Episode 9: Pups Save The Sea Turtles! Taking Care Of A New Pup!
Ben sighed as he gave Alex Moon some food to eat. That was the name he had given the little wolf cub that he'd taken in. Three days ago, on September 25th, they had saved Yumi's orchard, and found Alex in her barn eating the pumpkin. Ben had taken Alex to Katie's pet salon, which doubled as a veterinary clinic. Since her parents were veterinarians, she had learned their craft at a very young age, and was no stranger to wilder animals like wolves and bears. Determining that Alex had a weak immune system and not much stamina, as well as malnourishment, she had given him some fluids and vitamins before sending Ben and Alex Moon back to the lookout.
From there, Alex had gotten along with the other pups. At first, Chase and the others were a bit nervous and hesitant, since he was a wolf. But Zuma quickly bonded with Alex, enjoying not being the youngest canine in the Lookout anymore. Rocky had made a toy for Alex to play with, and Skye was starting to warm up to Alex as a big sister.
Alex was very insistent on getting attention, whether it was from the other pups or from his human. Ryder was still unsure, but he wasn't against Ben keeping Alex. They were working on housebreaking Alex, and that was going to take a bit of time. But Alex seemed to be a pretty fast learner. Already he was catching on. Soon, Ben could maybe even start teaching Alex how to talk.
Meanwhile, at the beach, Zuma and Rocky were playing on the beach. Rocky was balancing on a beached kite-surfing board, pretending to kite-surf. "Look at me, Zuma! I'm a total kite-surfing pro!" Rocky chuckled.
"Maybe not total, Wocky…" Zuma teased.
Katie laughed, as she was on the beach building a sand castle while watching the antics of the two pups. "It might be more fun if you actually get into the water, Rocky." Katie giggled.
"And get wet? Nuh-uh. I'm more of a dry-land surfer." Rocky replied, wagging his tail at the thought of staying all high and dry.
"WATCH OUUUUT!" A kid's voice exclaimed as a ball rolled past Rocky, Zuma, and Katie.
Mister Porter's grandson, Alexander Porter, came running by to pursue his runaway ball. "Excuse me! Sorry!" Alexander quickly said as he stepped on the kitesurfing board and launched Rocky into the air, with the mixed breed landing in Katie's sand castle and causing everyone to laugh.
"Oh! Hey Rocky! Want to come out and play volleyball with me?" Alexander offered, before throwing the volleyball.
"Nice serve!" Zuma commented as the ball bounced across the street.
Alexander attempted to follow it, but Rocky pulled him back so he wouldn't do something reckless.
"Look both ways before you cross the road!" Katie reminded the five year old. A car honked at them, signaling for them to cross. Once they got to the sand lot outside the café, they started looking for the ball.
Captain Turbot was drinking some lemonade and waved hello to the kids and pups. "Ball! Ball! Ball!" Zuma squealed, searching for their toy. Rocky tentatively sniffed the air.
"Hold on! I smell something!" Rocky told everyone, and the two dogs tracked the scent to a pile in the sand. Listening closely, they could hear a distinct noise.
"Sounds like something scratching in there!" Zuma noted.
More cracking could be heard until a sea turtle with an eggshell on its head popped out of the sand, causing Zuma, Rocky, and Captain Turbot to gasp. "Oh my! This is an amazingly astute opportunity! That's a baby sea turtle! I had no idea that they nested here! I simply must photograph them!" Captain Turbot exclaimed, pulling the camera he had around his neck off and getting on his knees before beginning to take pictures of the turtle.
Then, more turtles began to pop out of the sand. "Aww, how cute!" Katie cooed.
Alexander jumped up and down, causing Katie to put a hand on his shoulder. "Careful, Alexander! We don't want to accidentally step on them." Katie chided the kid.
Alexander took a step forward just as a turtle hatched, causing him to halt in mid-step. "I'm gonna fall!" Alexander shouted out worriedly, not wanting to crush the little amniote.
Rocky ran up and bit down on his shirt, tugging backwards and stopping Alex from falling. The kid then ran over to get his ball. Rocky glanced down at the turtles anxiously. "I'm worried about these turtles getting stepped on." Rocky said, with Zuma nodding in agreement.
"I'm more worried about them getting out to the ocean! Especially with the road and all the hungry seagulls." Katie pointed out.
Captain Turbot paused his wildlife photography session to ponder this, scratching his chin. "Hm, indeed. These sea turtles are in a pretty precarious predicament. And we can't move them to the ocean bay ourselves, as that would interfere with their life cycles." Captain Turbot mused.
"How can we get these little dudes to the water without moving them?" Zuma asked.
Katie's eyes lit up. "I know! I know! You pups go get Ryder. Captain Turbot can keep an eye on the turtles, and I can keep an eye on Alexander!" Katie suggested. Rocky and Zuma started to run to the lookout.
Ryder was doing the weekly pupmobile washing, and was finishing up Rubble's. They always saved the bulldog's puphouse for last since he was the messiest eater of the group. Marshall was hosing down the bulldozer. "Okay Marshall, that's enough water." Ryder called that.
