AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here is chapter 45 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue their journey through Kanto. Delia Ketchum, Professor Oak, and Tracey Sketchit from the anime make appearances in this chapter. Just a reminder that I DON"T own Pokémon. Pokémon, Pikachu, and all other character names are trademarks of Nintendo. As always, please feel free to read and review, and remember, feedback of any kind is always welcome.
TEASER: Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu arrive in New Bark Town to visit Professor Oak. When Tristan challenges Delia to a battle, he will have a difficult time with Mr. Mime, who can make walls appear! How will he get past this pantomime act?
Chapter 45: A VISIT TO PALLET TOWN
(Music Cue: Route 1 (version 1) The Road to Viridian City)
After earning a Volcano Badge from Blaine, the Cinnabar Island Gym Leader, our friends decide to make a quick stop in Pallet Town before challenging the next Gym..
"Pallet Town sure looks beautiful, doesn't it Pikachu?" said Tristan as he and his friends overlooked it from a hill. "This is where you and I first met."
Pikachu agreed.
"You can get a good view from up here," added Hillary. "The town may be small, but it looks like it's got a whole lot of everything."
"Except a Pokémon Center," reminded Tristan.
"Good point," chuckled Hillary. "I wonder if we can see our old house from here."
"I doubt it," replied Tristan. "And I doubt that Mom and Dad are home. They're probably out journeying, just like we are right now."
"Speaking of journeying," said Hillary, "we haven't talked with Professor Oak in a while. Why don't we stop by his laboratory and say hi?
"Good idea," replied Tristan. "I'll race you!" And he ran off with Pikachu running right behind him.
"Hey, wait up!" called Hillary as she raced after them. "You got a head start!" And they continued to run toward Professor Oak's laboratory.
"Professor Oak?" called Tristan as he rang the bell a few minutes later.
"Are you home?" asked Hillary.
The door opened and Professor Oak appeared. "Ah, Tristan and Hillary!" he said. "Please come in." He led them inside.
"This looks sort of familiar," said Tristan. "This must be the place where Pikachu and I first met."
Professor Oak nodded. "And it's also where you first battled Blue," added Professor Oak. "How have things been going?"
"Doing great, Professor," answered Tristan. "I already have seven badges."
"Ah, that is impressive," replied Professor Oak.
"And I've been keeping Tristan out of trouble," added Hillary.
Professor Oak chuckled. "I'm sure Tristan couldn't do anything without you," he said.
"That's not true!" retorted Tristan.
"Ha ha ha! Just kidding," replied Professor Oak.
"Is Mrs. Ketchum with you today?" asked Hillary.
"She is," answered Professor Oak. "She's in my living room." And he opened the door to what appeared to be a large living area with couches and a TV set.
Sure enough, there was a woman sitting on one of the couches, and it was indeed, Delia Ketchum. "Hello, kids!" she said.
"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum," replied Tristan and Hillary together.
Presently, a bipedal Pokémon with a white round body appeared beside Delia. It had a pink face, pink arms, and pink legs, and it had magenta circles on its cheeks. It also had magenta pads on the tips of its white fingers.
"Is that a Pokémon?" asked Tristan. He took out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.
"Mr. Mime: The Barrier Pokémon," identified Dexter. "It uses pantomime to make actual walls appear. Because it is rarely discovered, information about this Pokémon is extremely limited."
"So that's a Mr. Mime!" said Tristan as he walked over to it. "How do you do? May I shake your hand?"
"Mr. Mime!" greeted Mr. Mime as it extended its hand to Tristan's giving it a proper handshake.
"Is this your Mr. Mime, Mrs. Ketchum?" asked Hillary.
"Yes, it is," replied Delia. "I call it Mimey."
"Mimey?" repeated Tristan. "That's a weird name."
"I don't think it's weird," replied Hillary. "So how did you get it, Mrs. Ketchum? Did you see one and capture it with a Pokéball?"
Delia smiled. "Actually, I didn't capture it with a Pokéball," she replied. "It decided to wander to my home. It seemed to like me a lot. At first, I thought it was my son, Ash, dressed up in a Mr. Mime costume, but when Team Rocket showed up, I asked it to help him and me out in defeating those criminals. And we've been friends ever since."
