Last time, as our heroes stopped for lunch, Amanda ran off to train with Kevin and Mike following, they ended up on an Eevee breeding ranch. Team Rocket stopped by only to release the Eevee which Kevin, Mike and Amanda went after. But to show their thanks, Bessie and Carl gave an Eeve to our young heroes. Now they're back on the road to Vermilion City what adventure will await them today?
Chapter Fifteen: David Versus Growlithe
A beautiful day in Kanto, the sun brighter then ever as it looked over our beloved Pokemon Trainers Kevin, Mike and Amanda. Their journey to Vermillion City continues as they walked along the route to take them there.
"How much further to Vermillion City?" asked Amanda.
Mike took out his guide book for Kanto and looked through it.
"According to the map in my guide book, there's a Pokemon day care on the outskirts of Vermillion City," Mike answered. "So once we find that, we're pretty much there."
"Mike, that didn't answer my question," Amanda said. "How much further until we're there?"
"Well the book doesn't give that kind of information," Mike said nervously.
Kevin, listening to his friends, sighed. Pikachu jumped from his shoulders to allow Kevin to dig through is back pack. Mike and Amanda, who were bickering back and forth, didn't see Kevin stop and kept going. Kevin pulled out a map that he was looking for and looked up to see his friends continuing on without him.
"Hey guys, stop for a second!" he yelled.
Mike and Amanda stopped and turned to see Kevin had stopped.
"What is it Kevin?" Amanda asked sweetly, Mike gave her an ugly look. She was being mean to him, but completely changed her tone with Kevin.
"I found my old school map," Kevin said and began looking at the paper in his hand. Amanda and Mike walked up to Kevin and looked over his shoulders. He then pointed to a place on the map.
"I believe we are here," he said. He moved his finger across the map, "There's Vermillion City, so we're almost there."
"Thank God, my legs are killing me!" complained Amanda. "I don't think I can walk anymore after this."
They continue on with their journey knowing their destination isn't very far from where they were. Soon a building rose from the horizon. They come up to it and notice the sign that read 'David's Pokemon Day Care'.
"Hey, this is that day care place that I read about in the guide book," Mike said.
"Great, that means we're at the outskirts of Vermillion City," said Kevin.
Before they could continue on to Vermillion City, a man with short, dark hair wearing a brown vest and khaki shorts ran out of the door towards the back of the house. He was yelling.
"Damn it, not again!" he yelled as he ran towards the back of the house.
"I wonder what's going on," Kevin said.
"I really don't want to find out, let's keep going, we're about to reach Vermillion City," Mike said, protesting they help the man.
"He could be in real trouble, maybe we can help," Amanda suggested.
"Let's go!" Kevin said and ran toward the back of the day care with Amanda following.
Mike sighed, "Why do I let them suck me into these side quests?"
"Not you again, Growlithe!" yelled the man. "Leave the Pokemon here alone!"
"Growlithe!" the red and black striped canine growled. It then charged toward the man. He closed his eyes but he then heard the Growilthe yipe and opened his eyes to see a Pikachu tackle the puppy Pokemon.
"Huh? Where did that Pikachu come from?" he asked himself.
"Hit it with a Thunderbolt," yelled Kevin from behind the man.
"Pi, Ka, Chu!" the Pokemon yelled as it squeezed out eletric bolts, hitting Growlithe. The puppy Pokemon then ran into the bushes nearby.
"Good work Pikachu," praised Kevin as Pikachu returned to his place on Kevin's shoulder.
"Thank you very much," said the man as he walked up to the young trainers.
"It was no problem," Kevin said.
"Why was that Growlithe attacking you?" asked Amanda.
The man sighed, "Well it's kind of a long story."
"Is Growlithe yours?" asked Kevin.
"No, it's not," the man replied. "Oh my, where are my manners I forgot to introduce myself, my name is David and I run this Pokemon Day Care."
"A Pokemon Day Care?" asked Mike.
"Yes. Why don't you come inside, I'll show you around," David said, motioning for the trainers to follow him.
They walked from the back around to the front of the house and walked through the door. Once inside, a group of walking purple bulbs with grass growing out of the top of their head.
"Oddish, Oddish," they spoke happily.
"Aww, those Oddish are so cute," Amanda beamed. Mike rolled his eyes and looked inside a room full of Rattata's.
