(Opening Song: Pokémon World)
So you wanna be the Master of
Pokémon!
Do you have the skills to be
Number one!?
I wanna take the ultimate step
Find the courage to be bold (Pokémon)
To risk it all and not forget
The lessons that I hold
I wanna go where no one's been
Far beyond the crowd (Pokémon) Yeah!
Learn the way to take command
Use the power that's in my hand
Oh hey!
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
I wanna be the greatest Master of them all!
(Greatest Master)
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
Put myself to the test
To be better than all the rest
Ungh!
So you wanna be the Master of
Pokémon!
Do you have the skills to be
Number one!?
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
I wanna be the greatest Master of them all!
Got the power right in your hands
Po-ké-mon!
Today, our heroes enjoy the calming sound of the water as they travel their way to Navel Island.
"There it is! Navel Island!" Tracy was the first one to spot it, though it really wasn't that hard to see it anyway. While it was obscured by some clouds, it closely resembled a volcano.
"Look how tall that mountain is." Ash said, impressed by the mere sight of it.
"Pika (I don't think I've ever seen a mountain that big before)." Pikachu comments
"Togi Togi (So big)!" Togepi sounded excited.
"I wonder what kind of badge they have at the gym there?" Misty curiously wondered.
Tracey answered, "I think it's called a Sea Ruby badge because it's made out of a seashell with a ruby in it."
"Sounds cool. Makes me want one." Ritchie said.
"Pikachu (Me, too)." Sparky agreed.
"I'm excited to see what big brother will do for this gym." Molly was eager and couldn't wait to get there.
"Ursa Ursa (I think it'll be something fun)!" Teddiursa guessed.
"We'll find out when we get there." Tomo said to them.
"We're almost there." Serena said.
And close to the Island they were. The more Lapras swam in the direction, the more eager and excited they were becoming. Ash wasn't sure what kind of gym battle this will be, but he's excited for it just the same.
Navel Island
They finally arrived on the Island and were surprised by how quiet it was. There was no sign of life, not even a stray pokemon was out and about like there normally would be. All this silence was starting to worry and scare them a little.
"Did something happen? I mean, it's way too quiet for my liking." Serena said, looking around and feeling uneasy.
"It almost looks deserted." Tracey said.
Ash didn't feel anything was strange or out of the ordinary, but for it to be this quiet is a little…
"Huh? Hey, I hear something!" Ritchie looked out at the water and spotted someone riding on a sailboat while playing some music. The guy was pretty good looking, with his red hair, orange shirt and blue shorts.
The man hopped off the boat and smiled at them, "Hi, I bet you guys are looking for a gym battle, right?" He asked them.
"Yes, I'm here for a gym battle." Ash replied.
"Well, you came to the right place! It's nice to meet you. My name is Danny." Danny said, introducing himself to them.
"Nice to meet you, Danny. My name is Ash, and this is Pikachu." Ash introduced himself first.
"Pika (Hello)!" Pikachu waved his paw at Danny.
"I'm Molly, and this is Teddiursa!" Molly went next.
"Ursa (Hi)!" Teddiursa said.
"I'm Ritchie, and this is my best bud, Sparky." Ritchie said.
"Pikachu (Hey)!" Sparky said.
"Hi, I'm Tomo." Tomo said.
"My name is Tracey." Tracey greeted.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Serena." Serena politely introduced herself.
"Oh, my name is Misty." Misty went last.
Danny smiled at her, "Misty, huh? That beautiful name suits you." He complimented.
"You mean her?!" Ritchie and Tracey both exclaimed, wondering if he was joking or not.
Ash rolled his eyes, "Knock it off, you two." It's not like Danny said something weird, he was being polite.
Danny went to Misty and held his hand out to her, "Nice to meet you, Misty."
"Oh, nice to meet you, too!" Misty shook his hand, absentmindedly.
"I've seen lots of beautiful things in these Islands, but as beautiful as you." Danny was quite the smooth talker as he gave Misty another compliment.
Misty's blush all the more proved she more than appreciated it, "Beautiful…as…me…?" She dazed off.
Ritchie blinked a couple of times, "Is this guy serious?" Complimenting her name was one thing, but calling her "beautiful?" Is this guy another Brock or just genuinely a nice guy?
"I think so." Tracey couldn't believe his eyes, either. He'd never dream of another male showering Misty with compliments.
Serena was happy for Misty, even though it came out of nowhere, "At least he's a nice guy." And that was something.
"Misty's blushing, that means she likes him, doesn't it?" Molly asked Tomo.
"Yeah." Tomo replied.