"That's a great story, Mrs. Ketchum," said Tristan. "You and Mr. Mime must be real close if you two have been together for this long." He turned to his Pikachu. "Right, pal?"
Pikachu agreed.
"Why don't I cook up a nice lunch back at my place?" suggested Delia.
"That sounds good," added Professor Oak. "I think you'll like Delia's cooking."
"All right!" said Tristan excitedly.
Pikachu liked the idea, too.
"What a surprise, Tristan," replied Hillary. "The idea of food always makes you happy, and it's the perfect way to keep our strength up."
Back at Delia's house, Tristan had one of everything that she cooked up from scrambled eggs to cheeseburger and fries to pizza. Everyone else was enjoying one course of delicious food at a time.
"It looks like your appetite is as healthy as Ash's," smiled Delia. "That makes me happy."
"I'm just happy to chow down on this delicious food," replied Tristan.
"Somehow, Tristan, you remind me of Ash in several ways," said Delia. "Even though you seem mature, you two could be twins."
"Twins?!" exclaimed Tristan. "I just want to meet him, not be twins with him!"
"I think Mrs. Ketchum knows that, Tristan," replied Hillary.
"By the way, Tristan," said Professor Oak, "since you have seven badges, I should remind you that you have three months before you get your last badge and the Pokémon League Competition begins."
"Three months?!" exclaimed Tristan. "Any idea where I can get my last badge?"
"Calm down, Tristan," said Hillary. ""Remember, you have one more badge to get. You said so yourself."
"I think the best place to get your last badge should be at the Viridian Gym," said Professor Oak. "Construction should be finished by now."
Tristan breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, I just have to remember everything that I learned after I started my journey." He then closed his eyes and began to think back to his very first day as a Pokémon Trainer.
(Music Cue: Ash's Decision to Fight (second part))
He remembered back when he first got Pikachu and how he battled his rival, Blue, for the first time. Then he thought back to the time that when he caught his first Pokémon, a little Pidgey. He, Hillary, and Pikachu worked together as a team to come up with a plan to catch it. Then he remembered the times he caught Caterpie, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, all of whom had grown up considerably. One battle after another had crossed his mind, and he seemed to get better with each one. And with this much experience, plus seven Gym victories under his belt, he immediately regained his composure. There was now a fire in his eyes, burning with a passion for victory. He was certainly on a hot streak, and he was confident that nothing would stand in his way.
Hillary was impressed. "Whoa. Now that's what I call composure."
"Professor, do you happen to know what type of Pokémon the Viridian Gym Leader uses?" asked Tristan.
"Unfortunately, that's been a mystery to me," replied Professor Oak. "My grandson, Gary, challenged the Viridian Gym, but lost to some unknown Legendary Pokémon with evil powers."
"Evil?" asked Tristan. "Is there an evil Gym Leader there?"
"Well, I'm not positive on the identity," answered Professor Oak. "I do know that he used a Golem and a Kingler against Gary."
Hmmm, thought Tristan. Sounds like I'd better look them up. He took out his Pokédex and studied the two Pokémon Professor Oak just mentioned.
"Golem: The Megaton Pokémon," said Dexter. "Golem's boulder-like body is extremely hard, it can withstand blasts of dynamite.
"Kingler: The Pincer Pokémon: The evolved form of Krabby. Kingler's claws have the power to pinch with 10,000 horsepower."
"It sounds like those two Pokémon will be tough to beat, Tristan," said Hillary nervously. "Are you sure you're up to that?"
"I won't know unless I try, right?" replied Tristan. "So I have to."
"That's the spirit," smiled Professor Oak. "And even if you don't see these two Pokémon, with as much training and studying you do along with your Pokémon, you should be able to handle any surprises your opponents throw at you."
"All right, then," said Tristan. "There's no time to lose." He turned to Delia. "Mrs. Ketchum, would you have a battle with me?"
Delia became nervous. "I don't know," she said. "Mr. Mime and I have never been in a battle before."
"I wouldn't worry about that at all, Delia," assured Professor Oak. "Your Mr. Mime knows some good attacks, and I'm sure it will be happy to help you in this battle."
Delia agreed. Then, she said to Tristan, "I accept your challenge."
