Episode Twenty-Eight
Previously, our heroes finally reached Fuchsia City. Amanda wanted to get her Soul Badge at the gym, but unfortunately, they found the gym closed. So, they decided to visit Amanda's mother Kangaskhan in the Safari Zone. However, our heroes once again had to deal with Team Rocket, and once again, the trio was able to stop them. Arcanine also joined Amanda's team. What will happen next? Let's find out as the journey continues.
Amanda, Mark and Michelle were heading to the ranger station to find out where they could safely venture through the area.
"I want to capture some of the neat Pokemon that live here." Said Mark.
"I think we all do, but we have to make sure that we do it in an area where we're allowed to capture them." Said Amanda. "That's why we're seeing Ranger Jenny first." This Jenny was slightly different than the other Jennys as she had a stuffed Chansey head on top of her ranger cap. Aside from that difference, the rest of her uniform was exactly the same. She was sipping her coffee and reading the morning paper, but she shook her head at the headline.
"Why would poachers try to steal innocent Pokemon from here?" she wondered. "The thought of that just makes me sick to my stomach." She kept reading on to see what some of the other headlines were, and thirty minutes later, she heard a knock on her door.
"It better not be those poachers again, or they'll be arrested on the spot." She said. "Come in." Mark, Michelle and Amanda all walked in and went up to Jenny's desk.
"You three aren't poachers, are you?" Jenny asked.
"No, we're just regular Pokemon trainers." Said Michelle.
"Thank goodness." Said Jenny, and she showed them the headline on the front page of the paper. It read 'Safari Zone attacked by poachers'.
"Did you hear about this?" Jenny asked.
"Hear about it? We witnessed it." Mark answered.
"Team Rocket attacked last night and tried to steal my Arcanine." Said Amanda. "Of course, we made sure that they left with nothing."
"Thank goodness they didn't do anything else." Said Jenny. "Otherwise, things could've gotten really bad." She put the paper away and gave the three kids her full attention. "Now then, Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Is there a way we can catch Pokemon in here safely?" asked Michelle.
"I'm very glad you asked that question." Said Jenny. She pulled down a map of the Safari Zone from behind her desk and got out her pointer.
"This area is made up of four larger areas with plenty of Pokemon that can be found in those areas." Said Jenny. "You're free to capture them, but you have to use special Poke Balls in order to do so."
"What kind of special balls are you talking about, Ranger Jenny?" Mark asked.
"Allow me to show you." Said Jenny. She reached into her desk drawer and took out the ball that Mark had inquired about. It looked like a regular Poke Ball, except that the top half was green instead of red.
"These are called Safari Balls." Jenny explained. "In order to catch Pokemon here, this is the only type of ball that you're allowed to use. You're also not allowed to use your own Pokemon to battle against the wild ones. You just throw your Safari Ball at it and hope that you get lucky."
"How many of these do we get?" Michelle asked.
"The rule is that each trainer gets a maximum of thirty Safari Balls." Said Jenny. "You're to report back to me once you either use up all of your Safari Balls or your time limit runs out."
"Time limit?" Amanda asked.
"Pikachu." Pikachu said, which meant 'What does she mean by that?'
"I don't know." Amanda answered.
"With how busy a lot of trainers are, we have to impose a timer so that they don't spend all of their time here." Jenny explained. "You'll have ten hours to find and catch as many Pokemon as you can. Once that timer runs out, you're done. Do any of you have any further questions?"
"I have one." Said Michelle. "How come trainers are capped out at thirty Safari Balls?"
