Scene 56: Fun and Catching Spree
"Now finish it with Razor Leaf!" The Drowzee takes a direct-hit! Kari enlarges a Pokéball, "And now for the catch!" The ball twitches once, then twice, and-! Kari, Eevee, and Bulbasaur all jump in the air. They've caught another one!
Kari sits down with her Team of Pokémon for lunch. Sandshrew is taking a nap in the sade of a nearby tree, Kari is cutting up some fresh berries with Bulbasaur's help, while the others are running around playing. Poliwag hits Ekans in the face with his Water Gun. Ekaaansss! The others laugh at his anger and run off, Poliwag & Eevee in the lead. Metapod trips, but Ekans barrels right over him, following the others into the tall grass.
Hearing the disturbance Kari calls out to them, "You guys be careful out there, alright? There's a lot of Wild Pokémon hanging around here." Having cornered his prey, Ekans pops out of the grass, pretending to attack Eevee & Poliwag. They scream! Neither of them had seen him slink pass. With the game over they're all rolling around, laughing. Suddenly, Ekan's body starts to glow. Kari comes running over, stopping to help Metapod to stand upright again. Out of the tall grass the fully-evolved Arbok appears. He blinks, obviously confused with his evolution. The others smile at one another, jumping him in sheer happiness.
They all gather for lunch, enjoying the soft Spring breeze. Once they're all finished, Kari returns her Pokémon, packs up her blue backpack and heads off down the road again. Not too far along Kari and Eevee reach the end of Route 11 where they find a sign. Kari points it out to Eevee, reading it aloud, "The Silence Bridge." Kari cocks an eyebrow, looking at Eevee, "Sounds kinda creepy, huh?" Shrugging off the idea, they continue down Route 12 and on towards the next town.
Kari and Eevee gasp unanimously as they reach a wide expanse of water. Her feet echo as she steps onto the wooden bridge. Stopping at the edge she sees a row of rocks jutting out of the water and beyond that, the ocean. She and Eevee take a deep breath. They both are smiling, "The ocean! I can't believe we've made it this far!" Eevee~!
A man sitting nearby laughs, "You some kind of city kid, or somethin'?" Kari looks over at the man. He's holding a long fishing rod and is wearing a pair of brown pants and a fishermen's vest in red with a matching hat. He grins at her without even giving her a chance to answer and pulls out a Pokéball. Kari and Eevee share a glance: Pokémon battles was something they knew how to do well.
It's a short-lived match, but Kari still enjoys the challenge. With the man's Magikarp defeated, Kari returns her Poliwag. He sighs, "Well, I lost. Hook, line, and sinker..!" He jabs a thumb towards the rest of the bridge just behind him, "If you continue down this way you'll get to Lavender Town. And not only that, there's plenty of Trainers that are just itching for a good battle." Kari jumps at the suggestion. The man laughs at her reaction. He scratches his chin, "Battles are all good, but don't forget to take it easy every now-and-then. Remember, there are even some Pokémon you can catch only by taking it slow~." He winks at Kari and returns to his fishing post.
Kari and Eevee look at each other. They smile, "Well, whatever. Let's go find those Trainers!" Eevee! Continuing down the long bridge path, Kari challenges one Trainer after the other. Her team is having just as much fun as she is. Curious as to what all the ruckus is, a Wild Horsea pops her head out of the water. Poliwag notices her nearby and calls to Kari. Kari is cheering on Arbok as it knocks out another opponent with a powerful Acid Attack. The girl fishermen surrenders, knowing that she's beat. She stalks off, annoyed that she lost to a little girl. Meanwhile, Kari wonders what Poliwag's found.
She goes to the edge of the water seeing the little blue Pokémon. Using Dex she gathers data on the Horsea. She disappears back into the water. Kari looks at Poliwag, "Follow after it." Pol! He jumps in after her. After several minutes of waiting, Kari starts to wonder what happened. She crouches down, Arbok and Eevee sitting beside her. She sighs, "What could they be doing down there?"
As if on cue, the Wild Horsea comes flying out of the water with a splash! She crash lands on the bridge, unconscious. Poliwag hops out of the water to join them. He puffs out his chest, clearly proud of his work. Kari gives a crooked grin, "Nice job, but…" she looks over at the poor Horsea, "Don't you think you might have overdone it a little bit..?"
The next few hours continue in much the same fashion: challenging other Trainers, fishing for new Pokémon through Route 12. She's sure to remember her Pokédex to collect data for Prof. Oak. She's grateful for the data Dex gives her on the Wild Pokémon- she's not sure she'd be able to beat them otherwise.
