Episode 109: Hour of the Houndour
A few days had passed since Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine made an unforgettable stop to the Ruins of Alph. Sora and Kairi had caught both Omanyte and Kabuto. Since then, things have been quite for the most part.
Sora had been challenged by a young male Pokémon trainer.
"What do you say that we have ourselves a match?" The boy challenged. "You game?"
"I'm game!" Sora said accepting his challenge.
"Thought so!" The boy said taking out a Pokéball and threw it. "Go for it Kadabra!" The Pokéball opens and lets out a Kadabra.
"Time to test your might! Kabuto!" Sora said taking out a Pokéball and threw it to let out Kabuto. Sora's opponent was amazed by the sight of the prehistoric Pokémon in front of him.
"No way! You got a Kabuto! Those have been extinct for a very long time! How did you get one of those?!" The exclaimed.
"I have my own secret," Sora said.
"Secret or not, your Kabuto is going down! Kadabra! Fire Psybeam!" The boy ordered. Kadabra fired Psybeam towards the shellfish Pokémon.
"Kabuto! Dodge and use Mud Shot!" Sora ordered. Kabuto fired a ball of mud towards the Psychic Type Pokémon. The mud ball was getting closer to Kadabra, but the boy had a counter measure.
"Kadabra! Block it with Confusion!" The boy ordered. Kadabra blocked Kabuto's Mud Shot with its psychic powers and sent it back to its owner.
"Block it with Bubble Beam!" Sora ordered. Kabuto fired Bubble Beam blocking out his own attack. "Now use Ancient Power!" Kabuto creates silver rocks and sends the Rock Type attack towards Kadabra. It tries to block the rocks with its psychic powers, but the rocks came too fast and Kadabra was almost knocked out.
"Recover!" The boy ordered. Kadabra recovered from its injuries. Sora figured it wasn't going to be easy. "Now use Psybeam!" Kadabra fired Psybeam right towards the prehistoric Pokémon.
"Kabuto! Dodge it!" Sora called out. Kabuto does dodge the attack by ducking out of the way before the attack could strike. Kabuto crawls along to the ground as Kadabra fires Psybeam again and again. Kabuto came into striking range of the psi Pokémon. "Bubble Beam!" Kabuto fired Bubble Beam hitting Kadabra hard. "Now finish it with Scratch!" Kabuto gave Kadabra one more scratch finish it off.
"Aah! My Kadabra!" The boy screamed. He calls back his fallen Kadabra. "That was a great your Kabuto put up." He took out another Pokéball. "Go for it Haunter!" He threw his Pokéball letting out his Haunter. Unlike Sora's Haunter, it looked less mischievous.
Sora pulls out Kabuto's Pokéball and calls back his Kabuto, "Come on back, Kabuto." He pulls out another Pokéball and threw it. "It's your turn Totodile!" Totodile gave a little dance upon making an entrance.
"Haunter! Start up with Lick!" The boy ordered. Haunter moved in to give Totodile a lick.
"Totodile! Dodge it!" Sora called out. Totodile managed to dodge the ghost Pokémon.
"Grab Totodile and try again!!" The boy ordered as Haunter grabs Totodile and gives him a lick paralyzing him in the process. "Now finish it off with Energy Ball!" Haunter forms a ball of pure energy. Totodile was knocked out.
"Totodile!" Sora called out picking up his Totodile. "You okay there, Totodile?"
"Toto," Totodile nodded.
"Don't worry about it. You'll do better next time," Sora said kindly calling him back. Sora's opponent calls back his Haunter to its Pokéball.
"Not bad. Now it's time to you deal with my final Pokémon," the boy said taking out his Pokéball. "Go for it, Psyduck!" He threw his Pokéball letting out his Psyduck.
"Psyduck."
"That looks like a tough Psyduck. Just like that one girl, Marina's Psyduck," Kiawe pointed out.
"You know it," Mallow said.
"It's pretty different from the Psyduck Sora used to have just before evolving during the Indigo Plateau," Lillie remembered. "Let's see how tough this Psyduck is." Sora looked over to Pikachu.
"Okay Pikachu! Go!" Sora said to his partner.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded entering the battle. sparks emits from his red cheeks ready to battle the duck Pokémon.
