In this chapter, our heroes are going to continue collecting Hive Badges...it's still going to be a long while before they can get into the Silver Conference though. Meanwhile, Sarah is going to head to Goldenrod City...but once again she'll prove herself to be clumsy.
You know headbutting trees allows you to catch Pokemon? Well, it seems crashing into trees has the same effect...it never happens to our video game protagonist, but what about Sarah?
Chapter 17: Sting Like A Beedrill
Sarah ran out of Ilex Forest, happy to be back in the sunlight.
It was a good thing that friendly Oddish had showed her the way out of the forest. She was not a grass Pokemon and therefore she should be living in the city instead of a forest.
However, she ended up crashing into a tree.
"Oof!" exclaimed Sarah, once again finding herself in a sitting position. She needed to pay more attention to her surroundings.
In the process, she made a wild Pokemon fall off one of the branches.
"Pineco!" shouted a wild Pineco as it fell out of the tree.
"Whoa!" bellowed the girl. She must have hit the tree pretty hard if she had knocked a Pokemon out of it. Thankfully, she was alright.
Well, she might as well find out just what Pokemon she had knocked out of the tree.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Pokedex.
She then scanned the Pineco for information.
According to the Pokedex, this Pokemon happened to be a bug Pokemon.
"A bug Pokemon? Reminds me of the Heracross I faced earlier..." noted Sarah. Perhaps Jerry took out his anger on a nearby tree and caught a Heracross that way. It wouldn't surprise her.
"Pineco, the Bagworm Pokemon. Typically Pineco is immobile and spends its time hanging from a tree...but when someone knocks it down, it begins to explode!" exclaimed Sarah's Pokedex.
This Pineco happened to be male.
Sarah noticed that there was something in the Pokedex that concerned her and Totodile.
"Wait...Pinecos explode?" questioned Sarah.
"Totodile!" exclaimed Sarah's Totodile. That didn't sound good.
Sure enough, Pineco was getting ready to do just that. It was glowing as if he was evolving...yet instead of glowing white he was glowing yellow.
"Pineco!" shouted the bug Pokemon. Bombs away!
Sarah's eyes widened in shock.
"I gotta do something!" exclaimed the girl.
Totodile nodded.
Quickly, she tossed a Pokeball at the Pineco.
Fortunately, it dinged, though there seemed to be smoke coming out from the Pokeball.
"Thank goodness..." stated Sarah. For a second there she thought she was going to take an explosion to the face.
Sarah wondered what she should do with her new Pokemon.
Well, it might come in handy if she wanted to blow up something...though she wasn't quite sure what she should blow up.
She decided to resume her way to Goldenrod City.
However, in the process, she left her hat on the ground.
A wild Aipom took notice.
"Aipom!" exclaimed Aipom. This seemed like a nice hat. Why did she leave it there?
Well, finders keepers.
The wild Aipom picked it up and put it on.
"Aipom!" cheered the wild Aipom. Now the monkey could stand out from the crowd, which was awesome.
Back at Bugsy's gym...
"Right...what is your first choice of Pokemon going to be? You already know my preferences with Pokemon..." asked Bugsy.
"I certainly do. I've made my choice." nodded Jake.
Jake sent out his Cyndaquil.
"Cyndaquil!" exclaimed the fire Pokemon.
"A Cyndaquil? Good choice...I see that you picked out your starter Pokemon from Professor Elm..." answered the bug Pokemon trainer.
"I also used to have a Squirtle, but a fire type seemed like a better choice for this gym..." noted Jake.
"I see..." nodded Bugsy. Strangely enough he heard that one of the Team Shadow Grunts happened to be in possession of a Totodile. Where could she have gotten that? Totodiles weren't a common Pokemon in Johto...though it was also likely that they were simply good at hiding themselves. For some strange reason they looked like just small logs in water.
Bugsy sent out his Metapod.
"Metapod!" exclaimed the bug Pokemon. Hopefully she would become a beautiful Butterfree soon. You couldn't exactly do much when you were inside a cocoon.
"Cyndadaquil, use Ember!" ordered Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded and used Ember on Metapod.
"Metapod!" exclaimed the bug Pokemon. Jake's Cyndaquil may be a small Pokemon, but that didn't mean that his flames weren't powerful.
"We're off to a good start! Let's try to keep it that way..." answered Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded. It looked like he and Jake had the upper hand. It was best to keep it that way so that they could get the Hive Badge.
Metapod used Harden. Perhaps increasing her defenses would make life easier for her.
Or maybe not. Cyndaquil was getting ready to use fire again.
"Keep using fire!" ordered Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded, and used Ember on Metapod.
"Metapod..." said the fainted cocoon Pokemon.
Metapod fainted. She was no match for a fire Pokemon, it seemed.
Bugsy returned his Metapod to her Pokeball.
He then sent out his Kakuna.
