Episode 118: To Catch A Bug
Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine all returned to the Pokémon Center to get ready to take off for Ecruteak City for his fourth Johto Gym battle, just then a heavy man wearing a pink shirt under a red jacket covered with yellow stars, white pants, black shoes and a pair of sunglasses came to the Pokémon Center.
"Doth my eyes deceive me? Could it be you?" The man asked. This creeped out Sora.
"Um, yes?" Sora responded.
"You have to be on our show! All the trainers who challenged Whitney and win a Plain Badge has to be on our radio show for an interview," the man said.
"Radio show? Interview?" Sora asked not understanding the situation.
"Who are you, anyway? Are you the host?" Kairi asked. The man was very flattered and did an eccentric pose.
"Oh! Oh no, my dear, but people have often said that I have spark of personal flare, but I'm far too shy to show it in public," the man said taking Kairi's hands. "But I thank you, kind young lady."
"So, who are you?" Sora asked.
"Oh yes. I am the producer of Poké Talk Radio. A little bird named Nurse Joy has told me that a young Pokémon trainer has won over Whitney and won himself a Plain Badge. And not only that, I have been lots and lots of whispers about the Indigo Plateau Pokémon League champion happens to be the one who has challenged Whitney and won! I even bumped into a female journalist who told me she had met with him. Tell me if that's you!" The man said.
"That'll be me," Sora admitted. He knew very well he had to speak with Nancy after she spoke with him. He just hoped that he wasn't going to get mobbed again. "You said you wanted me on your radio show for an interview?"
"That is correct, you little rascal! Our DJ, Mary has been waiting to meet you for a while now," the producer said.
"She has?" Sora asked.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu shared his trainer's expression.
"Oh yes she has! Now come along all of you! Mustn't keep the hostess waiting!" The producer said. Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine follwed the producer right to a tall tower. "Andhere we are! The Goldenrod Radio Tower."
"This is a radio tower?" Mallow asked surprised.
"It looks tall enough to be a department store," Lana said.
"Well, appearances can deceive the naked eye," Illima said.
Everyone entered the tower and saw busy it looked. A clerk looked over to Sora.
"Is that the kid who beat Whitney and won a Plain Badge?" The clerk asked.
"This is him!" He said with enthusiasm. "Now Sora, you're going to be on within an hour once Mary is done with her current guest. You don't have a problem waiting, do you?"
"Not at all," Sora said.
"Wonderful! I'll let Mary know that you got here and she'll get everything ready once she's done," the producer said. "Now don't go away!" He took off. A phone rings and the clerks answered it and nodded as he listened. He looked over to Sora.
"Say kid," the clerk said making Sora turn to him. "You have a phone call."
"Phone call? Who could be calling?" Sora asked.
"Professor Oak," the clerk simply said. That made his eyes pop out of his head.
"Then, I'll have to take that!" Sora said.
"I'll transfer the call over to one of the picture phone," the clerk said. Sora went over to the picture phone and Professor Oak appears on the screen.
"Sora! Always joyful to see you!" Professor Oak said.
"It's good to hear from you too, but why are you calling?" Sora asked.
"Well, just wanted to congratulate you on winning the Plain Badge," Professor Oak said.
"How did the whole town find out so fast?" Sora asked.
"Word tends to spread around when the Goldenrod radio station phoned your mother," Professor Oak said.
"What?" Sora asked.
"That's right. A producer called me and asked if I knew you and I contacted your mother and she told the whole town," Professor Oak said. Sora wasn't surprised to hear him say that. "You shouldn't be worried since we all know what station and what time you're going to be interviewed. The whole town will be listening. Goodbye." Professor Oak hung up. The time had come and he, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine were led to
They got to the booth where waited is a young woman wearing a green short-sleeved shirt and a brown skirt, glasses above her brown eyes and dark pink hair. She smiled and greeted Sora as he and his friends had entered.
"Hello Sora. I was looking forward to meeting you someday," Mary said. "I have to say, Professor Oak did say you look like your dad." That surprised Sora.
"Did he tell you that?" Sora asked.
"He has," Mary said. "I have known Professor Oak for a long time and he has told me a lot of things. I even know about how your dad died. Just wanna say that I'm sorry that you never knew him." Sora clutched the crown at his necklace and sighed. Mary placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't let that distract you and just pretend that you're somewhere else."
"Okay," Sora nodded. Mary got everything ready for the interview.
