"Electabuzz! That's awesome!" Ash cheers, his partner Pokemon on his shoulder adding a noise of approval himself. Ash gives Casey a confident smile, "At this rate of training, you and your Pokemon will win your second Gym Badge without a doubt!"
"Thanks, Ash, but don't forget, that goes for the both of us!" Casey smiles. Elekid's evolution has given her a new streak of confidence, similar to that she's felt during her past travels when her previous Pokemon evolved. Using that confidence, she feels that she can easily take down the Eterna City Gym Leader. As long as she has faith in herself and her Pokemon, she can't lose.
And she knows that for a fact.
Casey, Ash and Dawn walk through the tranquil valley silently. Brock walks alongside them, hugging his new Pokemon egg tightly and cooing affectionally at it. After parting ways with Gardenia in Eterna Forest, the group stopped off at a Pokemon Dress-Up Contest, which involves Pokemon imitating other Pokemon in the hopes of winning a Grand Prize. Brock just so happened to win that Grand Prize with Croagunk, which just so happened to be the Pokemon egg he's holding onto so tightly. He's been infatuated with it ever since he got it.
Casey grew up around a man who loves to take care of Pokemon, and even she still finds Brock's obsession with the egg to be a bit much. But, then again, if it makes him happy, there's not much to complain about. It's like how Pokemon Battles make her and Ash happy whilst, at the same time, Pokemon Contests make Dawn happy. Everybody just has that one thing they love to do, and Brock's is to look after Pokemon.
"Zigzagoon! Everything's gonna be alright!"
Casey's attention is drawn away from Brock as a rugged looking man, who appears to be some kind of fisherman, rushes towards them, looking fretfully at the Zigazoon in his arms. The Tiny Racoon Pokemon's been knocked out cold!
"Excuse me, what happened?"
The man pauses abruptly when he notices Casey and the others, the fretful expression remaining on his face as he gives his explanation, "This powerful Buizel showed up out of nowhere while I was fishing in the river back there! It dragged away my fishing rod and my Zigzagoon got knocked out! That thing sure was scary!"
"It sure does sound that way."
"Anyway, I've gotta go, but I wouldn't go fishing if I were you."
"I've gotta check out that Buizel! Come on guys! Let's go fishing!"
Ah, that's perfect!
Casey sits back on a small rock on the edge of the river with a smile. She's just finished setting up her fishing rod and she's rather impressed with her handiwork. She used to go fishing sometimes with her grandfather when she was younger but, of course, she was never allowed to keep any of the Pokemon that she reeled in because she was too young. She actually caught a really cool Pokemon one time and she's been meaning to catch that Pokemon again on her travels, but she just hasn't got around to it yet. She has a feeling that the Pokemon she's looking for may be in the river, so she figured she may as well try and find it.
She's set up slightly further downstream than the others, but not too far that she can't see them. She's not overly interested in this rumoured overpowered Buizel, so its not as if she has to worry about competing against the others to try and catch it. Besides, fishing is supposed to be a peaceful activity, and she has a feeling that its only a matter of time until that peace gets interrupted, especially around Ash and Dawn.
"Come on, Ash!"
It turns out that Casey was right about a disturbance in the peace. She looks to her left and sees that Ash and Dawn are arguing with each other, the latter of the two reaching for something in the formers hand. Casey begins to stand up from the rock that she's sat on with the intention of walking over and breaking up the fight, but she pauses when she sees an unfamiliar girl with red hair walk up to Ash, Brock and Dawn. The girls arrival makes Dawn stop arguing with Ash instantly, and Casey watches from a distance as her friends engage in a conversation with the girl.
"Hey, Casey! Come over here!" Dawn calls over to her.
Casey figures that she might as well listen to Dawn's request and go and introduce herself. She walks down the riverside and over to her friends, smiling over at the redheaded girl as Dawn introduces her.
"This is Zoey. She's the Coordinator that Kenny mentioned. She was the one who beat me back at the Jubilife Contest."
"It's nice to meet you, Casey." Zoey says as she extends her hand out to Casey.
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." Casey smiles politely over at Zoey as she shakes her hand in greeting, "So, are you here for some fishing like us? We came because we heard there was a really powerful Buizel here."
"Really? It sounds pretty cool." Zoey replies, her attention suddenly drawn to the river, "Somebody's got a bite!"
