Episode 45: The Squirtle Squad Returns
A couple of days have passed since Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel have met Duplica and her Ditto. Sora took out his Pokémon Box and exchanged his five Pokémon for Squirtle, Poliwag, Tyrogue, Paras, and Munchlax.
As they kept going, Sora is greeted by a Trainer with a Mankey.
"You any good in a Pokémon battle?" The black belt asked.
"Really good," Sora said.
"Good, because I want to battle against you and win!" The black belt said. He turned to Mankey. "And the Pokémon I choose is my Mankey!" Mankey stepped right into battle.
"Okay, the Pokémon I pick is Tyrogue!" Sora called out. Tyrogue emerged from inside and punches the air.
"Mankey! Use Karate Chop!" The black belt ordered. Mankey came right at Tyrogue with a chop attack.
"Tyrogue! Bullet Punch" Sora ordered. Tyrogue repeatedly punches Mankey with both of its arms. "Use Mega Punch!" Tyrogue came right at Mankey and lands a punch.
"You use Thrash!" The black belt ordered. Mankey becomes outlined in a purple aura and repeatedly attacks Tyrogue. The Scuffle Pokémon takes some damage from the hits. Tyrogue fell backwards, but gets back up. Tyrogue started to evolve. Tyrogue has become a Hitmonchan.
"Tyrogue has become a Hitmonchan," Sora said.
"Monchan!" Hitmonchan said.
"Hitmonchan! Use Mach Punch!" Sora ordered. Hitmonchan dashed at Mankey to land a hit with Mach Punch. "Use Bullet Punch!" Hitmonchan gave Mankey a few punches and Mankey fell backwards. The Mankey has been taken down. The black belt called back his Mankey and he walked up to Sora.
"Well done. Your Hitmonchan is a strong Pokémon," the black belt said.
"Thanks. I only had Tyrogue for a short time," Sora said.
"You could have fooled me," the black belt said. "The way you had your Hitmonchan battling, it looked like you had your Tyrogue much longer than you said."
After the battle, Kairi and Angel has come across a Tyrogue, so she decided to capture this one. Kairi took out a Pokéball and she threw it.
"Go! Poliwhirl!" Kairi called out. Her Poliwhirl stood before Tyrogue. Tyrogue turned to the Tadpole Pokémon and readied himself. "Poliwhirl! Use Ice Punch!" Poliwhirl came at Tyrogue with Ice Punch, but Tyrogue gave Poliwhirl a hit with Fake Out, making him flinch. "That was Fake Out. Poliwhirl! Use Ice Punch again!" Poliwhirl lands another Ice Punch onto Tyrouge, resulting in freezing. Kairi took out a Pokéball and threw it. The Scuffle Pokémon flows inside and the Pokéball wobbles around and around. Stars swirls around the Pokéball to confirm the catch. Kairi's Pokémon Box goes off asking her if she wants to keep Tyrogue with her. She chose to keep Tyrogue in exchange for Jigglypuff. "Nice job, Poliwhirl."
"Whirl," Poliwhirl said. Poliwhirl then started to evolve. Poliwhirl has transformed into green, bipedal, frog-like Pokémon with yellow hands, belly, throat, and toes. It has a long, curled hair on top of its head and pink cheek spots that are smaller on the female than on the male. There is a green swirl on its belly. Its legs are well developed and it has bulbous toes and fingers.
"You evolved. Let's see," Kairi said, scanning her newly evolved Pokémon.
Politied, the Frog Pokémon
An evolved form of Poliwhirl
Type: Water
A group of Poliwag and Poliwhirl will form with a Politoed as the leader. Politoed's cries make the Pokémon of the group obey.
Over to Sora and Pikachu, they came across a wild Tyrogue as well. This Tyrouge is more interested in doing some kicks in the air. Sora took out a Pokéball and threw it.
"You're going in, Paras!" Sora called out. Paras emerged from inside, ready to go. Tyrogue gave Paras a strong kick. "Paras! Use Stun Spore!" Paras sprinkles Stun Spore at Tyrogue, resulting in a paralysis. "Use X-Scissor!" Paras came rushing at Tyrouge and gave Tyrogue a hit with X-Scissor. "Use Slash!" Paras slashed Tyrogue, making him land on his back. Sora took out a Pokéball and threw it. Tyrogue flowed inside and the Pokéball wobbles around and around. Stars swirls around the Pokéball to confirm the catch. Sora's Pokémon Box goes off asking him if he wants to keep Tyrogue with him. He chose to keep Tyrogue in exchange for Hitmonchan. "Good job, Paras."