"So it's a Pikachu against my Psyduck. I like the way you think," the boy said. "Using Pokémon that has an advantage over mine just makes the battle even more fun. Psyduck! Fury Swipes!" Psyduck moved in to deliver Fury Swipes onto Pikachu. Luckily, he remembered Bailey's dancing practice.
"Pikachu! Dodge it! Use Bailey's moves!" Sora called out. Pikachu nodded as Psyduck swiped its claws at the yellow mouse Pokémon.
"Psyduck! Use Signal Beam! Psyduck fires Signal Beam right towards Pikachu, but it hits the ground in front of him sending him up in the air.
"Pikachu! Fire Electro Ball!" Sora called out. Pikachu flipped around as he formed Electro Ball and sends out Electro Ball right towards the Water Type.
"Psyduck! Water Pulse!" The boy ordered. Psyduck formed a ball of water and sends it towards Pikachu's Electro Ball, but it gets passed Water Pulse and hits Psyduck. Water Pulse headd towards Pikachu as he heads back to the ground.
"Cut that Water Pulse with Iron Tail!" Sora called out. Pikachu sliced through Water Pulse like a melon as the water splits up. "Now use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu sends Thunderbolt right at Psyduck shocking it. The duck Pokémon rolls towards its trainer knocked out from the attack.
"Psyduck! You alright?" The boy asked.
"Psy-y-y-y," Psyduck responded.
"You did your best," the boy said taking out Psyduck's Pokéball. "You should rest up." He calls his Psyduck back. Sora approached his opponent smiling.
"That was a great battle. You raised your Pokémon right," Sora said to his opponent.
"Yeah. You two. I honestly thought I had you there," the boy admitted.
"I did too," Sora said.
The two trainers shook hands and went their separate ways.
A few hours later, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine all made a stop for some lunch.
"It was a good thing we made a stop at that bakery on the road," Sophocles said.
"The bread we bought will make the soup Kairi will make for lunch will make it even more enjoyable," Mallow beamed.
"It sure will!" Lillie agreed.
Everyone had set up to get ready for some lunch. Not too far away, Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, Tommy, Zoe, JP, Mime Jr., and Munchlax made their own stop for lunch as well. They took out some hot dogs to cook up. Munchlax was taking a little nap before lunch.
"Man, these hot dogs are going to be the best we ever had made," Tommy said.
"Especially with all the sauces we brought," JP added.
Unknown to the group, a few Houndour had come and took all the food the kids had. One of them sniffed JP's backpack and saw the contents were all chocolate bars. The Houndour took some of them as a few more had come and took the candy.
"Now that everything is set up, we can get started on those hot dogs," Takuya said.
"And about time too," JP said drooling.
Zoe and Tommy went over to where the food was and saw the mess.
"Oh no! Our food!" Zoe exclaimed.
"It's all gone!" Tommy also exclaimed.
"What do you mean it's all gone?" Koji asked.
Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, and JP walked over to the two of them saw what they meant. Mime Jr. even came to the scene and saw the mess.
"What happened?" Takuya asked.
"What could have taken our food?" JP asked frowing.
"More like who could have taken our food," Koji said glaring at Munchlax. Takuya, Tommy, Zoe, and JP started to look at Munchlax sleeping soundly. Mime Jr. marched to Munchlax and gave him a conk on the head.
"MUNCH!" Munchlax cried out in pain.
"Mime, Mime Jr., Mime!" Mime Jr. scolded.
"Is it time for lunch yet?" - Munchlax subtitle.
"It dosen't look like it because you ate our food!" - Mime Jr. subtitle.
"What are you talking about? I was asleep the whole time we were here." - Munchlax subtitle.
"You might have been sleep eating! I seen that before!" - Mime Jr. subtitle.
"I swear, I don't know what you're talking about!" - Munchlax subtitle.
"I just can't believe you, Munchlax!" Zoe said.
"Not the first time you did something like this!" Takuya said.
Kouichi called out, "I don't think it was Munchlax that ate our food."
The five other kids just looked at him as he was looking at something on the ground.
"What do you mean it wasn't Munchlax?" Koji asked.
"Look," Kouichi said pointing to the paw prints on the soil. They went over to Kouichi and saw the paw prints. "And judging by the paw prints, there's more than one."
"There's no way Munchlax would do this on his own," Zoe pointed out.
"And if it wasn't Munchlax, then what did this?" JP asked.
"I'm not really sure," Kouichi said.