"Kakuna!" exclaimed the cocoon Pokemon.
"You know what to do." stated Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded, and hit Kakuna with fire.
"Kakuna!" shouted the bug Pokemon. Something told him that Bugsy wasn't doing well against Jake's fire Pokemon.
Still, he was a Pokemon bug expert. Surely, he would be able to think of something.
"Kakuna, use Poison Sting!" ordered Bugsy.
Kakuna nodded and stung Cyndaquil. Apparently she still had her stinger from preevolution.
Cyndaquil was poisoned.
"Cyndaquil..." murmured the unfortunate fire Pokemon.
"Darn...well, I suppose if we keep hitting her with fire, we'll be able to outlast the poison..." noted Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded. That seemed like a good choice.
Cyndaquil hit Kakuna with Ember.
Kakuna fainted. She simply couldn't take the heat. Cyndaquil was turning this gym into a kitchen.
"There goes my second Pokemon...well, I better make my last Pokemon count." remarked Bugsy.
Bugsy withdrew his Kakuna and sent out Scyther.
"Scyther!" exclaimed the mantis Pokemon. For some strange reason her partners kept on fainting yet she always seemed to do well against challengers.
"Careful! This is his strongest Pokemon!" warned Jake.
"Cyndaquil..." noted Jake's Cyndaquil. Surely since he defeated his previous two Pokemon he could take care of Scyther, right?
Still, he got the feeling that Jake wasn't kidding. Scyther certainly looked tougher than her comrades.
"Scyther, use Swords Dance!" instructed Bugsy.
Scyther nodded and used Swords Dance, rubbing the blades on her arms together.
"Cyndaquil..." remarked Jake's Cyndaquil. He didn't like the looks of this.
"Cyndaquil, use Ember!" ordered Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded and used Ember...but Scyther blocked the fire with her blades. It seemed that Bugsy was starting to get wise to Jake's tricks.
"Maybe we should change tactics..." noted the boy.
Cyndaquil nodded. Repeating the same strategy was only going to get him so far.
"Try using Smokescreen!" ordered Jake.
Cyndaquil nodded and bombarded Scyther with smoke.
However, at that very moment, Cyndaquil fainted.
"Huh? Oh, that's right. The poison..." noted Jake. Cyndaquil was bound to faint from that sooner or later.
Well, it was time for him to send out a different Pokemon.
But which one should he choose? He didn't want his Pokemon to be cut down by Scyther's sharp blades.
Perhaps using a different Pokemon would be a good idea.
Fortunately, Jake had an idea. He could just use his Grimer. Sharp objects didn't mean much to him, on account on being made of sludge.
"Go, Grimer!" exclaimed Jake.
"Grimer!" shouted the sludge Pokemon.
"I see that you decided to go on the defensive...good idea." nodded Bugsy.
It seemed that both of them could come up with a strategy.
"Grimer, use Sludge!" ordered the ex-member of Team Rocket.
Grimer nodded and bombarded Scyther with sludge.
This time, it was Scyther it was poisoned.
"This is ironic, isn't it?" noted Bugsy.
"Yep." nodded Jake.
Scyther wasn't feeling too well.
"Scyther, use Cut!" instructed the Pokemon trainer.
Scyther nodded, but it didn't hurt Grimer much, like Jake thought.
"Hit her again, Grimer!" exclaimed Jake.
Grimer nodded and hit Scyther with Sludge.
"Scyther!" exclaimed the bug Pokemon. She was covered in gunk! This wasn't fun for her.
"Fury Cutter!" instructed Bugsy.
Scyther nodded and used Fury Cutter on Grimer, attacking Grimer furiously.
This knocked the breath out of Grimer.
However, Scyther was feeling exhausted afterwards.
"Scyther..." murmured the mantis Pokemon. Anger could really take the wind out of you.
Coupled with the poison, this made Scyther faint.
"Good job. Perhaps you know more about Pokemon than I do. Then again, I mostly research bug Pokemon..." noted Bugsy.
Bugsy handed Jake his Hive Badge.
"Well, that's two badges now...I wonder what the third one is going to be..." answered the boy.
"If you're looking for another Gym Leader...there should be one in Goldenrod City. Mind you, it's a big city so try not to get lost. It has its own department store and radio tower...though for some strange reason people never seem to be able to meet the staff of the Radio Tower...the director never lets them in..." noted the bug type specialist.
"That's too bad." stated Jake. People would most likely like to meet the people who are on the radio waves.
"You can get to Goldenrod City through the Ilex Forest..." noted Bugsy. That was a good place to study Pokemon.
Jake nodded.
After healing their Pokemon, Jake and Lucy decided to head into the forest.
They discovered that someone else was there.
"Morgiana? Is that you?" questioned Lucy.
Morgiana nodded.
"Good to see you again...I was on my way back home to Goldenrod City..." noted Morgiana.