"Paras, Paras!" Paras said. Paras started to evolve, much to Sora's surprise. Paras has become an orange, insectoid Pokémon that has been completely overtaken by the parasitic mushroom on its back. It has a small head with pure white eyes and a segmented body that is mostly hidden by the mushroom. It has three pairs of legs with the foremost pair forming large pincers. The fungus growing on its back has a large red cap with yellow spots throughout. "Whoa! You evolved!" Sora took out his Pokédex and scanned his newly evolved Pokémon.
Parasect, the Mushroom Pokémon
The evolved form of Paras
Type: Bug/Grass
Parasect is known to infest large trees en masse and drain nutrients from the lower trunk and roots. When an infested tree dies, they move onto another tree all at once.
"Take five, Parasect. You've earned it," Sora said, calling back Parasect.
A little while later, he and Pikachu met up back with Kairi and Angel back at camp to pack up. Just before they could keep going, Team Rocket greets them again.
"Not so fast!" Team Rocket said.
"Oh no," Sora and Kairi groaned.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Mime, Mime, Mime!" Mime Jr said.
"Now, you see how it's done, twerps?" Jessie asked.
"Look, we get it, but we don't have time for you, in fact, just one second of putting up with you morons is too much time, so how about we make this quick, huh?" Sora asked, taking out a Pokéball.
"Same here," Kairi said, also taking out a Pokéball.
"Will you ever stop calling us morons?" Jessie asked, getting irritated.
"Not until you get it through your thick skulls you're never going to get Pikachu!" Sora stated.
"That is never gonna happen, twerp!" James said. He took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Go! Weezing!" His Pokéball opened and Weezing emerged from inside. Knowing what Weezing was about to do, Sora summoned his Keyblade and held it up in the air.
"Wind!" Sora called out. Wind blew their way, and it blew Team Rocket away.
"Hey, no Keyblade!" James exclaimed.
"Here's this instead! Tyrogue! Go!" Sora called out. His new Tyrogue came out, kicking the air.
"You move in, too, Tyrogue!" Kairi called out. Her Tyrogue emerged from inside as well. "Tyrogue! Use Fake Out!" Kairi's Tyrogue came at Weezing and smacked him with Fake Out.
"Tyrogue! Use Mega Kick!" Sora ordered. Sora's Tyrogue gave Weezing a kick.
"Try this for size!" Jessie said, taking out a Pokéball and threw it. "Arbok! Go!" Her Pokéball opened and her Arbok emerged from inside.
"Cha-bok!" Arbok hissed.
"Tyrogue! High Jump Kick!" Sora ordered. Sora's Tyrogue jumped and lands a kick onto Arbok.
"Tyrogue! Use Bullet Punch!" Kairi's Tyrogue gave repeated punches onto Arbok and then sent him flying. "Bullet Punch again, but this time, aim it at Weezing!" Kairi's Tyrogue came at Weezing again, and gave him the same amount of punches at his opponent. With one last punch, Weezing joins Arbok back with Team Rocket.
"Let's wrap this up! Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Sora ordered.
"Angel! Use Swift!" Kairi ordered.
Pikachu and Angel fired their attacks all at once, resulting in an explosion.
"Well, we blew it again," James said.
"The boss is going to be pissed if he hears about this," Meowth said.
"At least nobody else we know hears about our defeats," Jessie said.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted as they went flying.
"Good work, you two!" Kairi said.
"That was awesome!" Sora added.
"Eevee!" Angel said.
"Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
The two Tyrogue high-five each other and then started to evolve. Sora's Tyrogue is now a Hitmonlee and Kairi's Tyrogue is a Hitmontop.
"You both evolved!" Sora and Kairi beamed. Kairi took out her Pokédex and scanned her newly evolved Pokémon.
Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokémon
An evolved form of Tyrogue
Type: Fighting
It fights while spinning like a top. The centrifugal force boosts its destructive power by a factor of 10.
"First I get a Hitmonchan, and now I get a Hitmonlee. This is cool," Sora said.
"Hitmonlee," the newly evolved Hitmonlee said.
"We've only been together for a short time, but I can already tell how strong you are," Kairi said.
"Hitmontop!" The newly evolved Hitmontop said, spinning around like a top.
A little while later, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel continued onward when they arrived into a nearby town. They made a spot at a Pokémon Center when they saw some familiar faces. It was Officer Jenny and the Squirtle Squad.
"Sora, Kairi? Is that you?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Squirtle?" The Squirtle Squad asked.
