Chapter 51
The necessary scenes that Psyduck needed to film were wrapped, and so Ash and Brock continued to the Pokémon Theme Park. The Pokémon Trainer was torn between wanting to train for the Pokémon League, but also knew that his Pokémon worked hard to earn the Badges they won together. They needed a break.
The last of the morning dew was just starting to evaporate from the rising sun's view when Ash and Brock smiled at the sight before them. "Well, Brock! We're here!" the Pallet Town Trainer announced. Laid out before them across a green meadow spotted with flowers to brighten up the view, a huge fenced area with a large wooden gate over the end of the path beckoned their Poké Balls. The sign read 'POKEMON' in bright yellow, and they knew for sure that it was the right place. Well, between that and the structures raised around the mountain in the park's property.
"It's a Pokémon paradise!"
"Yeah, the Pokémon love it!" Ash said with a smile. Even though he wasn't allowed in it, he was excited to know that his Pokémon were going to have so much fun inside. It brought out the little kid in him. Pulling out a single Poké Ball, he threw it into the sky, and a bright light rained down in front of him. It quickly came together and formed into his Blastoise, who peered down at its Trainer. "Just keep your eye on the other Pokémon, okay Blastoise?"
"Blaaaast-toise!" the Shellfish Pokémon nodded in response. It began to walk down the path, and as it did, Ash retrieved more Poké Balls from his belt. Two swings of his arms brought out Bulbasaur and Primeape, and the two marched behind Blastoise. Another flash of light produced Pidgeotto, who fluttered in the air by Blastoise's shoulder where its hydro cannon would normally stick out during battle.
Not wanting to be left out, Brock threw his own Poké Balls. Vulpix was the first to appear, followed by Geodude who floated beside the Fire-type, and next to it was Psyduck. For once, the yellow Duck Pokémon didn't have its typical dopey look on its face, and swung its arms happily as it trotted beside its companions.
Towering high over the group, a huge flash of light that seemed to grow bigger by the second was Onix, and a much smaller one beside it formed into Zubat. The blue Poison and Flying Pokémon wore a wide grin on its eyeless face. Two final pops and bursts of light came together and formed Tauros and Charmeleon. Both were equally as excited as the rest, and they followed the path beside a babbling brook until they finally made it to the entrance.
Ash and Brock were just a figment of their imaginations now as they crossed the barrier into the Pokémon Theme Park. The river beside them gave way to a large swimming area that stretched out far as the eye could see. Tons of Water-type Pokémon were already there, spending the day splashing around while they had the opportunity to stretch their fins. Even some of the Flying-type Pokémon like Farfetch'd floated atop the water. Another swimming lake separate from that sat at the base of the huge mountain, and a path leading up it zigzagged around the waterfall that emptied into the lake. There were tree houses and climbing structures set up all around, enough so that even with on a busy day like today, there was still plenty for them to do without it being crowded.
The last thing that drew Blastoise's attention was the slides coming down from the top of the mountain. Like the path leading up, they zigzagged through the air, held up by sturdy wood and looked like it could carry the heaviest of Pokémon.
The Water-type Pokémon marveled up at the display before it, but before it could turn around to get its friends' reactions, Onix gave a roar of happiness and zoomed by, knocking Blastoise onto its stomach. Onix's charge was the first of many, and soon the other Pokémon were hurrying over its shell like an obstacle to get to the park itself. When the dust cleared and Blastoise could finally stand on its feet, the only ones left behind were it, Psyduck, Primeape, Charmeleon, and Bulbasaur. The Grass-type Pokémon looked at its friend with concern, but Blastoise's eye drew to Primeape. The Pig Monkey Pokémon was rubbing its stomach with a boxing glove-shaped hand, and a faint gurgle sounded.
"Prime..." it murmured.
"Blast," Blastoise replied, looking around to see if there was any food available. The others did the same, and soon, Charmeleon perked up with a reply.
"Char? Char-char-meleon!" it called, beckoning over the group and pointing a white claw into the tree. Everyone looked up and saw a single apple hanging from a tree branch.