Casey turns towards the river and notices that one of the fishing rods is shaking violently, signifying that a Pokemon is latching onto it from beneath the water. The fishing rod turns out to be Dawn's; the bluenette rushes over to the river and pulls at the fishing rod, just barely managing to reel in the Pokemon tugging at it.
They're all excited and rather stunned that none other than the infamous overpowered Buizel leaps up out of the water, landing on the river bank with a loud battle cry. Casey's never actually seen a Buizel before, so she takes the opportunity to scan its data into her Pokedex.
"Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokémon. It stores air in the sacs on its neck and uses them as flotation devices, and swims by spinning its two tails like a propeller."
Casey pockets her Pokedex and draws her attention back towards the Buizel. She still has no intention in catching it, but she has to admit that the Sea Weasel Pokemon exerts a certain confidence that she finds intriguing.
"Hey, Casey. Is that your fishing rod?"
Casey looks where Zoey is pointing, which just so happens to be behind Buizel further down the riverside where she set up her fishing rod. It looks much like Dawn's fishing rod did a few moments ago, which means only one thing. She's got a bite!
It could be that Pokemon!
Casey begins to rush forwards, excited to see what Pokemon she's caught onto, only to be abruptly stopped by Buizel. The Water-Type Pokemon jumps up into the air as the tips of its tail glows brightly, a cocky expression plastered across its face. It flips around and releases a powerful shock wave right at Casey and the attack makes a direct hit, sending her flying back instantly. She lands with a thud on the rocky ground just in front of the others, her back searing in pain upon impact.
"Casey!" Ash and Dawn are quick to help their friend up, all of them looking at her in concern, "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Casey winces as she straightens herself out, turning her attention back to Buizel with an intense, "What did you go and do that for?!"
"Bui-Bui!"
"I think Buizel wants to have a battle." Brock remarks.
Casey supposes that makes sense, but it still doesn't explain why Buizel attacked her. Maybe it just wants them all to watch it battle. Regardless, Casey's got to admit that the Sea Weasel Pokemon's sure got a lot of determination.
"If Buizel wants a battle, then we'll give it one!" Dawn reaches for one of her Pokeballs and throws it out in front of her enthusiastically, "Go, Piplup!"
Piplup appears in a flash of bright light in front of Buizel, whos excitement seems to increase at the sight of the small Penguin Pokemon. Casey's interested to see how this'll play out, what with it being a battle between two Water-Types.
"Alright, Piplup, use Peck!"
Piplup's beak glows brightly as it charges towards Buizel, who easily dodges the attack, its confident expression growing by the second. Dawn next orders Piplup to use Bubblebeam, but Buizel blocks it by countering with Water Gun; both attacks diffuse when coming into contact with each other, leaving small, shimmering water droplets to rain down on the battlefield briefly.
That'd be an awesome combination for Dawn to use in a contest!
"Now, Bubblebeam, once more!"
A stream of bubbles race towards Buizel for the second time. Casey expects it to counter by using Water Gun like before, but Buizel decides to take a different approach and uses Aqua Jet instead. Its entire body is suddenly surrounded by what resembles a barrier of water and it charges right at Piplup, tackling the Penguin Pokemon and rendering it unable to battle.
All it took was one direct hit! That Buizel really is strong!
Dawn rushes over to Piplup and lifts her injured Pokemon up into her arms, muttering concerned words as she does. Buizel soon forgets about Dawn and moves onto its next challenger, aiming a taunting gesture over at Zoey. That's who it wants to battle next.
"Buizel wants to take me on now?" Zoey seems surprised at Buizels request, but she reaches for a Pokeball and tosses it out nonetheless, "Alright! Glameow, curtain!"
Zoey's Glameow emerges from its Pokeball with a loud purring noise. It makes perfect sense to Casey why Zoey has a Glameow. It seems like the ideal kind of Pokemon to take part in Pokemon Contests. It has such an elegant demeanour.
"Glameow, jump up!"
Glameow obeys Zoey's command and uses its tail to propel itself high up into the air. Buizel seems to get the same idea and jumps up itself, much to everybody's surprise. It's normal for a trained Pokemon to be this skilled, but a wild Pokemon? That doesn't happen often.
"Now, Shadow Claw!"
