White Pony: Helloooooooo, people! Here's another installment! You're up, Disclaimer Dude!

Disclaimer Dude: Yeah, whatever. White Pony doesn't own Poke'mon. She wishes that she did.

White Pony: I sure do!

Chapter Nine: Trouble with Charmander

After defeating a Rocket, Jessica recieved a Technical Machine that teaches Dig. Then the Rocket magically disappeared.

"That was weird." said Rita.

"Pi, Pikachu." (Yeah, it sure was.) Agreed Purge.

"Rita! I can't get this DVD to play!" Jessica whined. She had placed the Technical Machine compact disc into a DVD player that had materialized out of nowhere.

Purge and Rita face faulted. Rita went over to Jessica and placed a hand on her shoulder while trying to keep herself from yelling.

"Jessica... that's not a DVD... that's a Technical Machine..." Rita explained slowly.

Jessica had a blank expression on her face as a strand of saliva dripped from her mouth. Rita slapped her forehead and Purge groaned.

"Technical Machines are TM's for short." Rita began.

"TM? Like the copyrighting label?" asked Jessica.

"...No..." Rita replied.

"Oh." Purge shook her head slowly in disapproval.

"TM's are used to teach new attacks to Poke'mon."

"That's cool!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Yes, it is."

"Hey, Purge, wanna learn a new attack?" Jessica bent over to her Pikachu, who nodded happily.

"Pi!" (Yeah!)

"Okay!" Jessica held the TM to Purge's head and in a few seconds, Purge learned Dig.

"An electric Poke'mon that knows a ground attack," Rita mused, "Very unique."

Jessica, Purge, and Rita traveled south and made a stop at a Daycare ran by an old gentleman.

"Hello, I run a Daycare Center. I can raise a Poke'mon for you. Would you like me to raise one?" asked the Daycare man.

"Sure! Why not?" Jessica handed the Daycare man a Poke'ball.

"Hooray! Now my life isn't meaningless anymore!" he shouted happily.

"Take good care of Koi!" Jessica skipped out of the Daycare and Rita and Purge followed her.

"Koi? Who is Koi?" asked Rita.

"My Magicarp." replied Jessica, "I bought him at the Poke'mon Center near Mt. Moon."

"YOU ACTUALLY BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE THINGS!" Jessica crouched in fear and surprise, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I dunno."

"Pikachu." (Idiot.)

They eventually went through an underground path with cheery and bouncy music in the background.

"Where did the happy music go?" Jessica asked Rita.

"We left the underground path." Rita replied, trying to control her frustration.

Jessica looked around, "So we have!"

"This is a nice grassy area. An ideal spot for training."

"Pikachu." (Good idea.) Purge nodded.

"Alrighty then! Shetan, come out!" Jessica released her Charmander to begin his training.

"Charmander." (Fresh air.) Shetan turned his head to look back at his trainer, but caught sight of the flame on his tail, "CHAR!" (FIRE!) Shetan screamed frantically.

"Pika!" (Shetan!) Purge cried.

"Shetan!" Rita cried also.

"Shetan!" Jessica joined in.

"Pikachu!" (Jessica!)

"Purge!" cried Jessica.

"Jessica!" Rita yelled.

"Rita!" cried Jessica.

"Pika!" (Rita!)

"Purge!" yelled Rita.

"Monkey!" Jessica yelled happily.

Everyone was silent, even Shetan.

"...Okaaaay..." said Rita.

Jessica knelt to Shetan, "Shetan, what's wrong?"

"Charmander Char?" (Is the fire gone?)

"Pi Pika?" (What fire?)

"Mander Char." (I saw a fire.)

Purge decided not to mention the flame on Shetan's tail. For it might ruin him and make him untrainable if he knew that there would always be a flame burning at the end of his tail. Purge learned that Shetan has pyrophobia, fear of fire. She looked to the two humans and wondered if they were smart enough to figure it out. Right on cue, Rita spoke up.

"I know what's up with Shetan."

"What?" asked Jessica.

"He's a pyrophobic."

"A what?"

"Pyrophobic." Rita repeated.

" I heard you, but what is a pyrocibohp?"

"A pyrophobic is someone who is afraid of fire."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!) Shetan ran around until Purge calmed him down.

"So Shetan is afraid of fire?"

