Episode Ten

Last time, Michelle and Amanda came across a boy named Mark McDavid. He's loved Pokemon ever since he was little and had always wanted to go on a journey, only to be held back and denied every time. But after some hard convincing by Amanda and Michelle, Mark was finally allowed to go on his own journey. He now joins Amanda and Michelle as the journey continues.

"So Amanda, how has your journey gone so far?" Mark asked.

"I have two badges right now." Said Amanda.

"That's not too bad." Said Mark. "How about you, Michelle?"

"Oh, I'm just along for the ride." Said Michelle. "I'm not old enough to compete in any gym challenges yet."

"Don't worry, you'll get to that point soon." Said Mark. They continued onward, and after forty minutes went by, they came across a trainer who had a big smile on her face.

"Which one of you has a Charmander?" she asked.

"I do." Said Mark.

"What's with this girl?" asked Michelle.

"I couldn't tell you." Said Amanda.

"Can I see the Charmander?" the trainer asked.

"Sure." Said Mark. He grabbed Charmander's ball and threw it.

"Come on out, buddy!" he called. The fire lizard appeared in a blaze of light and let out its cry. The trainer studied Charmander carefully.

"I love the eyes and mouth on this Charmander." The girl said. Then she looked at the Pokemon's tail. "The flame on this is impressive too."

"Thanks." Said Mark. "But why do you love Charmander so much?"

"Charmander is my favorite Pokémon in the whole world." Said the girl. "I just love the way it smiles so adorably. I've wanted one my whole life, but I've never been able to find one until seeing yours." Then, an idea came into the girl's mind. "Why don't you and I trade. One of my Pokémon for your Charmander."

"No way." Mark said flatly, denying the girl's offer. "Charmander is my best friend. I cannot just give him up to anybody."

"I understand." The girl said.

"Although, I can tell that you love Pokemon a lot." Said Mark.

"If I didn't, then I wouldn't be a member of the Pokemon Fan Club." The girl said.

"The Pokémon Fan Club?" both Amanda and Michelle said in unison.

"I don't think I've heard of that." Said Amanda.

"Yeah, neither have I." Said Michelle.

"Okay, next question." Said Mark. "What exactly is the Pokemon Fan Club?"

"Battle me first, then I'll tell you." The girl said.

"You're on." Said Mark. "Bulbasaur, I choose-"

"Nope, I only want to battle your Charmander." The girl insisted.

"Well in that case, let's do it, Charmander!" Mark cried. Charmander gave a loud roar, telling its opponent that it was ready to go.

"I'm counting on you!" the girl cried and she threw her ball. Once the white light had dissolved, a Pikachu popped out.

"I'll start off." The girl said. "Pikachu, Quick Attack." Her Pikachu ran extremely fast and slammed into Charmander before the fire type could dodge the move.

"Come on, Charmander, get up!" Mark cried. Charmander got back onto his feet and readied himself.

"Go for Flamethrower." Mark commanded. Charmander shot a huge line of fire at the girl's Pikachu.

"Agility." The girl countered. Pikachu used its speed to repeatedly avoid the fire attack. Amanda's Pikachu could not resist and started cheering for the other Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Amanda's Pikachu cried, which meant 'You can do it!' Amanda was less than impressed, however.

"Pikachu! You are not supposed to root for the opposition!" She cried.

"Pika." Pikachu said sadly, which meant 'Sorry, Amanda.' Meanwhile, the other Pikachu tried its hardest to continue dodging the flames, but all the running back and fourth caused it to tire out. Due to this, its back leg hit the flame, causing it to scream in pain.

"Oh no!" the girl cried.

"We've got our opponent right where we want them." Said Mark. "Skull Bash, now!" Charmander lowered its head, ran head first into the now tired Pikachu, and sent it backwards into the girl's lap. Although it hadn't quite fainted, it was obvious that Pikachu couldn't keep battling.

"You all right?" the girl asked.

"Pika." Her Pikachu whimpered, which meant 'I'm fine, but I can't go on.'

"Well, it looks like we have a winner." Said Mark.