A black and purple aura surrounds Glameow's paw as it prepares to slash Buizel with the powerful Ghost-Type move. Buizel counters the attack with Aqua Jet and the two Pokemon smash into each other head on, the Sea Weasel Pokemon ultimately overpowering Glameow. Glameow slams down onto the ground, completely knocked out by Aqua Jet, as Buizel lands comfortably back on its side of the battlefield, already preparing to attack again.
"Buizel, stop it!"
Buizel doesn't listen and instead continues to charge out its Aqua Jet attack, which only angers Casey further. It's already beat Glameow, so why does it need to attack it again? Casey's not about to let that happen.
"Electabuzz, come out and defend Glameow!"
She throws Electabuzz's Pokeball out onto the battlefield and the recently evolved Electric Pokemon appears in a bright flash. It surges forwards and in front of Glameow as Buizel's Aqua Jet approaches, holding its defensive stance and stopping Buizel dead in its tracks. This seems to catch Buizel off guard (its probably not used to anybody stopping it from doing what it chooses to), but the Sea Weasel Pokemon soon jumps out of range and to safety.
"Thanks for that, Casey." Zoey says, walking over to her Glameow and lifting her injured partner Pokemon up into her arms, "You really helped Glameow there."
Casey smiles over at Zoey, saying that it was no problem. She thanks Electabuzz for his help and returns him to his Pokeball before turning to Ash, flashing a smile over in his direction, "Why don't you give it a shot, Ash?"
"Sure!" Ash replies enthusiastically. He glances over at Pikachu, who is situated on his shoulder as per usual, "You ready to go, buddy?"
Pikachu jumps off of Ash's shoulder with a cry of approval, the electricity crackling at its cheeks as it stares down Buizel from the other side of the battlefield. Pikachu's ready to show Buizel just how strong it is.
"Now, Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
Buizel jumps out of the way just before Pikachu's super effective attack reaches it, but Ash is quick to counter its dodge, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu races towards Buizel at breakneck speed, who tries to hold it off by using Sonic Boom. Pikachu dodges its attempt and leaps up towards Buizel as it reaches it, but Buizel manages to dodge once again by jumping up. It seems that Ash has planned for this though, as he gives a split-second command to Pikachu for it to use Iron Tail. Even though the attack isn't as effective as its Electric-Type attack, Iron Tail still makes a direct hit and sends Buizel tumbling to the ground. It seems to have caused a significant amount of damage to the overconfident Water-Type Pokemon.
Despite the damage, Buizel does manage to get back up again, much to everybodys surprise.
How is it so powerful?!
"Now, Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"
Casey smirks as golden electricity surrounds Pikachu's body. If Pikachu can land this attack, Buizel will surely be down for the count. That'll give Ash the perfect opportunity to catch Buizel, and then this entire fiasco can be over and done with.
As Pikachu charges towards it, Buizel attempts to stop it with a Water Gun attack, but to no avail. Pikachu slams right into Buizel and sends it flying; Buizel seems to be temporarily immobilised. If Ash is going to catch it, the time is now.
"Alright! Pokeball, let's go!"
Ash throws a new Pokeball at Buizel with gusto. The device pops open and Buizels dematerialises inside of it in a flash of red light. The ball lands back on the ground and begins to shake, everybody waiting in anticipation as it does. Will Buizel break out or stay inside?
"Bui!"
Buizel breaks out of its Pokeball much to everybody's surprise and prepares another Aqua Jet. Ash calls out to Pikachu to be careful but the Electric Mouse Pokemon can't react fast enough and gets hit with Buizels attack, the force of it sending Pikachu spiralling into the nearby river.
"Pikachu! Get out of the water, quick!"
Pikachu calls over to its trainer and begins to swim towards shore, knowing that it can't fight very well if its not on land. Pikachu gets about halfway towards the river bank when Buizel suddenly shoots out of the water in yet another Aqua Jet. It dives down and pushes Pikachu deep underwater, leaving Casey and the others in the dark about what's going on.
Come on, Pikachu! Do something!
Everything is silent for a few moments as Casey and the others wait in anticipation for Pikachu to resurface. The Electric Mouse Pokemon does eventually, but not in the way that you'd think. It comes flying up from underneath the water surface and lands directly on Ash's head, sending him to the ground in an instant. Pikachu's been knocked out cold.
"Wow, even Pikachu got beat!"