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"Yes, Shetan is afraid of fire."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"What does that have to do with training?"

Rita groaned in frustration, "Shetan is a fire..."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"...type Poke'mon that posses fire..."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"...attacks, so that creates a serious problem."

"Wow... a fire..."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"...Poke'mon that is afraid of fire."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"I think we should stop saying 'fire'..."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"...because everytime we say 'fire'..."

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"...Shetan yells like that." said Rita.

"Shetan will yell like that every time we say 'fire'?"

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"Yes! Stop saying 'fire'!" Rita yelled, then she realized what she said.

"CHAR!" (FIRE!)

"SHETAN, STOP!" Rita roared. Shetan quieted instantly.

"Don't yell at Shetan, Rita!" Jessica yelled at Rita.

"Sorry, but I had to get Shetan's attention!"

"Oh, okay."

"Shetan... just because someone says... 'fire'..." Shetan winced at the word, "...it doesn't mean that there is a fire."

Again, Shetan winced and turned to Purge, "Char?" (Purge?)

Purge nodded, "Pi Pika Pi Pikachu Pika Pikachu." (You don't have to worry whenever someone talks about fire.)

Shetan nodded, showing that he understood.

"How are we going to train Shetan, Rita?" Jessica asked.

"We?" Rita scoffed, "Shetan is your Poke'mon, so it's your problem and only for you to figure out how to train him."

"Oh, alright." Jessica turned to her faithful Pikachu, "Want to help me train Shetan, Purge?"

"Chu, Pi Pikachu Chu Pikachu." (No, I am merely a Poke'mon myself.)

"Thanks, Purge!" Jessica happily thanked her Pikachu and turned to Shetan.

"Pika? Pika Pi Chu!" (What? I said no!) Purge yelled, but Jessica paid no attention to her.

"Okay, Shetan, see that trainer over there?" Jessica pointed to a Bug Catcher that was chewing on his hat, "We're going to battle him."

"Charmander?" (We are?) Shetan followed his trainer to confront the Bug Catcher.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted at the Bug Catcher.

The Bug Catcher screamed like a girl and hid his chewed up hat, "What the?"

"Will you battle with me?"

"Never!" the Bug Catcher declared.

"Thanks!" Jessica cried happily, "Go, Shetan!"

Shetan leaped forward to challenge any Poke'mon the Bug Catcher might send out.

"But!... I!... Oh!...Fine! Go, Caterpie!" the Bug Catcher sent out a Caterpie.

"Shetan, Ember!" Shetan's flaming tail sent out many embers that rained upon the Caterpie.

"CHAR!" (FIRE!) Shetan caught sight of his tail and again, tried to run away from it.

"Pikachu." (Not again.) Purge sighed.

The Bug Catcher sweatdropped, "What's the matter with your Poke'mon? It's as if its afraid of its own tail."

"No kidding." said Rita.

Suddenly, a light bulb flashed above Jessica's head, "Hang on! I have an idea!"

Everyone around them gasped, including the flowers that suddenly gained faces and the ability to articulate.

"Come here, Shetan." Jessica ordered and Shetan obeyed. She pulled something out of her bag and strapped it on Shetan's head. Jessica stepped aside for all to see. She had put blinkers on Shetan so he could only see in front of him.

"Pi..." (What..)

"The..." said Rita.

"Heck?" The Bug Catcher finished.

"Blinkers!" Jessica happily replied.

The Caterpie hadn't been knocked out just yet.

"Tackle!" The Bug Catcher commanded. Shetan's speed wasn't high enough to avoid the attack.

"Shetan, finish it off with Scratch!"

"Charmander!" (Hurrah!) Shetan roared as he finished off the Caterpie. The Bug Catcher withdrew Caterpie and sent out a Weedle.

"Shetan, Ember!" Jessica sang.

"Char!" (Roar!) Shetan spun around and fired his attack and thanks to the blinkers, he didn't see his fiery tail. He also didn't see his opponent being singed by the embers because he faced the opposite direction when he stopped spinning. Shetan had used a fire attack without even seeing it.

"Pikachu!" (He did it!) Purge cheered.

"It worked!" Jessica rejoiced.

"I don't believe it. Her weird idea actually worked," Rita said to herself, "She just might become something after all."