"Blast!" the Shellfish Pokémon congratulated, and Primeape gave a chuckle of excitement as it stepped forward to climb the tree. However, a single vine reached out in front of the Fighting-type, and Bulbasaur smiled at its teammate.
"Saur," it said, and then fired a pair of swinging leaves out from under the bulb on its back up into the tree. The Razor Leaf attack, though severely powered down, cut through the apple stem and it fell to the ground. The red fruit rolled when it hit the grass, and everyone watched as it rolled and stopped at Psyduck's bulging belly. The tap snapped Psyduck out of its stupor, and it looked down at the fruit. Finally peeling its hands off the sides of its head, Psyduck picked up and the apple and inspected it for just a second before popping the whole thing into its beak.
Everyone took in a sharp intake of breath, and their blood ran cold as they slowly turned their eyes from Psyduck enjoying the apple to Primeape. The Pig Monkey Pokémon had a vein popping out of its temple, and it was throbbing with anger in time with its huffs through its snout. "Bri... Briaahh!" it finally cried, and charged forward before getting in Psyduck's face and peering down at it with a shadow falling over its own.
"Blaaast!" Blastoise cried, and the other two cried out to stop their partner as well, but before they knew it, Primeape had knocked Psyduck onto its backside with a fierce strike to the face. Its forehead reddened from the punch, Psyduck held the sides of its head and it stared at the blue sky with no reaction of pain.
Primeape stepped forward once again to continue to pummel Psyduck, swinging one of its muscular arms in a stretch of preparation, and the other three picked up their speed to try and stop it, but they all stopped when they heard a loud, teasing laugh. Looking at the entrance from where they had just come from, four Pokémon were standing and pointing at Psyduck and laughing. The group was comprised of a Raichu, a Cubone, a blue Pokémon with rounded ears and a jagged tail, and the leader was a pink Pokémon with a rough-looking face and an under-bite.
"Blastoise. Blast, blastoise," Blastoise said, walking up to the group with a hand in the air. It wanted to stop the fighting altogether, not encourage it. The four Pokémon stopped laughing immediately and looked up at it without an ounce of fear. Instead, they seemed annoyed that it was trying to ruin their fun.
"Snubb!" the pink and blue Pokémon, a Snubbull, grumbled in annoyance.
"Rai!" its lackey added. Since it was the biggest of the group, it was trying to intimidate Blastoise with a smirk. Quickly, Charmeleon rushed in to support its friend, and held one of its arms up.
"Char! Charmeleon!" it threatened. Snubbull's beady black eyes quickly looked at the crimson Pokémon and it got closer to the Fire-type's face – since it could reach it.
"Snubb Snub!" it retorted, but Blastoise stepped between Charmeleon and Snubbull and shook its head.
"Blastoise Blast." Though it tried to settle the score with words, it seemed that they were falling on deaf ears, as now that they had been confronted, the quartet of Pokémon were now keen on starting something.
At Blastoise's back, Bulbasaur and Primeape joined, and three of Ash's Pokémon stared at the four across from them. The tension was enough to cut with a knife. "Blastoise, Blast blast blastoise toise," it tried to reason, this time looking at the members of its own team, before reaching a hand out to the opposing side – a sign of a truce.
Slowly, the Snubbull leader reached its paw out, and a smile curled the corners of Blastoise's mouth, but then Snubbull slapped it away and chuckled along with a smirk. Its teammates followed its lead and chuckled.
This angered Charmeleon, and it jumped back in front of its much taller teammate, just as Blastoise had done to it. In an attempt to get Snubbull to back down, Charmeleon stuck out its chest confidently. However, Snubbull only retorted by drawing in a deep breath to make its chest puff out more, and it did the same. Charmeleon sucked in even more breath than the Fairy Pokémon had to make its chest stick out further, and held its breath with its head back.
