AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here is Chapter 17 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue their way through Kanto. This chapter is a little shorter than some of the others are, but as always, please feel free to read, review, and provide feedback...Once again, I've inserted a few music cues so you can use your imaginations, too.
TEASER: Tristan and Hillary's options for travel are limited to one path they can take...the underground tunnel between Routes 8 and 7 on their way to Celadon City. But a criminal cowardly bike gang is playing tricks on Officer Jenny and the kids! Will Tristan and Hillary be able to get them out and make their way to Celadon City?
CHAPTER 17: THE CRIMINAL BIKE GANG
(Music cue: Opening 1 Opening and Title Screen 1997-1998 (as heard in "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon"))
After making it safely through the Rock Tunnel, Tristan and Hillary have made it to Lavender Town and its Pokémon Center, in the hopes of finding the next Gym, but unfortunately...
"There's no Gym here?!" exclaimed Tristan.
"I'm very sorry, kids," said Nurse Joy sadly. "But Lavender Town is too small and spooky to have its own Pokémon Gym."
"What do you mean by 'spooky?'" asked Hillary suspiciously.
"There's a place called Pokémon Tower where spooky Ghost Pokémon live," said Nurse Joy in a spooky voice.
"Can we change the subject please?" cringed Hillary.
"Can we talk about my next Gym Battle please?!" shouted Tristan.
"Oops!" gasped Nurse Joy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Anyway, the next Gym you'll want to aim for is the one in Celadon City."
"Celadon City, huh?" said Tristan. "Then that's where we'll go. "We'll check out the Pokémon Tower a little later."
"But I suggest you be careful when you take the underground tunnel going from Route 8 to Route 7," advised Nurse Joy. "Many Trainers fear this underground tunnel because there's a bike gang down there, and they're always up to no good."
"What's a bike gang?" asked Hillary.
"A bike gang is a group of Pokémon Trainers who ride their bicycles in the Underground Tunnel and challenge terrified Trainers to battles under extreme pressure," answered Nurse Joy. "This gang is the self-proclaimed Kanto Pokémon Federation."
"The Kanto Pokémon Federation?" repeated Hillary.
"That's what she said, sis," said Tristan. "This biker gang may be a tough challenge, but we have no other choice. All entrances to Saffron City are still closed."
"Must you always bring that up?!" exclaimed Hillary, who was losing her patience.
"I was just stating a fact, Hillary!" protested Tristan.
Nurse Joy chuckled. "I assume the fighting means that you're brother and sister?" she asked.
Tristan and Hillary's faces turned red and glum. "Yes," they both said.
"Thought so," said Nurse Joy. "Sibling rivalries always happen. It's a fact of life, and it brings them closer than ever. Anyway, if the Underground Path is the only one that's accessible, then I highly suggest you be extremely careful down there."
"Okay, Nurse Joy," said Tristan.
Just then, they all heard a voice.
"There they go again!"
It was Officer Jenny, and she was on her motorcycle, running after something with a police siren sounding off.
"Do you think it's the Kanto Pokémon Federation?" asked Tristan.
"There's only one way to find out," replied Hillary. "Let's follow her."
"We've gotta go, Nurse Joy, but thanks for letting us rest up here!" called Tristan.
"You kids be careful in the underground tunnel!" Nurse Joy called back.
And so the kids and Pikachu followed Officer Jenny to Route 8 as fast as their legs could carry them. They wanted to see what was really going on.
Meanwhile, three bikers had disappeared into the underground. Officer Jenny was too late to stop them by bike. "You three come out of there now!" she demanded.
"You're gonna have to catch us, lady!" answered the first biker.
"Yeah, the underground belongs to us!" put in the second biker.
"If you want us, come and get us!" finished the third biker.
"Don't you dare test me!" fumed Officer Jenny. "I'm not going to tell you again, now come out of there this instant!"
Just then, she heard cackling from another biker from behind her. He had a shiny bald head.
"Well, you may have found my friends, but I'll be the one to protect them from you!" he said as he threw a spherical object at Officer Jenny's feet. The object exploded and displayed a big gray cloud of smoke.
"Get back here!" coughed Officer Jenny as she desperately tried to catch her breath.
The smoke didn't go unnoticed by Tristan and Hillary, who were just arriving on the scene.
"Look, Tristan, there's a big cloud of smoke!" exclaimed Hillary.
"Quick, Pidgeotto, use your Gust attack to blow it away!" ordered Tristan as he threw Pidgeotto's Pokéball.
Instantly upon emerging from the white light, Pidgeotto quickly flapped its wings to clear the smoke away. Sure enough, the smoke disappeared and Officer Jenny came into view.
Tristan and Hillary immediately rushed to her aid.
"We saw what happened, Officer Jenny, are you okay?" asked Tristan.