The six kids looked over to Munchlax with Mime Jr. still scolding Munchlax for his gluttony. They went over to the two Pokémon.
"Sorry for accusing you, Munchlax," Takuya apologized.
"We shouldn't have jumped into conclusions," Zoe said.
"That was my bad, Munchlax," Koji said.
Mime Jr. ends up rubbing the back of his head similar to the way Sora does it.
"Sorry about that. Just jumped on board when fingers were pointing at you." - Mime Jr. subtitle.
"You can't believe every little thing you hear about a Munchlax like me." - Munchlax subtitle.
"We better follow the prints," Tommy suggested.
"Good idea, Tommy. We can learn who's the culprit just by following the trail," Takuya said.
The rest of the kids and the two Pokémon followed the footprints in the dirt to find out what took the food.
Over to Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine, they were setting up for lunch, so Sora had left to get fetch some water for the soup. Sora had set the bread in his backpack before he did.
"Toge, Toge!'Togepi chirped getting hungry.
"Are you hungry, Togepi?" Kairi asked. "Don't worry, baby. We'll eat soon enough. Just as soon as Sora and Pikachu comes back with the water." Kairi and the Alolan nine were distracted while a lone Houndour quietly made its way to the group and grabbed the backapack and took off.
"I'm back," Sora announced. "And brought the water."
"Pika, Pika," Pikachu said.
"Great!" Hapu said.
"So where's the bread?" Acerola asked.
"I put in my backpack before I took off," Sora said. He walked over to the spot where his backpack used to be. "Hey! Where is it?"
"Where's what?" Sophocles asked.
"My packpack. That's where I put the bread. And I put it right here," Sora said. Mallow looked over to Kiawe.
"You didn't move it by any chance did you?" Mallow asked.
"No," Kiawe said.
"Did anyone?" Mallow asked.
"I didn't," Lillie said.
"Don't look at me," Sophocles said.
"I didn't touch it," Acerola said.
"Neither did I," Lana said.
"Me neither," Mina said.
"I haven't seen it since Sora took off," Illima said.
"You sure you didn't just misplace it?" Hapu asked.
"Very sure. I've been so very careful with it too," Sora said.
"Pikachu."
"What could be in your backpack that's even worth stealing?" Lillie asked.
"It can't be my badges, my Pokéballs or my Pokédex, because I had those in my pocket as always," Sora said.
"So, that couldn't be it," Kairi said. "You don't think it could be the bread, right?"
"That might be it," Illima sad stroking his chin. "It could just be a hungry thief."
"The only hungry thieves we could know is Team Rocket," Hapu pointed out. She glances at the spot where Sora had his backpack and noticed something heading away from the scene. "Hey! a Pokémon footprint!"
"Whatever left that footprint must have taken my backpack," Sora guessed.
"I think you're right about that, Sora," Hapu said.
"What kind of Pokémon do you think it was," Kairi asked.
"I think it has to be a canine Pokémon that left it behind," Lillie said.
"Let's track it down and find my backpack," Sora said. "And I'm going to get it no matter what."
"Pika," Pikachu seconded that statement.
Meanwhile at a nearby city Nurse Joy and a Chansey are walking down the street carrying their groceries when they spotted an ice cream truck. What caught the nurse's eye was the advertisement of a new ice cream flavor.
"Sea-salt, huh? That sounds quite unusual, but it doesn't mean it dosen't deserve a chance. How aboout we give it a try, Chansey?" Nurse Joy offered.
"Chansey, Chansey!"
"What can I do for you today, miss?" The ice cream man asked.
"I would like two sea-salt ice cram bars please," Nurse Joy said.
"Two sea-salt ice cream, coming right up," the ice cream man said. Nurse Joy set the grocery bag down on a nearby bench and she paid for her purchase.
"I'm so glad that we got our grocery shopping done, aren't you?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Chansey!" Chansey nodded.
Unknown to anyone, Team Rocket were close by and they gazed at the ham sitting in the bag.
"Lunch time," James drooled.
"It's a whole buffet," Meowth also drooled. Wobbufett pops out of his own Pokéball once again.
"Wobbufett!" Wobbufett said doing a little pose.
"Meowth wasn't talkning about you!" Jessie said calling Wobbufett back inside his Pokéball. They get started setting up a plan to swipe the ham from the unsuspecting nurse and Chansey.