"Another very good question." Said Jenny. "I'm assuming that you kids don't know the story of the Dratini that used to live here, so I'll tell you about it. Years ago, a beautiful little Dratini used to live here along with its mother Dragonair and its father Dragonite. The three of them lived in perfect harmony together and were inseparable, or so we thought. One day, though, something very bad happened. A gang of poachers and hunters ambushed the Safari Zone and tried to take away the young Dratini. Both of its parents, Dragonair and Dragonite, tried to intervene. However, the hunters and poachers were very aggressive and wouldn't leave them alone. The Dragonair and Dragonite tried to use their attacks, but the Pokémon that the poachers and hunters had were even stronger and both the Dragonair and Dragonite were killed instantly. As for the Dratini, the Safari Zone ranger that worked here at the time was able to save it from any further harm. The poachers and hunters finally left, but the damage that was caused took a long time to clear out, and so we had to temporarily close the area to trainers. When we finally re-opened the following year, the thirty Safari Ball limit was introduced in order to prevent a serious attack like that from ever happening again. And that's the Dratini story."
"Where's the Dratini now?" asked Amanda.
"For safety reasons, as well as to make sure that it wouldn't be attacked again, the Dratini was moved to a dragon shrine in Blackthorn City in the Johto region, where it has been living safely to this very day." Jenny answered.
"I'm glad that the Dratini is safe." Said Michelle.
"Eevee." Eevee squealed, which meant 'So am I.'
"Now then, let's get the three of you set up." Said Jenny. She handed each of them thirty Safari Balls.
"There you go." Said Jenny. "Good luck, and happy hunting."
"Thanks, Jenny." Said Mark. The three of them left the ranger station and headed out into the first area.
"What kind of Pokemon should we catch first?" Michelle asked.
"I don't think it matters." Said Amanda. "I just want to catch as many Pokemon as I can."
"Just make sure you don't hog them all." Said Mark.
"I'll try, but I can't make any promises." Said Amanda. Five minutes into their search, they found a Pokemon with a spherical body covered in purple fur. It also had a pink pincer-like mouth with two teeth, stubby forepaws and a pair of white antennae sprouting from the top of its head. On its face was two large, red eyes.
"That looks pretty cool." Said Amanda, and she took out her Pokedex.
"Venonat, the insect Pokemon. Venonat's eyes act as a radar unit, thus allowing it to be active during dark, nighttime hours. Its eyes are capable of shooting powerful beams."
"So it can use Psychic type attacks, it looks like." Said Amanda. She got out one of her Safari Balls and aimed it at Venonat.
"Safari Ball, go!" she cried. Venonat got sucked into the ball, and after a few shakes, the ball dinged.
"Well, that was an easy capture." Said Amanda. The ball disappeared out of her hands and teleported itself to Oak's lab. The group then walked off.
"Let's see, where to look next." Said Amanda.
"I don't think there's specific hiding spots for each of the Pokemon." Said Mark. "We just keep looking and hope we find some." They found another Pokemon ten minutes later. This one had a body fully covered in grey, rocky plates. Amanda took out her Pokedex again.
"Rhyhorn, the spikes Pokemon. Rhyhorn's brain is very small, giving it a one-track mind. When it runs, it forgets why it started and continues until it falls asleep."
"That one looks like it can run pretty fast." Said Amanda, and she threw another Safari Ball at it. Three shakes later, and the Rhyhorn was successfully captured. The ball then teleported to Professor Oak's lab.
"That's two balls down, and twenty-eight more to go." Said Amanda.
"Okay, miss, I think it's time Mark and I had a turn at catching one." Said Michelle.
"I know you want to get as many as you can, but you've caught two already, and we don't have a single one yet." Said Mark.
"All right, the next one we come across, one of you can catch it." Amanda promised.
"Thank you." Michelle said. They continued walking along, and twenty minutes later, they spotted a large, pink Pokemon that was very familiar to them as they had seen it in various Pokemon Centers.
"That's Chansey!" Amanda cried. "I've always wanted one of these!" She was about to get another ball out when Michelle stopped her.
"You promised, remember?" she pointed out.
"Oh yeah. I did, didn't I?" said Amanda. Michelle nodded and took out one of her own balls.
"Safari Ball, go!" she cried as she threw it. The Chansey tried to run away, but it got sucked inside the ball and successfully captured.