"Hello, greetings, and salutations to everyone out there in Radio Land! This is DJ Mary and today we have a very special guest; he didn't just win a Plain Badge, but he's also the champion of the Indigo Plateau Pokémon League! Let me introduce you to Sora Ketchum from Pallet Town. along with his Pikachu." Kairi, and the Alolan nine were sitting with the producer as the interview went on. "Now Sora. Can you tell our listeners a bit about yourself?" Sora thought of pulling a little gag.
"Hi, I'm Pallet Town and I'm from Ketchum!" Sora said pretending to be nervous. Mary laughed.
"I think you have that a little switched around," Mary said.
"No, this is Sora and I'm Pikachu," Sora said before he did a little laugh. "Ha! I was just kidding, I was only pretending to be nervous." Meanwhile at Pallet Town in Professor Oak's lab, all of his Pokémon left there along with his new Hitmonlee and along with Kairi's Raticate and Omanyte were listening and they all laughed at the joke. Even Professor Oak found it funny.
"Just like Sora to open things up with a joke," Professor Oak said.
Back at the radio station, Kairi, and the Alolan nine were all laughing at the stunt Sora had pulled.
"Can't believe I walked into that one. Gotta admit, that was a good one," Mary said. "Not only skilled in a Pokémon battle, but also a great sense of humor. So, what other Pokémon do you have with you now, if I may ask?"
"Other than Pikachu, I have a Gligar, a Chikorita, a Cyndaquil, a Totodile, and a new kind of Pokémon called Meltan," Sora said.
"Meltan? Must be a new kind since I never heard of it," Mary said.
"You wouldn't have anyway. Like I said, it's a new kind of Pokémon. And don't ask how I came across it, because I don't even know," Sora said.
"And what Type is this new Pokémon?" Mary asked.
"Steel," Sora said. "Also, it eats metal. So to all you car owners out there, check your engines."
Over to Porta Vista, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua were listening to the broadcast going on and Ventus was hanging on to every word and became ecstatic to hear his cousin and his friends had discovered a new species.
"So cool," Ventus said trying to contain his excitement.
"Since you won the Plain Badge, where are you heading next?" Mary asked.
"Well, I'll be heading to Ecruteak City for my fourth win," Sora said.
"Good to hear that you're well on your way, but there are rumors that there's a special somebody in your life, is that right?" Mary asked. That made Sora blush. Back at Pallet Town, all of Sora and Kairi's Pokémon were snickering among themselves and Charizard made a kissy-kissy sound only for Incineroar to nudge him on the side. Back, at the radio station, he looked over to Kairi, she smiles.
"What I can say about that is true; and she's one in a million," Sora said. Kairi's smile never left her face. "So, sorry girls, I'm taken."
All of the local girls were listening and they were heartbroken to hear that he is already in a relationship.
"It must be nice to be in quite a relationship," Mary said. "She must be a lucky girl to have a boyfriend like you."
"Actually, it's really the other way around," Sora said.
"Could you explain that?" Mary asked. Sora knew his mom was listening to the broadcast so he had to describe his explanation about Kairi.
"Well, to be honest, I don't know how my life would be if I hadn't met Kairi on the day I first met Pikachu," Sora explained.
"Pika, Pika," Pikachu said.
"But, I'm glad I met her and she got to travel woth me because us gave me the time we needed to get to know each other. And saw that she is even sweeter than honey. I wouldn't trade her anything in the world for anything," Sora said smiling. Kairi felt moved by what he said. Mary took a glance of Kairi and smiled.
"How romantic. I take it she's been with you since the very beginning," Mary guessed.
"Yes," Sora simply said. "I guess you can say that I dedicate everyone of my battles to her."
"And that is a dedicated trainer," Mary said. "I'm afraid that our time is up. I would like to close by saying that it has been an honor to have you with us."
"It's a real honor just to be here," Sora stated.
"Now to all our listeners out there, just keep tuning in to our daily show. Until the next time!" Mary said turning off the radio. A few minutes later, Mary and the rest of the group walked down the hallway. "That went great. That stunt you pulled about being nervous was pretty funny."
"Just couldn't help myself," Sora said.
"I was very happy to meet you, Sora. Really. Professor Oak has been telling me very good things about you," Mary said.
"I figured he would," Sora said. "He was always there for me and my mom my whole life."
"Even after your dad died. He told me all about it. And he did tell me about how you two met," Mary said. "Gotta say that was a good thing you did." Kairi took Sora by the hand and he chuckles a bit.