"Here you go. Two sea-salt ice cream bars. And are you in luck, because this flavor is all the range," the ice cream man said.
Chansey beamed, "Chansey!"
Once they were one hundred percent distracted, James had tied Meowth at the end of a fishing line.
"Alright! I'll do the angling, and Meowth can do the dangling!" James said in a pun. James lowered Meowth in arm's reach of the ham.
"I got it, guys," Meowth said as he grabbed the ham.
"Good work, James!" Jessie complemented.
"Thanks. I always found rods, reels, and tackle to be quite alluring!" James said with another pun.
"Time to say ciao to your chow," Meowth said with James reeling Meowth in. Nurse Joy and Chansey got finished eating the sea-salt ice cream and they both found it to their likking.
"This is very good. So salty, yet so sweet," Nurse Joy said. "I think we'll order this again sometime."
"Chansey!" Chansey nodded.
"Now let's get our groceries back to the Pokémon Center and-" Nurse Joy stopped her sentence and gasped. "What happened to the ham?" She looked at the bag and the only thing Team Rocket didn't take were the vegetables. "Where could it be, Chansey?"
"Chansey," Chansey shrugged.
Over to a back alley Team Rocket were unwrapping the ham unaware of a Houndour watching them to take what they took
James shrieked with delight, "She fell for that one hook, line and stinker!"
"Yeah. And for once I was happy to put myself on the line for Team Rocket!" Meowth said in a chuckle.
"And without further adieu, I present you the catch of the day!" Jessie said taking the ham out from the wrapper. "Ta-da!" Jessie said holding the pork product in her hand.
"It looks beautifil," James said with his mouth drooling.
"It looks delicious!" Meowth also said with his mouth drooling as well. Meowth jumped to the ham to take a bite only for Jessie to swing the cat Pokémon off.
"Hey wait a minute! Just where do you get off my ham!" Jessie barked.
"Your ham?! You mean our ham!" James argued. Team Rocket ends up going into a brawl over the ham. The ham rolls away from them. Houndour took advantage of the discord and took off with the ham. Wobbufett had poppoed out of his Pokéball during the commotion. "Does anyone know where the ham is?"
"Wob," Wobbufett said.
They turn to Wobbufett and they already had a suspect.
"Hey, I know where!" Meowth said jumping on the blue Pokémon. "Wobbufett must have it!" Meowth starts shaking him.
"Wobb, Wobb, Wobbufett, Wobbu!" Wobbufett said shaking his head.
"Come on, Wobbufett! Hork over the pork!" Meowth said shaking Wobbufett. James pushes Meowth off.
"Hold it! Are you saying it wasn't you?" James asked.
"Wobb, Wobb, Wobbufett!" Wobbufett nodded.
"And if you didn't take it then tell us who did!" Jessie demanded.
"I think I hear someone over this way," Nurse Joy said startling Team Rocket.
"Crap! It's that nurse!" Jessie exclaimed.
"Better run!' James said.
"Better hide!" Meowth also said.
"Wobbu!" Wobbufett said before all four of them jumped out of sight when Nurse Joy said coming to the corner.
"I could have sworn there was somebody here," Nurse Joy said before she gasped at the sight of the ham wrapper left behind. "Who'd do something like this?"
Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine saw Nurse Joy in the area and went over to her.
"Nurse Joy!" Sora called out. "It's a good thing that we found you."
"What are you doing back here?" Kairi asked.
"Togepi."
"Are you having some kind of problem?" Sora asked.
"Yes. I only put our grocery bag down and when I turned back around a second later, I saw that my ham was gone. Whoever stole my ham only left this behind," Nurse Joy explained showing them the ham wrapper.
"The same thing happened with me, but the thief just made off with my backpack containing the bread we were gonna have with our lunch," Sora said.
"Oh my!" Nurse Joy said in shock.
Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, Tommy, Zoe, JP, Mime Jr., and Munchlax had shown up a second later and saw eleven familair faces.
"Sora!" Takuya called out as he and his five friends and the two Pokémon run up to them.
"Takuya, hey. No time to talk. We have a backpack theft on our hands," Sora said.
"Did it have any food in it?" Koji asked.
"Yeah it did. Why?" Sora asked.
"The same thing happened with us," JP said. "The thieves took our hot dogs and all of my chocolate bars!"
"You didn't see anyone take it, did you?" Lillie asked.
"No we didn't," Zoe said.