"It's good to be back home, right?" asked the young girl.
"Yes, it is. I decided to admire the Ilex Shrine on the way there. It must be a pretty powerful Pokemon if it's guarding the entire forest..." remarked the lady.
Jake nodded.
"I would like to meet it someday..." noted Morgiana.
"Maybe you will..." answered Jake.
"Well, it's time for me to head back now. I'll be seeing you later." stated the lady.
"Bye!" exclaimed Lucy.
Morgiana exited the forest.
"It's nice seeing her again..." remarked the young girl.
"Yeah...apparently she likes nature..." noted Jake.
Meanwhile...
"I've got some bad news. Our operation in Azalea Town was a bust..." explained Larry.
"I already know..." answered Larry's employer.
"I cannot believe that I lost to a bunch of kids!" exclaimed the Team Shadow executive.
"Ah yes, I seem to recall Team Rocket being destroyed by a bunch of kids...we should take precautions to ensure that this doesn't happen again..." answered the man at the other side of the phone.
"I ended up losing to a little girl...it's so embarrassing..." remarked Larry. He can't believe that he would suffer such an enormous blow to his ego. His ego had been hit harder than his Pokemon by her Mareep and her Clefairy.
"To be fair, I heard rumors that she was the daughter of an renowned Pokemon trainer. Children always inherit the skills of their parents, don't they?" stated the boss. Perhaps she would surpass her father someday.
"Really? Huh...somehow I don't feel so bad anymore." answered the Team Shadow executive.
"Since you've obviously had a bad day I'm going to be assigning our next operation to another Team Shadow executive...you remember Violet?" inquired the boss.
"Why'd you place her higher up than me?" asked Larry.
"Because she's the stronger Pokemon trainer...and she's a master of disguise." explained the man.
Larry sighed. He thought of himself as one of the best criminals in Johto and yet his employer decided to place another criminal above him other than himself.
At least he got to boss around all the Team Shadow Grunts. Their incompetence astounded him sometimes. On the other hand, Sarah seemed to know what she was doing. Not only had she succeeded magnificently on her mission, she had also managed to snag one of Professor Elm's Totodiles, which were rare Pokemon in Johto indeed.
Of course, she also had in possession of a Togepi...but Togepi didn't seem valuable at first glance. Still, it seemed like Togepi made everyone around her cheerful. Why exactly was that?
Togepi was a mysterious Pokemon.
Elsewhere...
Chris and Ned entered the gym, ready to challenge the Gym Leader.
"You can go first." answered Chris.
"Really? I was under the impression that you wanted to go first..." stated Ned.
"I did at first, but it seems like you two are both intellectuals. I'm sure you will get along mightily. And I'm interested to see how this turns out." remarked Chris.
"I suppose I am too..." nodded the boy.
"Greetings. I see that yet another Pokemon trainer wishes to challenge me...well, it helps my research on bug Pokemon move forward, so the more the merrier." answered the bug Pokemon trainer.
"Can I go first?" asked Ned.
Bugsy nodded. His Pokemon were rather predictable anyway...though his Scyther tended to surprise people. He had caught her in a bug catching competition. As one could imagine, Bugsy excelled at those types of competitions.
"Alright. Go, Hoothoot!" exclaimed the boy.
"Hoothoot!" shouted the owl Pokemon.
"A flying type? Excellent choice...but I'll have you know that my strongest Pokemon is also a flying Pokemon...so don't expect too much of a flight advantage." answered Bugsy.
"Right..." nodded Ned.
Bugsy sent out his Kakuna.
"Kakuna!" exclaimed the bug Pokemon.
"Hoothoot, use Peck!" instructed Ned.
Hoothoot nodded and pecked Kakuna on the forehead...no, not on the cheek.
"Kakuna!" exclaimed the cocoon Pokemon.
In retaliation, Kakuna used Harden.
"Seems that she's boosting her defense..." noted Ned.
"Hoothoot?" asked Ned's Hoothoot. Was there something she should do?
"Wait...Kakuna's a poison type too, right?" asked the boy.
"Hoothoot." nodded Ned's Hoothoot. She believed so, yes.
"In that case...use Confusion!" instructed Ned.
"Oh no..." thought Bugsy. Seems that Ned had discovered another weakness of one of his Pokemon besides the obvious ones.
"Kakuna!" shouted the cocoon Pokemon.
Kakuna fainted.
Bugsy withdrew his Kakuna.
"Metapod, I choose you!" exclaimed Bugsy.
And the next Pokemon to be added to Sarah's roster is Pineco. Unsurprisingly, I decided to give her a Pokemon that just so happens to be rather destructive. You'd be surprised how early Pineco can learn Self-Destruct.
You'll find out how Ned's battle with Bugsy turns out later. Then he'll battle Chris.
In the next chapter, Sarah will meet Morgiana herself. Wonderful lady she is, right?