"Welcome to my team, Chansey." Said Michelle. While Amanda was happy for her, she was still a bit salty.
"I'm the one who saw it first." She grumbled.
"Oh, quit your whining. There's plenty of other Pokemon here that you can catch." Said Mark.
"What are the chances that another Chansey will show up?" Amanda wondered.
"Probably not very good." Michelle answered. "Chansey aren't commonly seen in the wild, so we'll have to hope that we get lucky." The group continued walking along, and after another thirty minutes of wandering about, a pink Pokemon with a horn charged up to them. It was similar to Nidoran, but it was a bigger size.
"I think I know what that is." Said Amanda. "That's a Nidorino." She took out her Pokedex to find out more information on it.
"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokemon. Nidorino observes its surroundings using its ears and will challenge foes if it senses any hostile presence."
"Something that powerful can definitely come in handy." Said Amanda. She started to get a ball to throw, only for Mark to intervene.
"I think it should be my turn to capture one now." He said. This time, Amanda didn't argue. She allowed Mark to proceed with the capture attempt.
"Safari Ball, go!" he cried. Nidorino got sucked inside, and a few shakes later, the catch was successful.
"Now we've each caught at least one Pokémon." Said Michelle.
"And we still have plenty of Safari Balls left." Said Amanda.
"I don't think we're going to end up using them all." Said Mark. "Jenny gave us too many of these."
"Yeah, for three of us, ten each would've made more sense." Said Michelle.
"One plus side of having so many is that we could catch some duplicates." Said Amanda.
"We could do that, but I don't really want to do that. One of each is enough for me, thank you." Said Michelle. The group continued making their way down the path, unaware of the danger that was ahead. Two hunters, one male and one female, were trying to track down a Dratini, but were having no luck.
"Some hunt this is, Natalie." Said the male.
"Listen, Jimmy, there's plenty of rare Pokemon here. Let's just take one of those instead." Said Natalie.
"I don't want any Pokemon unless it's a Dratini." Said Jimmy.
"Do you understand what the chances of finding one here are?" Natalie asked. "About slim to none. That's never stopped us before, though. Come on, let's keep searching." The two of them continued on with their hunt; meanwhile, Michelle, Mark and Amanda kept looking for Pokemon of their own. Twenty minutes later, they saw a Goldeen splashing around in the pond that they were passing by. Amanda got her Pokedex out.
"Goldeen, the goldfish Pokemon. This Pokemon has a wild temperament and will use its horn to smash its way to freedom."
"Pikachu, wouldn't you love for this Goldeen to be friends with you?" Amanda asked. Pikachu nodded and introduced himself.
"Goldeen." Said Goldeen, which meant 'Nice to meet you.'
"You two can get acquainted later." Said Michelle. "One of us needs to catch it so we can get moving." Amanda got a Safari Ball out and threw it at the Goldeen. Fortunately, the catch attempt was successful.
"I hope Professor Oak will like our new Goldeen." Said Amanda.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'I'm sure he will.' The group moved on to a northern section, and the first Pokemon they saw was a flying type that they hadn't encountered yet. It resembled a light brown duck with a white underbelly. It had a flat, yellow beak, brown eyes, a V-shaped black marking on its forehead and a three-feather crest on top of its head. Finally, it had yellow legs with webbed feet and a stubby tail.
"Well, here's something you don't see every day." Said Michelle. "Get your Pokedex out, Amanda, because I'm curious about this one." Amanda obeyed and aimed her device at the flying type.
"Farfetch'd, the wild duck Pokemon. Farfetch'd is always seen carrying a leek stalk or spring onion. It carries this sprig in its wings, but sometimes chooses to hold it in its beak or feet instead. This Pokemon is rarely seen in the wild, so approach with caution."
"A Farfetch'd, huh? We definitely can't miss this chance." Said Amanda.
"The only question is, which one of us should catch it?" asked Mark.