"Snub!" Snubbull grunted, getting up on its tippy-toes and curling its paws on its hips. Charmeleon mirrored it, and tried to stick its chest out further, though it was obvious it was struggling a bit. Snubbull did the same, and its whole body began to shake as its face turned a tint of red. Charmeleon took more air into its lungs through its nostrils in an attempt to make itself look bigger, and it held this for a moment, before it was unable to hold its breath any longer, and with a small wisp of fire escaping through its teeth and propelling it backwards, Charmeleon fell onto its back near Blastoise's feet. Bulbasaur and Blastoise looked horrified while Snubbull's group all threw their heads back and laughed cruelly.
"Bulba! Bulba!" Bulbasaur shouted, calling out over their laughs and stepping forward to call for its own challenge. The Pokémon all stopped and Snubbull took the front spot again. Staring at Snubbull for a moment, the Grass-type's red eyes soon began to spin around and around its sockets. It started slowly at first, but then it soon began to pick up speed. Snubbull didn't hesitate in copying the Seed Pokémon, and its beady black eyes spun clockwise as well. But once it began to pick up speed, it quickly became dizzy and fell onto its back much like how Charmeleon had. Now it was Charmeleon and Bulbasaur's turn to laugh loudly, and the antics even gave Primeape a giggle.
But now that the shoe was on the other foot, Snubbull's team mates weren't happy, and Raichu rushed past its fallen leader and shoved Charmeleon backwards. Charmeleon held its footing, and the laughing immediately stopped. "Char, charmeleon!" Charmeleon retorted angrily.
"Cu bone bone!" Cubone encouraged with its Thick Club in the air, and the blue Water-type Pokémon took it a step further by pushing in front of Raichu and getting in Charmeleon's face.
"Mair! Marill!" the Aqua Mouse Pokémon challenged. Now that there was a type difference, Blastoise gently moved Charmeleon off to the side and stepped forward. If they weren't going to listen to reason, then it would have to beat them at their own game. Blastoise looked down at the Marill, but it wasn't intimidated at all, and their eyes locked.
"Blastoise Blaaaast?" Blastoise suggested, and gestured to the huge swimming pool that was nearest them. Marill's eyes landed on it and it gave a nod of agreement, only before turning back and smirking at its teammates. It seemed confident that it was going to win.
"Mairill!"
Blastoise didn't look at its party members as it led the way to the pool area. While the others scattered to tell the other Pokémon of the swimming contest that was about to go down, Blastoise and Marill walked to the edge of the rectangular pool. The rules were simple: whoever got to the other side fastest, won. Marill seemed to think it had the edge because it was smaller, but Blastoise kept a stone face as it trotted to the starting point.
Word traveled very quickly, and before long, it seemed like half of the Pokémon in the park was crowding around the pool to view the competition. The Water Pokémon in the pool glanced over, and some of them moved out of the way, making a mostly clear path to the other side, but some of the more nonchalant personalities didn't even bother moving.
Loud cheering and cries from various species of Pokémon rang out through the park, and Marill started to warm up, twisting its body and stubby arms from side to side as it stretched its muscles. Though Blastoise did not do the same, its face was unreadable and calm as it took in the view of its audience. Its eyes locked on Ash's other Pokémon off to the side. Bulbasaur and Primeape were cheering with the rest, while beside them, Marill's teammates supported their own fellow Water-type.
Finally, some of the Pokémon parted ways at the middle line of the pool, and Charmeleon stood in the center with its claw in the air. "Charmel...!" it announced. Unbeknownst to the Flame Pokémon, an Electrode rolled behind it, and the other Pokémon that were nearby who saw this began to panic. Before Charmeleon could call the start, Electrode's body began to glow bright yellow, and with an earth-shaking kaboom, it used Explosion. As smoke and debris kicked up and blew over the pool, the pair of Water Pokémon dove into the pool. Marill's dive barely made a splash, but Blastoise brought up a funnel of water as its body submerged beneath the surface.
Within moments, both competitors were above and swimming through the water with the great speed that could only be accomplished by a Water Pokémon. Their eyes were focused only on their end goal, but so far, the Aqua Mouse and Shellfish were neck-and-neck. The only eyes that weren't glued to the race were those that were affected by Electrode's attack, including Charmeleon, who all were sprawled to the ground with the Ball Pokémon smoking and laying on its side with a mischievous and proud grin stretched across its shiny body.
