Episode 130: Pumpkin Up the Jam!
A few days passed since the Bug Catching Contest and Sora's run-in with Demyx. As they kept going and they come across a river.
"There should be a bridge around here somewhere," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Togepi," Togepi chirped.
"All we gotta do is go and find one," Tracey said.
"That should he easy. We'll just follow the river and see if we find one," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
With that said, Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Pikachu, Angel, and Togepi followed the river and saw it was under construction.
"You gotta be kidding!" Sora said.
"What could have happened?" Kairi asked. They walked up to the construction crew. "Excuse us, but wasn't there a bridge here?"
"There was, but I'm afraid it got washed by the storm just over a month ago. This was just one of the bridges that we lost, so this one should take about two more months to build," the crewman said.
"Two months?" Sora asked.
"This can't be good," Tracey said.
"All's not lost yet. There's someone on that boat," Kairi said. The boys spotted an elderly man out on the boat.
"Maybe he can get us across," Sora said. "Ahoy there!" He gets the attention of the old man. "Think you can get us across the river?"
"Sure thing, kids! I'll get you across in a jiffy," the old man said. He got the trio and the Pokémon in and he rowed them across. "Just where are you youngsters heading in such a rush?"
"We're heading for Ecruteak City. I'm having a Gym battle there," Sora said.
"Ah, you're taking part of the Johto Pokémon League, are ya? That's one that hasn't changed since I was a lad. It takes me back when I was just your age," the old man said. He reached the side shore. "And here we are, kids."
"Thank you, sir," Kairi said.
"No thanks necessary, little lady. I was happy to do it," the old man said, smiling. "I wish ya luck on your way."
Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Pikachu, Angel, and Togepi continued to walk through the forest in order to reach Ecruteak City when something rolled into their path. It is a Pokémon that resembles a small turtle. Its limbs and head come out of the shell. It is encased in a very hard red shell that has many holes in it. The holes in its shell are rimmed with white.
"Is that a Pokémon?" Sora asked.
"Wow, it's a Shuckle," Tracey said.
"Shuckle, huh?" Kairi asked, taking out her Pokédex and scanned it.
Shuckle, the Mold Pokémon
Type: Bug/Rock
Shuckle quietly hides itself under rocks, keeping its body concealed inside its hard shell while eating berries it has stored away. The berries mix with its body fluids to become a juice.
"She's gotta be too far away to be under any rock," Kairi said, putting her Pokédex away.
"You're right. Shuckle do normally live under rocks, so this one must be searching for a new one," Tracey said.
"Hey, Kairi, you want to have a shot at this one?" Sora asked.
"You're so considerate, Sora. Shuckle looks pretty handy," Kairi said, taking out her Pokéball and threw it. "Let's go, Furret!" Her Pokéball opened and Furret came right out. "Furret! Use Aqua Tail!" Furret's tail emits water and swings it at the Mold Pokémon, dealing some damage. Shuckle responds by sending a Rock Throw at Furret's way. "Use Quick Attack to dodge!" Furret dodges Shuckle's attack just by running. "Use Aqua Tail!" Furret swings her tail at Shuckle, dealing some more damage with Aqua Tail. Shuckle sends out a blast of red energy from her mouth.
"Shuckle's using Struggle Bug!" Sora said.
"Furret! Use Slam!" Kairi ordered. Furret grabbed Shuckle and slammed her down on the ground. Kairi took out a Pokéball and threw it. Shuckle flows inside and the Pokéball wobbles around and. Stars swirls around the Pokéball to confirm the catch. Kairi's Pokémon Box goes off asking her if she wants to keep Shuckle with her. She chose to keep Shuckle in exchange for Unown. "Good work, Furret."
"Furret, Fur," Furret said.
"Great catch, Kairi," Sora said.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
"Thank you, Sora," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Toge, Toge," Togepi chirped.
After catching a new Shuckle, Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Pikachu, Angel, and Togepi kept on walking down the path when a net suddenly fell on them.
"Hey!" Everyone all exclaimed.
"What's going on here?!" Tracey exclaimed.
"Team Rocket, I know this has your stink all over it!" Sora said.