Danny decides to take them to the gym, he'd changed clothes and was now wearing a backpack. From the looks of it, he had all he needed.
"It looks like you have everything you need in that backpack." Misty said.
"Well, you can't be fully prepared for everything life has in store for you, but I try to plan where I'm going and have everything I need before I do something." He answered, humbly.
"That's a smart way to plan ahead in case something goes wrong." Ash had that drilled into his head by his Master when he first started training him.
"Too bad certain other pokemon trainers aren't smart enough to think ahead." Misty took a jab at Ritchie for that.
Ritchie's eyebrow twitched in irritation, "You shouldn't talk about yourself like that in front of your new crush, Misty." He clapped back.
"What was that?!" Misty snapped at him.
"You heard me!" Ritchie yelled at her.
Danny laughed during the back and forth between the two of them, "It sounds to me like the two of you are pretty close to one another."
Misty didn't understand what he meant, "Huh? What do you mean?" She questioned.
"What's that saying? You always hurt the one you love?" He answered with a chuckle before walking away.
"Oh, you've got it all wrong!" Misty followed after him with a small blush, "I'd never get involved with a little kid like him! I only like the mature, intellectual type."
"Who did she say was the kid again?" Ritchie looked unimpressed with Misty's attempt to get Danny to see her as a mature person.
Serena chuckled nervously, "I'm sure Misty doesn't mean anything by what she said. She still values you as a friend."
"If you say so." Ritchie didn't look convinced.
Navel Gym
Ash opened the door to the gym where he spotted a cable car and a trail leading up the mountain.
"I guess we have to take the cable car to get to the gym." Ash had a feeling there was more to it than that.
Pikachu pulled on his pants leg, "Pikapi, Pikachu (Ash, look)!" He pointed at a sign.
"Maybe that sign has instructions on what to do." Misty said.
Tracey goes up to it and reads what's on the sign, "It says, "Welcome pokemon trainers. All Navel Gym challengers must climb to the top."
"Climb to the top?!" Misty, Ritchie, and Serena exclaim in shock before looking up at the long trail.
"Wait, there's more," Tracey continued, "Trainer's must reach the top on their own. Pokémon may not provide help, any trainer using a pokemon will be disqualified." He finished reading.
Huh, now isn't that interesting.
'This reminds me too much of how Master started training me.' Ash though, getting that weird sense of deja vu.
"Does that mean we have to climb up, too?" Misty didn't know if she could handle walking all the way up there.
Tracey shook his head, "It says those accompanying challengers should use the cable car." He answered.
Ash looked up at the long trail, "That certainly is a long trail. Better do some stretches first." Took off his hat before giving it to a dumbfounded Ritchie, then took off his jacket and handed it over to a worried Serena.
To everyone's surprise, Ash didn't seem nervous or worried about having to climb all the way up there by himself. If anything, he looked…excited.
"Is it just me, or does Ash look excited?" Ritchie hoped he was seeing things.
"No, he definitely looks excited." Misty wondered why though, but something told her she doesn't need to know.
Ash got done with his stretches, "Pikachu, go stay with Serena, okay?" He said to the mouse pokemon.
"Pika (Sure)!" Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and onto Serena's.
"Ash, are you sure you want to do this?" Serena doesn't want him getting hurt.
He smiled at her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. This actually brings back some memories."
Ritchie suddenly had a thought, "Wait…has he climbed a mountain before…?" God, he hoped not.
"You don't really think he did, do you…?" Misty asked him.
"I don't know!" Ritchie answered.
Ash was already getting ready to start climbing, "I'll see you guys at the top." He said without a care in the world.
Ritchie still had doubts, "There's no way he can climb that mountain."
"How is he climbing up this mountain?!" Ritchie exclaimed in sheer disbelief.
They weren't even half way up and Ash was almost already at the top, having surpassed Danny! That guy looks like he's built for climbing and he was left in Ash's dust! Both of them were smiling as they were climbing up the mountain at a steady pace, but there's no way Ash was going at a steady pace!
"I…can't believe it! I had no idea Ash was good at climbing!" Misty rubbed her eyes a few times to see if she was really seeing this.
"Talk about a surprise! Just when I think I've got Ash all figured out, he goes and does this!" Tracey was sketching like mad.
"Guess I was worried for nothing." Serena smiled a little.
"Fennekin Fenne (He's amazing…)" Fennekin said.
"Pikachu, Pikapi (Be careful, Ash)!" Pikachu said.
"Go big brother!" Molly cheered for him.
"Teddiursa (Make sure not to fall)!" Teddiursa warned.
"Look at him go! He's so fast!" Tomo was amazed that Ash was able to climb the mountain with ease.
