Chapter 11 - A Brief Homecoming
The next morning, my Vulpixes and I left the Pokemon center after breakfast, and headed into the Ilex Forest. Once we were far enough out of town, I released my other 4 Pokemon, and got up on Tauros' back, and Flamefox sat in my lap. I rode on Tauros, into the Ilex Forest, with Bellsprout, Eevee, and Firestorm running besides us, and Fearow flying above us. We eventually reached the middle of Ilex Forest, and there was a sign with an arrow that read "This way to the Brushfire Woods". "Tauros, stop" I said to him. He just stood there, whipping his 3 tails about, while I sat on his back and stared in the direction of Brushfire Woods. "You know, guys, this is the closest I've been to home for a long time" I said to my Pokemon in general. "It's probably going to be a long time before I'm this close to home again. Once we go to Goldenrod City, we'll be heading even further from home. I think I'd like to visit home just once more before we continue on our journey. Is that okay with all of you?" I asked them. They all looked back at me, and nodded in agreement. "Thanks! You're all such great friends! Tauros, let's head for Brushfire Woods, top speed!" I said. He galloped ahead as I held onto his brown, furry mane, with Flamefox still in my lap, and my other Pokemon keeping up behind us. It took my Vulpixes and I three days to hike through Brushfire/Ilex the first time around, but with Tauros, we were making excellent time - at this rate, we'd be home just before sunset! We made it to the borderline of Ilex/Brushfire and saw all kinds of Pokemon along the way. I would have stopped to battle some, but I was too excited about getting home. We just stopped a couple times to give Tauros and my other Pokemon a break, but then we moved on.
We were about a mile away from my house by sunset. I said, "Won't everyone be surprised to see me riding into town on you, Tauros!" He raised his head and smiled. Pretty soon, I could see the house. My mother was working in the garden and my father was working on the porch. There were some neighbor kids out playing, when they looked up and saw us. I heard them saying, "Hey, look at that!" and "Wow, that's so cool!" as I emerged from the woods on my Tauros. My parents then looked up, surprised, as I yelled, "Hi everyone! I'm back!" They were so stunned! I hopped off Tauros, and my parents came running over to see me and hug me. "Well, this IS a surprise!" my father said. "Can you stay for long?" my mother asked. "Just a day or 2. Then I really need to get to Goldenrod City. Look, I already won 2 badges!" I said, showing them off. "We're so proud of you!" my mother said. She continued, "We heard about what you did in Cherrygrove City and in Azelea Town! We were worried about you, but what you did was very brave!" My father went over to check out my Pokemon. "You've assembled quite a team here! Is this the same Tauros that was rampaging Cherrygrove City?" he asked. "Yep, the same one! But don't worry - he's as gentle as a Mareep now!" I responded. My father petted his furry mane. My mother went over to see Flamefox. "I see Flamefox is doing very well. And you're doing a good job taking care of Joe, aren't you?" she asked him. "Vulpix!" he happily responded. Firestorm ran over to them, as well, so as not to be left out. "So you got another Vulpix along the way? You really lucked out!" my mother said. I told her the story of how Firestorm decided to follow us, and the stories of how I got my other Pokemon. The neighbor kids came over to see my Pokemon, and started playing with them. My Pokemon enjoyed it as much as the kids!
That evening, we had a wonderful home cooked meal, and my Pokemon ate good, as well. After supper, I went into my old bedroom - it felt so good to be here again! I decided to let my Pokemon sleep in the room with me, although Tauros took up a great deal of floor space! My Vulpixes and Eevee slept in my bed with me. We slept soundly, all through the night. Despite Tauros' snoring, it was the best night's sleep I'd had in a long time!
The next morning, after breakfast, I called Professor Oak. "Is that you, Joe?" he asked from his end of the video phone. "Yeah, I'm at home. As we passed through Ilex, I realized I wouldn't be this close to home again for a long time, so I decided to take a short break" I told him. "Well, I suppose a good rest will do you some good. I'll look forward to hearing from you once you're under way again. By the way, all the Pokemon you've sent me are doing good. However, I have a favor to ask of you" he said. I replied, "Sure, Professor. What is it?" He said, "Well, as you know, Kanto is home to the originally discovered 149 Pokemon, but new species are being discovered every day. I know you've run into quite a few Pokemon native only to Johto. Professor Elm would like for me to send him the Johto Pokemon you've caught so he can study them to learn more about them for their eventual inclusion into all Pokedexes, including those outside of Johto. I told him I'd have to ask you first." I replied, "That's fine with me, Professor. I'm sure Professor Elm will do as good of a job taking care of them as you do." He said, "Thanks, Joe. Professor Elm will be happy. Well, enjoy your stay at home, but don't let up on your training!" "Thaks, Professor! Don't worry, I'll keep training hard" I said, and then we hung up. Then my Vulpixes, Eevee, Bellsprout, and I went outside, where I re-released Tauros, who was too big to get through the doorways in the house, and Fearow, so he could fly around. I saw my mother talking to one of my old teachers, Mr. Murphy, and when he saw me and all of my Pokemon, he ran over to talk to me. He was most impressed with my Pokemon. "We all knew you had a natural tendency towards Pokemon, Joe! Are those Vulpixes really from our very own Brushfire Woods?" he asked me. "Yes they are" I replied, "And Bellsprout is from the wild areas near the famous Sprout Tower in Violet City!" He then said, "That's perfect! We're teaching about the Sprout Tower at the Crimson Town Pokemon Academy right now! We recently added it to the itinerary, since it is so important to so many trainers. We would love for you to bring your Pokemon to the school to show the kids today!" I looked at my Pokemon and asked them, "What do you say, guys? Want to entertain some kids?" They all nodded in agreement. So, I recalled them to their pokeballs, except for my Vulpixes, and we followed Mr. Murphy back to my old school.