"Yes, I am, thank you," she replied as she caught her breath. "But I was too late to stop the biker gang from going into the underground."
"Was it the Kanto Pokémon Federation by any chance?" asked Hillary innocently.
"Yes it was," answered Officer Jenny, "and today, they're causing more trouble than usual."
"That does seem like a really big problem," said Tristan.
"I know that there are witnesses on this part of the road, but they don't want to come forward," said Officer Jenny sadly. "Either they're afraid of the bikers or they're just too afraid to talk to the police department."
"Well, what can we do to try and help, Officer Jenny?" asked Hillary.
"The three bikers have disappeared into the building over there," replied Officer Jenny. "I'm going to need you to get them out of there as fast as you can."
"Don't worry, Officer Jenny, because we're on the job," said Tristan.
Pikachu enthusiastically agreed with him.
"I'm ready, too, Tristan, so let's go!" added Hillary.
"Be careful in there, guys!" called Officer Jenny as Tristan and Hillary dashed inside the building and into the underground tunnel. She then immediately radioed for backup from Celadon City's police department.
The underground tunnel between Routes 8 and 7 was a little different from the one going between Routes 5 and 6. This one looked like it was in pretty rough shape thanks to all the activities the bikers did in there. The floor was falling apart, and the walls were crumbling.
"We have to be very careful down here," advised Tristan. "Who knows what those bikers have done with the place, and who knows where they are?"
"This does give me the creeps," replied Hillary.
"This is no time to be scared because we have a job to do," said Tristan. "We have to find these creeps before we find more trouble."
"More trouble has found you!" shouted a voice from behind them.
(Music Cue: The Rockets Unveiled)
Tristan and Hillary turned around just in time to see the voice belonged to the bald-headed biker, the leader of the Kanto Pokémon Federation.
"What do you want?" demanded Tristan and Hillary together.
"We challenge you to a battle, and you will accept or else!" he answered.
"What do you mean by 'we?'" said Hillary suspiciously.
"I mean by all of we," said the bald-headed biker. "Come on in, boys!"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, three other bikers arrived on the scene. They cackled and surrounded the children.
"My name is Dwayne!" said the first biker.
"My name is Harris," said the second biker.
"And my name is Zeke," said the third biker.
"And I'm the leader of the Kanto Pokémon Federation: Paxton," said the bald-headed biker. "And if you want us out, you'll have to force us out...by battling us!"
"You're insane!" exclaimed Tristan.
"So, are you chicken?" taunted Zeke.
Then the bikers laughed, infuriating Tristan and Hillary.
(Music cue: Raid!)
At last, Tristan lost patience. "All right, you're on!" he yelled. He took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Wartortle, I choose you!"
Wartortle materialized from the white light that shot out of its Pokéball.
Paxton gave a wicked smile. "Now we've got 'em boys," he said. "Get 'em, Dwayne!"
"All Koffing, go!" he shouted as he threw four Pokéballs.
The four Pokémon that materialized from the white lights looked like purple spherical objects with holes all over with a skull and crossbones on their fronts.
"Four Koffing?!" exclaimed Tristan.
"Four against one is totally unfair!" added Hillary.
"I never said that we played fair," replied Paxton. "Now, what are you going to do?"
"Wartortle, Water Gun!" ordered Tristan.
A powerful stream of water shot out of Wartortle's mouth towards the Koffing. It was a much more powerful stream than when it was just a Squirtle.
One of the Koffing got hit, but it didn't stop the other Koffing. Eventually, the first Koffing came back into the battle.
"Go, Koffing, Smokescreen now!" commanded Dwayne.
All four Koffing shot a green cloud of smoke from the holes toward the kids and the Pokémon, causing them to cover their eyes. They coughed and tried to catch their breath.
"Do something, Tristan!" hacked Hillary.
"Pidgeotto, blow the Smokescreen away...Gust attack!" commanded Tristan as he covered his mouth and threw Pidgeotto's Pokéball.
Pidgeotto wasted no time after it emerged from the Pokéball as it furiously flapped its wings, causing the smoke to dissipate. However, the bikers had also disappeared.
"Where'd they go?" asked Tristan, who was frantically looking around.
"Those three are complete cowards, running away like that," fumed Hillary. "First they challenge us to a battle, and then they trick us into chasing them!"
Then Tristan and Hillary heard the bikers laughing.
(Music cue: Let's Run! (as heard in "Meowth Rules"))
"This way!" shouted Hillary as she ran toward the sound of the laughter.
"Okay, come on, guys!" replied Tristan as he motioned the Pokémon to follow them.
"You won't get away with this, you bikers!" yelled Hillary.
The three bikers laughed as they ran away on their bicycles. The four Koffing who smoked the kids out were following them.
"Those kids are sure persistent today," said Harris.