"Uh…..Amanda stammered.
"Good question." Said Michelle.
"Since it's so rare, I think I should be the one to catch it." Said Amanda.
"Hold on, you just caught the Goldeen we saw." Said Michelle. "Plus, owning a Pokemon like this has always been a dream of mine. That's why I want to be the one to capture it."
"No way, Michelle." Said Mark. "My mom would definitely appreciate having this to keep her company, so I should do the honors."
"Hey, I saw it first." Said Amanda.
"If you want to be technical, both of us saw it first." Said Michelle.
"It doesn't matter which one of us saw it first, I just want to catch it." Said Amanda.
"So do I." said Michelle.
"Don't forget about me." Said Mark. The three of them continued arguing over which of them would get to catch the Farfetch'd, with Pikachu and Eevee looking on.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'I almost feel like we should interject.' Eevee shook her head.
"Eevee." She squealed, which meant 'No, let them figure it out on their own.' Farfetch'd got tired of all the arguing and let out a yawn. He then started to fly away, which alerted Pikachu.
"Pika!" he yelled, which meant 'One of you catch that before it disappears!' The three of them stopped arguing long enough to watch the Farfetch'd fly high into the sky.
"Well, there goes that opportunity." Said Amanda.
"Cheer up, I'm sure we'll find something else to catch." Said Amanda.
"Yeah, but none of them are going to be Farfetch'd." said Mark.
"Don't doubt yourself." Said Mark. "You never know what we'll find."
"I guess you're right." Said Amanda. The three of them continued onward, and after another twenty minutes, they came across a familiar grass type that Amanda had already battled at the Celadon Gym.
"There's a Tangela." Said Amanda. "Now, no arguments this time, please. Let's just catch it and be on our way." Michelle took out another Safari Ball and fired it at Tangela. The Pokemon got sucked into the ball, which shook three times before signaling a successful capture.
"Welcome, Tangela." Said Michelle.
"Eevee!" Eevee squealed excitedly, which meant 'Nice catch.' Michelle grinned.
"I'm glad you like it, Eevee." She said. The three of them went on their way, but Jimmy and Natalie were still on the hunt for their target.
"We promised our boss that we'd bring him back a Dratini." Said Jimmy. "What are we going to say if we can't find one?"
"We'll have to make something up on the fly to buy us more time." Said Natalie.
"The last time we lied to the boss like that, we weren't allowed to hunt anything for a week." Jimmy pointed out. "We'll have to think of something else. Keep searching." The two of them continued about their business, while our heroes kept looking for Pokemon.
"What do you think we'll see next?" Michelle wondered.
"That's the beauty of the Safari Zone." Said Amanda. "You never know what you'll see next." They made a right turn and came across a lagoon that looked like a perfect habitat for a dragon Pokemon. That was when Amanda realized something.
"If I remember correctly from what Jenny told us earlier, I think this is the spot where Dratini used to live." She said.
"That definitely seems reasonable." Said Michelle. "I can't imagine any other Pokemon but Dratini living in this part of the Safari Zone." They waited a bit to see if anything would pop up, and ten minutes later, they heard a cry, and then a head stuck out of the water. It wasn't Dratini, but instead, an evolved form. The Pokemon then made itself fully visible, and while its body was the same color as Dratini, it was a bit of a longer size and had three blue, crystal orbs on it.
"This is another nice surprise." Said Michelle.
"I thought Jenny said the Dratini line didn't live here anymore." Said Mark.
"I thought so too, but it's still pretty cool that I'm actually getting to see this." Said Amanda. "I wonder what it is, though." She got out her Pokedex and aimed it at the rare dragon type.
"Dragonair, the dragon Pokemon. Dragonair emits a gentle aura that makes its appearance mystical. It is rarely seen by humans, so it is always a special sight whenever it is encountered."
"This is definitely special, all right." Said Amanda. She was getting ready to make a capture attempt when the trio heard shots being fired.