"That was a good battle." The girl said.

"If you want, I can give you a Burn Heal to get all of those scorch marks off of your Pikachu." Said Michelle.

"Thanks, but I think he'll feel much better after a rest." The girl said, and she recalled her Pikachu.

"Now, I believe you were going to tell me about this Pokemon Fan Club." Said Mark as he recalled his Charmander.

"It's a club for people who are big fans of Pokemon." Said the girl. "As I told you earlier, my favorite is Charmander."

"I guess that's why you want one so badly." Said Mark.

"Exactly." Said the girl. "By the way, my name's Brittany."

"It's nice to meet you, Brittany." Said Amanda.

"Have the three of you ever been to the Pokemon Fan Club before?" asked Brittany.

"No we haven't." said Michelle.

"Well then, if you'll all follow me, I'll take the three of you there." Said Brittany. "There's going to be lots of people there for you to meet, and lots of Pokemon to see as well."

"What do you think, Pikachu?" Amanda asked. "You want to check this place out?"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu happily exclaimed, which meant 'Yes please!'

"Off we go." Said Brittany, and they headed off down the path. Conrad and Sally were watching them through a pair of binoculars.

"Pokemon Fan Club, huh?" said Conrad. "That gives me an idea."

"What's your big brain play this time?" Sally asked.

"We disguise ourselves as Pokemon fans and pretend to be members, and then once nobody's looking, we strike." Said Conrad.

"I like that a lot." Said Sally, and they went to get some costumes. While all of that was going on, Mark and the girls reached the building where the Pokemon Fan Club usually gathered. It was a big, yellow building that had pictures of different Pokemon hanging everywhere on the outside walls.

"Well, here we are." Said Brittany.

"You ready, Pikachu?" asked Amanda. Pikachu gave a thumbs up.

"You're really going to like this place, Eevee." Said Michelle. Eevee let out a delightful squeal.

"Let's make our way inside, guys." Said Brittany. She opened up the door and there were already several people inside. Officer Jenny was there with a couple of Squirtles, and Nurse Joy was there with Chansey. There were even some kids there that were around the same ages as Amanda and Mark.

"This place is incredible!" Mark exclaimed.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'I like it already.'

"I didn't know you two were also members." Said Michelle.

"I don't usually get to go to these meetings very often, but since it's a day off for me today, this works out perfectly." Said Jenny. "For the Squirtles, this is their first time here."

"I've always loved Pokemon even before I became a nurse." Said Joy.

"If you're here, then who's running the Pokemon Center?" asked Amanda.

"Nobody." Said Joy. "I had to close the center temporarily until the meeting ends."

"You guys should have a Pokemon out for this meeting so that the director knows how much you love Pokemon." Said Brittany.

"Good point." Said Mark, and he sent his Charmander out. Michelle let out her Electabuzz, and Amanda let out her Nidoran.

"Your Nidoran is so adorable." Said Brittany.

"Thanks." Said Amanda. "Hey, wait a second. I thought you said you only liked Charmander."

"Yeah, you said earlier that Charmander was your number one favorite." Said Michelle.

"It is, but I like other Pokemon too." Said Brittany. Before she could get into details, the director came in.

"Good afternoon, everyone." He said. "Welcome to this week's meeting of the Pokemon Fan Club. Now, it appears that we have some guests joining us today." Of course, he was referring to Amanda, Michelle and Mark. "Newcomers, I will ask you to state your name as well as your favorite Pokemon and why it's your favorite."

"I'm Amanda." Said Amanda. "My favorite Pokemon is Pikachu because it can run super fast and it knows how to use some really cool electric attacks. Pikachu and I have also been partners for a good, long while, which is also why it's my favorite."

"I'm Michelle, and on my shoulder here is Eevee." Said Michelle. "Eevee has been my partner for a while too, and it's also quite adorable. Eevee can also turn into a Flareon, Jolteon or Vaporeon depending on which stone you use on it. That's why Eevee is my favorite."