That Buizel sure is something! Its power is unbelievable!
"Bui! Bui!"
Casey looks back towards the river when she hears Buizel's voice. The Sea Weasel Pokemon is looking over at them smugly from within the water, holding three fishing rods in its right hand: Dawn's, Ash's and Zoey's. It calls out to them cockily one last time before turning and swimming down the river, taking the fishing rods with it.
"Hey, wait! Come back here, Buizel!" Dawn yells, Buizel completely ignoring her and continuing to swim away anyway, which only frustrates her even more, "So Buizel's a thief too, then?!"
"It must keep the fishing rods of the trainers its defeated as trophies or something."
At the mention of fishing rods Casey suddenly remembers her own fishing rod slightly further upstream, well, to be more precise, she remembers that her fishing rod managed to catch onto something further upstream. She runs as fast as she can over to her fishing rod, the others following close behind, but stops abruptly when she sees what she feared to be the case.
"No! It got away!"
"What got away, Casey?" Ash asks, "What were you looking for?"
"Well, I don't know if it was what I caught onto, but I'm trying to catch a Shellos."
The others look at her in confusion, "A Shellos?"
Casey nods. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her Pokedex, quickly sifting through the data she's collected to find what she has on Shellos. She finds it and extends her Pokedex out to them, "Here it is."
"Shellos, the Sea Slug Pokémon. Shellos's shape and color varies depending on where it lives. Two different varieties have been confirmed in the Sinnoh region."
"You see, I've been meaning to catch a Shellos for a while now, but I haven't had the chance." Casey explains. Her friends still look rather confused, so she's quick to give a more in depth explanation so it becomes clear to them, "When I was a little kid, I used to go fishing with my Grandpa sometimes. One time I reeled in a Shellos and I thought it was such a cool Pokemon, but I had to let it go since I wasn't old enough to have my own Pokemon."
"Couldn't your Grandpa look after it?" Brock asks, "You mentioned that he was a Pokemon Breeder, so he must know how to take care of Pokemon."
Casey shakes her head, "He does, but he was already looking after too many Pokemon from other trainers. I was quite young at the time, and he was still a full-time Pokemon Breeder so we had loads of Pokemon at home. If he took on anymore he wouldn't have been able to cope."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Casey." Dawn says sympathetically, "It must have been hard for you to let that Shellos go."
"It was at first. I was incredibly stubborn about it and was a bit of a brat about it to be honest." Casey says sheepishly, her face tinting red when she thinks about the embarrassing memories of that time, "But then I realised that when I grew up, I could catch a Shellos of my own and train it myself! That's why I really want to catch one, but right now that dream's looking kinda hopeless!"
"Why don't you try searching further downstream?" Zoey suggests. Casey perks up at her words and directs her attention towards the redhead, "All of that fighting with Buizel would've scared other wild Pokemon out of the area, and they'd likely head downstream because there's more space there."
"That's right! Streams become wider the closer they get to the ocean, which just so happens to be towards the bottom end of the stream!" Brock chimes in.
"But, what about that Buizel? Don't you guys want help in getting your fishing rods back?"
"Nah! We'll be fine!" Dawn smiles, "No need to worry! You go and catch a Shellos and we'll go deal with Buizel! We can all meet up again later!"
Casey smiles gratefully over at her friends. She decides to take them up on their offer and begins to make her way downstream, calling back at them as she goes, "I'll see you guys in a bit! Good luck against Buizel!"
She turns back around as they call back to her, wishing her luck in finding a Shellos. Casey appreciates their support, but she doesn't want to rely on luck. She's determined to find a Shellos that she can call her own. It's only a matter of time now.
Casey groans in frustration as she reaches the end of the riverside, the sudden lack of path preventing her from going any further. She's been walking for what feels like hours at this point, and she hasn't had any luck in finding a Shellos. She's seen a couple of cool Pokemon for sure, notably an Octillery and a Finneon that were both quite fast, but neither of them were the Pokemon that she's looking for. She's really determined to catch a Shellos.
Grrr!
Casey's hand instantly moves to her stomach when it growls in hunger. All of that walking must've made her rather hungry, though she hadn't really noticed it until just now. It's probably because she's been so focused on finding a Shellos.
I suppose I could take a quick lunch break before heading back upstream.