"What's going on?" Michelle asked. Jimmy and Natalie suddenly appeared and looked serious.
"That may not be a Dratini, but it'll still do." Said Jimmy.
"Thank you very much for finding Dragonair for us, kids." Said Natalie.
"And now, if you don't mind, stand aside so we can capture it for ourselves." Said Jimmy.
"We do mind!" Amanda exclaimed. "The way you're going about trying to capture Pokemon is wrong and we won't stand for that!"
"Whatever happened to battling a Pokemon to weaken it first before catching it?" Michelle asked.
"We don't play by those rules." Said Natalie. "Whatever we get told to find, we find it and capture it by whatever means necessary."
"But that's the wrong way to deal with things!" Mark protested.
"We don't care." Said Jimmy. "And if you try to interfere any further, you'll suffer the consequences." While the hunters were getting things out of their bags, the trio had a consultation.
"We can't let them do any harm to a special one of a kind Pokemon like Dragonair." Said Amanda. "We have to find a way to stop them."
"But Jimmy said not to interfere." Said Michelle.
"I don't care." Said Amanda "Dragonair is living in what's technically my home, so I have to defend it. Pikachu, give those two hunters your best Thunderbolt attack!" Pikachu lunged toward Jimmy and Natalie and unleashed a very powerful lightning bolt on them. Unfortunately, the two hunters shook off the attack as if nothing had happened and glared angrily at the trio.
"Uh oh!" Michelle cried.
"You have no idea what a huge mistake you kids just made." Said Natalie.
"We told you not to interfere, and you chose not to listen, so now you'll pay the price." Said Jimmy. He and Natalie took out three handcuffs, forced their hands behind their backs and placed the handcuffs on them.
"You're all coming with us." Said Natalie.
"What about the Dragonair?" asked Jimmy.
"We'll come back for that later." Said Natalie. "Right now, these kids need to learn a hard lesson about what happens when you mess with professional Pokemon hunters." Jimmy and Natalie forced the three of them into their Jeep and drove away.
"I don't like this at all." Said Michelle. "What do you think they'll do to us, Amanda?"
"I honestly have no idea." Said Amanda.
"Be quiet back there!" Natalie snapped. Pikachu and Eevee were scared too. With how intimidating the hunters were, the two Pokemon were afraid to even attempt to speak. Five minutes later, they arrived at a makeshift cabin that the hunters had set up. They forced the trio inside, took off the handcuffs and pointed to three chairs that were in the middle of the small room.
"Sit down, all of you!" Jimmy barked. Amanda gulped nervously.
"No!" she yelled. "I refuse to listen to you!"
"You don't have a choice." Said Natalie. "All of you are going to do what he says, because if you don't, I'll have him get out his big sword and kill you with it. Is that what you want? IS IT?" Amanda, Mark and Michelle shook their heads.
"Then do what I say and get your butts in those chairs right now!" Jimmy barked. The three kids sighed, but did as they were told. Jimmy and Natalie put their hands together behind the backs of the chairs and tied their wrists tightly with rope.
"There. That should hold you for a while." Said Jimmy. "Come Natalie, back to the lagoon." The two of them darted back outside and into their vehicle, leaving the trio by themselves.
"This isn't right at all!" Amanda cried. "We have to do something to stop them before they hurt Dragonair!"
"How can we do that when we're all tied up?" Mark asked.
"We can't." Said Michelle. She even tried to wiggle out of the rope herself, but it was no use. "See, they tied it much too tight."
"Wait a minute, there's something that might work." Said Amanda. "Pikachu, go over to the desk and try to send a help call to Ranger Jenny on the walkie-talkies that are sitting there."
"You too, Eevee." Said Michelle. Both Pokemon ran over to the devices and started yelling into them.
"Pikachu! Eevee!" they both yelled together, which meant 'Help! Our trainers have been kidnapped by hunters!' Jenny was enjoying a snack in her ranger station when she heard the distress call come in. She gasped, and then got into her own vehicle.