'He looks like he's enjoying himself.' Ritchie noted. It didn't really show on Ash's face, but if you look at his eyes, then you could easily tell. What kind of person enjoys climbing up a freaking mountain? Ash, apparently.
Inhaling deeply, Ash stood at the very top. The mountain air felt amazing, despite it being so cold. This really does remind him of the days when his teacher started training him.
"You need to train both your mind and body. When you eventually start your journey, being prepared for future trials will help you."
'You were right, master.' Ash thought with a smile. He wonders where the man is now? Probably wandering somewhere and doing his own thing, no doubt.
"Pikapi, pika (Ash, aren't you cold)?" Pikachu asked his friend, already on his shoulder.
"I'm okay, but what about you?" He asked the electric type.
"Pikachu (I'm okay)!" Pikachu assured him.
Serena approached him, "Take this just in case, Ash. We don't want you catching a cold." She hands him a spare blanket.
"Oh, thanks." He takes it, gratefully.
She blushed a little, "It's nothing, really!"
"Your face is red." Ritchie pointed out.
That made her blush spread to her whole face, "It is not!" She yelled at him.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that.' Ritchie said, inwardly.
"By the way, Danny, would you happen to know who the gym leader is?" Tracey asked.
"We thought they'd meet us up here, but we didn't see anyone." Misty added.
Ash saw the smile on Danny's face and had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. Oh, this familiar feeling reminds him of when they travelled to Cinnabar Island.
"Danny, are you by chance the gym leader?" Ash asked, though he already knew the answer.
When the tall man smiled, it only confirmed his suspicions, "You're right, Ash. I am the gym leader." He admitted.
"WHAT?!" Everyone else exclaimed.
Ritchie thought about something for a second, "Wait, this feels familiar." Didn't they go through this with Blaine at Cinnabar Island.
"This is Cinnabar Island all over again, only this time the gym leader is dreamy~" Misty got that far off look in her eyes.
"Ugh, here we go." Ritchie rolled his eyes as Misty was off in dream land.
Who's That Pokémon?
It's…Exeggcute!
"Exeggcute!"
"These are the rules Ash, so listen carefully. Matches here are decided in three rounds, and if you can win two out of three," Danny showed him a badge, "You get the Sea Ruby badge, understand?"
Ash nodded, "Simple and straight to the point."
"Now, here's the first round. We're going to see who can freeze hot water the fastest." Danny announced the first round.
Ash looks at the geyser and has a feeling this will be a most interesting round.
"Look at those geysers." Misty stared in awe.
"Yeah, this means the two of them will have to use ice attacks." Tracey said, already feeling excited.
Danny tosses a pokeball, "I choose you, Nidoqueen!"
Nidoqueen emerged from the pokeball, "Nido (Here we go)!"
Serena scanned the Pokémon:
[Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokémon. Nidoqueen has thick skin covering its entire body, protecting it from whatever techniques are used against it]
"Nidoqueen looks really strong. I hope Ash will be okay." Serena worried.
"Don't worry, Ash knows exactly what he's doing." Ritchie said, reassuring Serena with his words.
Ash thought about his choice carefully and knew just the Pokémon to use, "Blastoise, I choose you!"
Blastoise appeared, "Blastoise (Bring it on)!" He challenged.
"Blastoise, good choice!" Tracey said.
"Ice beam!" Ash and Danny both commanded.
Both Pokémon used their ice beam attack to freeze the geyser. Danny had the lead at first, but then Blastoise surprised him by taking the lead and ultimately winning the first round for Ash.
"Well, it looks like you won the first round, Ash." Danny was very impressed with Ash's Blastoise. It's obvious the water type has had some good training under Ash.
"Looks that way," Ash patted Blastoise's side, "Good work."
"Blastoise (Anytime)!" Blastoise gave Ash a thumbs up.
Serena was in awe, "Wow, Blastoise won by a landslide."
"Yeah, it overtook Nidoqueen by suddenly taking the lead." Tracey sketched Blastoise.
Misty looked torn, "I'm having trouble deciding who I should root for."
Ritchie groaned, while Molly and Tomo sweatdropped.
The two ice pillars created by Nidoqueen and Blastoise were placed in the ground.
"The second round we'll be competing by sculpting that ice. The first one to carve out this ice sled; using only three Pokémon wins." Danny explained the rules for the second round.
Ash already had his team selected.
"So, Ash, do you know which three Pokémon you're gonna use?" Danny asked.
"Yes, I already have my team picked out." Ash answered.
"Pikachu."
Pikachu stood at attention, "Pikachu (You can count on me)!"