Now that they were halfway across the pool, the difference in body weight and height was quickly starting to become apparent, and Blastoise was starting to push ahead. This didn't sit right with Marill, and its lip puffed out in annoyance before it took in a deep breath and dove before pushing itself to its limits. Straining so hard that its eyes were closed, Marill's limbs flailed about as it moved them as fast as it could to get ahead. And while it did succeed in doing this, it was focusing more on speed instead of where it was going, and thus ended up trailing off its route. It failed to notice this until its head collided with the back of a Starmie that wasn't paying attention to the race. As Marill stopped in place and rubbed its head where it had made contact with the Mysterious Pokémon, Starmie jumped out of the water and floated inches above the water. Its appendages flailed with what one could only assume was anger before pointing the top-most one at Marill and firing a powerful Water Gun at it. Marill let out a cry of horror before its entire body was enveloped in the Water-type attack, and with no ground to stop it, it was pushed backwards until it hit the edge of the pool.
"Blaast," Blastoise muttered with a smirk as it watched this happen, and gained the lead once again.
It was at this point that Blastoise knew that it had won. While Marill shook its head to get its bearings, Blastoise pushed ahead now three-quarters of the way to the finish line. Various Water Pokémon swimming under water not paying attention to the competition occasionally bumped into it or scraped against the underside of its hard shell, but Blastoise was so large that it simply just pushed them away. Try as it might, Marill just could not catch up with the Shellfish Pokémon, and before too long, Blastoise had tapped the edge of the pool. Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, and Primeape – who had ran to wait for the winner – all cheered loudly and bounced up and down while Snubbull, Raichu, and Cubone only looked on with disdain. Marill only caught up once Blastoise had pulled itself out of the water, and gave it a knowing smirk over its shoulder, and it glared daggers as it blew bubbles below the surface.
After a small fanfare of cheering from the other Pokémon, they soon went back to exploring the park, leaving the opposing teams of four alone once again. Now that they had been put in their place, Blastoise was hoping that they would all put their differences aside, and called for a truce. "Blast, blastoise," it grunted, but the looks on the other Pokémon's faces showed that this only furthered their rivalry.
"Cubone-bone," Cubone chanted, tightening its grip on its Thick Club, and the fighting words only angered Bulbasaur.
The Seed Pokémon stepped forward. "Bulba?!" it exclaimed.
"Marill!" Despite losing in the race, Marill still spoke large.
"Charr!" Charmeleon interjected, spitting a small flame out from between its teeth.
"Rai!" The Electric-type Pokémon gave a smirk, and like Charmeleon, began to use its elemental abilities, and sparks fizzled dangerously off its cheeks and shot to the ground at everyone's feet. The sparks resembled small lighting bolts, and even left marks in the ground where they struck. Everyone danced in between them while Snubbull and its gang laughed at their misfortune, but it was only a matter of time before someone was hit.
Unfortunately, that someone was Primeape.
"BRRIAHH!" the Fighting-type Pokémon cried out as the small jolt of electricity rushed through its body, making its fur stand on edge momentarily. Raichu and its group laughed even harder, but everyone opposite of them immediately held their breath as shadows fell over Primeape's eyes. The vein on its forehead throbbed, and straight away, the other Pokémon stopped laughing when Primeape slammed its foot into the ground. "Prime... ape..."
"Rai?" Raichu questioned while furrowing its brow, and it stepped forward and raised its arms to make itself look bigger while sparks of warning danced across its yellow cheek pouches. Primeape didn't seem the least bit intimidated, and closed the distance between them, and it didn't stop until its forehead was pressed against Raichu's. The two Pokémon battled for dominance, neither of them keen on backing down. Leaning to one side – Primeape's left and Raichu's right – both Pokémon kept their faces collided and began to run. It was their own form of a race, and soon, they had left their friends behind in the dust.