Casey decides to follow through on her thoughts. She perches on a nearby rock, similar to the one she sat on further upstream, and moves to take her bag off of her back. She knows that she has a sandwich in there since she saw Brock placing it in there earlier that day. She rummages around the numerous items in her bag before finally finding what she's looking for, pulling said item out of the bag with a smile on her face.
This ought to hit the spot!
She pulls away the plastic wrap from the sandwich and moves to take a bite out of it, but she abruptly pauses when she hears an unfamiliar sound to her left.
"Corp! Corphish!"
Casey places her sandwich down and reaches into her pocket, quickly withdrawing her Pokedex and pointing it over at the foreign Pokemon.
"Corphish, the Ruffian Pokémon. Corphish lives anywhere, adapting to its surroundings, its pincers hold on tightly when it catches prey."
"A Corphish, huh?" Casey murmurs, placing her Pokedex back into her pocket and reaching for her sandwich again, "What's up, Corphish? Are you hungry?"
"Corphish! Corp!"
The Corphish knocks the sandwich out of Casey's hand and starts yelling frantically at Casey, much to the young trainers surprise. Usually she'd be annoyed if somebody, person or Pokemon, did something to sabotage her food, but at the sight of Corphish's frantic cries her anger disappears instantly.
"What's wrong, Corphish?"
Corphish turns around and begins to head into the nearby forest, calling and beckoning for Casey to follow. Despite being slightly skeptical, Casey packs her sandwich back into her bag and slings the bag over her shoulder, standing up from the ground and following the Corphish into the forest.
The Corphish leads Casey through the forest for a good few minutes before they finally reach their destination, which just so happens to be a small rock pool containing a cowering Pokemon that looks very familiar. As soon as Casey notices the Pokemon she kneels down beside the rock pool and shrugs her bag off her shoulder, her eyes going wide when she realises exactly what's wrong with the Pokemon.
It's a Shellos and it appears to be paralyzed. Small sparks are crackling around the Pokemon's body and its letting out small cries of pain to show its discomfort. Casey glances over at the Corphish, who is staring down at the Shellos with concern. It must be Shellos' friend, "Is this why you led me here, Corphish? You're worried about Shellos, aren't you?"
Corphish nods and lets out a cry of agreement, a sad tone evident in its voice. The Ruffian Pokemon is clearly desperate for its friend to get better. Casey wonders how long Shellos has been like this. She doesn't want to think about it; she chooses to act instead of ponder on her thoughts any longer.
"Shellos is going to be just fine, Corphish. I promise." Casey says reassuringly, "All we need to do is find a Cheri Berry to cure its Paralyzis and Shellos will be good to go. Do you reckon that you could help me out with that?"
"Corp! Corphish!" Corphish cries out enthusiastically and nods.
Casey smiles at the Ruffian Pokemon's reaction. She thinks back to what Brock told her about Cheri Berries a while back, specifically where exactly they grow. She remembers him mentioning something about them blooming around flowers, so she figures that she may as well start the search there.
"Corphish, do you happen to know if any flowers bloom near here?" Casey asks. The Ruffian Pokemon nods and points one of its claws to the left, "Do you mind showing me where they bloom?"
Corphish nods and begins to head off in the direction that it motioned in. Casey stands to follow Corphish, but she reaches for her belt and throws it up into the air, Monferno appearing in a flash of bright light, "Monferno, can you keep an eye on Shellos for me until I get back?"
"Mon! Monferno!"
"Thanks, pal. I'll be back soon." Casey smiles at the Playful Pokemon gratefully.
Casey turns around and follows after Corphish further into the forest. The Ruffian Pokemon leads her through a plethora of trees before finally reaching a small flower meadow. There's still trees amongst the various flower patches, but there's nowhere near as many as there is in the rest of the forest. If there's a Cheri Berry in this forest, it'll be here.
"Lets split up and look around, Corphish." Casey says, "This meadow isn't too big, so it shouldn't take us too long to search it all. Keep an eye out for a red berry with a green stem, okay? Let me know if you find anything."
Corphish nods and rushes off to the left side of the meadow, scanning each of the trees for the berry that Casey described.
I guess I'll take the right side, then.
Casey does just that. She heads over to the opposite side of the meadow and begins to search the nearby trees, keeping a close eye out for a Cheri Berry. She looks through the branches of numerous trees but she can only seem to find Chesto Berries, which are no good. Chesto Berries awaken Pokemon, not cure paralysis.
