Scene 46: Safari Zone Legend

Lyrik Arc

Lyrik pushes past a large blade of grass, her hand getting caught in something rather sticky, "Blech! How gross!" She sighs exasperatedly, "I can't believe I fell for what those people said about there being 'rare' Pokémon out in these parts..!"

[ She thinks back to that morning. She had been sitting eating breakfast in the Pokémon Center when she overheard a group of Trainers talking. There was a boy with his large nose turned up at the other kids sitting around him. They were gawking at the large amount of Pokéballs he had. He had claimed to had even caught a super rare one..! A small girl with pigtails leaned over eagerly. She asked where he'd found them all. The boy chuckled, "I don't mind telling ya! That is- for a fee~!" Some of the kids looked around at each other. In the blink of an eye they were rushing to hand him their coins and bills wanting the chance at getting the information first.

After she'd finished her breakfast Lyrik clean up her table and made her way to the group of kids. The ones that paid the boy the right amount of money were given whispered instructions on where to find these rare Pokémon and immediately bounded out of the Pokémon Center with a smile on their face. Lyrik hesitated. She wondered if it was really worth it. Nurse Joy came up behind her and sighed.

"I wonder if he's talking about that old Safari Zone place just north of here?" Lyrik looked at her, "You mean there really is a place where you can find rare Pokémon around here?" Nurse Joy nodded, "It's closed down right now because the owner has gone on an extended vacation, but it used to be called the Safari Zone." She shrugged, "And I guess there used to be stories of Trainers finding rare Pokémon with special abilities..?" Lyrik gulped. She reached out and grabbed Nurse Joy's hands, "Please! Tell me all about this place!" Nurse Joy was surprised with the starstruck look in Lyrik's eyes. She just couldn't say no. ]

Lyrik tried to wipe off the gross -whatever it was- from her hands, "Oh, sure..! The 'Safari Zone Legend' they said! But no one said anything about having to trek through grimy forests and marshland to find them!" She continued stomping through the tall grass, her feet squishing in the wet swampy ground.

Suddenly, out of the dark treetops, a shadow falls. Lyrik gives a shriek as the strange orange-reddish Pokémon makes a crash landing on her face!

Several minutes later Lyrik is still breathing heavily. A Pokéball disappears a few feet from her. She wipes some sweat off her brow and goes to retrieve her fallen bag and Pokédex. She looks down at the image on the screen. A Paras. A simple little Bug & Grass Type Pokémon had been the cause of all this trauma..! She has an image of her flailing about with Paras stuck on her face. It sure did take a lot of convincing to get it off. Meowth cocks her head to the side looking up at Lyrik's fangry ace, "Stupid Pokémon..! Why did you have to freak me out like that?" She gives a hard kick. A rock goes flying behind the trees.

Lyrik looks up into a pair of shining eyes. She gulps glancing down at Meowth, "Uh-oh." A large Pokémon pushes its way out into the open. It's a Nidoking! But what's that bump on its-? "You don't think that rock was..?" Meowth gives her a look.

Nidoking gives a resounding roar scaring the other small Pokémon out of the forest, and Lyrik not too far behind. She's pulling Meowth by the scruff of the neck. She keeps trying to swat and hiss at the giant Pokémon. Lyrik calls back to her, "Are you crazy!? You can't take on that fully evolved Pokémon!" But Meowth keeps at it.

Lyrik and Meowth are soon out of the woods, Nidoking on their tails. She looks back, her eyes widening at the angry gleam in his eyes. She tries to reason with him, "I'm sorry, ok!? I didn't mean to!" WHAM!

Lyrik hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and ran straight into a running herd of bull-like Pokémon. She and Meowth go flying, landing hard atop one of the herd. Nidoking stutters to a stop. He's just as confused to the girl's sudden disappearance as she was..!

Lyrik's hands find their way to a pair of thick horns. Meowth gives a squeak as she is bounced up and down again and again on the back of the Pokémon. Lyrik struggles to pull out her Pokédex. According to Dextyn this Pokémon was called a Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokémon. She gives a grateful sigh as she looks back to see the Nidoking turn back to the forest. At least they had escaped. Or rather, she had hoped so…

The Tauros she and Meowth had been riding had just taken notice of his stowaways. Lyrik tries to give a smile, but he still didn't seem to appreciate it. The Tauros gave a snort and starting to buck her off. Somehow, Lyrik managed to keep her hold. But the Wild Bull kept at it! He jumped and kicked, veering off to the right and out of the herd. Several long minutes passed, but Lyrik knew better than to let herself get thrown at this speed. Mrow!