Unfortunately, the Dalmatian couldn't hear well over the flow of the hose. "What's that, Ryder?" Marshall called out, accidentally moving the hose a little bit.
The stream of water moved and started to douse Rubble. "TURN OFF THE WATER!" Rubble shouted, and Marshall barked to shut the hose down.
"Sorry Rubble!" Marshall apologized.
Rubble shook himself off and spat out a bit of water. "Thanks, but my bath day was yesterday!" Rubble growled, a little upset. He was calmed down though when he saw Rocky and Zuma barking when they approached the lookout.
"Ryder, twouble at the beach!" Zuma shouted.
"Trouble!?" Marshall barked, accidentally turning on the water again and spraying Rubble once more.
"Ryder, baby seagulls hatching at the beach!" Rocky explained.
"We got to save them from the scooters and cars and seagulls and stuff!" Zuma added.
Ryder clapped his hands together. "Let's go, PAW Patrol. No job is too big, no pup is too small!" Ryder declared. Pressing the button on the Pup Pad, he called all of the other pups to the tower.
When the entire team was assembled in the Lookout, while Ben was bottle feeding Alex, Ryder began to give off the explanation for their mission. "PAW Patrol, there's a bunch of baby turtles that need our help. They've just hatched, and they need to get to the water without getting stepped on or run over by bikes, scooters, skateboards or cars. Captain Turbot is keeping an eye on them for now." Ryder announced.
Ben nodded. "I'd help, but this little one here is taking up all of my attention, and I don't feel entirely comfortable leaving him for a rescue." Ben mentioned.
Ryder smiled reassuringly at his friend. "That's okay Ben. And besides, the others can help too." Ryder assured before turning back to the pups. Selecting his trusted police puppy, the blue badge appeared on the screen.
"Chase, I need you to direct traffic so the turtles can safely cross." Ryder instructed.
The German Shepherd stepped forward. "These paws uphold the laws!" Chase exclaimed.
Ryder selected his bulldog pup next. "Rubble, we need to build some way for the turtles to get to the water without crossing the road." Ryder told him.
"Rubble on the double!" Rubble cried out.
Ryder slid down the pole to his ATV, while Chase and Rubble took the slide to get on their vehicles. They drove off to the cafe, where Captain Turbot, Katie, and Alexander were shooing the seagulls away. "Go away, you feathered fiends! Infant amniote isn't on your menu today!" Captain Turbot yelled, waving his arms around to frighten the birds off.
Ryder noticed the turtles on the road, and alerted Chase. "I'm on this case, Ryder!" Chase promised. He quickly came to an oncoming car and activated his megaphone. "Sorry about the detour! This is an emergency turtle-crossing zone." Chase apologized. The driver nodded in understanding before taking the winding road around the cafe.
"Why did the turtles build their nest all the way over here?" Alexander Porter wondered.
"I believe I can offer an explanation for that, young Alexander! You see, turtles usually nest in the same spot every year. They likely built their nest here decades ago, before the road was even created!" Captain Turbot replied.
Ryder noticed a grate. "Or maybe… the turtles went through this grate, under the road, and came out here, through the tunnel! Now it's all filled up with sand! Rubble, think you can clear that?" Ryder asked.
"Does a belly scratcher make me flop on my back and wriggle like a worm? You know it does." Rubble chuckled, before getting on his rig and starting to excavate the tunnel.
The other pups, Ben, and Alex came by to check on Ryder and everyone, as this was taking a while longer than a usual rescue. When Rubble got the grate open, he saw it was filled with sand.
"Then we can't finish the tunnel?" Chase sadly asked.
"I said my rig can't go through. I didn't say anything about me." Rubble pointed out, activating his shovel and beginning to dig by paw. Soon enough, the other end of the tunnel was completely clear.
Then they heard Alexander cry out for help, and Ben saw that he was flying away on Zuma's kite surfer. "Skye, can you get him?" Ben called out.
"I'm on it! This pup's gotta fly!" Skye answered, giving her wolf pup brother Alex a lick goodbye before activating her wings. "Woo?" Alex growled, confused. Skye then leapt into the air and flew towards Alexander with her jet wings.
"Alexander, steer it to the beach!" Skye yelled out.
"I don't have a steering wheel!" Alexander yelped. Skye flew and grabbed the top of the kite surfing sail, guiding it back to the beach. Chase had his eyes covered, scared for his sister. But she made it back safely with Alexander in tow. Everyone cheered for her as she and Alexander walked back to the rest of the group. Her wolf brother let out a howl in delight.
"You did it, Skye! I was so worried! I mean… uh… excellent flying!" Chase quickly said, trying to cover up that he was worried. Skye giggled.
"Aww, Chase, you're so sweet." Skye laughed, giving Chase an affectionate nuzzle. "You pups deserve some beach time." Ben commented. Everyone cheered as they went to go play on the beach.
The preexisting character Alex Porter made complications when writing this chapter, as I had to figure out a way to distinguish between my OC Alex and the human Alex. To do so, Alex Porter is referred to as Alexander.