The took off up the mountain that was the centerpiece of the amusement park. A path spiraled up it, but even though they were running uphill, both Pokémon didn't seem close to tiring out in the slightest. Up ahead, a Chansey and a Voltorb were getting ready to go down one of the polished slides together, but then head the stampeding pair and quickly leapt out of the way. They didn't slide down, however, they ran, still connected at the cheeks and trying to get the other to fall.
It seemed like even fatigue itself couldn't catch up with them as they ran down the length of the slide and stomped on the bottom before rushing off again without even taking the time to catch a single breath. This time, they just ran up the side of the mountain without the path's help, and though it would have been a tough climb for a normal Pokémon, both were fueled by rage and stubbornness. Minutes passed and they were at the top of the mountain finally, and heading straight to the zip-lines. Luckily, no Pokémon were waiting to get on these, so they both leaped on them and held on with one arm and swung back and forth. Though their bodies had finally broke contact from each other, their eyes did not, and with each swing toward each other, they traded blows.
But neither succeeded in knocking the other off, and when they hit the end of the rope, they jumped and smashed into each other again like magnets before taking off toward the obstacle course. It consisted of a bunch of logs sticking up from the ground, and one had to jump from one another to get to the other side. Currently, only a Jigglypuff was trying its luck, and it was going slowly to ensure it didn't fall, so it failed to notice Raichu and Primeape barreling toward it until it was too late. "JIG?!" it exclaimed as it was kicked like a ball out of the way and to the ground below.
Finishing the obstacle course, their next hurdle was a hedge maze. Hurdle was a strong word to use, however, as Primeape and Raichu didn't even seem to notice the shrubs and just blasted right through them, surprising any Pokémon that they happened to rush by. When they finally exited the maze, a Growlithe and Mr. Mime on the other side cried out in fright and scattered, and a lone Diglett ducked its head underground.
Curling at the perimeter of the park itself, they rushed through a flowery meadow, stomping through the flowers until finally they found another path up the mountain once again. They hardly paid any attention to a Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan that were training on the path and blew right through the two Fighting-types, sending them high into the air. As the path started to ascend once again, they also failed to notice the sleeping Pokémon laying in the sun: Ash's Tauros. Sitting quietly off to the side so as to not get in anyone's way, the Normal-type Pokémon breathed slowly and peacefully while letting the sun warm its bones.
However, when the pair of Pokémon blew past it, it startled the Wild Bull Pokémon out of its dreams, and its three tails began to whip its hindquarters in fright. Letting out a loud moo, and took off like an arrow. Like the two Pokémon that were competing, Tauros was too freaked out to see what was ahead of it, and Primeape and Raichu had no idea that it was slowly catching up until it was too late. "Taaaauuuuuuuu!" Tauros bellowed as soon as it was right on top of them, and it collided into them with a powerful Take Down attack.
The pair of stubborn Pokémon finally separated, and both were knocked out of their angry stupor as they were knocked off their feet and over the side of the mountain where they plummeted through the air. They fell quite some feet before landing on a sleeping Snorlax's jiggly belly. It was lucky that it was such a soft landing, and like a trampoline, they bounced off the side and landed on their stomachs in the dirt. Their heads were spinning from how fast everything had happened, but they hardly had time to catch their breath before a dark shadow appeared over them. Looking up, they heard Snorlax groan as it rolled over, and both Raichu and Primeape barely had time to cry out before they were enveloped underneath the Sleeping Pokémon's girth.
Meanwhile, Ash and Brock's Pokémon had all heard the cry let out by Tauros, and had all rushed over to see what had happened after recognizing the owner of the moo, and they all saw the tail-end of the misadventures.
"BULBA-SAAAUUUR!"
"BLAAST!"
"CHAR!"
"Snubbull... Snubbull!"
"Marill Mair!"
All the Pokémon who knew what was going on all rushed up with worry written across their faces. Were their companions hurt? They looked on with bated breath, and the only one who seemed to be breathing was the sleeping Snorlax, blissfully unaware that there were two Pokémon beneath its massive weight. Finally, Snorlax's folds moved and Primeape and Raichu crawled out from underneath its fur and stood firmly on their feet before their brows clashed together and they glared at each other.