"Corp! Corphish!"
Casey turns around when she hears Corphish call out to her. The Water-Type is rushing towards her at top speed, dropping a Cherri Berry at Casey's feet when it reaches her. Casey smiles at the Ruffian Pokemon as she leans down to pick up the berry and place it safely within her pocket, "This is perfect, Corphish! Thank you!"
Corphish cries out happily as it receives praise, but it's excitement is soon replaced with panic when an intense ray of fire shoots up high above the trees before disappearing, the sky calm once again.
That looked like Monferno's Flamethrower!
Casey wastes no time in rushing back to investigate what's going on. She and Corphish rush out of the meadow and back towards the rock pool, shocked to find a pack of wild Luxray closing in on Shellos and Monferno, the latter of the two standing protectively over the former.
"Monferno!"
The Playful Pokemon looks relieved when it sees Casey approaching, but this relief quickly disappears when one of the Luxray snarls at Casey, making her stop almost instantly. She holds a defensive stance as two of the five Luxray turn towards her, Corphish hiding behind her back leg and shaking in fear. It doesn't take long for Casey to put two and two together, "So these Luxray were the ones who attacked Shellos in the first place!"
The Luxray snarl again as they move closer and closer towards Casey and Corphish, the electricity crackling dangerously at their tails the closer they get. Casey knows what that means: the Luxray are going to launch an attack any moment now.
I've got to stop them!
"Monferno, you keep protecting Shellos, okay?" Casey says, the Playful Pokemon inching closer to Shellos as he raises his guard. Casey looks back to the two Luxray before her, reaching for the other two Pokeballs on her belt and throwing them out in front of her, "Alright, Electabuzz and Dratini, come on out!"
The two Pokemon emerge from their Pokeballs with battle cries, both of them raising their guards at the sight of their opponents. Its a good thing that they did, as one of the Luxray lunges forwards mere moments later, its mouth open wide and its sharp teeth exposed. It's going to use Crunch.
"Electivire, block it and then use Thunder Punch, let's go!"
Electabuzz moves to block the attack from the first Luxray as the second decides to make its move, instead choosing to use Spark when going up against Dratini. It's a good thing that Casey has a counter for that too.
"Dratini, use Dragon Rage to stop Luxray's attack and knock it back!"
Both Dratini and Electabuzz use their counter attacks simultaneously and they both manage to send the Luxray flying backwards, knocking them both out cold easily. Casey smirks at that: it turns out they aren't as tough as they look.
"Monferno!"
Casey draws her attention away from the knocked out Luxray and over to Monferno when he cries out in agony. It seems that whilst he was defending Shellos from the two Luxray in front of him, the third snuck up behind him and attacked him whilst his back was turned. If that's the case, the Luxray don't seem to care about playing dirty in order to get to Shellos.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!"
The two Luxray in front of Monferno turn around to face Casey, bearing their sharp teeth and snarling much like the previous two. These Luxray sure are vicious, to say the least. She's never seen wild Pokemon act this crazy before, and she sure has seen some shocking things on her travels in the past.
It looks like we'll have to deal with these two, as well.
"Alright, Electabuzz, use Hammer Arm and Dratini, you use Dragon Rage again!"
Her Pokemon obey her commands once again and launch their attacks at the Luxray, both of them going down with one hit just like the previous two. These Luxray really aren't that strong, or maybe her Pokemon are just really strong, who knows? Regardless, there's now only one Luxray left, and it seems that Monferno is already dealing with it by using Flamethrower.
The final Luxray cries out as Monferno's Flamethrower burns it, though the attack isn't enough to exactly knock it down. Thankfully, they don't need it to, as help arrives just moments later in the form of Ash and the others. The Luxray notices their arrival and rushes off further into the forest. The other Luxray, who must've regained consciousness at some point, seemingly notice that their leader is leaving, and her quick to stumble off after it. All five Luxray disappear amongst the trees by the time Ash and the others reach Casey, looking at her with both confusion and concern.
"What was that all about?" Ash asks.
"Those Luxray were trying to get to Shellos, but we handled it." Casey turns towards Dratini and Electabuzz with a grateful, pointing their Pokeballs towards them, "Thanks for all your help, you two."