She pulls hard at her fishing line, her Pokémon helping her. Out of the water comes a Tentacool! A little later, a Magikarp, surprised with being yanked out of its home, comes splashing up a storm and whacking Kari in the face..! A Wild Psyduck steps up to her and the Pokémon, wanting to battle, but when instead Kari offers it some Pokémon food to join her Team he doesn't even argue with the idea… When they stop for a snack Kari catches sight of a Wild Slowpoke. She laughs at its plain face and they have fun playing and making faces- it doesn't seem to mind at all. She stands to challenge the Pokémon but it seems oblivious. She looks around at the others. They all just shrug. Kari pulls out a ball and just taps it against the Slowpokes head. She catches it without any trouble at all. Kari laughs, "Well, that was easy..!"
Kari passes another sign upon reaching the end of the bridge. One arrow is pointing towards Lavender Town and the other to Route 10. She looks up at the sky and realizes that the sun is getting pretty low. She smiles over at Eevee, tugging on her backpack straps, "I think we've still got time till nightfall. What do you say?" Eevee nods. They head off towards Route 10. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be many Trainers out this way. A few minutes down the pathway, though, an old building comes into sight.
As they get closer Kari realizes that it's old and rundown. There's even a hole in the roof. A dusty sign outside reads as "The Kanto Power Plant." Kari squints her eyes as she reads it, "Something tells me this place has been out of business for some time now…" She checks the door- it's unlocked.
Eevee. Kari looks over at Eevee. He doesn't think it's a good idea to go inside. She exhales, "Aw, come on. Where's your sense of adventure?" Something clatters from inside. They both jump. Kari stares with her eyes wide open, trying to find something that might have made that sound. Just barely, she can make out something rolling on the ground a few feet ahead of her. A beam of light hits it as the Pokémon rolls by. It's a Voltorb! Kari dashes forward, Eevee calling out to her. She laughs as she follows the Wild Pokémon, "Sorry, Eevee, but I'm in the middle of a catching spree! We can't stop now!"
She throws a Pokéball and summons her Sandshrew. The Voltorb keeps rolling away, but another Pokémon appears before them. Kari skids to a stop, "Woah! This old place must be full of Wild Pokémon!" She checks with Dex: it's a Magnemite!
"Alrighty, Magnemite! Since Voltorb ran away, I challenge you to a battle!" …Nothing… The small Pokémon continues to float on by, completely oblivious to Kari and the others standing there, surrounding it. She looks at her Pokémon and they shrug.
After the first attack, Magnemite looks around in surprise- when did they get there? Now aware of their presence, the small Wild Pokémon tries to put up a fight, but with Sandshrew being a Ground-Type there's not much it can do. They make quick work of Magnemite, "GOOooo! Pokéball!" She throws the ball. It barely twitches once before they hear the click. She's caught the Magnemite! She high-fives Sandshrew and goes to pick up the Pokéball. But, for some reason, it feels different.
"Huh?" She turns the ball over to look at it. She gulps… This wasn't her Pokéball…Voltorb! Kari shrieks as the small Pokémon, frightened at her touch, decides to Self-Destruct. She coughs up some dust, looking at the Pokémon still in her hands, "Well, I guess that's one way to do it…" She reaches for a new ball, tapping the two of them together. Voltorb is caught without a fight. Down the hallway a shadow pokes its head from around an open doorway. It's watching as this human battles with her Pokémon. Maybe she can help…
She stands and looks around, dusting herself off, "I wonder what other kinds of Pokémon might be around here." An electrical buzzing sound catches their attention. Kari, Eevee, and Sandshrew all turn to see a strange looking Pokémon walking their way. She pulls out Dex and learns that this one is called an Elekid. Kari readies for another battle, but the Elekid doesn't seem interested. Instead, he starts yelling at her.
"D-did we do something wrong?" Frustrated, Elekid unleashes a Thundershock, hitting Kari and Eevee. Kari falls to the ground, sitting hard. She shakes herself. Elekid jumps, surprised with his sudden outburst. He runs forward, but Sandshrew steps in-between him and Kari. She looks up and sees that the two of them are arguing. But something's wrong. There's some kind of desperation in his eyes.
