The following day, Gage and Poppy, with all their Pokémon in their PokéBalls, walked down a path that ran along a running river. Poppy had put Dratini in its PokéBall since it was so shy. True, it was grateful to Gage and Ivysaur, but that didn't change its crippling shyness around people who weren't Poppy, so it decided to chill out in its PokéBall.
Meanwhile, the trainers travelled, with Poppy completely in awe of everything she saw. Gage, who'd been travelling for some time now, didn't seem quite as in awe of his surroundings as Poppy was with hers. She'd seen a river and the forest before, of course, but that was all up in the mountain. She'd rarely been off of the mountain, so seeing forest that she'd never seen before put her in awe and gave her the real sense that she was truly on her Pokémon journey. Her attention was quickly diverted back to the water rushing down the river, seeing a mass of blue Pokémon with yellow-tipped antennae racing down the river in a clump.
"Wow," Gage mused, seeing what she was seeing. "Look at all those Chinchou."
"Chinchou?" Poppy inquired. There weren't any Chinchou at her brother's lab, so she pulled out her PokéDex.
The PokéDex said: "Chinchou, the Angler Pokémon, have the ability to conduct electrical currents from their two tentacles which flow positive from one end and negative to the other. Chinchou can also communicate underwater by flashing its tentacles."
"So, it's a Water and Electric-type?" she asked Gage.
"That's right," he affirmed.
"What're they all doing here?" she questioned.
"They're usually ocean dwellers, but there's a pretty big population of them that live up in a lake not too far from here," Gage explained. "And during this time of year, they'll migrate back down to the ocean through this river, so they can evolve and breed. The Chinchou that don't evolve come back up the river to live in the lake until the next season."
"Wow," Poppy sighed. "That's so cool. And imagine, a Water and Electric-type, which means they're not vulnerable to Electric attacks, a Water-type's greatest weakness. On top of that, they're totally adorable!"
Though Gage wasn't as easily fascinated by the cuteness factor as Poppy was, he smiled as she stared at the Chinchou in adoration. As she watched the passing Angler Pokémon, she noticed one Chinchou that seemed slightly smaller than the rest of its kind going down the river. It was quite obviously struggling to swim with the strong current. It was shoved into a rock by the current, and was stranded there, not strong enough to move off of the rock and follow the rest. Within a moment or two, it seemed the rest of the Chinchou were nearly out of sight, but the one little Chinchou was still stuck behind the rock.
"Look, that one's stuck!" Poppy exclaimed, pointing her finger.
"Yeah, it is," Gage agreed, seeming just as worried as she did. He looked down the river, and saw that all the other Chinchou were nowhere in sight. Even more concerned now, he added, "And it looks like all its' buddies are way down the river now."
"We need to help it," she concluded. Reaching for a PokéBall, she called, "Go, Chikorita!"
"Chiko!" exclaimed the Pokémon as it materialized out of its PokéBall.
"Quick, Chikorita, use your Vine Whip to get that Chinchou out from behind that rock!" she told it.
"Chiko!" agreed the Pokémon.
In the blink of an eye, the little Grass-type had sent out a pair of powerful Vines, which it wrapped around the struggling Chinchou, and pulled it out of the water, away from the rock and onto the shore, with Poppy and Gage.
"Great job, Chikorita," Poppy praised, as the Grass-type leapt into her arms and nuzzled her cheek. Pulling out her PokéBall again, she said, "Now, return, and take a nice rest."
"How are you doing, buddy?" Gage asked, kneeling down to the little blue Pokémon.
"Chin?" the Pokémon seemed to ask, with a quizzical kind of look on its face. "Chinchou?"
"All your friends got down the river without you," Poppy said, kneeling down alongside Gage.
"Chin," Chinchou sighed, looking a little sad.