"Are all these Pokemon yours?" asked Kevin.
"Nope," David answered. "These belong to people. Most of these Pokemon are pets and they're brought here to be looked after while their owners are out of town."
"Wow, are you the only one that works here?" asked Amanda.
"Yeah, but that's okay, these Pokemon aren't hard to handle," David replied.
"What else do you do here?" asked Mike.
"Some trainers also bring their Pokemon for breeding purposes," David answered.
"And the Growlithe?" asked Kevin.
"Ah yes, the Growlithe," David spoke, "Are you guys hungry?"
"Actually, yeah, we kind of are," answered Kevin.
"Come to the kitchen, I'll talk about Growlithe over lunch," David said, motioning for the trainers to follow him.
The walked toward the back of the house to a room on the left which turned to be the kitchen. The cabinets were made of cherry oak with a dark red finish. The Refridgerator and stove were of stainless steel. At the end of the kitchen, near double sliding glass doors was a cherry oak table. David motioned for the kids to sit at the table as David began making up sandwhiches. After a while, David had made sandwhiches for everyone, including himself. They all began eating.
"So what's up with the pissed off Growlithe?" asked Mike, breaking the silence.
"That Growlithe showed up a couple of weeks ago," began David. "I was letting out some of the Pokemon to get some fresh air when I decided to go ahead and feed them outside. I walked away only to hear something come out of the forest nearby. It was that Growlithe and he began picking on the weaker Pokemon and was stealing their food. I chased it off but it comes back over and over, picking on the Pokemon here and stealing their food."
"That's rude," said Amanda.
"Rude as it may be, I don't blame Growlithe," continued David. "I believe it once had a trainer and it was abandoned."
"Who would want to abandon such a cool Pokemon like Growlithe?" asked Kevin.
"I don't know," replied David. "Many people in this world can be cruel and cold hearted to Pokemon."
Suddenly an Oddish ran inside through the open back glass sliding doors, crying. The top of it's forehead was slightly burned.
"What's wrong Oddish?" asked David. He then noticed the burn.
"Damn it, Growlithe is back!" he said as he ran outside. Kevin, Mike and Amanda followed suit.
"I knew it!" David said as he looked towards the fence line to see Growlithe attacking the Pokemon.
Before they could do anything about the Pokemon, a tan and biege bird with a pink at the ends of its head feathers, and medium length tail feathers flew down from a nearby tree with it's wings lit up and slammed into the Growlithe. After that attack, the bird swooped down and began pecking at the puppy Pokemon.
"Wow, it's a Pidgeotto!" Kevin said with excitement.
Growlithe tried to fight back using Ember, but the Pidgeotto easily avoids the small flames and began to flap its wings to create a big gust, blowing the Growlithe away.
"Pidgeotto!" it yelled in victory.
"What a relief, Pidgeotto is back," said David.
"Is that Pidgeotto yours?" asked Kevin.
"Yes and no," replied David. "Let's go finish our lunch."
Lunch was finished and David cleaned up the kitchen. He returned to the table and sat.
"So how's that Pidgeotto yours but not?" asked Kevin.
"Well Pidgeotto was brought to me as a Pidgey," David began. "The trainer told me to give him a call once the Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto. I looked after Pidgey for a few months and it finally evolved into Pidgeotto. I called the number the trainer gave me, but it didn't exist."
"So he abandoned the Pokemon?" Amanda asked.
"Yep," answered David. "Pidgeotto made it's home in the oak tree out back and stayed up there for days. Never coming down, even to eat. I knew it was saddened."
"Some people are so cruel, it really angers me," Kevin injected.
"Yeah they are," David agreed, "But Pidgeotto made use of himself when that Growlithe came along and began attacking the Pokemon here. Most of the time when Growlithe comes to steal food, Pidgeotto swoops down from his oak tree and fights off the Growlithe. However, Pidgeotto can't be there all the time."
David looked out the window at the oak tree in the back to see Growlithe firing flames into the tree.
"Damn it, that Growlithe is back again, this time he's attacking Pidgeotto."
Kevin runs outside with Pikachu by his side and runs to the oak tree. Growlithe's flames set the tree on fire, trapping Pidgeotto, keeping him from flying away.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" commanded Kevin. Pikachu begins to pick up speed and slams into Growlithe's stomach. The Growlithe runs away, but Pidgeotto is still trapped in the tree.