"Blastoise."
"Blastoise (I'm still fired up)!" Blastoise was ready to go.
"And, Charizard."
"Roar (This will be easy)." Charizard declared.
"It feels like we've since we've last seen Charizard." Misty realized.
"Yeah, it really has been awhile." Tracey agreed.
"Good luck out there, Charizard!" Molly cheered.
"Ursa (Don't lose)!" Teddiursa also got into it.
Danny sent out his three choices, "I'm sending Machoke, Scyther, and Nidoqueen."
Serena scanned Machoke first.
[Machoke, the Superpower Pokémon. With enough strength to lift a giant truck with one hand, Machoke are often used for extremely heavy work.]
She then scanned Scyther.
[Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon. Its claws are sharp as swords, and it is a powerful flyer. This Pokémon is rarely seen by humans and almost never captured.]
"Danny's roster is full of powerhouses, but Ash has some on his team, too." Serena wonders if this one will end up being a tie.
"Read…let's go!" Danny signaled for the second round to start.
Blastoise lifted up the ice sculpture, Pikachu started sculpting it from the bottom, and finally Charizard finished it all off by using Flamethrower. With this, Ash won another round.
Danny was even more impressed, "Wow, Ash! I've gotta say that your Pokémon are amazing!" Charizard's quite the powerhouse, but Blastoise is no pushover, either. Something tells him Pikachu's also strong.
"Thanks for the compliment, Danny." Ash said, sincerely.
"Charizard must be Ash's strongest fire type." Serena had already thought so during the Indigo League, but still couldn't help but be impressed.
"I agree." Tracey was already in the middle of sketching Charizard, making sure to get every detail.
With the first two rounds over and done with, Danny began to explain the final round.
"Finally, this round is the last one. We'll be using these to slide down towards our goal, which is the beach. First one to get there wins." Danny explained.
Danny puts Geodude, Electrode, and Scyther in his sled, while Ash puts Pikachu, Blastoise, and Charizard in his. Surprisingly, his pokemon made it big enough for all of them to fit in. Danny started counting down until the last light lit up on the counter.
"Go!"
The race was on!
The key to this race was to make sure you stayed straight and on course. So far, both Danny and Ash were doing just that. Danny had Scyther keep the sled steady, while Charizard was doing the same for Ash.
They were both neck and neck when sliding down the snow path, but the most tricky one was the rocky path. Ash saw a large rock in front of him and had to act fast, "Charizard, go right!"
Charizard nodded and maneuvered them on the right side of the rock so they wouldn't crash into it.
"Nice evasive maneuver, Charizard." Ash complimented.
The fire type smirked then did something that took Ash by surprise. Charizard decided to move the sled to the forest path as a sort of short cut.
"Charizard, is this some sort of short cut?" Ash asked just to be sure.
The smirk on the fire type's face said it all.
Blastoise noticed the sled was starting to lose some ice and decided to use Ice Beam to repair some of the lost ice. Before the trainer from Kanto knew it, they were back onto the path, zipped past Danny, and made it to the finish line first!
"He did it!" Serena cheered for Ash's victory in making it to the finish line.
"I knew he'd win!" Ritchie grinned.
"That was really cool!" Tomo said.
Danny didn't mind losing the last round to Ash at all and smiled when presenting him his badge, "Ash, that had to be one of the best challengers I've had in a very long time. You've earned this." He hands Ash the Sea Ruby Badge. The badge is shaped like a giant clam shell with a small gemstone on it.
Ash takes it, "Thanks, Danny. This was really fun." In a way, it's really refreshing how different getting badges out here in the Orange Islands is from the Kanto League. Danny's challenge was fun!
Blastoise eyed Charizard though, "Blastoise Blas Blastoise (Give us a warning the next time you pull that stunt)."
Charizard snorted, "Roar roar roar (You'll live)."
Pikachu just laughed at them.
Tracey noticed Misty looked a little sad, "What's the matter, Misty? Ash won but you look a little down."
"Because…Danny lost!" Misty whined, sadly.
Tracey face planted on the sand, while Ritchie groaned, "Get over it!" He exclaimed.
Ash and Danny laughed at them.
The sun began to set as Ash and the others headed off towards the next Island, Danny waved goodbye to them with a smile. He was silently wishing Ash luck with the rest of the Orange League Islands, but something told him Ash wouldn't be needing it.
Showing impressive strength and coordination, Ash has earned another badge. Our heroes are now off once again but they won't forget the experience on the Island.
After successfully winning another badge, Ash is just one step closer to participating in the Orange League. Today, we find them in search of another new Island adventure.