"I don't even know who you're talking about, but it ain't gonna help you!" A new voice said. The voice belonged to a boy wearing overalls. He has a Machop with him. "I got you pumpkin thieves at last!"
"Pumpkin thieves? What are you talking about?" Sora asked.
"It's useless to play dumb! You've been stealing my pumpkins! The pumpkins that my family's been working hard to grow!" The boy said.
"Machop!" Machop said.
"We don't know anything about any pumpkins!" Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Stop lying! Just admit it!" The boy said.
"We're not admitting to anything we didn't do!" Sora said.
"Just tell the truth! You did it!" The boy argued.
"No, we didn't!" Sora argued.
"Yes, you did!" The boy argued back.
"No, we didn't!" Sora yelled.
"Yes, you did!" The boy yelled back.
"Did not!" Sora yelled.
"Did too!" The boy yelled.
"Did not!" Sora yelled.
"Did too!" The boy yelled.
"That's enough, Willy!" A girl's voice yelled. The voice belongs to a young woman with blonde hair and wearing the same overalls as the boy. "If they said they didn't do it, then they didn't do it! You want me to tell pa that you've been harassing travelers going down our path again?"
"But sis, I was only protecting the pumpkin patch," Willy said.
"Ma and pa would appreciate it, but that ain't no excuse for what you did!" Willy's sister said. She took the net off of them. "Sorry about my little brother."
"It's okay," Sora said. "No one was hurt."
"Chu," Pikachu said.
"That's a relief, because he would have been in a lot of trouble if you were. My name's Brandy, and this is my little brother Willy," Brandy introduced.
"My name's Sora," Sora introduced.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"My name's Kairi and this is my Eevee, Angel and this is Togepi," Kairi introduced.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Toge, Toge," Togepi chirped.
"And I'm Tracey," Tracey finished.
"Nice to meet you. Would you like to have something to eat and drink?" Brandy asked.
"We'd appreciate it a lot," Kairi said.
Brandy and Willy led their guests to their farm house where they were introduced to their parents. Willy was chewed out by their father for what he did. The woman offered them some freshly made pumpkin cake.
"Please, have as much as you like, you three," the woman said.
"Thank you, ma'am. This looks great," Sora said.
"I'm glad to see you youngins enjoy my pumpkin cake just like my two younsters," the woman said.
"If you don't mind me asking, but Willy mentioned that your pumpkins were being stolen. So, do you know why that is?" Tracey asked.
"I knew the truth was going to come out sooner or later. The thing is, we've been having this problem for the last week. One minute we had pumpkins growing and then the next, they were just gone," the woman said.
"Ma and pa tried to catch the thief red-handed, but no luck. Willy thought he should help, but it only landed him in trouble when he started to accuse random people just coming by," Brandy said.
"Well, that explains the welcoming community we got," Sora said.
"I'm just glad you're not mad about this, because most people wouldn't be so forgiving about Willy's misdeeds," Brandy said.
"He was only protecting your pumpkins, so I can't blame him for having good intentions," Sora said.
"Neither can I. His reasons weren't unreasonable," Kairi said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"So, I figure we could work together to catch the thief in the act," Sora said.
"We couldn't ask you to do that," the woman said.
"It's not any trouble. We thought you would have better luck if you had more hands," Tracey said.
"He's right. With all of us working together, the thieves won't know what hits them," Sora said.
"We forgave Willy for trapping us in that net, and you treated us to that pumpkin cake, so it's the least we can do for you," Kairi said.
"Then you're welcome to help out. Let's head right over to the pumpkin patch and catch the pumpkin thieves before they could take off," Brandy said.
With that said, Sora, Kairi, Tracey, the Pokémon, and the siblings went to the pumpkin patch to catch the thieves in the act. Brandy led them to the last known spot.
"Is this the spot right here?" Tracey asked.
"Yup. That thief is a sneaky one," Brandy said.
"If only we had a clue," Willy said. They heard a loud thud not too far from them.
"That's a good a clue as any, because it sounded really close," Sora said.
"Let's go see what it was," Tracey said.
