Chapter 10 - Mystery at the Slowpoke Well
We headed for Kurt's house shortly after our battle with Bugsy at the Azelea Gym. My Vulpixes followed me as I walked into Kurt's yard. I noticed as I walked through town that there were a less and less Slowpoke around each day. I mean, when we were here the first time, there were Slowpoke everywhere, and now there were just a few. Anyway, Kurt was outside, and he saw us and said, "How are you, Joe? I have your pokeballs ready. Come with me to the workshop." We followed him there, and he presented me with 3 pokeballs he made from the apricorns I picked. I told him, "Thank you. These will sure come in handy." Then I asked him, "Is it just me, or are there less Slowpoke around lately?" He answered me, "I have noticed that, too, and so have the townspeople. Officer Jenny is looking into possible Pokemon poaching, but so far, there are no leads. There are some weird stories going around, though." I asked him, "What kind of stories?" He said, "A couple people claim to have seen strange lights and sounds coming from the Slowpoke Well, late at night. Officer Jenny went to investigate, but didn't find anything. Chances are they're just pulling our chain, trying to scare the townspeople." I asked, "The Slowpoke Well? Where is that?" I felt kind of ignorant, since I'd been in town for 2 weeks and never heard of it. "Oh, its a few miles from here, in the outskirts of town. Our Slowpoke come from there. The well goes deep underground, inside a cave." Then I said, "So Officer Jenny didn't find any leads? I wonder if I could find anything if I looked around." He said, "You better leave it in the hands of the professionals. I'm sure they'll figure out what's going on." I said, "Maybe you're right. Well, thanks again for the pokeballs. I guess we'll be on our way!" He replied, "You're welcome. Stop by again with more apricorns next time you need more pokeballs!" With that, my Vulpixes and I left. As we walked, I said to my Vulpixes, "I know Kurt said to leave it alone, but I can't resist a mystery. Besides, maybe I can help Officer Jenny. She did give me Eevee, after all. It would be the least I could do. What do you guys think?" They looked at each other, then at me, and said "Vulpix!" "Then we'll go!" I said excitedly.
We headed for the outskirts of town, and found the Slowpoke Well. There was a small well with a Slowpoke statue on it in front of a cave entrance in a hill. We went inside the entrance. It looked pretty deserted, except for 2 Slowpoke that were hanging around. I patted them on the head, and asked, "Where are all your friends?" They just stared back at me, a vacant stare, only saying, "Slooowwww." The water inside did run pretty deep under the ground. I didn't see anything that looked unusual inside, so we headed for the woods that overlooked the well, and set up a stakeout. I stayed there with my Vulpixes and we watched until it got dark - nothing. It got to be midnight, and there was still no activity at the well. I finally drifted off to sleep.
Around 2a.m., my Vulpixes were tugging me awake. "What is it, guys?" I asked them. "Vulpix, vulpix!" they said excitedly, pointing their paws at the Slowpoke Well. There was a strange light coming from the entrance! It gradually began to fade, and we started to move in closer. By the time we snook up to the entrance, the light was just a sliver. We carefully snook inside and managed to catch the last glimpse of light as the wall closed up the rest of the way - it was a secret passage! That's why Officer Jenny couldn't find anything. Now it was dark, so I took out my flashlight. I shone it around inside the cave, and the 2 Slowpoke from before were gone. I then explored along the wall where the secret door had closed. I could barely tell where the crack was. It matched the rocky wall perfectly. Luckily I had seen it close, or I wouldn't have known where to begin looking. "Flamefox, hold the flashlight" I said, handing it to him. He shone the flashlight on the wall and I tried to stick my fingers in the crack to pry the secret door open. I could not budge it at all. Then I had an idea. "Tauros, I choose you" I said, and the cave breifly illuminated from the light as he materialized from his pokeball. "Tauros, try using your horns to help me pry this open." He stuck his horns under the crack, and used them like a lever, while I pulled as hard as I could - even Firestorm tried to pull with his front paws, while Flamefox still held the flashlight for us. It was tough, but we managed to pry it open just enough for me to squeeze through. "Good job. Return, Tauros!" I said, recalling him to his pokeball. "Come on, guys!" I said to my Vulpixes, and we squeezed through the narrow entrance. On the other side was an eerie hallway, full of cobwebs and some dimly lit lights along the wall. We started walking ahead. Suddenly, the door closed behind us! I ran back, and it was sealed! "I don't think we can open it from this side, guys, not even with Tauros! Looks like we're trapped" I said to my Vulpixes. They just looked back at me. "Well, there's only one way to go" I said, and we started walking down the passage. It was scary, and the lights got dimmer and dimmer as we proceeded down this dark shaft. It was pitch black up ahead, so I took out the flashlight again. I felt a little more secure having my Vulpixes with me. We kept walking ahead, and soon there was a frightening moaning sound. "Is that you, Flamefox or Firestorm?" I asked, shining the flashlight at them. They shook their heads. We continued slowly ahead, and the eerie sound got louder. "I don't like this" I said to them. Suddenly, something white was coming at us out of the darkness, moving quickly! In panic, I yelled, "Flamefox, Firestorm, flamethrower now!" Their eyes glowed brightly as they launched the flames from their mouths, illuminating the hallway, and whatever was coming at us burst into flames and fell to the ground. It was a white sheet! I shone the flashlight up at the ceiling to see a conveyer rope. The eerie sounds were just ahead, and I ran over to find a loudspeaker. Someone was going to great lengths to try to scare us. There was definitely something going on - I smelled a Rattatta!