Pikachu's nose twitched as he smelled something sweet, "Pika Pikachu (That smells really good)!" Pikachu said, waving his arms up and down.
This got Ash's attention as he looked to see an Island up ahead of them, "Look at that Island over there." He said, gesturing for the others to look.
"We're coming up on what some people call the Seven Grapefruit Islands." Tracey said.
"The Seven Grapefruit Islands?" Misty questioned.
"Yeah, all the Islands are supposed to be covered with Grapefruit Groves," Tracey explained, then had a thought, "Come to think of it, the grapefruit should be getting ripe right about now."
"Should we go see them for ourselves?" Ash asked his companions.
Ritchie became excited, "Sure, why not?"
"Sounds too good to pass up." Serena was in, too.
"We're in!" Molly and Tomo said in unison.
"Let's go!" Misty declared.
Ash chuckled, "Then let's get going." Lapras and the other water pokemon headed in the direction of the Island at full speed. They wondered if they would find more than just grapefruit on the Island…
…if only they knew that something else other than the grapefruit was on that Island.
Seven Grapefruit Island
"Whoa, these grapefruit are huge!" Ritchie stared in awe at just how big they are.
"Who knew they could grow this big." Serena could hardly believe it herself. She doesn't think Kalos had fruit this big.
"So yummy, I really wanna eat one." Molly said.
"Ursa (Me, too)!" Teddiursa's mouth was already drooling.
"I wonder if they got this big on their own, or if someone else did it?" Tomo wondered, curiously.
Ash looked at the many trees, "Maybe someone tends to them in their free time."
Ritchie grabbed one from the tree and stared at the large grapefruit, "This is seriously humongous."
"Pika Pikachu (This could last us a whole week)." Sparky said.
"Stop!"
Their attention was brought elsewhere when they heard someone yell in their direction. They saw a girl with long green hair, tied in a low ponytail, running in their direction with a stick.
"Stop, thieves!" The girl cried out.
Misty was shocked, "Did she say, thieves?"
"That's terrible." Tracey looked mad.
"Hope she finds them." Ritchie said.
Ash knew the girl was talking about them and not someone else, "I don't think she was talking about someone else, in fact—she thinks we're the thieves."
He was proven right when she headed right for Ritchie, "I caught you red handed!"
"What?! Me?!" Ritchie didn't have time to defend himself, but luckily Ash managed to grab the stick just in time before it could hurt his cousin.
"So you thought you could get away with it! You thought you could just sneak in here and steal all our grapefruit?!" She accused them, "After we worked so hard to throw it!"
Misty tried to clear up the misunderstanding first, "We didn't come to steal anything!"
Tracey tried to calm her down, "We're not grapefruit thieves, honest!" He pleaded.
Ritchie came out from behind Ash, "No lie, ma'm. We actually just arrived on this Island today." He explained.
The woman seemed to understand she was wrong.
After clearing up the misunderstanding, all of them sat down to talk by the water. The girl introduced herself as Ruby.
"I'm sorry I acted that way, but lately somebody's been coming into our groves and stealing our grapefruit." She apologized to them.
"So they don't grow by themselves, guess that explains it." Ash said.
"It does make sense that the grapefruit on this Island would be grown by people. I mean, look how big they are." Serena smiled.
"We should have asked first before we picked any." Misty said.
"It was our fault, I'm sorry if we caused you any trouble." Tracey apologized.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have picked it in the first place." Ritchie bowed his head a little.
Ruby smiled at them, "Oh, that's very nice of you. We worked so hard to grow these grapefruit, I can't stand the thought of losing a single one to thieves." Pikachu and Sparky tried lifting the grapefruit Ritchie picked, but were unsuccessful. Fennekin sniffed it and Teddiursa poked at it.
"I've never seen grapefruit get this big before. How do you do it?" Misty asked out of curiosity.
"It takes a lot of work, and more than a little bit of love." Ruby answered, "Every winter, we wrap the trees with straw to protect them from the cold. We spray them with insect repellent, and weed them. But all that hard work pays off when the weather warms up, and the trees are covered with beautiful white grapefruit blossoms. That's when we gather Butterfree from neighboring Islands to pollinate the trees on all Seven Grapefruit Islands. It's so they can produce fruit, then after watering and caring for every single tree, they slowly start to bear fruit."
"That's amazing, you take such good care of them and produce amazing results." Serena complimented.
"Thanks for saying so." Ruby smiled.
"Ruby!"
Ruby heard someone urgently call for her and panicked, "Ruby, the thieves just struck again!" The man who called out to her said.
She stood up, "If we hurry, we might catch them." She said, running off.