Just then, the front door of the house opened and in stepped a boy wearing a green short-sleeved shirt, red shorts, and a peach-colored headband. "Am I too late for the party?" he asked.
"Ah, Tracey," said Professor Oak. "It's good to see you back from your rounds. I'd like you to meet Tristan and Hillary. They're visiting us today." He extended his hand and said to Tristan and Hillary, "This is my assistant, Tracey, kids. He's a Pokémon watcher. He's been with me ever since Ash, Misty, and Brock left for the Johto region."
"Hello, Tracey," said Tristan and Hillary together.
Pikachu greeted Tracey warmly.
"Hi, guys," replied Tracey. "It's nice to meet you. So what's happening?"
"I'm just about to have a practice battle with Mrs. Ketchum," answered Tristan.
"That sounds like fun," said Tracey. "Mind if I watch?"
"Sure, it's fine with me, Tracey," replied Tristan.
Everyone proceeded to the open field in the back of Professor Oak's laboratory a few minutes later. Tristan and Delia faced each other on opposite sides of the field.
"Even though this is my first battle, Tristan, I don't want you going easy on me," warned Delia.
"I intend to go all out, Mrs. Ketchum," replied Tristan.
"Let's do it, Mr. Mime!" said Delia.
Mr. Mime walked in front of Delia and readied itself for battle.
That Mr. Mime looks pretty strong, but if I want to be the best trainer someday, I have to challenge myself, thought Tristan as he took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Ivysaur, I choose you!"
The Pokéball opened and Ivysaur materialized from the white light that shot out of it.
Hillary was a little perplexed. "Why Ivysaur?" she asked herself.
"Interesting," said Professor Oak. "That Bulbasaur must have evolved. We'll see what tricks Tristan has in store this time." He turned his attention to the battlefield and shouted, "Let the battle begin!"
(Music Cue: Kanto Gym Leader Battle)
"Ivysaur, start off with your Razor Leaf attack!" shouted Tristan.
Ivysaur fired a flurry of razor sharp leaves at Mr. Mime.
"Mr. Mime, Light Screen!" commanded Delia.
Mr. Mime raised its hands and created a pink wall of light, keeping Ivysaur's Razor Leaf from doing any damage.
"I've got plenty more attacks than that! Okay, Ivysaur, try a Vine Whip!" ordered Tristan.
Ivysaur shot two vines from the bud on its back, but Light Screen prevented Mr. Mime from getting any damage.
"What's going on?" asked Tristan. "Vine Whip doesn't seem to be working either."
"Mrs. Ketchum's using Mr. Mime's Light Screen to shield against Razor Leaf and Vine Whip," said Tracey. "That's an excellent strategy." He took out a sketchpad along with a pencil. "I'll have to make a sketch of this." And he began to draw what he was seeing.
"Tristan, you've gotta try something else!" shouted Hillary. "Razor Leaf and Vine Whip aren't working!"
Hillary's right, thought Tristan. I'll have to try a straightforward attack. "Now, Ivysaur, use Tackle attack!" he shouted.
Ivysaur did a full-body charge at Mr. Mime.
"Mr. Mime, use Barrier!" commanded Delia.
Mr. Mime raised its hands again and created another wall of light, but it was blue instead of pink.
Just as Ivysaur was about to ram into Mr. Mime, it rammed into the Barrier attack instead, shielding Mr. Mime from the physical damage and hurting Ivysaur instead.
"No, Ivysaur!" cried Tristan.
"This is crazy!" exclaimed Hillary. "Now Mr. Mime's protected against Grass attacks AND direct attacks!"
"Mrs. Ketchum's doing incredibly well!" remarked Tracey. "She's really giving Tristan a tough time with that combo."
"Mr. Mime, use your DoubleSlap!" shouted Delia.
Mr. Mime charged at Ivysaur and repeatedly slapped it around with its hands, one slap after another.
"Hang in there, Ivysaur!" encouraged Tristan. I can't believe how good that Mr. Mime is, he thought. Mrs. Ketchum WANTED me to attack her Mr. Mime with those attacks. I have to think of something quick, because if I don't, it's all over!
Ivysaur kept getting pummeled by Mr. Mime's DoubleSlap attack, making it completely immobilized.