"Officer Jenny and the Squirtle Squad!" Sora said.
"Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
"It's been a while!" Kairi said.
"It sure has," Officer Jenny said. "You look like you're doing okay."
"Well, we've been busy traveling around. Anyway, what about you and these little guys?" Sora asked.
"I'm glad you asked, Sora. They've come a long way ever since you came along," Officer Jenny said.
"Squirtle, Squirtle, Squirtle!" The Squirtle Squad all said.
"That's great to hear, guys. And here's someone who wants to say hello," Sora said, taking out a Pokéball and opened it. Sora's Squirtle came out.
"Squirtle!" Sora's Squirtle said, coming out. He saw his old team and smiled. "Squirtle, Squirtle!" He did a tail-five with each member of the Squirtle Squad.
"They look happy to see him again," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Yeah. It's been quite a while," Sora said. A little while later, Sora, Kairi, Officer Jenny, and the Pokémon went to the messhall to talk. "Anyway, how are things with the Squirtle Squad?"
"It's been great. Ever since they became the town's firefighters, things couldn't have been better. But there were some people who didn't trust them at first; shopkeepers mostly, because they were worried that they would revert back to their old ways. But they eventually came around when they put out the fires that were in progress," Officer Jenny said.
"Sounds like they're doing okay," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"What about you two? What are you up to right now?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Right now, we're heading for Saffron City. I already won five Gym Badges," Sora said.
"Five Gym Badges, huh? Sounds like you're making really good progress. And have you two been catching your share of Pokémon as well?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Yes, we have," Kairi said. "We also ran into Team Rocket more than we care to count; in fact, once is too many."
"I see. They never give up, especially after they caused that forest fire, trying to get rid of the Squirtle Squad. But get this. I heard Team Rocket has suffered a bad sting in their criminal reputation," Officer Jenny said.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"Like you have to ask. I heard rumors of two kids, fitting your description perfectly, has foiled Team Rocket's operations in Celadon City and Lavender Town. I heard about it from some people talking, and I got a call from a cousin who actually works there," Officer Jenny said.
"You know about that, huh?" Sora asked.
"Yes, I do. Gotta hand it to you two, it was about time someone stood up to them," Officer Jenny said.
Outside of the Pokémon Center, Team Rocket spies on them.
"Look, it's the Squirtle Squad right inside," Meowth said.
"Ooh, I can never forget about how they tied us up like Christmas presents and left us to dangle," Jessie said.
"And how they ate our picnic!" James added.
"I would love nothing more than to have their shells and use them as footstools," Jessie said.
"Or we can just capture them and give them to the boss as a present," Meowth said. Jessie and James looked at the Scratch Cat Pokémon like he was crazy.
"You can't be serious, Meowth!" Jessie said.
"I am. I can just go and tell them that I-" Meowth was cut off by Jessie.
"Tell them what? In case you've forgotten, they're not going to trust you for the second time after the fact you tricked them the first time!" Jessie said.
"Especially the fact that the leader of the Squirtle Squad is now rolling with the twerps, or did you forget about that, too?" James asked.
"Details. I have a surefire way to get them to come right towards us," Meowth said. He chuckled.
Back with Sora, Kairi, Officer Jenny, Pikachu, Angel, and the Squirtle Squad, Officer Jenny thought she should show the couple some of their techniques.
"How about I demonstrate by showing one of our drills?" Officer Jenny offered.
"I'm game, Jenny," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Okay, everyone. Like we practiced," Officer Jenny said, blowing her whistle. The Squirtle Squad got into position and they fired Water Gun in the shrubs. Sora and Kairi could tell they have improved, and they were very accurate with their aim before. Sora gave an impressive whistle.
"Good aim," Sora said.
"You haven't seen anything yet. Do any one of you have a Fire-type Pokémon?" Officer Jenny asked.
"I think we can accommodate you, Jenny," Sora said, taking out his Pokémon Box and he exchanged Parasect for Charmeleon. Kairi did the same thing and she exchanged Politoed in exchange for Flareon. "Okay, Charmeleon! Go!"
"Come on out, Flareon!" Kairi called out.
Both Fire-type Pokémon emerged from inside their Pokéballs.
"A Charmeleon and a Flareon. Very impressive," Officer Jenny said. "How about you try aiming your Fire-type moves on that spot there?" She points to some logs.
"Uh, you sure?" Sora asked, not sure if he should.
"Yeah, won't we get into trouble?" Kairi asked.
"Don't worry. Those are just my training logs. So, you have nothing to worry about," Officer Jenny said.