The group followed the source of the sound and they gasped when they saw the thief. It was a Snorlax. The Snorlax was eating every pumpkin around it.
"The thief is a Snorlax!" Sora said.
"No wonder we couldn't find any of the pumpkins. That greedy Snorlax was scarfing them down," Brandy said.
"Stop eating our pumpkins, Snorlax! Get out of here!" Willy said, running up to the Sleeping Pokémon. Snorlax just brushes him aside and kept on eating.
"The whole pumpkin patch is going to run out of pumpkins unless we stop him from eating more pumpkins," Kairi said.
"But how are we going to be able to stop him before the patch runs out of pumpkins and move on the other veggies?" Sora asked.
"Maybe one of us can weaken him in a battle and then capture him in a Pokéball," Tracey said.
"And since Snorlax is such a heavyweight, we can use that Heavy Ball of yours. The Heavy Ball can hold heavyweight Pokémon like Snorlax," Sora pointed out.
"You're right, Sora. I knew this will come in handy one of these days. So, why not?" Tracey asked.
"So, what's the plan?" Sora asked.
"I figure maybe, you two can have Snorlax battle the both of you and I send out Venonat and have him use Sleep Powder to put Snorlax to sleep. And once Snorlax is asleep, I use my Heavy Ball and Snorlax is good as caught," Tracey said.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Brandy said.
"As long we get rid of that Snorlax, I really don't care," Willy said.
"Okay, you two, get cracking," Tracey said.
"Okay," Sora said, taking out a Fast Ball and threw it. "Go! Aipom!" Aipom came on out to battle. Kairi took out her Pokéball and threw it.
"Go! Flaaffy!" Kairi called out. Flaaffy came out alongside Aipom. "Flaaffy! Use Signal Beam!"
"Aipom! Use Swift!" Sora ordered.
Aipom and Flaaffy fired their attacks at Snorlax, but the Sleeping Pokémon just dodged just by jumping and slams down on them hard. Aipom and Flaaffy were both taken down with just one hit.
"He just used Body Slam!" Kairi said. Sora and Kairi called their fallen Pokémon back inside.
"Okay, this is going to be much harder than I thought it was going to be. But we never met a Pokémon we couldn't beat before, right?" Sora asked.
"You're right. We won't give up that easily," Kairi said, taking out another Pokéball. "Let's go! Shuckle!" Sora took out a Fast Ball and threw it.
"Go for it, Pineco!" Sora called out. Pineco and Shuckle both came out to battle against Snorlax. "Okay, Pineco! Use Bug Bite!"
"Shuckle! Use Rock Throw!" Kairi ordered.
Pineco leaps at Snorlax and gave him a nibble on his foot as Shuckle hurls rocks at Snorlax, but the rocks just bounced off. Snorlax kicked Pineco off and hits Sora as he caught him. Pineco starts glowing, but Sora knew what it meant.
"Pineco, no! Don't explode! Don't ex-" Sora was cut off when Pineco explodes, covering both him and the Bagworm Pokémon in soot, "plode."
"Pineco," Pineco said. Sora took out Pineco's Fast Ball out and calls him back.
"I heard of an explosive personality, but this is too much," Sora said, shaking it off. He took out his other Pokéballs. "Okay, try this on for size!" He threw them as Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Phanpy, Noctowl, Spinarak, Gligar, Natu, and Wobbuffet came on out. "Chikorita! Razor Leaf! Cyndaquil! Flamethrower! Totodile! Water Gun!" The Starter Pokémon of Johto fired their attacks at the Sleeping Pokémon, but Snoax fought back with a Body Slam. "I was ready for that! Counter!" Wobbuffet uses Counter to block Snorlax's attack and sends him back. Kairi took all of her Pokéballs out and threw them.
"Okay, Quilava, Skiploom, Misdreavus, Sunkern, Ledyba, Furret, Smeargle, Girafarig! Go!" Kairi called out. Her Pokémon joined in the fray against Snorlax.
"Spinarak! Use Poison Sting! Natu! Use Peck! Gligar! Use Night Slash! Phanpy! Use Rollout!" Sora ordered.