"Hang on, kids, help is on the way!" she cried, and she sped off down the path. Jimmy and Natalie were back at the lagoon, looking once again for the Dragonair. It had disappeared back into the lake when the two hunters had shown up earlier as it was scared of them.
"Come out wherever you are, Dragonair." Said Jimmy. "We have some nice treats for you." Natalie nudged him a bit.
"We don't actually have anything." She whispered.
"I know, but this is the only way that Dragonair will trust us." Said Jimmy. "Plus, with those little brats out of the way, this'll be much easier." He stuck his hand out, but Dragonair still didn't come back.
"I guess we'll have to dive in there and grab it ourselves." Said Natalie.
"That reminds me, did you bring the swimsuits?" asked Jimmy.
"I thought you were supposed to bring them." Said Natalie.
"I brought them last time. It's your turn now." Said Jimmy.
"I left them in the cabin." Said Natalie.
"You mean the same cabin where we tied up those kids?" asked Jimmy.
"That's the one." Said Natalie. "Should I go back for them?"
"Forget it." Said Jimmy. "We'll make do without them for now." The two of them were about to dive into the water when they saw Ranger Jenny speed by.
"You didn't call the cops by any chance, did you?" asked Natalie.
"No!" cried Jimmy. "Did you make the call?"
"No." Natalie answered, and then it hit them.
"The kids must've called them." Jimmy realized. They hopped back into their vehicle and sped away. Jenny was approaching the cabin at full speed.
"Just hang on, guys." She said, and managed to make it before the hunters. Fortunately, the door had been left unlocked, so she opened it quickly and burst into the room.
"Are you kids all right?" she asked.
"We're fine now." Said Mark.
"Ranger Jenny, you've got to get us out of here!" Michelle cried.
"Don't worry, kids, it's going to be okay." Said Jenny. She went over to the chairs and untied each of them.
"Come on, let's get out of here before those hunters return." Said Jenny. She led the kids outside, and right as they got out, Jimmy and Natalie arrived on the scene.
"Those are the two that were trying to take Dragonair away!" Amanda cried.
"You little squeaker!" Jimmy cried. He tried to go at Amanda, but Jenny stopped him.
"You two are both under arrest for attempted Pokemon theft!" she cried.
"You crooks better have a reason for wanting Dragonair so badly!" Michelle exclaimed.
"All right, we'll tell you." Said Jimmy. "When Natalie and I were small, we both wanted a Dratini so badly. Our parents searched everywhere but couldn't find one. A year after that, they both passed away. Since then, we've both vowed to search high and low for a Dratini for ourselves. Everywhere we looked, we had no luck. And then today, we came across a Dragonair. Even though it's the evolved form, both of us decided it was good enough. That's why we were trying to capture it."
"Pokemon are supposed to be treated with respect, and from what my perspective, it seems like you two were going about it the wrong way." Said Jenny. "Your hunting days are both over." Right as she was about to handcuff the two hunters, Dragonair emerged from the pool and smiled at Amanda.
"Aw, the way it's smiling is so cute." She said. Dragonair looked at the hunters and shuddered, but Amanda assured it that everything was okay.
"Those two mean hunters aren't going to do anything to you anymore." She told it in a kind voice.
"Dragon!" Dragonair cried, which meant 'That's a relief.'
"It was nice to meet you, Dragonair, but we have to go." Said Michelle. Dragonair frowned, and as they started walking away, Dragonair told it to wait.
"What is it?" asked Amanda. Dragonair pointed to the Poke Balls on Amanda's waist.
"Are you saying that you want to join up with me?" Amanda asked. Dragonair nodded and pointed to the Poke Balls again.
"It'll join you on the condition that you have a one on one battle with it." Said Jenny.
"I thought you said that we weren't allowed to battle the Pokemon here." Said Michelle.
