With Snorlax out of their way, the trio found that their journey was going very smoothly now. As they continued to navigate the floating walkways over the water, they encountered several other Fishermen, but the ones that did notice them weren't looking for battles.
Soon, the docks led the three Trainers onto dry land- mostly squares of grass and rocky terrain, though there were definitely threes, twos, and aluminum siding thrown in as well. It was around this point the path stopped going south, and instead turned to the west.
"We can't be too far now," grinned Orange. "Another hour of walking or so, and we should reach Chufisa City!"
"We're making excellent time, aren't we?" observed Violet as she looked up at the blocky, scrambled sun in the sky. "The sun won't start setting for several hours at least. Maybe we can take a little break here."
"I second that," sighed Red as he sat down on a giant five. "We've been walking all day, Orange. Even if we don't get to Chufisa City while it's still light, it doesn't matter, the Pokémon Center will still be open."
"But... I... Oh, all right," grumbled Orange.
"Hey, we may as well let our Pokémon relax, too," Violet said as she took out six Poké Balls and tossed them into the air. "Chompy! Flutters! Migraine! Skulls! Tombstone! Skelefly! Come on out!"
"I guess so," Orange conceded as he tossed half a dozen balls into the air. "Q! .4! Fearow! Nidoking! A! Eevee! Go!"
"Charizard, Raticate, Parasect, Dodrio, Snorlax, you too!" yelled Red as he threw five Poké Balls.
For a moment, the collective flashes of light were absolutely blinding as the seventeen Poké Balls opened up simultaneously. Then, as the light faded, there appeared all the group's Pokémon at once, and many of them began to interact with one another. Fearow and Skulls began to race each other, .4 flew dizzying circles around Flutters and A, gibbering excitedly, and Eevee began jumping up and down on the sleeping Snorlax's stomach as though it were a trampoline. Snorlax, far from seeming to mind this, didn't even appear to take notice. However, the first thing Red and Violet noticed was that Charizard and Skelefly were circling each other in the air, glaring at each other intensely.
"Uh-oh," muttered Violet as she noticed this.
"Charizard," Red called to his Fire/Flying-type warningly. "Don't do anything hasty."
"Skelefly, come down here," Violet said to her Missingno.
Neither Pokémon appeared to have heard their trainers, however, and now they were growling at each other.
"Say," Orange piped up. "Why don't you two have them battle each other?" he suggested. "It'd be a great way for them to let off some steam, and maybe it'd help with Skelefly's obedience issues, too," he added.
"Huh," Red remarked. "That's not a bad idea. What do you say, Violet?"
"Works for me," agreed Violet.
"Charizard, ready for a battle?" Red called up.
"You too, Skelefly, we're gonna have a battle, so please come down here!" Violet called.
Charizard and Skelefly both descended to the ground, neither one taking their eyes off the other. As they were spaced far enough apart already, Red and Violet merely took their positions behind their Pokémon, while Orange stepped off to the sidelines.
"I'm gonna referee this match, that OK?" Orange asked them. When Red and Violet both nodded, Orange nodded back. "Then begin!" he declared.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Red ordered.
"Skelefly, Waterfall!" commanded Violet.
Charizard and Skelefly both unleashed powerful streams of fire from their mouths simultaneously. The attacks collided in midair, creating a powerful explosion which blew both combatants back.
"Skelefly, no!" Violet exclaimed. "Come on, use Waterfall!"
In response, the Aerodactyl Skeleton Missingno. took to the skies, screeching madly as it spewed three large white eggs out of its mouth. Charizard flapped its great wings, also taking to the skies, and evading the Egg Bomb completely.
"Ugh," Violet groaned. "This is a disaster..."
"Charizard, now use Slash!" Red ordered.
"Skelefly, use Defense Curl!" shouted Violet.
Charizard flew forward, only to be met with Skelefly's Flamethrower once more. Being a Fire-type itself, Charizard was able to withstand the move with ease, and took a swipe at Skelefly- only for its glowing claws to pass right through the bones!
"What the-" began Red. Violet, however, was glancing over at her other Pokémon.
"Skelefly must have copied Tombstone's type combination!" she exclaimed. "It must have become a Ghost and Poison-type! Come on, Skelefly! Waterfall attack!"
Screeching unpleasantly, Skelefly instead unleashed another Flamethrower, which Charizard evaded with ease before retaliating with a Flamethrower of its own. The Missingno. screeched with displeasure as the Fire move hit, and then there could be heard the clatter of bones as Skelefly hit the ground, stirring feebly, but clearly in no state to get back on its feet, let alone in the air.