"Did you mean those things you said about me during the broadcast?" Kairi asked.
"Every word of it," Sora said. With that said, Sora gave Kairi a kiss on the cheek. She blushes as the Alolan nine and Mary smiled at the sight. As the group said their goodbyes to Mary they all returned to the Pokémon Center and got their gear together and sets off to Ecruteak City and they met a couple of people, a man and a woman with a dummy Meowth.
"Excuse us," the man said, "we were wondering if you kids would point us to Goldenrod City."
"We were supposed to be there to do a radio show and we got kinda lost," the woman said.
"The reason these two got lost is because they took directions from me and I'm just a dummy," the dummy Meowth said and did a chuckle. Sora laughed.
"Dummy Meowth is funnier than the real one," Sora said under his breath. He pointed to the road behind them. "Just go down this road, we all just left there."
"Thanks," the man said before they took off in the direction behind the group. They come across a national park when they saw a crowd.
"Excuse us," Illima spoke up. A boy in front turned to them.
"Is something going on?" Lillie said.
"Yeah. There's a Bug Catching Contest going on today," the boy replied.
"A Bug Catching Contest?" Sophocles asked.
"And it's happening today?" Mallow asked.
"It sure is. Whoever wins first prize wins a Sun Stone and they get to keep the Bug Type Pokémon they caught," the boy said. "I'm heading to that line to sign up." Just when the group got to the signup line, a very familiar face along with her Chikorita smiles and runs up to them.
"I don't believe it! Sora, Kairi, and the rest!" Casey said coming up to them.
"Casey!" Sora recognized.
"It's been a while," Kiawe said.
"So what brings you here?" Lana asked.
"Just came here to compete in the Bug Catching Contest. And since you're here, Sora, I figured that you would be too," Casey said.
"It just sounded fun, so I thought I give it a shot," Sora said. He looks over to her Chikorita. "I can see your Chikorita has gotten stronger since the last time."
"Since theast time we saw you, we've been on a major winning streak, just like my favorite baseball team the Electabuzz!" Casey said.
"Sounds like you're still a dedicated fan," Kairi said.
"Sure am. I'll even sing a new fight song for the season!" Casey said as she swings the flag of the Electabuzz baseball team. Whistles are blurring
(Casey)
Let's all cheer on Electabuzz
Greatest Team of all!
The Players charge the field
And Double Team the Ball!
They all threw Mega Punch
When they are in a Crunch!
Metronome safe at home
Hyper Beam too!
Win! Win! Through thick and thin!
Electabuzz beats you! Yay!
Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Togepi, and the Alolan nine all stare at her saw her determination.
"The Electabuzz are riding their winning streak just like I'm riding my winning streak to win a new Bug Type Pokémon!" Casey said.
"That kind of attitude just makes the contest even more fun," Sora said.
"Glad to hear it! And since it's against the Indigo Plateau champ, I'm going to do my best to win this for the Electabuzz!" Casey said.
"Don't hold anything back, Casey! I wanna see if you can live up to your promise!" Sora said. The two trainers shook hands knowing they're going to give it everything they have.
Kairi and the Alolan nine knew it was going to be an intense competition between the two of them. They both registered for the Bug Catching Contest and the judge of the competition steps out.
"Attention contestants!" The judge announced. "Before we begin the contest, I will explain the rules. Trainers will only be permitted to use one Pokémon each! All the competitors will be given twenty Sports Balls!" The said as he took out a Pokéball that appears to have an additional "eye" at the top. "Once you feel that you have found a winner, you may decide of you may keep it or let it go." A staff member hands Sora and the rest of the competitors a small box filled with small Sports Balls. "Once the conest had concluded, the judging committee will decide which Pokémon is the winner, judging by strength, size, or appearance. First prize will be the fabulous Sun Stone, but the contestants will keep the last Pokémon they caught during the contest. Now let the Bug Catching Contest begin!" With that said, all the trainers take off to find the strongest, biggest, and most beautiful Bug Type Pokémon they could find.
Sora and Pikachu wondered the park looking around for a Bug Type Pokémon to find.
"Keep your eyes open and ears up, because a bug might just show up at any moment," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu nodded.
They heard some rustling in the top of the trees and saw a blue Spinarak with pink legs coming down on a string. Sora knew it wasn't a naturally colored Spinarak and he remembered by it being judged by strength, size, and appearance.