"The same thing happened when someone took the ham I had purchased," Nurse Joy said. Pikachu, Mime Jr., and Munchlax saw footprints leading away from them.
"Pika!" Pikachu called out. The group went over to the three Pokémon saw the same footprints.
"It's the same footprints from before," Kiawe said.
"We saw those before, but there were more than one," Tommy said.
"This one must have been alone," Illima said.
The footprints were leading right into the forest.
"Whatever we're dealing with must have gone into the woods," Lana said.
"We should hurry and catch it before it gets away," Sora said.
"And we're coming with you," Takuya said.
"The more the merrier," Sora said.
The kids and the Pokémon went into the woods to follow the Pokémon that stole the ham.
"Good luck and be careful!" Nurse Joy called out to them.
Team Rocket were listening on the group while they were hiding behind the boxes.
"This is an interesting turn of events," Jessie said.
"Very interesting," Meowth said.
"It seems that the Pokémon who stole from our twerps and those other twerps is also the one who stole the food we stole from Nurse Joy," James said as Wobbuffett pops out of his Pokéball once again.
"Wobbufett!"
"If it had to take something, they could have at least taken this big blue ham," Jessie deadpanned calling Wobbufett back inside. "Now we just have to follow the twerps and they can lead us to that thieving Pokémon."
"Yeah," James seconded it.
"And we'll do a little thieving too," Meowth said.
The kids and the Pokémon followed the footprints to the woods until they reached the graa and that's where the trail goes cold.
"Lost it," Sora said.
"Now we're back to square one," Kiawe said.
"Not exactly," Illima said. Every turned to to the Normal Type trainer confused.
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked.
"I have an idea on how we're going to get the thief or thieves to come to us, since we can't get to them," Illima said.
"So, what's the idea you have in mind?" Acerol asked.
"We can carve some decoys out of some wood and use the direction of the wind to lure them out," Illima explained.
"How are we going to do that?" Kairi asked.
"We'll put the fake food in some boiling water and the smell of the cooking food will lure them out of hiding," Illima said.
The group get everything ready for their trap to work. They waited right through the night. The wind starts blowing and the scent reached the nostrils of the Houndour pack. Clouds covered the moon just as the Houndour pack could get close to the food.
Pikachu's perked as he heard snap of a twig.
"You hear something, Pikachu?" Sora asked as one of the Houndour took the decoy. Sora quickly noticed and chased in even though he couldn't see it. "Got away."
"Perfect," Illima said.
"What do you mean perfect?" Sora asked.
"Yeah. Fill us in," Takuya said.
"The thief has to come back for the real food since making off with fakes," Illima took out some real sausages.
The group heard growling all around them.
"What was that?" Tommy asked feeling afraid.
"I think it's the thieves," Koji said.
"And judging by those growls, they sound very close," Zoe said.
"And they sound very mad," Lana said.
"Come on out and show yourselves," Sora called out. The moonlight reveals to be the Houndour pack. One of them is holding the decoy in its mouth growling with the rest of its comrades. "So it was a pack of Houndour."
"You were right about to be canine Pokémon afterall," Hapu said. The Houndour tossed the decoy back to the group.
"Maybe giving them fake food wasn't a good plan afterall," Illima said.
"I'm having the exact same thought," Sora said. He looked at a ledge and sw a Houndour looking down at them and growling at them. "Guys! Up there!" They all saw the Houndour they were looking at. This Houndour had a scar on its right eye and a scar on the left side of its head.
"Another one?" JP asked.
"That one must be the alpha," Lillie pointed out.
"Give me back my backpack!" Sora called out to the alpha. The alpha barked an order and the pack attacked the group. "Okay, if you wanna do this the hard way, then let's do this the hard way!" He took out two Pokéballs for the occasion. "Totodile! Kabuto! Go!" Sora threw the Pokéballs letting out Totodile who did a little dance upon making an entry. Kairi placed Togepi in her backpack and took out a Pokéball and her Fast Ball and threw them in the air.
"Omanyte! Rattata! Go!" Kairi said letting out two of her newset Pokémon.
"Bewear! Go!" Illima threw his Pokéball letting out his Bewear.
"Go Ponyta!" Lillie said as she threw her Pokéball. Ponyta whinnies upon entry.