Kari stands, "It's alright, Sandshrew, I don't think he meant to hurt us, did you?" Elekid shakes his head back and forth. The others are just as confused as Kari is. Elekid grabs Kari's arm and pulls her forward. Though the others don't appreciate how he's man-handling their Trainer, Kari allows him to lead the way. They climb in, out, and over the destroyed machinery and eventually turn through an open door. They've entered a large room. She suspects this used to be a major operations room. It's eerily quiet. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck raises. Eevee and Sandshrew jump, as if readying for a battle. The room is still…
A giant blast of electricity engulfs the entire room. Kari jumps. From a large hole above them a large Pokémon swoops in. It gives a mighty cry as it flies towards Kari, but she ducks. Kari, her eyes wide, watches as the Pokémon makes a u-turn high above them. She squeals, covering herself again. The Wild Pokémon drops again and again, barely missing her. Kari runs to stand in a corner and out of its reach. She raises Dex, activating its database. It's a Zapdos. She gasps, "One of the Legendary Bird Pokémon!" Dex doesn't have much info on it. Kari scans the room. She can see other Wild Electric-Type Pokémon huddling nearby, some hiding under the half-destroyed desks and others keeping low in the shadows like she was doing. Eevee and Sandshrew stayed by Kari, just in case they needed to protect her.
Elekid calls out to the Zapdos, running forward. He waves his arms and tries to calm it down, but Zapdos just isn't listening. It hits the smaller Pokémon with a blast of energy and, although Kari knows it must have been painful, Elekid doesn't back down. He winces, but continues to try and reason with the mighty Legendary Pokémon. Zapdos lands atop one of the broken down machines- there's something about its eyes. Kari looks up into its fierce eyes, but… why does Zapdos looks exhausted?
Zapdos lets off another major shock wave. Eevee and Sandshrew shield Kari from the attack. But from behind them, she sees it. She pushes past her friends, "Zapdos is hurt!" That's why it's going berserk. It's letting off all this electrical energy because it's hurt and frightened. She looks to where the Elekid is standing. He must have brought her here to help. Her hands are shaking just being in this Legendary Pokémon's presence, but…
She holds her hands together to stop the shaking. Her eyes are set and her mind made-up. It was up to Kari to calm Zapdos down.
Against her Pokémon's wishes, Kari slowly approaches the raging Zapdos. Elekid notices her moving closer and is staring, in awe of her courage. Zapdos sees her now, too. Frightened, he sends a warning signal her way. She stops briefly as the attack hits the rubble and already broken machines around her. Her hair is standing on-end due to all the electrical output coming from the room. ["No matter what…"] she takes another step ["I have to keep going."]
She's made it halfway across the room, now, and Zapdos is getting jumpy. He sends out another attack and this time, it hits Kari. She lets out a wail. Eevee, Sandshrew, and Elekid come running forward. Kari is on her knees and her entire body is trembling. Eevee touches her, but is blown back by the static. He shakes himself, "It's ok." He looks up at her. She gives a grimace from the pain, "There's no need to worry about me. Got that?" She smiles at her friend. Kari struggles to stand, but as soon as she does she continues to push forward.
The other Wild Pokémon are now coming out of their hiding places to watch this human girl. They're all amazed with her tenacity, especially Elekid and Zapdos. Watching as this small girl comes ever closer, still determined, Zapdos seems to settle a bit. He lowers his wings and waits. Kari is finally in reach of the frightened Pokémon. She stops to catch her breath before turning her head upward to meet its eyes. She smiles, "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."
Zapdos has a brief flashback: being attacked by those humans and kept in a small cage… it wasn't that long ago, now… but this girl… He allows her to touch his wing. Elekid and the other Pokémon are all smiling. They look at one another- who would have thought Zapdos would allow a human to help him? Kari nods up at Zapdos.
She flips her backpack around and digs around inside. She pulls out her yellow & orange string-tied Berries Bag and the large baby-blue Medicine Bag. From the Berries Bag Kari undoes a Cheri Berry, popping it into her mouth. She coughs as the spicy flavor hits her throat. Her eyes are watering as she reaches for her black Team Rocket Academy water tin, almost chugging the whole thing empty. She lets out a gasp, her tongue sticking out.
Eevee and the others notice the soft electrical glow that had been surrounding her is now gone. A Wild Abra is watching her closely. He cocks his head to the side in confusion. Kari shows him the berry, "Cheri Berries. Super spicy, but the fastest way to cure any kind of electrical burn or Paralysis. Now then…" She unzips the Medicine Bag. Kari works quickly. She may not have been as good as Al was, but Kari passed her Pokémon First Aid Class back at the Academy. She can also recall watching her Aunt Cha working as a Pokémon Nurse. She remembers, at least, the basics.