"PRIME!"
"RAIII!" they both cried at the same time. But finally, exhaustion caught up with them, and they both collapsed onto their backs without any energy to even stand.
Blastoise let out a sigh of relief that the race was finally over and ended in the least amount of violence, but before it and Snubbull could go over and make sure their friends were okay, another loud moo echoed off the mountainside.
All eyes turned to the path, and saw that Tauros was barreling down with its head and tails whipping back and forth in a panic. A collective cry was let out as everyone scattered out of the way of the rampaging Pokémon, and it rushed past both them and Snorlax. "Blast! Blastoise!" Blastoise cried out, and it lowered its head before its hydro cannons rose from underneath its shell, but before anything could be done, Tauros collided with one of the climbing areas – a rope net climbing obstacle. The rope quickly tied around Tauros's back hoof and as its horns broke through the wooden poles holding it up, it tumbled forward, breaking through another climbing structure made completely out of logs and tires, before finally coming to a stop as its head plugged a pipe in a rock that was meant for much smaller Pokémon.
Tauros gave an amplified moo and tried to pull its head out, but its horns were jammed in and it couldn't break itself free. A more panicked moo followed, and it tried to pull away harder to no avail.
Jumping immediately into action to help their friend, Blastoise and the rest of the Pokémon each grabbed a long rope that had tied itself around Tauros's leg. "Blastoise!" Blastoise called behind it, and both Ash's and Brock's Pokémon began to pull with all of their might. Even Pidgeotto and Zubat were helping, flapping their wings as hard as they could. Onix brought up the very back, but even with its massive strength, Tauros didn't pop free. Inside the pipe, Tauros mooed loudly with pain and displeasure, but tried every way it could to get itself free. They tugged and tugged, but finally, Tauros stomped its foot down, and with the quick jerk of the rope, all of the Pokémon collapsed onto the ground.
The laughs of Snubbull's gang reminded them of their presence, and they looked over to see the four Pokémon laughing at their misfortune while sitting on benches made of logs cut in half. As the Water starter pulled itself up, it could hear the pitiful moo of Tauros from inside the pipe, but this was quickly drowned out by the laughing of Snubbull's posse. Finally having had enough, Blastoise brought out its hydro cannons once again, and this time fired a Hydro Pump into the air. "BLAAAASSTT!" it roared.
Immediately, the four stopped laughing, and looked at Blastoise with nervous looks on their faces. The Shellfish Pokémon approached them, and though it wore a stone-cold look on its face as it peered down at them, this eventually melted. "Blast, blastoise blast. Blast blastoi-blast. Blastoise," it explained, and bowed its head toward them in a pleading way. It was asking for their help to pull Tauros free. It was going to take all of them.
"Snub..." Snubbull replied quietly in thought, and the four all exchanged looks.
"Rai rai-rai, rai rai rai rai rai rai-chu," Raichu reasoned aloud, patting its brown paw to its chin. A smile appeared across Marill's face, and it waved its arms happily.
"Mar-ill! Marill! Marill!" it agreed, but while the other two looked happy as well, Cubone's eyes widened underneath its mask in horror. Aside from the Ground-type, who turned its head away and closed its eyes in a stuck-up manner, the other three all looked at Blastoise and smiled, which was soon followed with a nod. They would help.
"Blastoise," it thanked with a smile in return. Once again, they tried, but this time with the help of Snubbull, Marill, and Raichu. Snubbull stood behind Blastoise at the front, and Raichu and Marill took the back in between Onix and Vulpix but below Pidgeotto and Zubat. They pulled with all of their might, along with Primeape, Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, Geodude, and Psyduck, and failed to notice Cubone watching them through the corner of its eyes, but continuing to sticking its nose in the air.