"Pikachu! Go get it!" Sora said as Pikachu leapt towards the spider Pokémon. "Thunderbolt!" Pikachu sends out Thunderbolt and shocks Spinarak good. The spider Pokémon falls out of the tree and Sora throws a Sports Ball at the Spinarak. Spinarak flows inside and the ball starts wobbling around and around. Stars swirls around the Sports Ball confirming the catch. "I think we found our winner, Pikachu."
"Ooh! A Shiny Spinarak. That's pretty good, but it'll be nothing compared to the one I'll bring back," Casey said. She looks over to her Chikorita. "Come on, Chikorita! Let's go!"
"Chiko!" Chikorita nodded and they take off. Sora and Pikachu decided to follow Casey and her Chikorita for a bit to see for themselves. Itbturns out that Casey has been pushing Chikorita hard and hard. She spots a Beedrill and sends Chikorita after it. Chikorita battled Beedrill hard and once it was at its weakest, Casey threw a Sports Ball making Beedrill flow inside. Stars swirls around the Sports Ball confirming the catch.
"I got me a Beedrill!" Casey cheered. Chikorita starts panting from that battle. Chikorita almost falls to the ground in fatigue. "Hey, what's the matter, Chikorita?"
"Chiko!" Chikorita chirped.
"We've gotta keep our team spirit high until we win the game!" Casey told Chikorita. Chikorita nodded when they spotted a wild Scyther in the tall grass.
"Alright! A Scyther! If we bring back a Scyther, we're just guaranteed to win!" Casey proclaimed. "First we'll knock it out of the box and show it who's boss. Play ball! Razor Leaf!" Chikorita sends out Razor Leaf and Chikorita starts panting out of exhaustion. Scyther charges towards the Grass Johto starter.
"Chiko!" Chikorita said feeling scared.
"Don't be afraid, Chikorita! Stay tough and hang in there!" Casey told her partner as Scyther swipes at the leaf Pokémon. Sora and Pikachu made it just in time and saw what was happening.
"This can't be good," Sora said.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed.
"Chikorita! Use another Razor Leaf!" Casey ordered. Chikorita fired Razor Leaf and Scyther sends it back at Chikorita. "A blowback! Chikorita! Quick! Dodge it!" Chikorita dodges his own attack only to be open for Scyther's attack. "Chikorita! Jump onto Scyther's face!" Chikorita jumps on Scyther's face and the mantis Pokémon tries to shake Chikorita off. Sora saw how tired Chikorita was getting just barely holding on. He and Pikachu steps in.
"Casey! This isn't fair!" Sora stated.
"Who asked you? You should find your own Scyther!" Casey hissed.
"I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about your Chikorita! You're pushing him too hard!" Sora said.
"Chikorita will do what I say!" Casey said. Scyther manages to shake off Chikorita and he hits a tree. Scyther moved in to finish Chikorita off when Sora stepped in.
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Sora ordered. Pikachu sends out Thunderbolt and it shocks Scyther making it retreat having enough.
"You're not getting away from me, Scyther! Chikorita! Let's go after-" Casey's sentence was cut short when she noticed Chikorita was gone. "Chikorita?" She, Sora, and Pikachu went off looking for Chikorita and found him in the bushes. "Chikorita! Come on! Let's go get Scyther!" Chikorita shakes his head sadly and walks off. "Hey! You get back here! Quitters aren't allowed in this team! We have to win this game!"
"At least Chikorita knows when to call it quits!" Sora stated. She turns to Sora and saw he had a stern look on his face. "What's more important to you? Winning some contest or the well-being of your Pokémon?"
"How can you ask me that! My Pokémon mean the world to me!" Casey argued back to the experienced Pokémon trainer. Chikorita didn't go too far.
"Well, that's a funny way of showing it!" Sora stated. "Your Chikorita is all worn out and you were too busy thinking about winning when you should have been thinking about your Chikorita! He knocks himself out for you and you were pushing him beyond his limit!" Casey was about to argue back when she saw the look in his eyes. "A Pokémon trainer should always know the limitations of their Pokémon. You should always know what your Pokémon can do and can't do! The same can be said for the Electabuzz baseball team! The reason for their winning streaks is because they worked together to win!" Casey didn't know how to counter what he just said to her, but she saw that he did have a point.