Kevin grabs a Poke ball from his belt and tosses it for it to open, "Eevee, you're up!"
The ball opens up, releasing the small, tan canine.
"Weee!" it said happily.
"Alright Eevee, use Sand Attack to bury some of the flames to allow Pidgeotto to fly out of the tree!" Kevin ordered.
"Weee!" it said as it kicked up a big ball of dirt up into the tree. The dirt managed to smother some of the flames on the face of the tree. Pidgeotto flies out of the tree, but doesn't get too far as it falls to the ground.
"Pidgeotto!" yelled Kevin as he ran over to the bird
"Dgeotto!" it said weakly. Kevin picked up Pidgeotto and runs inside. At the same time Amanda, Mike and David has come running outside.
Amanda grabs a Poke Ball from the side pocket of her back pack and throws it.
"Squirtle, come on out!" she yelled. The ball opened up and released her tiny blue turtle Pokemon.
"Squirtle, Squirt!"
"Put out the flames with your Water Gun!" commanded Amanda.
Squritle begins spitting out large amounts of water, spraying the tree, putting out the blaze.
"Good job Squirtle, return," she said, holding up the Poke Ball that beams Squirtle back inside the ball.
Kevin looks on as David examines Pidgeotto.
"Is Pidgeotto going to be alright?" asked Kevin.
"Yeah, it was just tired," said David. "He's been fighting off Growlithe all day."
Kevin grabs his back pack and digs around and finds an empty Poke Ball. He pulls it out of his back pack and places it on the table by David.
"Huh? What's this for?" asked David.
"You should try to capture Growlithe," answered Kevin.
"Why?" asked David.
"To take some of the burden off of Pidgeotto to keep these small Pokemon safe from harm," suggested Kevin.
"You know, that's a good idea," said David. "I didn't think about that before."
David grabbed a belt with three Poke Balls attatched off the file cabinet nearby.
"You have your own Pokemon after all?" asked Kevin.
"Yes, can you do me a huge favor?" asked David.
"Sure, what is it?" asked Kevin.
"Look after Pidgeotto for me, I'm going outside to wait for Growlithe and capture it," replied David.
"Of course I will!"
David ran outside to see the damage that was done to the tree. Most of the right side of the tree was burned, the left was singed but still held some life to it. David sighed.
"Pidgeotto's home is ruined," he said sadly.
Mike noticed the belt with the three Poke Balls on it. "You have your own Pokemon?"
"Yeah, before I started this day care, I used to be a Pokemon Trainer," David answered.
"Then where are your other Pokemon? You only have three," Mike responded.
"Well most of my Pokemon are at Professor Oak's," answered David.
"Do you ever see them?" asked Amanda.
"Of course I do," David answered. "The only time I don't go is during my busy season, which is right now, around the time the S.S. Anne comes to Vermillion City."
"Gwoalif!" a voice yelled out.
David, Mike and Amanda turned to find a smaller Growlithe come out of the bushes. Sniffing around and began stealing Pokemon food from the bowls lying across the green grass.
"Gwoalif!" it said again, but the sound of the voice was different.
"Is that another Growlithe?" asked Amanda.
"No, it's only that one Growlithe," David responded.
"There's something fishy about this one," Mike said.
The fake Growlithe then pulled out a sack and started stuffing Oddish inside.
"What!" yelled David, "What is it doing?"
"I knew it, that was no Growlithe!" yelled Amanda. "Go Squirtle!"
Amanda threw the Poke Ball which released the blue tiny turtle.
"Squirtle, Squirt!" it said happily.
"Use Water Gun on that imposter Growlithe!" Amanda commanded. Squirtle began shooting out pressurized water from its mouth and it slammed into the fake Growlithe, washing away the costume revealing it was a cat none other than Meowth.
"It's Meowth from Team Rocket!" Mike yelled out.
"Ah, so you got me," Meowth.
"A talking Meowth?" questioned David.
Suddenly there was a laughter from a man and woman as a Meowth-shaped hot air balloon arose from the forest revealing Bill and Cassandra.