"I'm Mark." Said Mark. "I actually don't have a specific favorite Pokemon because I like them all equally. To me, it's not just about catching a lot of Pokemon. It's about trying to make a lot of friends. With Pokemon that are very shy, you have to show them that you want to be your friend. They also have their own special abilities, which is what makes them all my favorite in my eyes."

"Very sound reasoning on your part." Said the director. Just then, he heard a knock at the door.

"Let's see who that could be." He said. When he opened the door, he found two people wearing matching Pikachu sweaters and dark black pants. They were really Conrad and Sally in their disguises, but the director didn't know this.

"Ah, some more newcomers." He said, and welcomed them in. They immediately sat down and took immediate notice of Amanda's Pikachu.

"Something seems off about those two." She said.

"Don't worry about it for now." Said Brittany. "Just focus on the rest of the meeting."

"Yes, Brittany is quite right." Said the director. "All right everyone, show me what you have in terms of the Pokemon that you have on you." Amanda let out her Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Clefairy, and Dratini. Michelle let out her Doduo, Poliwag, Ponyta and Nidoran, while Mark let out his Bulbasaur. Brittany let out her Pikachu and Jigglypuff. Amanda, Michelle and Mark all stood there with their mouths open in shock.

"No way!" Michelle cried.

"I've heard that those are hard to come by." Said Mark. Amanda took out her Pokedex to scan it.

"Jigglypuff, the balloon Pokemon. It can use its eyes to mesmerize its opponents. It also has the ability to sing a special song that will put its opponents into a long and deep sleep."

"A Pokemon that can sing? Now that's incredible." Said Michelle.

"I'll say." Said Mark. The director looked at their Pokemon very carefully.

"These are all excellent Pokemon." Said the director. "I can tell from how happy they are that you've been taking very good care of them. Especially you, Amanda. This Nidoran seems particularly happy to be with you."

"Thanks, but the Nidoran wasn't originally mine." Said Amanda. "Another trainer had it originally, but he wasn't very nice to it, so I ended up with it."

"Same with my Nidoran, sir." Said Michelle.

"Well, I'm sure that they're in very good hands with you two raising them." Said the director. He then went over to Officer Jenny. "These Squirtle are looking good today. They also look very well behaved."

"These Squirtle used to be part of a gang that would play tricks on everyone." Said Jenny. "But after three young trainers helped to put them in their place, they're now firefighters, and they're quite famous."

"They're practically celebrities then." Said the director. "Now then, Joy, let's see this Chansey of yours." He examined Chansey's pink body very carefully and was pleased with what he saw. Chansey even gave him a smile.

"Chansey seems to like you a lot." Said Joy.

"It is my considered opinion, Nurse Joy, that Chansey always likes everyone." He said. "How long have you had it?"

"Ever since I first started working at the Pokemon Center years ago." Said Joy. "Chansey and I aren't just partners, we're pals, right?"

"Chansey!" Chansey beamed excitedly, which meant 'That's right!'

"It's perfectly obvious that you and Chansey work really well together." Said the director. He went over to Brittany's Jigglypuff.

"I hear that your Jigglypuff has the ability to sing." He said.

"That's what makes it so special." Said Brittany. "I can have it perform a song for everyone later, if you want."

"That would be very nice." Said the director. He then went over to Conrad and Sally.

"I haven't seen your Pokemon yet." He said. "Do you even have any Pokemon to show me?"

"Oh yes, sir." Sally said in a little kid voice.

"We have something that'll knock your socks off." Said Conrad, also in a child's voice.

"Let's see them." Said the director. The two of them released their Ekans and Zubat, but after the director looked at them, he wasn't too pleased at all.

"These Pokemon don't really fit in with the theme that I'm looking for." He said. "I want Pokemon that are gentle and adorable, and these two Pokemon look like they're very intimidating."

"Well, uh….." Sally stammered, but then remembered she was supposed to be in disguise and switched to her kid voice. "We couldn't find any of those kinds of Pokemon, sir."

"We searched in a lot of areas, but we had no luck." Said Conrad, still in his fake kid voice.