"Skelefly is unable to battle," declared Orange. "Red and Charizard win!"
Violet slowly approached her injured Missingno., noticing several burns on its skeletal body that looked particularly nasty. "Skelefly, you OK?" she asked. In response, Skelefly screeched weakly yet defiantly, attempting to sound stronger than it felt.
"Some of those burns look pretty bad," Orange observed as he and Red approached Skelefly. "We should get Skelefly to a Pokémon Center."
"Oh, don't bother with the Pokémon Center," came a familiar voice from behind the trio, causing them to jump and wheel around simultaneously. "We'll take care of that Missingno. for you!"
"You two!" exclaimed Orange, for there stood a pair of men in purple outfits, each one emblazoned with a large orange E on the chest.
"Team Error!" said Red.
"Did you twerps miss us?" smirked Jeff, the Team Error grunt who had spoken up moments ago. "It's been a while, hasn't it? And now you've gone and caught a Missingno. for us to take to the boss!"
"Like hell," snapped Violet. "This is my Missingno.! If you want one so bad, go catch your own."
"Well, we've been through this before," said Larry, the other grunt. "Poké Balls cost money, which is something we're not exactly made of."
"So we'll just be taking that rarity to the boss ourselves by force," Jeff added as he threw a Poké Ball. "Go! pPkMnp!"
"You too, 7g!" shouted Larry as he threw a ball of his own.
"Nidoking, help us out!" Orange called over to the group of Pokémon.
"You too, Snorlax!" added Red, as he noticed that his newest Normal-type was starting to stir.
As pPkMnp and 7g materialized from their respective Poké Balls, Nidoking and Snorlax stomped over to where their trainers were. Despite Snorlax never having actually seen its trainer before, it looked ready for orders in any case.
"7g, Double-Edge!" Larry yelled.
"pPkMnp, Sludge!" commanded Jeff.
"Nidoking, Aurora Beam now!" said Orange.
"Snorlax, use Headbutt!" Red called.
7g flew at Snorlax, who was stomping right in its direction, head lowered. They slammed into each other as Nidoking's Aurora Beam and pPkMnp's Sludge collided in midair.
As the battle raged on, Violet took this opportunity to take a Burn Heal out of her fanny pack and spray it on Skelefly's burns. The Missingno. screeched in response, but more softly than usual. It lifted its head slightly, and gave Violet a long look with what appeared to be bare eye sockets.
"Just relax, Skelefly," Violet said soothingly. "Let the Burn Heal do its job, OK?" Then, she sighed. "I wish you'd listen to me, though," she added quietly, looking down. "I know you never had to take orders from anyone before, but you have to realize, I know what I'm doing. I mean, ever since you started not following my orders, you haven't won at all, and I know you're capable of winning... I just wish you would trust me," sighed Violet. At that moment, she finished tending to Skelefly's wounds, and after patting the Missingno. on the head, stood up to join in the fray. Snorlax and Nidoking had taken out pPkMnp and 7g, and were now battling Jeff's 'M and Larry's Z4.
"Z4, use your Fury Attack!" Larry yelled.
"'M, Water Gun!" commanded Jeff.
"Snorlax, go for Body Slam!" ordered Red.
"Nidoking, Horn Attack!" said Orange.
Nidoking and Z4 charged at each other, the latter sprouting multiple dangerous-looking spikes from the front of its body. The Box Bee Pokémon dove beneath Nidoking's horn and jabbed at it repeatedly with its spikes, causing the Poison/Ground-type to roar in pain. Meanwhile, Snorlax's Body Slam missed as 'M soaked it with water sprayed from its mouth.
"Let's finish this, 'M!" Jeff called. "Sky Attack!"
"Z4, use Horn Drill!" added Larry.
"Snorlax, Harden attack!" Red shouted.
"Nidoking, Aurora Beam!" ordered Orange.
However, 'M and Z4 were the first to attack as 'M plowed into Snorlax, a harsh glow coming over its whole body, and Z4 struck Nidoking with a single spinning spike. Nidoking and Snorlax collapsed simultaneously and ceased all movement.
"No!" groaned Orange as he and Red withdrew their unconscious Pokémon.
"Hah!" sneered Larry. "And now our associates should have gathered up every single pPkMnp nesting in the area- OW!" he exclaimed as Jeff slapped him in the head.
"You damn fool!" Jeff exclaimed. How many times do I gotta tell you to not reveal our plan to the enemy!"
