anything.
"You must catch 10 Magikarp in two minutes," he continued. "But there are a few Feebas in there. If you caught one, you automatically win. But don't expect to focus on catching one, because I trained them to swim away from anything 'fishy'. If you win, you get a prize. Got that?"
"Yep," I said.
"Ready, start!"
I was pretty good. It was like they wanted to get caught. There was only one minute and 27 seconds, and already I caught 7 Magikarp. I had another pokemon on the hook, but when I reeled it in, a Mudkip jumped out of the water and drop-kicked me. It landed on its feet, but I didn't.
"Mudkip-mud!" Mudkip yelled as it stuck its tongue at me.
"How did a Mudkip get in there?" The vendor was puzzled, sticking his head in the tank for any 'other' Pokemon…
"Hey vendor, do you think you can stop the game for a minute?" I asked.
"Uhh, sure," The vendor said, still looking confused. I then turned to face the dreaded mud fish-thingy.
"Alright, Mudkip. You've been a pain in my neck already," I said. "Lure ball, go!" I threw a lure ball at the Mudkip. It was shaking by its struggle to keep Mudkip in there until it stopped shaking.
"Alright, I caught Mudkip!" I went to get the Pokeball as a small group of people applauded.
"Well, I was going to give you a stuffed teddy bear or something, but I guess you already got a prize," The vendor said, scratching his head.
"You okay, Derek?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, but it hurt more than I thought," I said. All of a sudden, people started to run and scream in fear.
"Help! Somebody help!" A person ran towards us, looking a bit worried.
"What happened?" Another person asked.
"Somebody's burning the festival!"
We all gasped in terror as everybody panicked. For some reason, I headed towards the fire.
"Where are you going?" Marie said.
"To stop the fire!" I answered.
"What makes you feel that you can stop the fire?" Zack asked.
"I don't know. I just feel like only I can do it!" I replied.
As I ran towards the fire, I thought to myself: What have I gotten myself into?