"Tristan's gotta think more clearly if he expects to win," said Hillary. "But I don't know what he can do as long as Mr. Mime's Barrier and Light Screen attacks are still in effect."
"Yes, Delia seems to be doing quite well," remarked Professor Oak.
"Yeah, but the question is, can Tristan think of something without having to worry about that Barrier and Light Screen combo?" asked Tracey.
"The odds may be against him," replied Professor Oak, "but I have a feeling he can turn this match around."
There has to be some way of attacking without using any offensive attacks, thought Tristan. Then he smiled. That's it! If I can't use any offensive attacks, maybe I can use some defensive attacks to wear Mr. Mime out! It just might work! "Ivysaur, use Leech Seed!" he shouted.
(Music Cue: Kanto Wild Pokémon Battle)
Ivysaur fired a brown-colored seed from the bud on its back at Mr. Mime.
"I guess you'll never learn," said Delia. "Mr. Mime's Barrier and Light Screen attacks are still in effect. That Leech Seed attack will get blocked just like your last three offensive attacks."
Ivysaur's Leech Seed attack continued to rocket toward Mr. Mime as Tristan looked on.
"And what makes you think Leech Seed is an offensive attack?" asked Tristan.
Delia was confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Just watch," replied Tristan.
Sure enough, the brown seed landed on Mr. Mime and it began to sprout leaves and vines, and as it did, the vines glowed red, causing Mr. Mime to feel the shock. Its energy was slowly, but surely, being drained.
"No, Mimey!" cried Delia.
"I've never seen anything like this," remarked Tracey. "Ivysaur's Leech Seed is causing Mr. Mime to run out of energy. Tristan must have found a way to turn this battle around for him even with the Barrier and Light Screen combo still in effect."
"Go for it, Tristan!" cheered Hillary.
"Ivysaur, Sleep Powder attack!" commanded Tristan.
Ivysaur fired a silvery powder from the bud on its back. The powder scattered all over a seeded and exhausted Mr. Mime, who slowly fell to the ground, closed its eyes and fell fast asleep.
The vines from Ivysaur's Leech Seed disappeared, as Mr. Mime had lost the last of its energy to battle.
"Well, that's it!" announced Professor Oak. "Tristan and Ivysaur are the winners!"
"Way to go, Ivysaur," commended Tristan. "You were awesome."
Ivysaur replied happily.
Tristan and Ivysaur quickly ran over to Mr. Mime just as Delia was cradling it.
"Are you okay, Mimey?" asked Delia.
Mr. Mime slowly woke up and gave a tired, but happy reply.
"Oh, thank goodness," sighed Delia.
"Is Mr. Mime okay?" asked Tristan.
"Oh, Mr. Mime just needs a good rest, that's all," replied Delia. "Isn't that right, Mimey?"
Mr. Mime nodded.
"I never expected a Leech Seed and Sleep Powder combo to overpower my Barrier and Light Screen combo like that," said Delia. "Oh, well. I guess that means I still have a lot to learn."
"I think we all have a lot to learn, but maybe when Ash comes back to Pallet Town, he can give you some pointers," smiled Tristan.
"And I can help you out, too," added Tracey.
"That's a great idea," replied Delia. "I'll be a battle expert like Ash in no time. After all, battle skills run in the family!"
Everyone laughed.
"So, as I understand, you're off to Viridian City," said Professor Oak as Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu got ready to leave Pallet Town.
"That's right, Professor," replied Hillary.
"I know you'll get your final badge, Tristan," said Tracey. "I'll be rooting for you."
"We all are," added Delia. "Good luck."
"Thanks, guys," replied Tristan. "I'll do my best."
"We'll see you later," added Hillary as she, Tristan, and Pikachu waved goodbye to Professor Oak, Tracey, and Delia.
"Be careful, guys!" called Delia as she, Tracey, and Professor Oak waved back. "And thanks for the great battle, Tristan!"
"Keep up the training!" added Professor Oak.
"You can call us anytime if you need advice!" added Tracey.
"We will!" replied Tristan and Hillary together.
As our friends leave the comforts of Pallet Town behind them, they know the only thing on their minds is Tristan's final Gym Battle in Viridian City, where his last badge and possibly the toughest challenge yet await.
TO BE CONTINUED...
