Poliwag and Goldeen
There was a splash from the stream nearby. "Have you got it?" James the Goldeen called out, partially out of the water.
His exploration partner, a Poliwag that had hopefully been named Gladiator (but James always called him Dean), dropped something out of his mouth and replied, "I'm getting it! Don't worry." He picked it back up and waddled over on his tiny feet. But the thing was long enough to drag on the ground, tripping him up every few steps. Not that he walked well on land in the first place; the thing just made it even harder.
"I'd help if I wasn't such a flopping flop on the land," James said. Although once Dean got close enough to the stream's bank, he flopped out and helped to drag the thing underwater. "What is it?" he asked when they were both in the water with their apparent treasure.
"I was hoping you'd know that," Dean said, sitting on the large flat area of it. "I saw it and thought that since it looked so odd, it had to be a human thing."
"Hmm." The Goldeen swam around it, examining it closer. It had a short but fat wooden end, half as big around as he was. Although it was made of wood, being in the water didn't affect it like most wooden things. The other end was what Dean was sitting on, a flat piece of metal that started out skinny, widened out quickly, then narrowed to a rounded tip. "I guess it could be used as a sign. Or, maybe a big Pokemon could use it to dig stuff up with."
Dean's large eyes lit up with excitement. "So it could be a human thing! Because the stories say that humans were tall, like big Pokemon."
James rubbed the edge of the metal part with his fin. "Yeah. And I've seen this shape before in books. The shape is called a spade. So, we could call this a spade tool. It's definitely odd. Let's get back to the lake, then! Will it fit in the bag?"
"It should," Dean said, opening up the Treasure Bag that they had borrowed for this adventure. "Grandpa could get a lot of stuff in here, big things too." Working together, they stuffed the spade tool into the bag, then swam for the entrance to Stormy Passage.
There was a big obstacle there, though, one that kept most Pokemon away from this place. The only way to enter Stormy Passage, as far as the lake Pokemon knew, was underwater. However, the entrance was behind a strange tunnel where there were several human devices that sent bolts of electricity through the water. Even the fastest of swimmers would get shocked by at least one. Because of that, no one in the lake knew where Stormy Passage would lead.
James and Dean shouldn't have been able to get by themselves, but they had discovered something while playing in the area yesterday. "Are you ready to do this again?" Dean asked.
"You betcha!" the Goldeen said, spiraling around while showing off his speckled fins. "And a one, two, three, CHARGE!" He bolted ahead, getting hit by a blue spark from the first device.
However, James just laughed, staying there while Dean swam by it with the bag. Then the Goldeen rushed ahead to get the attention of the next device. In this way, the Poliwag was in no danger of being hit. And according to him, the bolts did nothing to James.
"Whee, I feel all charged up!" he said, spinning in rapid circles once they were past the electric devices. "All my aches and pains from exploring are just zapped away. Oooooh, someday, I'll be king of the seeeaaaaaa!"
"Are you sure those things aren't frying your brain?" Dean asked in jest.
"Well if you smell smoked brains, you know who it is," he said, putting his fins by his eyes. Then he laughed and continued dancing along as they swam back home. "Have they made me any cah-ray-zee-er?"
"Actually, no," the Poliwag said, causing them both to laugh. They continued to joke and laugh all the way back, although Dean hoped that his friend's newfound talent wasn't going to hurt him in the end.
Back at the lake town, they headed headed for the stoney home of a Pokemon said to be the best explorer around, Razorfang the Feraligator. They both turned more serious as they approached the home. Razorfang was not only intimidating, but he held a grudge with Dean's grandfather that made him dislike even Dean. He also didn't like James, but then most Pokemon in the lake town looked down on him. However, Razorfang could do something for them if they could impress him: he could get them accepted as an official exploration team by writing a letter of recommendation for them. Dean's grandfather, although a great explorer to the two novices, was not of a good enough rank to do so.
"I'll get the doorbell," James said, swishing his fins.
"Wait a minute," Dean said, but not in time to stop James from ramming into the big metal bell that sat outside Razorfang's door. It rang so loudly that it probably could have been heard to the next lake. Then the piece connecting the bell to its frame snapped, causing the bell to continue its clamor less musically as it hit the lake bed.
"Whoops," James said, swimming out of the cloud of dust that got kicked up.
"I was afraid of that," Dean said. "Especially after you said the link looked weak the other day."
He shook his fins out. "Hey! I thought it was okay, you know, because Razorfang likes to bash his fists into it to make his announcements. It should've held up."
"Who's messing with my doorbell?" Razorfang called out, although not from in the house. He was descending from the surface, along with a Pokemon that normally lived on land. The Wigglytuff was wearing a green scarf around his face that seemed to be imbued with some kind of power, allowing him to breath freely underwater.