"Skiploom! Use Bullet Seed! Misdreavus! Psybeam! Sunkern! Razor Leaf! Furret! Aqua Tail! Smeargle! Headbutt! Girafarig! Psybeam!" Kairi ordered.
All of the couple's Pokémon launched their attacks at Snorlax, but he fights back by firing Hyper Beam at their Pokémon.
"Wobbuffet! Use Mirror Coat!" Sora ordered.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet said as he attempts to use Mirror Coat to reflect, but Hyper Beam came too quick for him to block, so all of Sora and Kairi's Pokémon have been knocked out; all except for Misdreavus since she's a Ghost-type Pokémon.
"That Snorlax is way stronger than I thought," Sora said.
"Snorlax is fighting for a meal," Kairi said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"You two want to have a shot at him?" Kairi asked.
"Pi," Pikachu nodded.
"Vee," Angel nodded with Pikachu.
"Okay, the both of you, go!" Sora and Kairi both said. Snorlax stomped on the ground and his entire body gave off an orange glow. Snorlax then charges at them.
"Snorlax is using High Horsepower! Move!" Sora called out. Pikachu and Angel dodged Snorlax's charge attack. Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Brandy, and Willy do the same thing and ran through the pumpkin patch.
"How could something so big move so fast?" Willy asked.
"We go after him!" Sora said.
With that said, everyone charged after Snorlax.
At another part of the pumpkin patch, Team Rocket helps themselves to the pumpkins.
"Yay! So many pumpkins than we know what to do with," Jessie said.
"We won't worry about food since we'll be having some pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread," Meowth said.
"And we'll have plenty to make jack-o-lanterns when Halloween comes around," James said.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet said, popping out once again. Jessie growled.
"You coming out is more of a trick than a treat; and not a good one I may add," Jessie said, calling Wobbuffet back inside. She noticed something coming right towards them. "Don't look now, but something big and fast is moving right at us." James and Meowth sees the figure running towards them.
"What is it?" James asked.
"I don't know, but it looks like it's in a hurry," Meowth said. Snorlax plows right at Team Rocket, making them go flying in the air and screaming.
"So much for our pumpkin spice dream," James said.
"Should have know it was too good to be true," Meowth said.
"Easy come, easy go," Jessie said.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted as they go flying in the air. A star twinkles in the distance.
Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Pikachu, Angel, Togepi, Brandy, and Willy caught up with Snorlax when he started eating again.
"There's Snorlax," Sora said. "Wanna finish where we last left off?"
"Sure do! Angel! Use Swift!" Kairi ordered. Angel fired Swift at Snorlax, landing a hit.
"Pikachu! Use Electro Ball!" Sora ordered. Pikachu formed a ball of electricity and sends it at Snorlax, landing a hit. Snorlax was getting annoyed by the fact his meal is being interrupted again. Snorlax growled. "Boy, does he look mad."
"I should be mad because our farm isn't a restaurant!" Willy said.
"He's right, because Snorlax isn't going to be stuffing its face with our pumpkins!" Brandy said.
"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Sora ordered. Pikachu fired Thunderbolt, but Snorlax dodged and came at the Mouse Pokémon with another High Horsepower. "Another High Horsepower! Dodge it!" Pikachu uses Quick Attack to dodge Snorlax's attack just in time.
"Angel! Use Iron Tail!" Kairi ordered.
"You use Iron Tail, too, Pikachu!" Sora ordered.
The Pokémon couple came at Snorlax and smacked their tails at the large Pokémon, but Snorlax wasn't down yet. Snorlax fired a Hyper Beam at them, but Kairi thought fast.
"Misdreavus! Use Psychic to reflect that Hyper Beam!" Kairi ordered. Misdreavus uses Psychic to send Hyper Beam back at Snorlax, landing a hit. Snorlax has taken a lot of damage, but he was still standing. Tracey knew Snorlax couldn't attack again right away after using Hyper Beam, so he had to take the advantage he had to move in.
"That was great, guys. Now it's my turn," Tracey said. The couple nodded to the Pokémon Watcher, remembering Tracey's strategy plan.