"Much more persistent than what we're used to," added Zeke.
"Come on, Zeke," said Dwayne. "If we work together, we can smoke them out, and we'll lose them! Send out your two Koffing!"
"Okay, Dwayne!" replied Zeke. "Go, Koffing!" He threw two Pokéballs.
Two more Koffing emerged from the white lights that shot out of them.
"Oh, great, more Koffing!" exclaimed Hillary.
"Koffing, Smog attack!" commanded Dwayne and Zeke together.
All six Koffing fired green smoke from their mouths at the kids, who had trouble catching their breath.
When the smoke cleared, the three bikers were gone again, much to Tristan and Hillary's frustration.
"If nothing else, those guys sure are good at running," said Hillary.
"We'll get them out somehow," said Tristan. "We promised Officer Jenny that we'd do it and we will!"
"Then let's go after them," said Hillary.
They and the Pokémon kept running after the bikers, little realizing that they were making progress getting to the other side.
"Those bikers must be around here somewhere," said Tristan.
"They couldn't have just disappeared," agreed Hillary.
Meanwhile, a short distance away, the bikers and the six Koffing were having a fun time outrunning the kids.
"This is just like taking candy from a baby!" laughed Zeke.
"Those kids have no brains of their own," added Dwayne.
"Let's not get overconfident," advised Paxton. "They could still catch us,"
"We've got wheels, they've got only legs!" laughed Harris. "They wouldn't stand a chance of catching us, even if we were to go slower than we normally would, not that we ever would."
"There they are! Let's get'em!" Tristan's voice echoed through the underground.
(Music cue: Kanto Wild Pokémon Battle)
The bikers turned around and were shocked to see Tristan and Hillary right on their wheels.
"They've found us, so let's get outta here!" gasped Zeke as he and the bikers pedaled faster to try and lose them.
"Come back here right now!" demanded Hillary as they got closer.
"They must have found a second wind!" said Harris nervously.
"Then let's find ours!" put in Dwayne.
"Just pedal as fast as you can and use the Koffing again if you have to," said Paxton.
"Koffing, Smokescreen now!" ordered Zeke and Dwayne together.
Again, the six Koffing shot out green smoke from their mouths, but Tristan wouldn't have any of it.
"Quick, Pidgeotto, use your Gust attack!" shouted Tristan.
Once again, Pidgeotto furiously flapped its wings and the smoke dissipated, but the Koffing seemed to be putting up more of a fight than usual.
"Come on, Koffing, don't you dare lose!" demanded Zeke and Dwayne.
"Don't give up, Pidgeotto, you can do it!" encouraged Tristan.
The six Koffing continued to shoot out a huge green cloud of smoke while Pidgeotto did its best to keep it at bay.
Suddenly, Harris had a sneaky idea. "If I can add to this cloud of smoke, I'll make sure the kids' party ends with a bang! Heh heh heh heh!" He then took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Flareon, Flamethrower!"
A quadruped Pokémon with reddish orange fur materialized from the white light that shot out of the ball. It looked similar to Eevee, but it had fluffy yellow fur on its tail, its chest, and the tuft on its head. It immediately launched a stream of orange fire to add to the green smoke. The color of the smoke started turning into the same color and burst into flames, and suddenly, without warning, caused an explosion, knocking everyone off their feet and wheels. As another unfortunate result of the Smokescreen being combined with the Flamethrower, the underground burst into flames.
"IDIOT!" screamed Paxton. "Do you have ANY idea what you've just done?!"
"Well, I seemed to have caused a ruckus," laughed Harris nervously.
(Music Cue: Desperate Situation (as heard in "Two Hits and a Miss"))
The explosion didn't go unnoticed by Officer Jenny at the entrance on Route 8. She had finally lost her patience, but not with the kids. "That does it!" she said. As soon as everyone is out of there, I'm closing this underground entrance for good!" She then took out her radio. "Dispatch, we have a possible explosion in the underground between Routes 8 and 7. Send for any available firefighting team to investigate!" And she went into the underground tunnel to try and help out.
Back in the underground, the fire was starting to rage out of control.
"What do we do, Tristan?" said Hillary worriedly.
"There's only one thing to do, and that's put out the fire!" answered Tristan. He turned to Wartortle, who was standing by. "Wartortle, use your Water Gun attack on that fire!"
Wartortle instantly shot a stream of water from its mouth at the fire. However, the fire showed no signs of going out.
"Keep going, Wartortle, we've got to put the fire out!" encouraged Tristan.
Wartortle kept squirting with all its might.
Just then, Officer Jenny arrived on the scene. "Are you two okay?" she called to Tristan and Hillary.
"We're okay, but the fire isn't going out!" replied Hillary. "We're doing the best we can."