"Okay then," Sora said. "Charmeleon! Use Flamethrower!"
"Flareon! Use Ember!" Kairi ordered.
Charmeleon and Flareon spew their Fire-type attacks on the logs, making them burn.
"Okay, boys! You know what to do!" Officer Jenny said. The Squirtle Squad got to work in putting out the fire quickly. "Excellent work, Squirtle Squad!"
"That was awesome," Sora said.
"You see? The Squirtle Squad have been on high alert, even putting out fires before they spread," Officer Jenny said.
"I don't doubt it," Kairi said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Vee," Angel said.
"Okay, guys! Show off what you can do!" Officer Jenny said, blowing her whistle. The Squirtle Squad have shown off their skills when it came to fire hazards. Sora's Squirtle was mighty proud of them, seeing how they've grown ever since he left with Sora and Kairi on their journey. He could help but smile.
"Good job, guys." - Squirtle subtitle.
After doing some rigorous training, the Squirtle Squad stood before their former leader and they all beamed.
"You four are wonderful firefighters." - Angel subtitle.
"Thanks, Angel. And we wanted to say sorry about before." - Squirtle Squad 1 subtitle.
"Don't worry about it. It was because you were tricked by Meowth." - Pikachu subtitle.
"I'll tell you this. If I ever get a hold of that Meowth, I'll take that stupid coin off of his head and shove it down his throat." - Squirtle Squad 2 subtitle.
"Me too!" - Squirtle Squad 3 subtitle.
"Yeah, me too!" - Squirtle Squad 4 subtitle.
"You guys might get that chance, but hopefully not so soon." - Sora's Squirtle subtitle.
Over to Team Rocket, they set up a Squirtle robot, ready for action.
"Ready capture net," Meowth said. He pushes the button and the Squirtle Squad gets caught in the net. Sora's Squirtle was shocked to see his old teammates caught. Sora, Kairi, Officer Jenny, Pikachu, and Angel were just as shocked.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked.
"I have a wild guess," Sora said.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Mime, Mime, Mime!"
"You again?!" Officer Jenny exclaimed.
"Man, you guys never take a hint, do you?" Sora asked.
"Never!" Jessie said.
"And with the Squirtle Squad captured by us, we now aim for Pikachu!" James said. He extends a net to capture Pikachu, but Sora summoned his Keyblade and he cuts the net.
"Nice try!" Sora said, pointing his Keyblade at Team Rocket.
"Ba-ooo-raw!" James exclaimed.
"Should have remembered he had that thing," Jessie said. "It's not fair if you use that Keyblade to fight us!"
"I don't need the Keyblade to deal with you!" Sora said, dismissing his Keyblade. He took out a Pokéball and held it. "Okay, Hitmonlee! Go for-"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle called out. Sora looked at the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. "Squirtle? You want to battle them?" Squirtle nodded.
"Okay, go for it!" Sora said. Squirtle rushed in to battle Team Rocket.
"Looks like we missed one," James said.
"Looks like we'll grab it!" Meowth said, turning on a capture net. Squirtle dodges it and charges towards Team Rocket's robot. "He's a slippery bastard! But not gonna give up now!" Meowth pushes some buttons. The robots sends out several more nets at the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. The Squirtle Squad cheered for their friend. Meowth growled in frustration. "Okay, playtime is over!" Meowth pushes a button and sends out a small missile and hits Squirtle (not killing him, mind you), and he fell on his back.
"Squirtle!" Sora called out.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out.
"Squirtle, no!" Kairi gasped.
"Eevee!" Angel also gasped.
"Squirtle, Squirtle, Squirtle, Squirtle!" The Squirtle Squad called out for their former leader. Squirtle could hear the sounds of his friends calling out to him. He stood on his feet and he started to evolve, much to everyone's surprise. Squirtle has now become a Wartortle. The Squirtle Squad were awestruck by the sudden evolution.
"Squirtle evolved. He's now a Wartortle," Sora said, taking out his Pokédex and scanned him.
Wartortle, the Turtle Pokémon
The evolved form of Squirtle
Type: Water
Its tail is large and covered with a rich, thick fur. The tail becomes increasingly deeper in color as Wartortle ages. The scratches on its shell are evidence of this Pokémon's toughness as a battler.
"Wartortle evolved for all of us," Sora said. "Wartortle! Go for it!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered.
"This turned out better than expected! The twerp's Squirtle has become a Wartortle! We can capture it and send it over to the boss!" Meowth said.
"Evolution sets are all the range these days!" James said.