"Good work Meowth, we'll take over from here," said Cassandra. Bill and Cassandra pulled out net cannons and fired them. The nets came down and trapping all the Pokemon David had running around outside.
"What are you doing you theives! These aren't even my Pokemon!" yelled David.
"Then you wouldn't mind if we made them our own," said Bill.
Kevin looked on as Pidgeotto rested.
'Poor Pidgeotto, he tried so hard to keep those Pokemon safe,'
Kevin then heard a noise from outside and looked out the window to find Team Rocket trying to fly away with the Pokemon at the day center.
"Oh no, it's Team Rocket!" Kevin yelled. "Damn it, they're stealing Pokemon again!"
Kevin's yelling woke up Pidgeotto to see the Pokemon he's been looking after for weeks in a net attatched to a Meowth-shaped balloon.
"Pidgeotto!" it yelled as it got up and flew out of the house.
"Pidgeotto, wait, you still need to rest some more!" Kevin yelled as he ran after the bird Pokemon.
"Go, Blastoise!" yelled David as he threw a Poke Ball, releasing a massive turtle with cannons in its shell on the back.
"'Toise!" it said.
"Use your Hydro Pump at that balloon!" David ordered. Blastoise aimed his blast cannons and fired a massive amount of pressurized water.
"Oh no!" yelled Cassandra.
"Not to fear my dear," Bill said and pressed a button which some how made the balloon travel side ways to avoid the water.
"How did that work?" asked Cassandra.
"I installed a fan to blow the balloon to the right or left," Bill said, proud of his investment.
"Damn it, it missed!" David said.
"Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto yelled as its beak sliced through the net, freeing the captured Pokemon.
"Pidg- Pidgeotto?" David question.
"Ah! Da Pokemon are gettin' away!" yelled Meowth.
"Ekans, Go!" yelled Cassandra as she threw her Poke Ball, releasing her purple snake Pokemon.
"Ekanssss," it hissed.
"Grimer, you're up!" yelled Bill as he threw his Poke Ball, releasing his purple slime Pokemon.
"Grima!" it yelled.
"Ekans, Poison Sting!" ordered Cassandra. Ekans opened its mouth and began firing purple pin needles at Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto flapped its wings and created a massive gust to blow them away.
"Grimer, use your Sludge attack!" ordered Bill. Grimer opened its mouth and shot out a ball of sticky sludge. Pidgeotto flapped its wings again to create another gust to blow away the sludge ball, but this time it didn't work. The sludge ball splashed across Pidgeotto, blinding it.
"Pidgeotto!" it yelled flying toward the ground.
"Pidgeotto!" yelled David, trying to run knowing he wouldn't get there in time to catch it. David then stopped dead in his track as Kevin rushed in and caught Pidgeotto right before it hit the ground. David sighed in relief.
Kevin placed Pidegotto on the ground and wiped off the sludge from Pidgeotto's face to allow it to see.
"Pidgeotto," it said, thanking Kevin.
"You stay here and rest, let us handle everything else," Kevin said. Kevin then walked away to join the fight against Team Rocket which prove to be a mistake.
Cassandra pulled out a different kind of cannon.
"Now what are they going to do?" Amanda aksed, pointing at what they were doing.
Bill laughed. "Looks like things are going to get a little shocking."
Cassandra aimed the cannon at Pidgeotto and fired an electric ball at it.
"Yeah, meet our new Electra Cannon!" Meowth announced.
"Pidgeotto!" yelled Kevin and David in unison.
The electric ball traveled fast heading straight toward the injured and tired bird. To everyone's amazment, a fire ball slammed into the electric ball causing an explosion.
"What was that?" yelled Cassandra.
Once the smoke cleared, it revealed Growlithe standing in front of Pidgeotto, growling at Team Rocket.
"Why it's justa wittle puppy, let's recapta dose Pokemon!" commanded Meowth.
Bill and Cassandra picked up their net cannons again and aimed at the Pokemon trying to run inside and fired. The nets opened up after they were released, but Growlithe would not have it and used its Flamethrower to turn those nets into ash.
"Oh no, our plan has turned to ash!" Bill yelled in fear.
David stepped up next to Growlithe. "Come on little buddy, let's get them."
Growlithe barked in agreement.
"Flamethrower!" yelled David and Growlithe fired it's powerful flame from its mouth and hit the balloon directly causing the balloon to explode.