She looked up at Meowth's warning. They were headed straight towards a cliff! Lyrik bolted straight up. She gave a a hard pull on Tauros' horns trying to turn him around, but her small body just wasn't strong enough. Tauros had completely lost his senses! She gritted her teeth, "Get ahold of yourself before you kill us all!" Meowth leapt forward. Her claws came out in one swoop, grazing themselves across Tauros' face. He gave a wail and threw himself back on his hind legs. He tried to balance himself, but gravity took hold. They all tumbled down into the grass just feet away from the edge of the cliff.

Lyrik sat for several long minutes catching her breathe. They had come too close for comfort. Meowth walked up to her purring. Lyrik smiled and pet her, "Thanks for that." Out of the grass, suddenly, Tauros sat up. He looked around, confused. Only then did he finally take notice of the cliff. Lyrik giggled, "Lost yourself for a bit there, didn't ya?" Tauros looked between the two of them. Although he was still slightly peeved that they had taken him for a joyride, he was grateful for them saving his life. Tauros stood and walked over to them. He gave them a grateful moo before turning to walk away.

"Wait!" He turned to see Lyrik facing him. She pulled a Pokéball out of her bag, "I challenge you to a battle!" Meowth stepped forward. Lyrik took a moment, "Hey, I don't know. You're awfully small to be challenging him, don't you think..?" But Meowth refused to budge. Lyrik sighed, "Well, alright."

Tauros accepted their challenge. He was ready to get back at that little Meowth for scratching up his face. Tauros was surprised with how tough they were- how come he just couldn't stomp that little pest to dust!? But Meowth was too quick and too clever for Tauros to even keep up! Lyrik and Meowth were in perfect sync!

Something shiny and gold came flying towards Tauros. Lyrik didn't recognize that move. She checked with Dextyn, "Pay Day: The legendary signature move learned by Meowth. This move was once used by ancient kings to bring good fortune to their countries. Numerous gold coins are hurled at the opponent to inflict damage and can then be recovered after the battle."

Lyrik closed her Pokédex, smiling widely at Meowth, "You learned a new move! Way to go!" And with that confidence booster, there was no way she would lose this battle now..! Meowth put everything she had into taking down the heavy-weight Tauros. In the end, he fell. Lyrik threw the Pokéball and they watched as it twitched in the tall grass. A tense moment passed. The ball gave a click and they knew they had won!

As Lyrik started cheering and jumping around, something caught her attention. Meowth had begun to evolve! The little Meowth grew into a a beautifully slender Persian. She purred as Lyrik gave her a tight hug. What an amazing turn of events!

Lyrik and Persian continued on throughout the area challenging other Trainers and Wild Pokémon. Just beyond the forest near a rundown old cabin they managed to defeat and capture a sly Scyther, though it almost escaped multiple times. Then, while fishing in one of the small ponds, Lyrik and Persian were shocked to come across the largest Krabby they had ever seen! For hours they explored and as the sun began to set they both decided it was about time to head back.

They had just past a large archway- dirty and unable to see the lettering by now- when Lyrik's stomach began to growl. Persian gave her a look, "Hey! It's not my fault! We haven't had anything since breakfast!" They both laugh, "Don't worry. I promise not to go on anymore wild adventures just based on a stranger's story."

A group of Trainers passed by. Lyrik stops at the story one of the girls is telling, "You should have seen the size of that Pokémon I saw!" Another other girl added, "Oh, yeah! That was on Route 18, right? I've heard there's supposed to be a whole ton of really cool Pokémon out there!" The other girl was jumping from foot to foot, "Ooh! You have to show me!" Persian turned to look at Lyrik. She had a glint in her eyes, "Route 18, huh?" Persian gave a sigh. Suddenly, her stomach started growling. Persian blushed. Lyrik put a soft hand on her head and laughed, "Don't worry. We'll head out after we have a real meal! How 'bout that?" Persian smiled up at her.

Turning their back on the girls that had passed, Lyrik and Persian head back to the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center. As Lyrik passes out food to all of her Pokémon that night, she overhears a loud voice. She turns to see the same boy from before. He's still bragging about some "rare," "legendary" Pokémon he found. She shakes her head in disbelief. Her eyes fall onto Persian. All the others seemed impressed by her surprise evolution. Lyrik smiled. Although she couldn't find any special "legendary Pokémon" out there, in the end it didn't matter. Dextyn had been right: Meowth, or rather, Persian had brought her such good fortune that day. She couldn't ask for anything better than that…