After cleaning the wound with a gauze and alcohol, Kari uses a spray Potion. As she works she speaks to the Pokémon, telling them exactly what she was doing. She pats the bandage down, "There! All better, now! At least, until the Potion takes affect." She waggles a finger up at Zapdos, "And make sure you don't go having any more of those tangents of yours or you might make it worse- doctor's orders."
Kari starts to put her supplies away under Zapdos' watch. He looks from the bandage on his wing to the strange human girl. Kari's packed up her bag and swings the straps back around her shoulders. The sudden cry from Zapdos causes them all to jump. His wings are spread wide and he's crying out. Kari's smiling, though shaking… Her eyes meet his, "So much power… amazing…" Once Zapdos is finished he turns back to the girl. An understanding passes between the two of them. As a thanks, Zapdos challenges her. She gives a confidant smile, "You got it!"
She uses one Pokémon after the other to battle the Legendary Electric Pokémon. Arbok coils up after being hit with a powerful blast of electricity; Poliwag makes to attack, but only cowers away knowing he's at a disadvantage; Sandshrew may not be affected by many of its moves, but the Flying-Type Attacks are super affective..! Metapod tries to stand her ground, but after taking hit after hit, she collapses. Even Eevee has trouble fighting it and continues to get thrown until Kari forces him to call it quits. Finally, thanks to Bulbasaur's tolerance to Electric-Type moves, they weaken Zapdos enough for a capture.
"Alrighty! Gooooo, Pokéball!" She gives it a toss and Zapdos is taken. The ball lands on the lab ground and twitches once, then twice, then-! Zapdos gives a mighty cry as he returns to his full form. Kari makes a face, "Huh!? How come he didn't stay in the ball?" Dex, activated by her question, starts to explain. Unless a Wild Pokémon is weak enough, a simple Pokéball will not be affective. Kari gulps. She tries again. And again. Aaand again… Kari uses up 12 Pokéballs before she decides to switch things up.
She looks down at the blue Great Balls in her hand. She'd never used these before. The only reason she bought them was because the store clerk at the PokéMart told her they were a new item. That and those other ones… Kari tries to use the Great Ball, but still, nothing. She keeps at it, using up 8 Great Balls and is now breathing heavily. She stretches her left arm, making circles with her shoulder. It's starting to feel sore from all the ball throwing. She stamps her foot, "Fine then! If you wanna be stubborn… I'll just use these." She enlarges the other balls she recently purchased.
This time, after throwing her 3rd of the Ultra Balls, the catch stuck. Kari and t he others stared for a moment in silence. Had she really done it? Kari sighs exasperatedly. She doesn't even have the energy to be excited right now. She slides down the side of the wall. She and her Pokémon are exhausted. She looks across the floor to where the ball sat. She couldn't believe it… Zapdos was inside of there. She watched as it glowed and disappeared in space. Kari giggled to herself, imagining the look on the Professor's face when he realized what kind of Pokémon she had caught.
Just outside, Kari meets with the Elekid and the other wild Pokémon of the Power Plant. She turns and waves at them all, "I promise to take good care of Zapdos, don't you worry. And I'll make sure he comes to play often. Oh, and Voltorb, too!" Before turning to leave Kari stops to look at the shabby building. It may be broken and in complete disarray, but this was still their home…
Kari turns to leave back down the path they came but there's a pull at her sleeve. Elekid seems to want something else. Was he blushing? He smiles at her, offering his hand. After a moment, Kari understands, "Do you want to come along, then?" He nods excitedly. Kari takes a few steps back, readying another Pokéball. She gives it a soft throw. Elekid jumps up high and fist-bumps the button on the ball. Kari runs to catch the ball as it falls. Before the ball disappears Kari gives a weak smile, "I'm sure we're gonna be great friends someday…"
Kari makes her way to Lavender Town. She and her Pokémon are exhausted and can't wait to reach the Pokémon Center. At the sight of the red-roofed building in the soft moonlight, Kari gives a sigh of relief, "I don't know about you guys, but it's been a long day and I am SOOoo ready for a good night's sleep." Her Pokémon cheer and they all turn to enter.
{{Current Team: Eevee, Metapod, Ekans - Arbok, Sandshrew, Poliwag, Bulbasaur}}
Total Pokémon: Eevee, *Pidgeot, *Raticate, Metapod, *Beedrill, Ceffairy, Spearow, Arbok, Sandshrew, Goldeen, Poliwag, Jolteon, Drowzee, Horsea, Tentacool, Magikarp, Psyduck, Slowpoke, Magnemite, Voltorb, Zapdos, Elekid…