"You're right, Sora. I was pushing Chikorita so hard I wasn't even thinking about him; I was thinking only about myself," Casey said. "I got caught up with winning so much, I forgot that caring for your Pokémon is the most important thing!" Chikorita comes back to Casey with a saddened look on his face and he listened to the whole thing. "Chikorita!" Casey embraces her partner in her arms. "I'm sorry, Chikorita. I was pushing you so hard, I just forgot about about your limits. Can you ever forgive me?" Chikorita nuzzles his trainer.
"I think that's a yes," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.
"Thanks for talking some sense into me, Sora. When I saw you show up, I thought you were trying to upstage me, but I guess I was wrong," Casey said.
"Sometimes we forget what's important. I know I did," Sora said.
"What do you mean?" Casey asked.
"There was a Pokémon trainer named AJ who I battled against; I lost because I lost my cool," Sora said.
"You? Lose your cool?" Casey asked not believing it.
"It's true. I lost my cool when he made fun of my necklace," Sora said. Casey looked at his necklace.
"Why is that so important to you?" Casey asked.
"This necklace has been in my family for generations. All of the Ketchum boys would wear it, because the crown necklace was considered a symbol of knighthood. The boys in the family were viewed as knights in the eyes of the people. It belonged to my dad before I was born," Sora said.
"Wow. I never thought of it that way," Casey was amazed to hear it.
"You came from a long line of dedicated baseball fans and I was descended from the line of knights in the days of old. We both want to live up to the expectations of our families," Sora said. Casey had just forged a new form of respect for Sora since hearing of his family legacy.
Once the competition was over, all of the competors were inspected of the Bug Type Pokémon that were caught. When the judge had a look at the Shiny Spinarak, the judge was pretty amazed just by the coloring and its appearence. The judge had made his decision.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We have our winner for the Bug Catching Contest! First prize goes to Sora Ketchum for cathing a Shiny Spinarak!" Sora takes the Sun Stone and the Spinarak as his prize. "As promised, Sora gets to keep Spinarak as his own Pokémon!" Sora's Pokédex starts buzzing asking him if he wants to keep Spinarak or send it to Professor Oak's lab. He chose to keep Spinarak in exchange for Gligar.
The group had stepped outside the national park with Casey joining them. Casey walks up to Sora with a request.
"Say Sora. I was wondering if you could have a battle with me. I wanna show you how much stronger I got since the last time," Casey said.
"Okay, Casey," Sora said. "Let's see if you can land a home run." Sora has chosen his new Spinarak since he wants to test out his new Pokémon's skills in battle and Casey will be going with Chikorita.
"Casey knows she's at a disadvantage since Spinarak is both a Poison Type and a Bug Type, right?" Sophocles pointed out.
"You're right, Sophocles. But, she's not the type of trainer who is going to back down all because of Chikorita's disadvantage," Lillie said.
"You can make the first move, Casey," Sora said.
"Chikorita! Tackle!" Casey ordered. Chikorita charges right at Spinarak with full force of his body.
"Spinarak! String Shot!" Sora ordered. Spinarak fired String Shot from its mouth making Chikorita get caught in the silk. "Move in with Bug Bite!" Spinarak moves in to give the leaf Pokémon a bite to cause a super-effective hit.
"Chikorita! Razor Leaf!" Casey ordered. Chikorita fires Razor Leaf and it hits Spinarak hard. "Cut out of the silk and use Tackle again!" Chikorita charges at Spinarak landing a hit. The battle raged on as Chikorita began to evolve. Everyone was at awe, especially Casey. Chikorita was now a Bayleef. "Yes! Chikorita is now a Bayleef! Tackle!" Bayleef charged towards Spinarak again, but Sora had to think fast.
"String Shot! Aim for Bayleef's feet!" Sora ordered. Spinarak fired String Shot tangling Bayleef in the silk making him slip. "Now use Bug Bite!" Spinarak moves in and lands a bite attack. "Now wrap it up with Night Shade!" Spinarak his Bayleef and the newly evolved Pokémon falls knocked out from the battle. Casey helps up Bayleef.
"You did great, Bayleef. You're still MVP even if you don't win," Casey said.
"Bay, Bay," Bayleef said. She calls Bayleef back inside his Pokéball. "Well, Sora. What did you think?"
"The way you battled is a sign that you have been getting stronger. Just don't overdo it," Sora said.
"I'll be sure to take it easy," Casey said with a promise. With that said, she took her leave of the group and hoped to see her again soon enough. The group continued on to Ecruteak City and for Sora's fourth Johto Gym Badge.