The classroom was full of kids, all excited upon seeing me up front, with my 2 Vulpixes. It reminded me of when I was that age and the Pokemon trainers would come on Kid's Day to show off their Pokemon. It wasn't Kid's Day today, but it was still a special day. Mr. Murphy addressed the class, "Joe has begun his Pokemon journey and is well under way. He's been at it for 2 months now, and already has 2 badges!" One of the kids said, "I heard you almost got killed by a Tauros!" I said, "That's right! Want to meet him?" to which he replied, "You mean you have it with you?!?" All the kids got even more excited. Another kid said, "I heard you uncovered a Team Rocket plot and stopped it! That's so cool!" They all started to get a little rowdy, until Mr. Murphy said, "Let's take our lesson outside so Joe can show you all of his Pokemon." They all got up and filed out the door after my Vulpixes and I had gone outside. Once they were all outside, I said, "Okay, kids, are you ready? Here goes!" Upon saying that, I released my other four Pokemon. The kids just loved Flamefox and Firestorm, and petted them, and my Vulpixes just loved every minute of it! Other kids petted Fearow, while others hung around Bellsprout. Eevee entertained the kids by swimming around in the school swimming pool. I got very nervous when a couple kids started climbing around on Tauros, but he seemed to enjoy it! They hung on his horns, while he swung them back and forth. I noticed on the back of the school that there was some construction going on. I asked Mr. Murphy, and he told me that they're adding on another wing to the school to accomodate all the new students who will be starting next year. Mr. Murphy started teaching about the Sprout Tower again once all the kids calmed down. He told them, "Joe's Bellsprout came from the area surrounding the Sprout Tower. Trainers and Sages go to the Sprout Tower to be inspired. There is a swinging beam in the center of the tower, that sways like a Bellsprout. It's a metaphor to remind us that we all begin as Sprouts, but we grow." At that, my Bellsprout walked around in front of them. "Notice the grace with which they walk" he said. Then Bellsprout did a flip, which made all the kids laugh. He seemed to really enjoy entertaining the kids, and the kids just loved him! I had Bellsprout show off his razor leaf in the air, and then had my Vulpixes show off their impressive flamethrower attacks in the air. Mr. Murphy told them, "Joe got his Vulpixes from our own Brushfire Woods." The kids were all so fascinated, and I heard some say, "I want a Vulpix!" and one even asked me if he could have one of mine - I told him, "No way!" Anyway, we soon took a break for recess.
While most of the kids played with my Pokemon, 2 kids ran off to the construction site. One of them climbed up the ladders, and walked around on the top floor beam, like it was a tightrope. The other kid yelled to him, "You're gonna get in trouble! You better get down from there!" He looked down and yelled, "You're just chicken! Look at me!" and he continued to walk along the beam. Suddenly, it started to give, and he lost his balance! He fell, but grabbed the edge of the beam, and just hung there, yelling "Help!" The other kid came running from the other side of the school to where we all were. "Mr. Murphy, Bobby was climbing around on the construction site and fell! Now he's hanging from the top beam, but it's giving way!" We went running over there, with my Pokemon. I saw him hanging there, still holding onto the beam, but it was going to give way any second. "Hang on, Bobby!" I shouted. Mr. Murphy asked, "What are you going to do?" The beam started to give way even more. "Bellsprout, quick, grab him with your vine whip!" I commanded. He stretched his vines up and wrapped them around Bobby, just as the beam gave way! Bellsprout slowly lowered Bobby to the ground as the beam crashed down. Once he was completely lowered to the ground, Bobby ran over to Bellsprout and hugged him, saying, "Thank you, Bellsprout!" I said, "Good work, Bellsprout!"
Afterwards, Mr. Murphy said, "Your Pokemon are very good with the children. Thank you for using your Bellsprout to save Bobby." "It wasn't a problem" I replied. Then he said to me, "We'd love to have a Pokemon mascot for the school. I was wondering if you'd consider letting one of your Vulpixes or Bellsprout stay with us?" I was a little taken by surprise. "I'm sorry, but my Vulpixes are the stars of my team. But let me ask Bellsprout what he thinks." I went over to Bellsprout, who was still playing with Bobby and the other kids, and I asked him, "What do you think, Bellsprout? Would you like to stay here for a while?" The kids started to say, "Come on, Bellsprout! Stay here with us!" He looked around at the kids, and said, "Bellsprout!" He seemed to like the idea. "Then you can stay. We'll miss you, but we'll see you next time we come home."
My Pokemon and I slept at home one more night. Then, with fresh supplies packed up, I mounted up on Tauros the following morning, and Flamefox jumped up with me to sit in my lap. My parents, Mr. Murphy, Bellsprout, Bobby, and some of the other kids came to see us off. I said goodbye to all of them as Tauros galloped into the woods, with Firestorm and Eevee running beside us, and Fearow flying above us, and we headed back into Brushfire Woods.