It hopped over closer to Poppy, the trainer who's Pokémon had saved it, and hugged her leg with its little fins. Grinning, Poppy picked Chinchou up and pulled it into her lap, where it continued to hug her, now also using its antennae to grip her, which gave off a faint glow. Poppy rubbed Chinchou's head, earning a happy sigh from the Pokémon, and causing it to snuggle even closer to her.
"Aw, it's okay, little one," Poppy said to Chinchou. "We'll get you back to your friends. I'll carry you there."
She and Gage rose to their feet, and he said, "I know Chinchou can't swim in this current, but Chinchou have to stay moist or else they'll get sick."
With a sigh, Poppy asked, "Then...how're we supposed to get Chinchou to the ocean so it can be with all its friends?"
"Here," Gage said, pulling out a pot from his bag. Leaning over, he scooped some water into the pot, and extended it to Poppy. "Put Chinchou in here with the water, and you can carry it down to the ocean that way."
"Great!" Poppy replied, plopping Chinchou into the pot. The Pokémon splashed the water, seeming extremely happy. "How far away is the ocean, Gage?"
"A couple of miles," Gage estimated. "We can probably make it there if we leave right now."
"Mm," Poppy nodded. "Let's go!"
With that, she started to sprint off, with the pot and Chinchou in her arms, so fast that Gage could barely keep up with her. But, he laughed as he caught up with her, reminding her that she didn't exactly need to sprint.
"Look, Thomas, it's that brat with the Dratini," Trixie said, looking through a pair of binoculars from her perch in their Rattata-shaped hot air balloon. "And the boy brat with the Ivysaur...hmph, what's that the girl brat's arms?"
"It appears to be a Chinchou," Thomas told her, peering through his own binoculars.
"A Chinchou?" Trixie inquired.
"Mhm," Thomas affirmed. "Strange, though, they're usually only found at the bottom of the ocean."
"So they're rare," Rattata concluded on its own. "That means the boss would love to have one of those for his aquarium."
"And we can get another chance to snatch that Dratini from the little brat," Trixie added.
"I'm sure the boss would really love a Dratini he could evolve into a Dragonite!" Thomas squealed.
"No!" shouted Trixie, giving Thomas a good bash to the head. "I want it! It's cute and powerful, I just have to have it!"
"But, Trix, we're supposed to steal for the boss, not for ourselves," Thomas whined.
"Oh, whatever," Trixie grumbled. "If I want that Dratini, it's that Dratini I'll get!"
Fearing Trixie, Thomas and Rattata huddled together in the corner, trembling. They didn't stand a chance against someone as domineering as Trixie.
Down on the ground, Poppy, Chinchou and Gage continued on, following the river. They'd been walking along for quite some time now and the sun was starting to set. Just over the horizon, Poppy caught her first glance of the ocean, which really amazed her. She hadn't seen the ocean since she was a little girl, when her parents took her and her brother on a vacation to Silver Rock Isle. Now that she was seeing it again, she started to sprint again. Laughing, Gage picked up the pace to catch up to here.
"We made it!" Poppy exclaimed happily.
However, little Chinchou didn't seem nearly as excited as Poppy had expected it to be.
Either way, she kicked off her boots and socks, rolled up her dark gray jeans, and waded into the water. She lifted Chinchou out of the pot, which she tossed back to Gage, and carefully lowered Chinchou into the water. She smiled, as did Gage, since they hoped the Pokémon would be happy to be in its natural habitat and on its way to see its friends. However, when Poppy let go of Chinchou to let it swim on its own, it yelped, struggling in the water, as it held onto Poppy's leg for dear life.
"What's the matter, Chinchou?" Poppy asked, scooping it back up in her arms. "Don't you want to see your friends?"
"Chinchou!" the Pokémon replied, shaking its head vigorously, as if to say no.
"I don't think Chinchou wants to go, Poppy," Gage chimed in.
"Why not?" Poppy inquired, glancing at Gage. "Why wouldn't it want to see its friends?"
"I don't know," Gage sighed, scratching the back of its head.