"Well, hopefully you'll have better luck by the time we have our next meeting." Said the director. "All right, now that I've seen your Pokémon, I'd like you draw pictures of them for me. Whoever draws the best picture will receive a special prize." Amanda, Mark, Brittany and Michelle wasted no time with their drawings. They all wanted to make sure that they would be the ones to get the prize.

"I wonder which one he'll like best." Said Mark.

"I hope he likes mine." Said Amanda.

"Just do your best, guys." Said Brittany. As the foursome drew and colored their pictures, they took a bit of time to make sure that everything was accurate.

"Hold still so I can draw you, Squirtles." Said Jenny. The two turtle Pokemon both obeyed and stood in place.

"It's a good thing I have a big piece of paper to draw you with, Chansey." Said Nurse Joy.

"Chansey!" Chansey beamed which meant 'I hope the drawing turns out well.'

"I hope so too." Said Joy. Conrad and Sally were having trouble with their drawings.

"Stop squirming, Ekans." She said in her fake child voice.

"That goes for you too, Zubat." Said Conrad in his own child voice. Zubat just kept flying around Ekans, however, which caused the snake to keep his distance. Conrad and Sally just groaned to themselves. Ten minutes later, the director called time.

"Let's see how your drawings turned out." He said. He checked Mark's drawings first.

"These look very good." He said. "The flame on Charmander's tail is very accurate to how it should look."

"Thanks." Said Mark.

"Charmander!" Charmander exclaimed, which meant 'I like the drawing too.'

"Being that you've been with me for a while, I'm pretty sure I should know how to draw you." Mark said, and he let out a bit of a chuckle.

"Let's hope the rest of the drawings turn out as well as this." Said the director. Next, he had a look at the drawings Michelle and Amanda had done.

"My, your drawings look absolutely incredible." He said. "I especially love this one of Pikachu and Eevee playing together." The drawing in question showed the girls' partners rolling a rubber ball back and forth between each other.

"Pikachu pi." Said Pikachu, which meant 'They certainly got our good sides, didn't they?'

"Eevee." Eevee squealed, which meant 'They sure did.'

"I'm glad you like these, guys." Said Michelle.

"I certainly like them too." Said the director. Next, he observed Officer Jenny's drawing.

"Your Squirtles certainly look brave putting fires out in this picture." He said.

"Fires are nothing for these guys." Said Jenny. "I couldn't be more proud of them."

"They certainly have a lot of confidence in each other." Said the director. The next drawing he had a look at was Nurse Joy's.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

"In this one, Chansey is performing a procedure on a Pokémon that's very sick." Said Joy. She showed him the drawing, which showed Chansey standing beside an operating table doing some work on an Oddish.

"That's certainly quite interesting." He said. Finally, he checked on the drawing that Conrad and Sally had worked on. Unfortunately, he wasn't pleased with what he saw.

"Your Ekans and Zubat look like they're trying to wrestle each other." He said. "I'm afraid that won't do at all." He then went back to his spot. "I'm happy to say that for the most part, your drawings turned out very well. They seem to fit the best qualities of Pokémon. For that reason, trying to choose the best picture out of all the drawings has proven to be a tough decision. But there can only be one winner, and that winner is-"

"Excuse me, sir." Said Brittany. "What about my picture?"

"Oh my goodness, Brittany, I completely overlooked you. My sincerest apologies." The director said. He quickly went over to where Brittany was so he could see what she had drawn.

"It looks like your Jigglypuff is singing a little melody here." Said the director.

"That's because it likes to sing a lot." Said Brittany. Her Jigglypuff chose that precise moment to sing its song. It opened its mouth, and was about to sing, but Brittany stopped her.

"Not during a club meeting, Jigglypuff." Brittany said. The director went back to his spot once again.

"Now that I've seen all the drawings for real this time, I am proud to say that the one of you who will receive the special prize is Mark." He said.

"Way to go, Mark." Said Amanda.

"Yeah, congratulations, Mark." Said Michelle.

"Thanks, guys." Said Mark. The director came up to him and gave him his prize.