Ash frowned, "We should go help her, for all we know these thieves could very well end up being Team Rocket."
No one argued with him on that one.
It was a massacre.
That's what it looked like to them anyway. Some of the grapefruit trees were practically picked clean. Like the thief decided to take the upper part of the tree, along with the branches.
"They even went so far as to tear off the branches." Ruby couldn't believe this happened to her precious grapefruits.
"Do you guys really think Team Rocket did this?" Serena asked.
"I wouldn't put it past those jerks." Ritchie replied, frowning at the thought of those three doing something so horrible.
"Over here! Over here! Bring help!"
Ruby ran over to one of the workers, "Where are they?" She asked.
"Not "they" Ruby, it!" The man corrected before pointing at the culprit.
The gang couldn't believe it.
Instead of the thieves being Team Rocket like they thought, the culprit ended up being a wild Snorlax! Speaking of which, the pokemon was in the middle of snacking down on some grapefruits.
"S-S-Snorlax?!" Misty stuttered a few times because she was in sheer disbelief that a Snorlax was all the way out here in the Orange Islands.
Serena scanned it:
[Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon. Snorlax isn't satisfied unless it eats at least 900 pounds of food per day. Once it is full, it promptly goes to sleep.]
The color drained from Serena's face, "How could a pokemon eat that much?!" Is it possible Snorlax has a hole for a stomach?!
"I asked myself the same thing when we first saw one back in Kanto." Ritchie sympathized with her on this.
Ash sighed, "Snorlax eats more than any other pokemon. This is bad, there are a lot of grapefruit on this Island and Snorlax isn't gonna stop eating until all of them are gone." Of all the things it just had to be a Snorlax.
"What are we going to do? Snorlax isn't gonna stop eating anytime soon." Tomo said.
"Stop that Snorlax, immediately!" Ruby order.
"Bad idea. Trust me when I tell you that interrupting Snorlax when it's in the middle of eating is a bad idea." Ash stopped them before they tried to make the Pokemon stop.
"It could get really violent." Molly said.
"Ursa (I'd hate to see that)." Teddiursa shuddered.
Ruby took their advice, but they couldn't just let it continue to eat their grapefruits, "I can't imagine how that Snorlax got here."
"That is a mystery." Tracey was wondering the same thing.
"Who cares how it got here. If we don't do something, all the grapefruit will be gone." Ritchie reminded them of the current situation. They figure out how Snorlax got here later, right now they need to figure out how to stop it from eating.
"We'll have to hurry! If we work fast enough, then maybe we can pick the grapefruit before Snorlax gets to it." Ruby quickly ordered.
"Right!" The workers started getting to work.
"I just hope we can pick quick enough." Ruby prayed.
"We should send out our Pokémon to help." Ash suggested.
"Good idea." Tracey said.
Ash sent out Blastoise and Charizard.
Serena had Rhyhorn and Fennekin help.
Tomo sent out Kangaskhan.
Misty sent out Staryu.
Molly had Teddiursa help.
With the combined help of their Pokémon, they were able to gather all of the grapefruit. It was hard work, but they did it.
"We did it…" Ritchie wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It went a lot more smoothly because our Pokemon gave us a hand." Serena smiled at Rhyhorn, but not touching it just yet.
"At least Snorlax won't get these." Misty hoped not at least.
She spoke too soon as Snorlax came running at them.
"Crap, here it comes!" Ritchie exclaimed.
"Charizard, Blastoise, don't let Snorlax come any closer!" Ash commanded.
Charizard and Blastoise both got in front of Snorlax and blocked its attempts at getting closer to the gathered grapefruit. The two Pokémon started sliding backwards a little as Snorlax pushed back at them.
"I figured that would only slow it down a little, but this buys us some time to get these grapefruit back to Ruby." Ash gritted his teeth.
"I'll help, too, big brother! Kangaskhan, help Charizard and Blastoise!" Tomo ordered.
Kangaskhan took her little out of her pouch before helping the fire and water type. She got in the middle and managed to push Snorlax back a little bit.
"Okay, let's hurry!" Ash said.
"Right!"
While their Pokémon were holding Snorlax back, the rest of them gathered up as much grapefruit as they could and handed them off to Ruby. They somehow managed to get half of them over to her when their Pokémon could no longer hold Snorlax back.
"Ah! Oh, no!" Misty said.
"Snorlax is eating the rest of them!" Serena felt helpless, but what else could they do?
"Now what do we do?" Ritchie asked, even though there probably was nothing they could do now.
"We could try putting Snorlax to sleep!" Tracey suggested.