"Go for it Gyarados!" Lana said throwing her Dive Ball. Gyarados roars upon entry. Lana also took out a her Net Ball too. "Poliwag! Go!" She threw the Net Ball letting out her Poliwag.
"Hoppip! Go!" Mallow said letting out her Hoppip.
"Go Mareep!" Sophocles said throwing his Pokéball letting out Mareep.
"Marowak! Go!" Kiawe said throwing his Pokéball letting out Marowak who twirls his bone.
"Go Mimikyu!" Acerola said letting her Mimikyu join the battle.
"Go Clefairy!" Mina said letting ouot Clefairy.
"Mudsdale! Go!" Hapu said letting out her Mudsdale who whinnies the same way as Ponyta.
"Not letting you guys have all the fun!" Takuya said taking out his Pokéball. "Aguni! Go!" Takuya threw his Pokéball letting his Charmander join the battle.
"Let's go get 'em!" Sora said.
The Pokémon launched their attack on the Houndour pack. Marowak smacks them with his bone while Mimikyu used Play Rough on a couple of them.
Rattata used Flame Wheel while Omanyte launced Water Gun along with Poliwag on a few of them. One of the Houndour made its way to Ponyta, but Mudsdale saved her just by giving it a Mega Kick on the side. Hoppip floated in the air while a couple of them tried to snatch her with its jaws. Hoppip launches Tackle on the dark Pokémon.
A couple of the Houndour had Gyarados pinned to the ground while Kabuto saved Gyarados with Bubble Beam. A few Houndour had Mudsdale pinned down while Pikachu and Mareep saved her with their electric attacks. It was a good thing that her immunity to electricity is working for them.
Clefairy pounded one them with Meteor Mash to help Mimikyu while Ponyta had Marowak and Aguni riding her back. Marwak fought with Shadow Bone while Aguni fought on with Metal Claw. The pack fought hard as did the human trained Pokémon, but the pack refused to stand down. The alpha looked at Sora with interest and stepped in and ordered the pack to back away.
"Why are they backing away?" Tommy asked.
"I think the alpha wants to have a one-on-one battle with Sora," Kairi said.
"Then it's going to have one," Sora said. "Pikachu! Go!"
"Pika!" Pikachu said with his cheeking sparkling.
The alpha starts up with Flamethrower. Sora wasn't easy to drive away.
"Use your Quick Attack, Pikachu!" Sora called out. Pikachu ran across the grass. Houndour dodges the attack before Pikachu could land a hit. "Houndour's fast." The alpha leaps towards Pikachu to land a bite on the yellow mouse Pokémon. "Pikachu! Look out!"
"Pika?!" Pikachu yelped as Houndour was getting close to land a bite.
"Dodge it! Hurry!" Sora called out. Pikachu manages to dodge before Houndour could land a bite. Houndour fires another Flamethrower. "Pikachu! Jump!" Pikachu jumps out of the way of Houndour's Flamethrower. "Now use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu fires Thunderbolt, but Houndour dodges out of the way. The alpha became tired from the battle. Pikachu was also tired. Suddenly a howl is heard from the distance. The pack let black smoke just so they could get away. Everyone covered their mouths not wanting to breath in the smoke.
"What was that?" JP asked.
"That must be Houndour's Smog attack," Kiawe said.
The group followed the pack wanting to see where it leads them. Over to a cave, a lone Houndour is battling a Golem and was about to attack it when the pack returned just in time growling at the megaton Pokémon. Sora, Kairi, the Alolan nine, Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, Tommy, Zoe, JP, and the Pokémon caught up with the pack and saw what was going on.
"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Sora asked.
"Sure do," Illima said.
"That one Houndour laying down must belong to their pack," JP said.
"I don't think its laying down. I think its just sick," Kiawe said.
"So that's it," Sora said. "They stole the food just so as they could feed their sick friend." The group watched the battle, but it was a losing one for the alpha. Sora seeing enough rushed over to save the alpha just before Golem could crush them both. "That was close. You okay, Houndour?
"Sora! Watch out!" Kairi called out. Sora and Houndour turned just in time to see Golem charge towards them both.
"Kabuto! Bubble Beam!" Sora ordered. The prehistoric Pokémon fired Bubble Beam at the Rock Type making it retreat out of fear of water. Sora and Kairi went over to the sick Houndor and saw some bad signs. "What do you think?"