"What's this?" Mark asked as he looked at the purple candy wrapper.

"That, my boy, is a Rare Candy." Said the director. "It'll make any Pokemon of your choice grow by one level the instant you use it. However, this special candy can only be used once, so think carefully about who you want to give it to." The director then faced the group again. "Okay, everyone, for the next part of the meeting, I'm going to have you guess what my favorite Pokemon is. I'm going to give you clues, and you have to guess the Pokemon based on clues. Clue number one. My favorite Pokemon is a fire type."

"Maybe your favorite is Charmander's fully evolved form, Charizard." Said Mark.

"Good guess, but no." said the director.

"Perhaps it's Growlithe." Said Officer Jenny.

"No, that's not it either." Said the director.

"I think I might know." Said Amanda. "Is your favorite Rapidash?"

"That is exactly right!" the director cried. "Ever since I was a boy, I've always loved how majestic Rapidash is. I've been especially fascinated by its horn. But I'm not going to bore you with a trip down Memory Lane. Instead, we're going to move on to the most exciting part of the meeting, which is battling."

"Yes!" Amanda and Michelle cried. Everyone followed the director to a makeshift battlefield outside the building.

"Since Amanda was able to correctly guess who my favorite Pokemon was, I'm giving her the honor of battling my Rapidash." Said the director. "Best of luck, young lady."

"You too, sir." Said Amanda. All of her Pokemon were standing beside her, wondering which one would be used for battling.

"Okay Squirtle, I'm counting on you." Said Amanda. Squirtle nodded and took his place on the battlefield.

"Go, Rapidash!" the director cried, throwing a ball. Rapidash appeared in a blaze of light, and Amanda checked it with her Pokedex.

"Rapidash, the fire horse Pokemon. It chases everything that moves and can reach it's top speed of one hundred and fifty miles per hour in just ten steps."

"Woah, that's pretty fast." Said Amanda. "But we're faster, Right Squirtle?" Squirtle nodded. "Okay then, start with Water Gun." Squirtle fired a jetstream of water at Rapidash.

"Dodge and use Agility." Said the director. Rapidash repeatedly avoided every shot of water Squirtle fired at it, making the turtle Pokemon frustrated.

"Take Down." Said the director. Rapidash charged at Squirtle, running so fast that the small turtle didn't have a chance to react. It got slammed into a tree and completely knocked out.

"Woah, that Rapidash is pretty powerful." Michelle observed.

"That kind of thing happens when it's had lots of battling experience." Said the director.

"No wonder I lost despite Squirtle having the type advantage." Said Amanda.

"Don't feel too bad, young lady, you did the best you could." Said the director. "Okay everyone, that ends our meeting for this week. Thank you all for coming out and I hope to see you all again soon." Everyone recalled their Pokemon and started to leave. Everyone, that is, except Conrad and Sally.

"Pikachu, Eevee, how'd you like to come to my house for a little snack?" Sally asked, still in her kid voice. Pikachu and Eevee both gave happy yells and ran toward Sally.

"No, don't do it!" Amanda cried. Pikachu and Eevee took no notice of her command and kept running. Sally and Conrad then gave evil grins, ripped off their disguises and trapped the two Pokemon in a glass jar.

"Pikachu!" Amanda cried.

"Eevee!" Michelle cried.

"And these two say they're fan club members." Said Mark flatly.

"They're not members." Said Amanda. "Those two are really Team Rocket."

"I should've known you two were up to something!" Michelle cried.

"Yes you should've, so now you're in trouble." Said Sally.

"You leave Pikachu and Eevee alone! They don't belong to you!" Mark exclaimed.

"They do now." Said Conrad, and he gave an evil laugh.

"I don't think I know who you guys are." Said Brittany. Both Conrad and Sally fell over anime style. They quickly picked themselves back up, however.

"Let's just say that we're two people whose way you want to stay out of at all times." Said Sally. "Come Conrad, off we go to the boss."

"Wait, I have one question for you first." Said Brittany.

"Fine but make it snappy!" Conrad barked.