We continued ahead, and reached the end of the passage. There was a door, with a ladder going down at the end, into a big room carved out of the ground, full of computers, lots of caged Slowpoke, and pokeballs, presumably full of Slowpoke. We stayed hidden in the passageway and watched. There were 2 men, dressed in black outfits, with shirts bearing the letter "R", and black hats. They were loading the Slowpoke up into a big truck. "This should be the last of them. I think we're ready to move them out" I heard one man say. They were members of Team Rocket, the Pokemon theft ring. There was no way to call for help, so we just laid low, until I saw the other man look at one of the computers and say, "Hey, the early warning system went off! Someone got in our secret entrance at the other end! That means we've got company!" At that, I jumped down from the opening, a Vulpix to either side of me. "That's right! The game's up!" I yelled. They both looked at me, surprised, and one said, "So, you think you can stop us? You're way out of your league, kid!" At that, they released 4 Pokemon - Raticate, Weezing, Grimer, and Hypno. "I choose everyone!" I shouted, tossing all of my pokeballs in the air, releasing all of my Pokemon. "Tauros and Fearow, you take Raticate! Flamefox, you take Weezing! Firestorm, you take Grimer! Eevee and Bellsprout, you take Hypno!" I commanded each of my Pokemon. They all sprang into action! Tauros tackled the Raticate, but it fought back using hyper fang. Fearow then drill pecked him, knocking him down, and Tauros finished him off with a horn attack. Meanwhile, Weezing and Grimer attempted to use poison gas on Flamefox and Firestorm, but they each used their flamethrowers, igniting the poison gas and causing it to blow up on their opponents, knocking them out. Eevee tackled Hypno, but then Hypno started to use hypnosis on Eevee. Before he could finish, Bellsprout hit him with vine whip, knocking him down, and Eevee finished him off with a take down attack. "It's over!" I yelled to the men, while my Pokemon stood all around me. They looked at each other, then back at me, and one said, "Not quite!" Then they each tossed a pokeball. Each pokeball released an Electrode, ready to self destruct! My eyes widened, and I yelled, "Everyone, return, now!" I tried frantically to recall all of my Pokemon, but Flamefox, Firestorm, and Tauros were still out. "Duck down, Tauros!" I yelled to him, as I jumped in front of my Vulpixes, holding their heads down with my hands. My back was to the Electrodes as they exploded, and I felt the full impact on my back, which nearly knocked me unconscious. After the blast, my Vulpixes got up and nudged me, then started licking my face. Tauros had huddled down, and now stood up. He was fine. He ran over to me, and also nudged me with his head, but I was barely conscious, and I hardly felt like moving. Tauros then looked up at the 2 crooks, "mooed" loudly, and started stamping one of his front hooves against the floor. Then he charged at them! They were out of Pokemon, and just ran, but Tauros caught up to them, and tackled each one of them, knocking them to the floor. My Vulpixes stayed by me, licking my face. I finally felt okay enough to stand, and there was Tauros, with one crook under each of his front hooves. "Good work, Tauros! Just hold them there like that!" I told him. I used my Pokegear to call Officer Jenny. Since I wasn't totally sure where we were, I had Fearow fly up with the flashlight to guide her to us.
When Officer Jenny arrived, she took the 2 Team Rocket members into custody and we released all the Slowpoke. We found the computer that controlled the secret door, and opened it up so the Slowpoke could return to the well that way. "This Slowpoke poaching ring must have been going on for a long time. Clever how they converted this old mining shaft into a make shift headquarters" she said. Then she turned to me and said, "What you did was very dangerous. You and your Pokemon could have been seriously hurt! These are professional thieves!" I replied, "I know. I'm sorry, Officer Jenny. But I really wanted to do something to help you, since you gave me such a great Eevee." She smiled, and said, "Well, I am grateful for what you did. The townspeople will also be grateful to you for saving all the Slowpoke." She gave us a ride back to Azelea in the police van. The passageway had led us a couple miles from town, detoured from the Slowpoke Well. She also said that I could have all the pokeballs I want from the ones they confiscated! I was extremely happy about that, and I thanked her. Anyway, I decided we should rest up another day before we continued on our journey. We went to the Pokemon center to get some sleep.