"I was doing no such thing!" argued Larry. "All I did was- oh, yeah, wait, that pretty much spoils the whole thing, doesn't it?" he remarked weakly. Jeff facepalmed.
"You guys aren't getting away with this!" Orange exclaimed. "Fearow!" he shouted, turning to face the trio's Pokémon- only to find that they were all trapped beneath a large net, which, despite all their struggling and attacking, wasn't giving way.
"Oh, aren't we?" smirked Jeff. Just then, a large green pickup truck pulled up, packed with cages full of pPkMnp, eliciting a collective gasp of horror from Red, Orange, and Violet. "Now, let's just bag that Missingno. and we'll be on our way." As he spoke, Larry removed a net from the cab of the truck, but stopped short as a screeching noise pierced the air. Everyone wheeled around- Skelefly was back on its feet, its wings spread wide.
"Uh-oh," Red murmured. "Should we start running now?" he asked Violet.
Violet shook her head. "Wait," she said as Skelefly looked her in the eyes. Slowly, Violet approached the Data Pokémon, never breaking eye contact. Or, eye-to-eye-socket contact, as the case may be. After a few moments, Violet smiled and turned to face Team Error. "OK, Team Error," she stated. "Like my boyfriend said, you guys aren't getting away with this! Skelefly, go!"
With another screech and a flap of its wings, Skelefly was in the air again, hovering in place, ready to battle. 'M and Z4 exchanged nervous glances, as did their trainers.
"'M, use your Take Down attack!" Jeff ordered.
"Skelefly, Defense Curl!" called Violet.
To general astonishment, the Missingno. pulled itself into a vaguely spherical shape, and appeared to not take much damage from the attack. As the Missingno. pulled itself out of the Defense Curl, Orange and Red exchanged surprised glances.
"Did Skelefly just obey Violet?" Red asked.
"Looks like it!" Orange nodded.
"Nice, Skelefly," grinned Violet. Skelefly gave a short screech in reply, though this did not sound nearly as unpleasant as its usual screeches.
"Your turn, Z4!" exclaimed Larry. "Use Pound!"
"Skelefly! Flamethrower!" ordered Violet.
As Z4 zoomed forward, buzzing menacingly, Skelefly opened its bony mouth and unleashed a stream of fire from within, and the Bug/Poison-type was roasted within seconds.
"'M! Sky Attack now!" exclaimed Jeff.
As Violet opened her mouth, she noticed that the truck was starting to pull away. "No, you don't!" she exclaimed. "Skelefly, use Bone Club on the truck!"
Screeching loudly, Skelefly dove down and took a swipe at the truck's tires with its skeletal wing, slashing the rear tires in one move. The truck came to a stop as Skelefly flew over to the net under which the rest of the Pokémon were trapped, and pried it open with its wings. The Pokémon all raced out, dashing towards their respective trainers happily.
"Oh, we're screwed," Jeff muttered.
"Yep," nodded Larry.
"Dodrio, Drill Peck those cages open!" Red ordered.
"And now, Skelefly, Egg Bomb attack!" Violet ordered once Dodrio had started to open up the cages. Once all the pPkMnp had escaped, however, Skelefly didn't get a chance to attack- the group of Fortress Pokémon all blasted Jeff and Larry with their Sludge attacks at once.
"Yeah, we're outta here," stated one of the other Team Error grunts as the group exited the truck and took off running the same way the trio had come in the first place.
"Right behind you!" Jeff shouted as he and Larry withdrew 'M and Z4 and took off after them as fast as they could go.
"All right!" exclaimed Orange as Violet hugged Skelefly. "We did it, guys!" He then turned to face the pPkMnp. "Go on home, guys," he added.
The pPkMnp all gave low yet friendly growls before they started hopping off towards a cluster of trees which all seemed to be made out of plastic, aluminum siding, and various even numbers. As they did so, Red, Orange, and Violet proceeded to return all their Pokémon to their Poké Balls.
"Well, that wasn't exactly as relaxing as I was hoping it to be," sighed Violet. "Still, I think we should get moving. We can still get to Chufisa City by nightfall, get something to eat, get a good night's sleep, and then we'll challenge the Gym in the morning."
"Works for me," shrugged Red. "Let's go, then.
With that, the trio headed off, continuing west, until they could see an assortment of houses that seemed to be made of hedges, roofing tiles, nines, fours, and wooden fences in the distance.
"Aha!" Orange exclaimed. "There it is, Chufisa City!"