"Can I have your autograph?" she asked.

"Brittany, those aren't random Hollywood celebrities; they're the bad guys!" Amanda cried.

"Oh." Said Brittany sadly.

"Pikachu, try using your electric shock on the jar." Amanda said. Pikachu obeyed, but his zaps didn't do anything. Conrad and Sally laughed.

"Good thing we always shock proof the jars." Said Conrad.

"So stop wasting your batteries." Said Sally, and they took off in their balloon. Brittany, Mark, Amanda and Michelle chased after them.

"Do you have any Pokemon other than Charmander and Bulbasaur?" asked Michelle.

"No." said Mark. "Those two are all I have."

"That's no good." Said Brittany.

"Thankfully, I've got just the one to help us out." Said Amanda, and she sent out her Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, go after Team Rocket as fast as you can." Said Amanda. Pidgeotto nodded and flew off. Conrad and Sally were laughing it up in their balloon.

"Pikachu, Eevee, you're ours now." Said Sally. "Wouldn't you two love to meet our boss?"

"Pika!" Pikachu screamed angrily, which meant 'Let us go!'

"Eevee!" Eevee squealed, which meant 'Release us right now!'

"Nice try, but you're not being released unless we say so." Said Conrad. Just then, they heard an angry cry coming toward them.

"Is that the twerpette's Pidgeotto?" asked Sally.

"I think so." Said Conrad. Pidgeotto flew full speed and tore the balloon with its' beak, sending it down to the ground. Mark, Brittany, Amanda and Michelle caught up to the balloon.

"Good work, Pidgeotto." Said Amanda, and she recalled her bird. She immediately ran over and took off the lid of the jar that had been imprisoning her Pikachu.

"Are you okay, pal?" she asked. Pikachu gave a thumbs up.

"How about you, Eevee?" asked Michelle. Eevee squealed with delight, which meant 'I'm just fine.'

"Let's show these two losers what it feels like to mess with someone else's Pokemon." Said Amanda.

"I'm with you on that one." Said Brittany. "Go, Jigglypuff." Her balloon Pokemon appeared in a blaze of light.

"Go, Pikachu!" Amanda called. Pikachu faced the two team Rocket members and gave them an angry look.

"Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" cried Amanda. Pikachu released its bolt of yellow energy and scored a direct hit on Conrad and Sally, electrocuting them.

"Okay Jigglypuff, put those two clowns to sleep with Sing." Said Brittany. Jigglypuff cleared its' throat and began to sing its song.

"What's that beautiful melody?" asked Conrad.

"I have no…..idea…." said Sally. She and Conrad drifted off to sleep. However, Brittany, Mark, Amanda and Brittany also fell asleep. This got Jigglypuff angry and it drew on their faces with the marker it was holding. An hour later, the four of them woke up.

"Hey, what happened to your face?" Mark asked.

"Forget about my face, what about yours?" Michelle asked. Brittany just smirked.

"Good work, Jigglypuff." She said and recalled her Pokemon. After the four of them had wiped the marker marks off their faces, they went near the port.

"It was nice meeting you, Brittany." Said Michelle.

"We enjoyed seeing the Pokemon fan club." Said Mark.

"Come back anytime." Said Brittany, and the four of them parted ways. With the fan club experience fresh in their minds, and Team Rocket beaten once again, our trio can now focus on Amanda's upcoming gym battle. Meanwhile, Conrad and Sally were still dozing peacefully from the song, and when they finally woke up, they were livid.

"Who did this to our lovely faces?!" they yelled in unison.

"Ugh, those kids won again. I hate when that happens." Said Sally, wiping the marker off her face.

"You're not the only one." Said Conrad, wiping marker off his own face. They were about to leave when they found themselves surrounded by a hoard of Meowth, who didn't look too happy to see them on their territory.

"Nice kitties…" said Sally playfully. The lead Meowth hissed and scratched their faces.

"Ouch!" they cried. The Meowth kept scratching and clawing at them.

"Stop! We surrender!" cried Conrad.

TO BE CONTINUED