"But how? None of our Pokémon know any moves that can put Snorlax to sleep." Tomo said.
"Ah! It's eating more grapefruit over there!" Ritchie pointed at another spot.
Snorlax was indeed eating another tree full of grapefruit.
"Pika pika (This is hopeless…)" Pikachu slumped.
"Pikachu, pika pika (No matter what we do, it just keeps on eating)." Sparky sighed.
"Fenne Fennekin (How gluttonous can one possibly be)?!" Fennekin was getting angry at Snorlax.
Snorlax ended up eating all of the grapefruit on the Island. Man can this Pokémon eat!
"That was the last one…" Serena said.
"I can't believe it ate every single grapefruit on this Island." Ritchie couldn't believe it, but at the same time, he could.
"Look on the bright side, we managed to save a few of them. And Snorlax won't be able to get to the other Islands." Misty saw that as a silver lining.
"She's right, so long as it doesn't get to the other Islands, the rest of Ruby's grapefruit groves will be safe." Tracey said to Ruby.
Ash frowned in thought, "Don't be so sure."
"What do you mean, Ash?" Serena asked him.
"Do you guys remember when we questioned how Snorlax got here?" Ash asked them.
"Yes, did you figure something out?" Ruby asked him.
"Well, I think maybe Snorlax might have— Ash didn't get to finish as Snorlax moved its arms in a circular motion before jumping in the water and swimming away.
—swam here." He finished.
Ritchie's jaw dropped, "Are you kidding me right now?! Snorlax can swim?!" Just how?!
"Pika (What the hell)?!" Sparky couldn't help but say.
"I had no idea…" Misty was at a loss for words at this point,
"That most definitely solves the mystery about how it got to the Island in the first place." Tracey has mixed emotions about that.
"Let's go after it, quickly!" Ash said.
Who's That Pokémon?
It's…Ivysaur!
"Ivysaur!"
Snorlax managed to make it to the next Island, and unfortunately it started eating again.
"Looks like we might have to battle and weaken Snorlax to get it to stop." Ash said.
"In that case, I'll go first!" Misty sent out Staryu, "Use Rapid Spin!"
Staryu used Rapid Spin but Snorlax countered with Head Butt, sending the water type flying away.
"Staryu, return! Go, Goldeen!" Misty sent out her Goldeen.
Ritchie and Tracey stared at Goldeen, then at Misty. Their "Really?" Expressions said it all.
Misty rubbed the back of her head, sweat dripping a little, "My mistake, sorry about that."
They both face planted on the ground.
Unfortunately, Goldeen was almost eaten by Snorlax! Misty hastily returned the fish Pokemon.
"Hey, maybe Togepi can stop Snorlax!" Misty suggested.
"No!" They all denied that idea quickly.
"Yeah, you're right…" Misty had no idea what she was thinking with that one, "The perfect Pokemon, Go, Psyduck!"
"Psyduck (Who, me)?" Psyduck questioned.
Tracey wondered if Misty had lost her mind, "Psyduck's the perfect Pokémon?"
"Yeah, not likely." Ritchie denied.
"If Psyduck uses a psychic attack, it'll be perfect against Snorlax." Misty explained.
"But I thought Psyduck couldn't use psychic attacks unless he gets a headache." Serena said.
"That's true, but maybe Psyduck will surprise us this time." Ash hoped so at least.
Psyduck walked over to Snorlax, then noticed a grapefruit on the ground. He picked it up and ate the whole thing. It got stuck in his throat and choked him, making his whole body become red since it couldn't breathe.
Psyduck was running back and forth saying he couldn't breathe. Misty, annoyed with his antics, stuck her foot out and tripped Psyduck, "I guess I should have known you'd choke!"
"Psyduck (Yeah)." Psyduck said on the ground.
"We could try Tracey's idea again to make Snorlax sleep." Ash suggested using Tracey's idea again.
"Let's do that!" Molly agreed.
"Hopefully it works." Tomo said.
The gang tried massaging Snorlax first, but that didn't do anything.
"This isn't working." Ritchie said, dryly.
"Hey, I've got an idea!" Misty smiled up at Snorlax "Okay Snorlax, I want you to picture a beautiful, wide, open pasture. Bathed in the glow of a restful red sunset."
Snorlax did as she asked.
"Your cute little Snorlax friends are with you. I wonder how many Snorlax there could be? Why don't we count them?" Misty suggested.
"One Snorlax."
"Two Snorlax."
"Three Snorlax."
"Four Snorlax."
"Five Snorlax."
"Six Snorlax."