"Angel, that's enough," Kairi said.
"Stand down, Pikachu!" Sora said.
The Pokémon couple complied as Tracey took out his Pokéball and threw it.
"Venonat! I choose you!" Tracey called out. Venonat came on out to battle Snorlax. "Use Sleep Powder!" Venonat shakes his whole body, letting a blue, sparkling powder. Snorlax is affected by the Sleep Powder and yawned. Snorlax then started to fall right to sleep. Tracey quickly took out his Heavy Ball and threw it. Snorlax flows inside the Heavy Ball and it wobbles around and around. He wanted to see if the Heavy Ball would be successful despite Snorlax's size. Stars swirls around the Heavy Ball to confirm the catch. "It worked! I caught Snorlax!"
"It was your brilliant plan, Tracey. All we did was stick with it," Sora said.
"In the end, it was you who saved the day," Kairi said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Toge, Toge," Togepi chirped.
"Now that Snorlax is gone, that means he won't be pigging out on our pumpkins anymore," Willy said.
"No, but Snorlax did help in some ways," Brandy and Willy's father said, walking up. The siblings turned to their father.
"What do ya mean, pa?" Brandy asked.
"Have a look," Brandy and Willy's father said, pointing to the sprouts growing where Snorlax was eating.
"Well, I'll be a blue-nosed Diglett. Those are sprouts," Brandy said.
"Yup. That means, we'll be having some bigger and fatter pumpkins pretty soon," Brandy and Willy's father said.
"Who would have thought a problem could turn into something helpful?" Kairi asked.
"I know it," Sora said.
"Snorlax was just playing his role with nature," Tracey said.
The sun sets as Sora, Kairi, Tracey, Pikachu, Angel, and Togepi were taking their leave of the farm.
"We can't thank ya kids enough. You saved our entire pumpkin patch, and our entire farm," Brandy and Willy's mother said.
"We didn't do anything special. We just helped out just like anybody else would have," Sora said.
"Now that Snorlax is good as gone, I have no need for those traps anymore," Willy said.
"And I'm going to make sure that you take down any one of the traps you set up," Brandy said. Everyone laughed.
"Before you go, I thought you would like some pumpkin bread for later," Brandy and Willy's mother said, offering them some pumpkin bread, wrapped in a handkerchief in a little basket.
"Thank you," Sora said, taking it. "These look good."
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Thanks for the pumpkin bread," Sora said.
"And thanks for everything," Brandy said.
They said their goodbyes to the family and continued their journey through Ecruteak City. Now that Tracey has a new Pokémon under his belt, things might turn out even more interesting. And hope Snorlax doesn't eat them out of house and home.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket are hanging by a branch that night.
"Hanging on by a thread," James said.
"We'll be okay as long as none of us looks down," Meowth said.
"I'm more worried about my arms breaking off before I even think about looking down," Jessie said.
"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet said, popping out once again, making the branch snap due to the extra weight. They fell down, screaming. They land in the shrubs beneath them.
"That's definitely a 3 for style for that landing," Jessie said.
"That's for sure," James said.
"At least things can't any worse than this," Meowth said.
Just then, a pack of Ursaring came from the shrubs and growled angrily at them. Team Rocket gave big gulps, knowing what was coming.
"Meowth, I think I said this before, I don't remember, but you should stop saying that," James said.
"I think you're right, Jimmy-boy, because every time somebody says it, it gets worse," Meowth said.
"I don't know about the two of you, but I think we should run for it as fast we can run," Jessie said.
"Running sounds like a solid plan, Jessie," James said.
"It helps keep the blood pumping," Meowth said.
"Wobbu, Wobbu," Wobbuffet said. The Ursaring roared and they started to run for their lives. The bear Pokémon all chased after Team Rocket as they screamed.
After they gave the Ursaring the slip, they came across a pack of Houndour and they growled at Team Rocket, so they started to run for their lives when the Houndour chases after them. They ran into a cave, only to be greeted by Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat inside. Team Rocket ran even faster than normal to avoid the assault from the wild Pokémon.
"I do know someone is laughing at us!" Meowth said.
We'll leave them right here for now.