"The boss will be tickled pink when we present him with a Blastoise to go with them!" Jessie said.
"First thing's first!" Meowth said. Meowth sends out another missile, but Wartortle jumped and sent the missile back at them. The missile struck where the Squirtle Squad is held, so they jumped right out.
"Yes!" Sora, Kairi, and Officer Jenny cheered.
"No!" Jessie, James, and Meowth exclaimed.
"Okay, let's try this one for size!" Meowth said, pushing a button, but nothing happens. "Crap! Nothing happened!"
"What could happen? Why isn't this thing firing?" Jessie asked.
"We must have run out of ammo!" Meowth said.
"We can't be! Push this one!" Jessie said, pushing a red button. Meowth yelped when she did that.
"You idiot! That's the self-destruct!" Meowth exclaimed.
"Self-destruct?" Jessie asked. The robot then starts to explode. They go flying in the air. "Why would we need a self-destruct button? Whoever came up with that idea should be tarred and feathered!"
"You'd never know when you'll need one in case of an emergency!" Meowth said.
"We blew a lot of money to build this thing," James said. "We're going to have a hard time explaining this to the boss and the other higher-ups about how we screwed up again," James said.
"We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted as a star twinkles in the distance.
"I never expected you to evolve, Wartortle. You surely came a along way since you were a Squirtle," Officer Jenny said.
"Wartortle," Wartortle said.
"I'm very proud of you," Officer Jenny said.
"So am I, Wartortle. We didn't make a good start when we first met, but when you helped me out when Team Rocket started that fire right after I helped you," Wartortle.
The Turtle Pokémon remembered that day.
(Flashback)
Squirtle lifted Sora up and carried him to the cave back to Kairi, Angel, and the other Squirtle.
We go even further to after Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel leaving the town.
Sora turned to see the Squirtle Squad leader. Sora was wondering why is he following them.
"Squirtle? What is it?" Sora asked.
"I think he wants to come with us," Kairi said. "Is that right, Squirtle?"
"Squirtle! Squirtle, Squirtle!" Squirtle said nodding.
"But why?" Sora asked.
"It must because you saved his life back at the cave and he wants to repay you for your bravery," Kairi said.
"Squirtle," Squirtle agreed.
Sora smiled.
"Well then," Sora said, taking out a Pokéball. "Welcome to the group!" Squirtle took off his sunglasses and ran towards Sora as he threw the Pokéball and Squirtle jumped in the air, pushing the button on the Pokéball the same way that Charmander did. When the star swirls around the Pokéball. Sora's Pokémon Box goes off asking him if he wants to keep Squirtle with him.
(Flashback ends)
"You and I went through a whole lot since then," Sora said.
"Tortle," Wartortle said. Wartortle turned to his sunglasses and walked up to his old teammates.
"Wartortle?" Sora asked.
"What is he doing?" Kairi asked.
"I think I know. Wartortle is passing the torch," Officer Jenny said. Sora and Kairi looked right at the policewoman.
"Passing the torch?" Kairi asked.
"Wartortle is stepping down as leader and picking a new leader of the Squirtle Squad," Officer Jenny said.
"A new leader, huh," Sora said. He watched his Wartortle picking the right candidate for leader. He hands the pair to his second-in-command. Wartortle looked at the rest of the Squirtle Squad.
"You four have done well without me. And I'm mighty proud of you all. We've been together since we were abandoned by our old Trainers, and then turned over a new leaf." - Wartortle subtitle.
"You sure you want to do this?" - Squirtle Squad 1 subtitle.
"I'm sure. The Squirtle Squad is a team build up of Squirtle, not Wartortle. Therefore, I have no right to call myself leader of the Squirtle Squad." - Wartortle subtitle.
"Don't say that, chief. You'll always be our leader, a Squirtle or not." - Squirtle Squad 4 subtitle.
"He's right. You're number one!" - Squirtle Squad 2 subtitle.
"And nothing is going to change that." - Squirtle Squad 3 subtitle.
"I appreciate your praise, but my mind is made up." - Wartortle subtitle.
The Squirtle Squad second-in-command placed the sunglasses over its eyes and nodded.
"I promise not to let you down." - Squirtle Squad 1 subtitle.
"You have, and you never will. You four are the heart of the Squirtle Squad. Just keep it beating." - Wartortle subtitle.
"We will." - Squirtle Squad subtitle.
And there it was. The Squirtle Squad had themselves a new leader. Wartortle knew there is a bright future is up ahead for his former teammates, as well for his current teammates.