Snorlax began counting along with Misty, using its finger. Misty meanwhile kept on counting, "Ninety-eight Snorlax…Ninety-nine Snorlax…" she soon drifted off to sleep on Snorlax's foot.
"Misty, get up! This isn't the time for a nap!" Ritchie yelled at her to wake up.
"I'm awake!" Misty said quickly, waking up.
Psyduck laughed at her.
"What are you laughing at?! If you hadn't messed things up, we wouldn't have this problem!" Misty yelled at Psyduck.
Psyduck slumped his shoulders.
Serena smiled nervously, "Poor Psyduck."
"What should we do now?" Tomo asked, worriedly.
Ash had an idea!
"Pikachu, get me a leaf!" Ash asked his buddy. Pikachu tilted his head, confused by the sudden request before realizing why. Nodding, the electric type climbed up a tree and grabbed a leaf.
Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and handed him the leaf, "Thanks, buddy." He took the leaf.
"What are you gonna do with a leaf?" Tracey asked him.
Serena was curious to know why he needed a leaf, too.
Misty, Ritchie, Molly, and Tomo knew what Ash was going to do.
Ash began to play Oración, much to the surprise of Tracey and Serena. The melody was so soothing and peaceful. Serena closed her eyes as memories from the time she first met Ash began to surface. Tracey also had his eyes closed as he listened.
Snorlax visibly stilled as it listened to the soothing memory. Dropping the grapefruit it was holding, it visibly relaxed. Slowly, Snorlax closed its eyes and promptly fell asleep.
Ash stopped playing when he saw Snorlax was finally asleep. Thank goodness that worked.
"Finally, I was almost worried that it wouldn't work." Ash admitted.
Tracey was amazed, "Ash, that was amazing! Where in the world did you learn how to play a song on a leaf?"
"From my mentor," Ash answered, "He taught me this song when I was little."
"It was really beautiful." Serena loved it. It reminded her of the lullabies her mother used to sing when she was little.
"I'm glad you guys like it. It was the spur of the moment, but I'm glad it worked." Ash said, looking at Snorlax as it continued to sleep.
"We can tell Ruby not to worry anymore since Snorlax is fast asleep." Tracey said.
"Yeah, but if it wakes up it'll go right back to eating the grapefruit again." Misty pointed out.
Tomo had an idea, "Then big brother should catch it!" He said.
"Huh? Me?" Ash questioned.
"Why not? You put it to sleep, so it's only fair that you catch it, too." Tracey stated.
"Snorlax can be your Pokémon, big brother!" Molly said, happily.
Ash saw the appeal to catching a Snorlax, but he'll have to remind himself to get mom's special Snorlax recipe.
"Okay, why not?" Ash took out a pokeball and tossed it at Snorlax. The pokeball dinged immediately, signaling a successful capture.
Ash picked it up, "Looks like I caught a Snorlax." He didn't know what else to say other than that.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired." Ritchie slumped.
There was a murmur of agreements.
Ruby smiled at them as the sun was setting, "Thank you for all your help. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have any grapefruit left."
"We're just happy we could help you out." Misty said.
"It's a good thing Snorlax didn't do too much damage to this Island, or any of the other's." Ash was glad for that.
"I have something for you," Ruby gave Misty a bag, "Their our candy grapefruit peels, they're delicious."
"Thanks, Ruby." Misty gave one to Togepi and Pikachu. Both Pokémon loved them.
"Ruby, you won't believe it but there are new trees growing wherever Snorlax went." A worker said to her.
She gasped and saw it was true.
"This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this before!" Ruby said, astounded by the sight of new buds growing.
"Professor Oak did say that Snorlax had an unusual ability to help things grow whenever it eats a lot. Guess he was right." Ash wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it for himself.
"Something good can come out of something bad." Serena said.
"This means that next year we'll have more fruit than ever!" Ruby smiled at the prospect of more grapefruit growing.
"I think you will." Ash said.
Ruby and the other workers waved goodbye to them as they left the Island to the next one.
And so, as the sun slowly sets like a giant, glowing grapefruit. Our heroes sail along to their next Orange Island Adventure.
Pokémon On Hand:
Ash: Pikachu (Male), Charizard (Male), Young Lapras (Female), Blastoise (Male), Gyarados (Female), Snorlax (Male)
Ritchie: Sparky (Male)
Molly: Teddiursa (Male)
Tomo: Kangaskhan (Female)
Serena: Fennekin (Female), Rhyhorn (Male)
Misty: Togepi (Male), Goldeen (Female), Starmie, Staryu, Psyduck (Male)
Tracey: Marill (Male), Venonat (Male)
Next Time: Prideful Scyther & Ice Cold Lorelei!