"The leg is in bad shape. The wound on the leg dosen't look deep, but it's showing signs of affections," Kairi said. "I'll have to clean it out." She took out some Super Potion to use on the wound. The pack growls at the girl. Sora stand in front of her to protect her.
"Back off, Houndour! I promise, we're only trying to help," Sora said to the pack. The alpha just looked at him wondering why he saved it from that Golem. He went over to the wounded Houndour. "It'll sting a bit, but it's going to help your leg heal faster." Sora sprayed the potion on the wound causing it to yelp in pain. The pack growls at the Pokémon trainer. "Calm down!" Sora took out Totodile and Kabuto's Pokéballs and used them to call them back. The alpha was confused by that. The alpha wondered why he would call them back.
"You feeling better?" Kairi asked placing her hand on the Houndour's forehead. "Guys! The fever's getting worse!"
"We have to get it to the Pokémon Center as quick as possible!" Takuya said.
"You're right, Takuya," Sora agreed. He turns to the alpha. "We have to get your friend to the Pokémon Center and fast, because if we don't, it won't live to see tomorrow morning. I know we got off the wrong foot, but it was because we didn't know why you were doing it at first. I promise to get your pack member to the Pokémon Center safely, but I can't do it if you don't trust me to do it. So please." The alpha looked at Sora and saw how serious and determined he is. The alpha saw it in his eyes. Sora lifts Houndour on his back.
"What are you trying to prove?" Hapu asked.
"You can't just carry it to the Pokémon Center," Kouichi said.
"I can if I have to," Sora said. The pack surrounds him and starts barking at him. Sora wasn't afraid and he didn't care if they end up tearing him apart. The alpha barks out and tells the others to stand down. Not daring to question their leader, they moved out of Sora's path. "I'm glad that I gained your trust. I'll be back before you know it."
"Hold it, twerp!' Jessie called out from above. "Don't run away. Prepare for trouble."
"By all means stay and we'll make it double," James said.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Wobbufett!"
"Team Rocket!" Sora, Kairi, and the Alolan nine all said in disgust.
"I would ask if you learned your lesson back at the Slowpoke Well with the rest of your buddies, but I would be asking a pretty dumb question," Sora said bluntly.
"Pika," Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"What will it take for you to get lost? Wait a minute that itself is a dumb question," Sora said making fun of them.
"Stop making fun of us and hand over that Pikachu and all those Houndour!" Jessie said.
"And that ham too," James said.
"So it was you stole that ham and then the Houndour stole it from you," Kairi said. Sweat ran off of Team Rocket.
"Well, sort of," Jessie said.
"Give us Pikachu and the Houndour and keep the ham," Meowth said.
"No way," Sora said.
The pack stands in front of the group and barks to Sora and his friends.
"Uh-oh. Trouble. That Houndour just said you kids take off and we'll take care of these jokers," Meowth translated.
"Well, they obviously never tangoed with the likes of us," Jessie scoffed.
"After that battle you gave us, I don't doubt it," Sora said. "Give them a good roasting." The kids take off with the sickly Houndour.
The pack glared at Team Rocket ready to battle.
"Now let's teach them who the jokers really are! Arbok! Go!" Jessie said throwing her Pokéball letting out Arbok.
"Go Weezing and Victreebel!" James said throwing his two Pokéballs letting out Wezing and Victreebel. But as usual Victreebel chomps on James.
"Let me out! Let me out!" James squealed.
"Arbok! Use Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered. Arbok fired Poison Sting on the canine Pokémon as they dodged.
"Weezing! Use Double Hit! Victreebel! Use LRazor Leaf!" James ordered. Weezing made an attempt to hit one of the Houndour with Double Hit while Victreebel fires Razor Leaf. The Houndour dodged those as well. The Houndour fired Flamethrower. Jessie, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet ducked out of the way, but completely. The humans had their rears on fire while Meowth and Wobbufett had their tails on fire making them retreat.
Sora, Kairi, the Alolan nine, Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, Tommy, Zoe, JP, and the Pokémon ran fast as they could, but ended up getting tired in the process.
"I can't keep going," Zoe said.
"We can't give up," Sora said panting. "We have to keep... going..." Sora panted some more, but the pack managed to catch up to the group. Sora smiled when the alpha came to him. "I knew you would pull through." Sora placed the sickly Houndour on the alpha's back and continued on to the Pokémon Center. "Nurse Joy! Emergency!" Sora yelled out carrying the sickly Houndour in his arms. "This one isn't doing so good."