"It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they yelled in unison as they disappeared into the sky.
"Growlithe, thank you for helping," David said, crouching down to the Pokemon's level.
"Growlithe!" it said happily and began licking David's face.
"Here, have some food," David said, placing a bowl of Pokemon food at Growlithe's feet. Growlithe barked in happiness and began eating.
"Well it looks like Growlithe had a change of heart," Amanda said.
David laughed, "Yes it has and I'm glad."
Mike looked over at Kevin, who was crouched down by Pidgeotto. "I wonder if Pidgeotto's okay."
They walked over to Kevin, who was petting Pidgeotto's head.
"Is he okay?" asked Amanda.
Kevin was startled and looked up. "Huh? Uh, Um, yeah, it's just very tired."
"Kevin, can you do me a favor?" asked David.
"Yeah, sure," Kevin replied.
"Take Pidgeotto," David said.
"What? I can't, it protects the Pokemon you have here," said Kevin.
"I have Growlithe for that now," said David. "Besides, I know Pidgeotto wants to travel. I see it every day staring towards the horizon."
"Okay, I will, if it wants to," Kevin said.
"Come on, let's go inside and get some rest, we'll ask Pidgeotto tomorrow," David suggested.
They walked inside, Kevin carrying Pidgeotto. David showed them to a guest bedroom where they were going to sleep for the night. As the evening wore on, David fed the young trainers dinner and they went off to bed.
Kevin stayed up, he couldn't sleep. His mind was focused on Pidgeotto, hoping it would be okay, and most of all, hoping it would want to come with him. Finally the thoughts drifted him off to sleep. Morning arrived as quickly as Kevin drifted off to sleep. He was the first to awake and walked into the living room where Pidgeotto was alseep. Pidgeotto was up eating his food. Pidgeotto looked up and saw Kevin standing there and flew over to him and wrapped its wings around the trainer.
Kevin laughed, "Looks like you're in good health today."
"I told you he would," David said as he walked into the living room. "Why don't you ask it?"
Kevin turned to Pidgeotto, "Would you like to come with me?"
Pidgeotto chirped in happiness but he stopped when an Oddish walked into the room.
"It's okay Pidgeotto, you don't have to feel responsible for these Pokemon anymore," Kevin said.
"It's true Pidgeotto, I can handle it from here," David said, reassuring the bird Pokemon. "I know you want to travel, I see you staring down the horizon."
"Pidgeotto!" it chirped happily.
Kevin grabbed an empty Poke Ball and touched Pidgeotto with it, the ball opened up and beamed it up inside.
"Take good care of him," said David.
"I will," Kevin said.
Amanda and Mike walked inside the living room ready.
"Did Pidgeotto want to go with you?" asked Mike.
"Yes he did," Kevin said happily.
"Thanks for all your help guys," said David.
"We're glad to help," Kevin said.
"At first I didn't want to help out and I just wanted to go straight to the gym, I actually didn't mind helping after all," admited Mike.
Amanda gave her death glare to Mike. "Sorry about Mike, he get's a little grumpy when it takes too long to get to a gym match."
David laughed, "It's ok, I was the same way when I was young."
"Well we better be going, if we don't make it to the Vermillion City Gym, I think Mike's going to go crazy," joked Kevin.
"Hey! I'm not going to go crazy!" Mike protested.
The young trainers begin walking toward town, waving goodbye to their newest friend on their journey. Mike and Kevin begin to focus on the task they're fixing to tackle, the Vermillion City Gym. Mike then breaks the silence as the enter Vermillion City.
"As much as I want to face off against the gym leader, I think I'm going to spend the day training," Mike said. "According to the guide book, the gym leader here is Leuitenant Surge, who uses electric type Pokemon."
"Hmm, that's a good idea," Kevin injected. "I don't have any Pokemon that are truely strong against electric-type, I'm going to have to work on a good strategy."
Mike nodded with Kevin's statement and headed for the Pokemon Center where they will spend the day in training their Pokemon before they face Leuitenant Surge and his electric Pokemon squad.
Another adventure comes to an end, and with Kevin having a new edition to his team, our heroes now begin training for their upcoming gym battle with the Vermillion City Gym leader, Leuitenant Surge.
Title Pun: David Versus Goliath