Electabuzz and Dratini cry out happily as they dematerialise into their Pokeballs. Casey smiles down at the Pokeballs in her hands briefly before clipping them back onto her belt, turning her attention back towards what's important. Shellos.
She turns around and heads over to the rock pool, Corphish following closely behind her. She kneels down at the edge of the rock pool, grimacing when she sees Shellos' state. The poor Sea Slug Pokemon isn't fairing too well. Its paralysis seems to be getting worse and worse by the second.
Casey feels the others peering over her shoulder, likely curious as to what exactly is going on. Casey didn't exactly give them a very detailed explanation, but it doesn't take them long to catch on when they see Shellos. She hears Brock gasp, the Pokemon Breeder expressing his concern for the Sea Slug Pokemon, "Shellos is really badly paralysed! We need to find a Cherri Berry, and fast!"
"Corphish already did." Casey reaches into her pocket and pulls out the Cherri Berry that Corphish gave her earlier, holding it up for the others to see, "This is it, isn't it, Brock?"
Brock nods, "That's it. But how did you manage to find one?"
"Corphish led me to a nearby meadow and we found one there, well, Corphish found one." Casey replies, Corphish crying out triumphantly at her declaration.
Casey decides not to waste any more time. She turns back towards Shellos and holds the Cherri Berry out to it, speaking to it in a soft and reassuring voice, "Here, Shellos. Eat this. It'll make you feel much better."
Shellos leans forward as far as it can with its paralysis in effect and takes a small bite out of the red berry; the effects of the berry are almost immediate. The sparks that are crackling around Shellos fade away, and the Sea Slug Pokemon looks much happier. Shellos sits up and looks around, taking in its surroundings for the first time in a while, and it jumps back when it notices Casey and the others.
It must be afraid of us.
"Corphish! Corp!"
Casey glances over at Corphish. The Ruffian Pokemon looks relieved to see that its friend is okay, but it seems that it is doing more than just expressing its relief. It motions over to Casey with its claw as it talks to Shellos, whose fear and skepticism seems to slowly be fading away. Casey glances over at Monferno, hoping that her partner Pokemon can perhaps provide some clarification about the exchange between the two Water-Type Pokemon, but Monferno's attention is instead focused its trainer, an almost...knowing expression on its face.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Monferno?"
Casey doesn't get an answer to that question as her focus is soon drawn away from Monferno when she feels a heavy weight on her head, the force of which sends Casey tumbling down to the ground. She manages to land on her rear and she hears the others laughing at her, a Pokemon's cry following after the laughter.
"Shellos! Shell!"
"I think Shellos likes you, Casey." Dawn says as her laughter dies down, a smile settling on her face.
Casey reaches up to her head and lifts Shellos off of it. She holds the Sea Slug Pokemon and smiles down at it, "Is that true, Shellos?"
Shellos lets out a cry of agreement and nods its head towards Casey's belt, tapping lightly at the Pokeballs resting there. This catches Casey off guard, but it seems that Zoey catches on to what Shellos is trying to say rather quickly.
"I think that Shellos wants to go with you, Casey." Casey turns around and looks at the Coordinator in surprise, "You did help it out, after all. It makes sense, if you ask me."
Casey turns back to Shellos and studies the Pokemon's expression momentarily, "Is that true, Shellos?"
Shellos nods enthusiastically and motions towards the Pokeballs once again, clearly eager to have one to call its own. Casey reaches to grab a new Pokeball to do just that, holding it out in front of Shellos and smiling down at the Sea Slug Pokemon, "Ready, Shellos?"
"Shell!"
Shellos taps the front of the Pokeball and opens up the small capturing device. Shellos dematerialises inside of the Pokeball in the flash of red light, the device shaking once before letting out a quiet clicking sound, signifying that Shellos has been caught. Casey stands up and smiles triumphantly down at the Pokeball in her hand.
I did it! I caught a Shellos!
"It looks like we've got another new Pokemon in our little family." Brock says.
Casey turns around and looks at her friends. It doesn't take long for her to put two and two together, "You guys caught Buizel? Which one of you caught it?"
Casey ends up spending the next thirty minutes or so just talking to her friends, hearing about how Dawn managed to catch the overpowered Sea Weasel Pokemon and telling them about how she helped out Shellos, all the while content with knowing that she achieved what she set out to do so long ago.
She finally caught a Shellos.