Nurse Joy did an examination on the Houndour.
"It's burning up with fever! We have to move fast! Get t on the stretcher!" Nurse Joy said. Sora places the sick Houndour on the stretcher. They waited for twenty to thirty minutes. Nurse Joy came out with a smile. "The fever's broken. Houndour is going to okay. It just needs to have a goodnight's sleep."
"That's good news," Sora said. He turns to the alpha. "I told you you had to trust me." The alpha barked in appreciation. Growling is heard from outside. Sora came out to see what the pack were growling at, it turns out to be Riku, Naminé, and Eevee. Naminé holds the egg close to her not wanting them to attack the egg. Eevee stood there defending them both.
"Eev," Eevee said.
"Riku. Naminé," Sora recognized. He stood in front of the pack. "It's okay. They are our friends. You can trust them." Riku was a bit lost by what was going on.
"Sora. Fill me in," Riku said.
The alpha barked and the pack stood down.
"It's a long story," Sora said. When they all went into the Pokémon Center, they explained to the silver-haired trainer and to the blonde about the Houndour stealing food just to help feed their sick friend an about Team Rocket stealing ham from Nurse Joy. Riku wasn't surprised by what he heard.
"It's just like those three," Riku said.
"I know, right?" Sora asked. More growls are heard from outside. "Now what?" Sora and Riku stepped outside and saw their balloon. Team Rocket laughs upon making an entrance.
"You didn't think you get rid of us that easily, did you?" Jessie asked.
"It's payback time for busting up our ham scam," Meowth said.
"Ham scam?" Nurse Joy asked.
"They're the hams who stole your ham," Sora told the nurse. Riku took out a Pokéball and threw it in the air letting out Incineroar.
"Incineroar. Get rid of them. Darkest Lariat!" Riku ordered. Incineroar jumped in the air and used his signature move and spins around into the balloon. The balloon pops as Incineroar used Fire Punch to send them flying in the air.
"WE"RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Team Rocket exclaimed.
"That got rid of them," Sora said. The Houndour pack jumped onto Sora giving him licks on the face. Sora laughs as the tongues all tickle him.
Inside the Pokémon Center, the group were amazed to see the egg was starting to hatching. The Houndour pack were witnessing the egg's activities. The egg hatched into a small blue mouse Pokémon with a round water balloon attached to the end of its tail. Its balloon-tail is blue and is used to bounce very high. It also has small ears and small feet. On its face there are two white circles. The little Pokémon looked over to Naminé smiling.
"Hello there," Naminé greeted. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"Oh, how cute!" Kairi cooed.
"Toge, Togepi."
"It's an Azurill," Lillie said.
"Kairi is right. It is pretty cute," Zoe said.
"Let's see what does Dexter has to say about Azurill," Sora said taking out his Pokédex.
Azurill, the Polka Dot Pokémon
Type: Normal/Fairy
Azurill's tail is large and bouncy. It is packed full of the nutrients this Pokémon needs to grow. Azurill can be seen bouncing and playing on its big, rubbery tail.
"Looked more like a Water Type," Sora said putting his Pokédex away.
"Azurill!" The blue baby Pokémon nuzzled Naminé.
"I like you too," Naminé said hugging her newly hatched Pokémon.
On the next morning, the formerly sick Houndour made a full recovery and Kairi gave the real sausage to the Houndour eating it happily.
Riku and Naminé decided to join Sora and the others for a bit while Takuya, Koji, Kouichi, Tommy, Zoe, JP, Mime Jr., and Munchlax said their goodbyes to the group for now.
The pack had watched their new friends leave feeling mighty grateful for helping them the way they did, despite getting off the wrong foot.
Over to Team Rocket, they are hanging on a branch on a cliff.
"What's the use of hanging on?" Jessie asked sadly.
"Wobbu!" Wobbufett said standing on the cliff.
"That's easy for you to say, Jessie," James said dangling his legs.
"Wobbu!" Wobbufett said.
"Wanna know what our mistake was?" Meowth asked.
"Wobbu!" Wobbufett said.
"We shouldn't have gotten out on a limb!" Team Rocket all said.
"Wobbu, Wobbu!" Wobbufett said.
I guess, we'll have to shut off from this point just for now, since they had once again suffered from such a humliating defeat. I just hope the next time they get a break; NOT!