Just at that moment, Gage and Poppy looked out over the water, seeing the mass of Chinchou. A couple of them swam over to Poppy, so she lowered the Chinchou she'd be holding back into the water. It looked fearful and apprehensive, and Poppy understood, as she watched the two other Chinchou start slapping the Chinchou she'd helped with their antennae. Quickly, Poppy snatched the tiny Chinchou up into her arms, protecting it from the others.
"C'mon, don't be mean!" she yelled at the other Chinchou."Why would you hit a friend?"
"Poppy, I think that the other Chinchou are trying to tell the little Chinchou that it's not strong enough," Gage told her. "I think they think it can't handle coming out into the ocean yet."
"Oh," Poppy sighed, glancing down at the little Chinchou in her arms, as the others swam away. "I suppose that makes sense. Is that's what's wrong, little one?"
"Chin," the Pokémon seemed to agree. "Chinchou."
Suddenly, a rope fell from the sky, wrapping around Poppy and binding her arms right to her sides. Chinchou was effectively knocked from her arms and back into the water, as Poppy screeched in shock, being lifted into the air. Gage was shocked as well, and looked up, to see that the rope had come from Team Rocket's Rattata balloon.
"What're you three doing here?!" Gage yelled up from the beach, fists clenched.
"We're taking Dratini!" Trixie told him. "And since it's in it's PokéBall right now, we'll just have to take your bratty little friend to get the PokéBall!"
"No you won't!" Poppy screamed, wriggling to try and free herself from the rope.
"It's no use, brat!" Rattata replied, peering over the edge of the balloon. "That rope's wriggle-proof!"
Surprising everyone, Chinchou leapt into the air, releasing an impressive Thunder Shock attack. It hit Team Rocket's balloon dead on, giving them a good shock, causing them to scream. And, just like last time they met, Team Rocket seemed to explode, and go flying off through the air. In all the chaos, the rope restraining Poppy broke, and she came flying down to the ground.
"Ivysaur, Vine Whip and catch Poppy, go!" Gage called, throwing out a PokéBall.
"Ivysaur!" the Pokémon exclaimed, sending out the Vine Whip. Carefully, it caught Poppy, gently set her down in the sand.
"Thanks, Ivysaur," she said to the Pokémon, giving it a good scratch on the head. "Your Vine Whip has really proved to come in handy."
"We're just glad you're okay," Gage piped up, as he called Ivysaur back into the PokéBall. "And that those thieves didn't get any of your Pokémon."
"Thanks," Poppy repeated with a smile. Poppy waded back into the water, to Chinchou, who happily leapt into her arms, hugging her and nuzzling her cheeks.
"And I owe you a big thanks too, Chinchou," Poppy told the Pokémon. "Without you, I wouldn't be here."
"Chin!" the Pokémon exclaimed, proud of itself. "Chin, Chinchou!"
Looking down, Poppy and Chinchou noticed a swarm of Chinchou gathered around them, seeming to try to beckon the little Chinchou Poppy was holding to come with them. Poppy assumed that the other Chinchou had seen how strong the little one really was, and now believe in it. However, when Poppy tried to put Chinchou in the water with all the others, it resisted, only leaping back into her arms.
"It looks like Chinchou wants to come with you, Poppy," Gage said.
"Is that true?" Poppy inquired, her eyes sparkling.
"Chinchou!" the Pokémon confirmed, hugging and nuzzling her more than ever.
"Well, then, welcome to the family!" Poppy said, taking an empty PokéBall from her pocket. Effortlessly, she was able to call Chinchou into the ball. Happily, she jumped in the air and spun around, yelling, "Yes! Chinchou's a part of my team! I did it!"
"You did it!" Gage chimed in, as Poppy sprinted joyfully onto the beach.
And with that, another day set on our two heroes, and another Pokémon joined Poppy's team. And, Team Rocket shot off again, and certainly not for the last time.