"You guys are doing a great job," said Officer Jenny. "But what caused this problem in the first place."
"Those bikers kept tricking us into battling so they could run away with Koffing's Smokescreen attack. We tried blowing it away, but when the Smokescreen combined with Flareon's Flamethrower, that's when this fire ignited!"
The bikers cringed in fear of both the fire and Officer Jenny.
"Uh-oh," said Zeke.
"Busted!" added Dwayne.
Officer Jenny turned to the four bikers. "You're all in so much trouble!" she declared. Then she turned to Tristan and Hillary. "I've called for backup to help fight the fire, guys," she said.
"Thanks, Officer Jenny," replied Tristan. "As powerful as Wartortle is, even it has its limits."
"Wait up!" called Paxton. "Maybe my Muk can help." He took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Go, Muk!"
(Music Cue: Gym 1997-1998 (as heard in "The Mystery Menace"))
A Pokémon of living purple sludge materialized from the white light that shot out of the Pokéball. It had beady black pupils, plus arms with three fingers on each hand. It was a bigger version of Grimer.
"What's that?" asked Tristan as he scanned the Pokémon with his Pokédex.
"Not only that, what's that stinky smell?" added Hillary as she covered her nose.
"Muk: The Sludge Pokémon: The evolved form of Grimer," it said. "Its slimy form contains poison."
"Go, Muk, smother the fire!" ordered Paxton.
Muk surrounded the fire with its entire body. The fire was put out on the spot.
Everyone was very surprised, including Officer Jenny.
"Whoa," said Tristan.
"That was unbelievable!" added Hillary.
Officer Jenny took out her radio again. "Dispatch, the fire is out, so cancel the last response," she said.
The bikers were ashamed of what they did, including Paxton.
Paxton felt badly most of all. "As the leader of the Kanto Pokémon Federation, I apologize to all of you for causing this mess in the first place," he said. "Whatever punishment you give us, that's okay with me."
"We don't want punishments, we want retributions!" demanded Zeke, Harris, and Dwayne together. It was obvious that they hadn't redeemed themselves after the fire was put out, even after Paxton worked hard to put it out in the first place.
Officer Jenny thought about it for a minute. Then she said, "Well, I won't arrest you since you helped put the fire out; however, I will be closing this place down for the foreseeable future."
"No fair!" shouted the three bikers.
"Go ahead and shut it down," said Paxton. "I will be leaving this underground anyway to work on my behavior, and I have you and the kids to thank."
Officer Jenny motioned the bikers to come with her to the entrance on Route 8 while she instructed Tristan and Hillary to keep following the path to the other side on Route 7. "Once you do that follow the grassy route to Celadon City."
"Thanks, Officer Jenny," said Tristan.
"You've been a big help," added Hillary.
"I'm the one who should thank you," replied Officer Jenny. "It's because of you, we were able to get these bikers out of the underground in the first place."
"Aw, don't mention it," said Tristan.
Pikachu agreed with him.
"Let's go," said Tristan. "Celadon City awaits our arrival."
The kids and Pikachu said goodbye to Officer Jenny as they went to the other side of the underground tunnel.
(Music cue: Meeting and Parting)
When Tristan and Hillary emerged from the building on Route 7 some time later, Celadon City's Officer Jenny was waiting for them.
"I've heard all about your adventures in the underground tunnel, and I'm very happy that you helped my sister out today," she said. "Thank you very much."
"We were just glad we could help out, Officer Jenny," replied Tristan.]
"Yeah, because where would we be if we didn't?" added Hillary.
"We heard there was a Gym somewhere in Celadon City," said Tristan. "Is that true?"
"You heard right, Tristan," answered Officer Jenny. "I'll take you to the Pokémon Center so you can rest up."
"Thanks, Officer Jenny," replied the kids.
"Pikachu!" said Pikachu happily.
Thanks to Tristan and Hillary's help, Officer Jenny was able to drive a gang of bikers out of the underground tunnel, and now with a proud escort, they will arrive in Celadon City with the hope of winning a brand new badge.
(Music cue: The Moon Stone)
Meanwhile, in a secret hideout in Celadon City, someone very evil is plotting his next big move...and that someone will soon put all of Celadon City on high alert.
"Ah, excellent!" said a man in an orange suit. It was Giovanni, who was watching Tristan and Hillary closely on a TV screen. "It will soon be time to make our presence known to the kids." He paused for a second. "They aren't as fearful of the danger as I thought they'd be. Hmmm...This will make things interesting, especially when I have this Silph Scope here." He paused again, then he said at last, "This is perfect. Everyone in Celedon City is in a perfect disguise, fooling everyone. Little do the residents know that my henchmen are standing by, ready to attack at any moment. So first the Rocket Game Corner, and then, all of Celadon City! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
► TO BE CONTINUED