"I didn't mean to break it!" James said. "But you needed to repair that link anyhow."
The Feraligator snorted. "You? How did some little pretty fish like you break the bell?" Thankfully, he seemed more annoyed at that claim then the bell actually breaking.
"I rammed into it to get your attention," the Goldeen said, swishing his horn through the water.
"Wow!" the Wigglytuff said, smiling broadly behind the thin scarf. "You have strong friends, Razorfang!"
"Ugh, they're not my friends," Razorfang said. But when the land Pokemon gave him a quizzical look, he somehow seemed intimidated. "What do you two want?" he asked, more tolerant than usual.
He was afraid of the Wigglytuff? James and Dean felt puzzled about that, but it was an opportunity not to be missed. "We want to ask for a letter of recommendation from you so that we can be an explorer team," Dean said, holding the bag with his feet and using his tail to stay in place while he brought their treasure out. "We found this as proof that we can do it."
"Yeah, it's a spade tool from the Stormy Passage!" James said. "We think it's a human thing, although we don't know what to do with it."
"Oo, Stormy Passage?" the Wigglytuff asked. "Sounds fun! And a strange treasure you have."
On the other hand, Razorfang looked at them in disbelief. "You're say that you two got that from the Stormy Passage dungeon?"
"Um, yeah," James said. "We did."
"That's ridiculous!" he said, snapping his toothy jaws at them. James squeaked and swam back behind Dean, who was doing his best not to swim off in a fright too. "I can't even get in that place and you two, a talentless Goldeen and a traitor's descendant, you two got in there? How do you expect me to believe that?"
"Bu-but you can't find human things just anywhere," Dean said. "We think there's more human things past those electric devices."
"Yeah, and I'm not talentless anymore," James said, although not as proudly as he had been when he had discovered it. "The electricity likes me, but it doesn't hurt me at all."
"Likely story," Razorfang said, crossing his arms over his chest.
But, the Wigglytuff seemed more interested. "Electricity doesn't hurt you, huh? So it comes right to you and misses your partner?"
James swam out from behind Dean. "Yeah, that's right. And I get all energetic when it does that. It's awesome!"
He clapped his paws together. "Wow, that's amazingly rare! It's an ability called Lightningrod, and I've never heard of a Water Pokemon with it. Do you have the normal ability of a Goldeen?"
"No," Razorfang said dismissively. "That's why he's a talentless freak."
The Wigglytuff shook his head. "Oh, no no. Not at all! It means that he's special and has a different ability. It would be very valuable. So, you can't get into Stormy Passage because of electricity?"
Razorfang seemed dumbfounded at that, so Dean piped up, "Yeah, there's a bunch of human devices that zap any Pokemon that goes by. But the entrance is underwater and nobody knows how far it goes, or where it leads. We found that James attracts them, so I can pass safely by too. We were hoping that if we could be an official explorer team, then we could get badges as well as Escape Orbs to help us get in and out of that dungeon safely."
"We'd help other Pokemon out too, but we mostly want to know where that dungeon goes," James added.
"That sounds like a good reason to help your friends become explorers," the Wigglytuff said to Razorfang.
"They're not my friends," he said, still reluctant.
"Please?" Dean asked. "We just need a letter at this point."
"If that's so, then I'll make them an official team!" the Wigglytuff said. "But on one condition."
"What's that?" Dean asked. If he wanted to have the spade tool, then he was fine with that. The Poliwag wasn't sure what to do with it himself, except maybe do as James suggested and make it a sign.
"Take me with you to see Stormy Passage!" he said excitedly. "It sounds like a great place, lots of mystery! We can be friends and have lots of fun!"
James whirled around on the spot. "Oh yeah, that'd be great!" he said, excited too. "Thanks, this is great!"
"Sure, but we just got back from there," Dean said.
"Tomorrow then," the Wigglytuff said. As it turned out, he was a famous explorer on land and very knowledgeable about exploring. It was quite a lucky event that allowed them to have such a master along to teach them during their first official exploration.
In time, James and Dean would become even more respected and accomplished than Razorfang among all explorers, both under the water and over the land.
…
Leaf Green Poliwag entry: Its newly grown legs prevent it from walking well. It appears to prefer swimming to walking.
Ruby entry: Goldeen is a very beautiful Pokemon with fins that billow elegantly in the water. However, don't let your guard down around this Pokemon – it could ram you powerfully with its horn.
For the eighth day of Christmas... a story about taking chances. Also, Lightningrod is really Goldeen's Dreamworld ability; I thought it was pretty cool.