"Cu-bone..." it murmured to itself. There was a reason it was classified as the 'Lonely Pokémon'. But after a few minutes went by and it saw that neither its friends nor its previous rivals were giving up, it saw in all of their eyes that they truly cared for Tauros's safety and well-being. It studied them for a bit longer, but as the Normal-type Pokémon let out a heartfelt bellow, it could no longer stay on the sidelines. Stepping in front of Blastoise, Cubone wrapped its paws around the rope and joined them in helping. Both Blastoise and Snubbull saw this, and they exchanged a smile before pulling with all of their might.
They didn't relent, and after a while, they could feel Tauros loosening. The leeway in the rope was all the hint they needed, and they all yanked as hard as they could at the exact same time. As the rope pulled Tauros out, all of the Pokémon fell onto their backside, and Tauros was finally free.
Every Pokémon let out a happy cry of celebration, even Snubbull and its gang as they all lay strewn about the destruction caused by Tauros's rampage. But now that their friend was free, the clean up now needed to be done.
Everyone pitched in to help put the structures back together in one piece. While Ash and Brock's Pokémon all worked together to put the logs back where they went, Snubbull, Raichu, Marill, and Cubone used rocks to bang them into place. After an hour of hard work, the obstacles were back to normal, and now the Pokémon could play with their new friends.
Cubone and Charmeleon swung on the swings back and forth opposite of each other, while Blastoise, Marill, Raichu, Bulbasaur, and Geodude all slid down the slide like a train, helping them all go faster. In the sand pits, Vulpix and Primeape made sandcastles, though Primeape accidentally knocked Vulpix's over and buried itself, and though it seemed to get angry for a second, Vulpix threw its head back and laughed, and this made the red feelings disappear as it followed suit. On a see-saw, Tauros and Onix were bouncing with Snubbull and Psyduck, the combined weight of the large Pokémon sending the other two flying into the air with fits of laughter.
Alongside their new friends, they played until the sun was starting to set over the long teeth of mountains, and before long, they were waiting at the gate of the Pokémon Theme park. All of them were waiting for their Trainers to come back, when at long last, they heard a familiar voice call up the path. "Hey, Blastoise! It's time to leeeeaaaave!" A smile spread across Blastoise's mouth at the sound of Ash's voice.
"Geodude, Onix, Zubat, Vulpix, Psyduck! We've gotta go!" Brock's voice followed suit. All the other Pokémon hurried off, eager to see their Trainers after the long day of playing, but before it left, Blastoise stopped and turned back to their new friends. The two locked eyes for a moment, but finally, Blastoise held out its hand.
"Blaaast," it offered with a grin.
"Snubbull," the pink Pokémon replied. Though it was hard to tell if the Fairy Pokémon was happy or not, it held its arm forward and finally shook Blastoise's hand. The two parted ways, and Blastoise gave one last wave over its shoulder, and walked off to join its companions as it heard the cries of Snubbull's gang saying goodbye.
"Blastoise!" Ash exclaimed as he laid eyes upon his starter Pokémon, and he rushed up to it and wrapped his arms around its neck. "Did you have fun?"
"Blast!" it replied, and patted its Trainer on his back. Yes, the day was fun. And it was certainly a vacation that was well-deserved indeed.
-end-
Ash:
Party:
Blastoise (Poké Ball)
Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam
Pidgeotto (Poké Ball)
Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge
Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed
Charmeleon (Poké Ball)
Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash
Tauros (Safari Ball)
Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down
Primeape (Poké Ball)
Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss
At Professor Oak's Lab:
Muk (Poké Ball)
Moves:
Tauros (Safari Ball)
Moves:
Krabby (Poké Ball)
Moves: ViceGrip
Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Thunder Badge
Marsh Badge
Rainbow Badge
Soul Badge
Volcano Badge
Earth Badge
Brock:
Party:
Onix (Poké Ball)
Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig
Geodude (Poké Ball)
Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle
Zubat (Poké Ball)
Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic
Psyduck (Poké Ball)
Moves: Tail Whip, Water Gun, Disable, Confusion
Vulpix (Poké Ball)
Moves: Fire Spin, Flamethrower, Agility