"You're right, that's normally the case." Said Jenny. "However, I see that Amanda cares very much about Dragonair, so for that reason alone, I'm willing to make an exception." Said Jenny.
"All right, Dragonair, if you want me to battle, then I gladly accept." Said Amanda. She then turned her attention briefly to Jimmy and Natalie.
"You both pay attention so you can see the correct way to catch wild Pokemon!" she barked at them. Amanda then gave her attention back to Dragonair.
"Pikachu, you're on, buddy!" Amanda cried. Pikachu jumped down onto the grass and stared intensely at Dragonair.
"Pikachu, start with Thunderbolt." Amanda ordered. Pikachu unleashed the attack, but Dragonair escaped with barely any scratches.
"Pika?" asked a perplexed Pikachu, which meant 'Did that even work?'
"It did, but since Dragonair is a dragon type, electricity won't have much of an effect on it." Said Jenny. Dragonair responded by hitting Pikachu with bright yellow stars.
"There's the Swift attack." Said Michelle.
"Pikachu's tough, though. It won't go down easily no matter who it faces." Said Mark.
"Pikachu, use your own Swift attack too!" Amanda commanded. Pikachu fired yellow stars from its body right at Dragonair, who took some damage. The dragon type responded by opening its mouth and firing a large, bright red energy ball.
"That's a Dragon Rage attack!" Jenny cried. "Be careful with that!"
"Pikachu, jump up and dodge!" Amanda cried. Pikachu jumped as high as it could and just barely avoided the attack.
"All right, run circles around it with your Agility!" Amanda commanded. Pikachu ran as fast as it could, and as it got faster, it became more difficult for it to keep up. That didn't stop it from getting ready to launch another powerful move, though.
"Watch out, here comes Hyper Beam!" Jenny cried. Dragonair unleashed the move from one of its orbs, and the blast hit Pikachu so fast that he didn't get a chance to dodge.
"Oh no!" Mark cried.
"Pikachu! Please be okay!" Amanda cried. Pikachu struggled a bit to get back up, but it managed to do so.
"There you go!" Amanda cried. She then got a very strategic idea that she could use to her advantage.
"Dragonair is just sitting in the water, and water conducts electricity." She thought. "Pikachu, jump into the water and use your Thunderbolt attack!" Pikachu sprang into the lagoon and unleashed another powerful bolt of electricity. With help from the water, the attack did a lot more damage to Dragonair, causing it to scream in pain, and then faint.
"Poke Ball, go!" she cried. She got out a regular ball and threw it at Dragonair. It got absorbed into red light upon hitting the ball, and then it began to shake. Michelle, Mark, Pikachu, Eevee, Jimmy, Natalie and Jenny all looked on.
"Come on." Said Michelle. The ball wiggled a few times before stopping and clicking. Amanda picked up the ball and held it up proudly.
"I just caught a Dragonair!" she cried. She struck a victory pose, which Pikachu copied.
"That was amazing, Amanda." Said Mark.
"I must say, Amanda, that was very clever of you to use the water like that to weaken Dragonair with an electric attack." Said Jenny. She then turned to Jimmy and Natalie. "It was not very clever of you two to try and catch Dragonair the way you did."
"We would've gotten away with it too, if not for you pesky kids and your Pokémon." Natalie grumbled.
"Let's go." Said Jenny. She handcuffed the hunters and took them away in her vehicle.
"Well, let's hope we don't have to see those two again." Said Mark.
"I don't think we'll have to worry about Jimmy and Natalie anymore." Said Michelle. "I wish I could say the same for Team Rocket, though."
"On the plus side, though, we all got some new Pokemon, so I would still call this a successful day." Said Amanda. "We may not have to worry about the hunters again, but I do need to worry about my next badge." Michelle, Amanda and Mark all smiled as they made their way out of the Safari Zone. Things looked grim for a bit for our heroes, but with a little help from Pikachu….
"Pika?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'Excuse me?'
Correction, with a lot of help from Pikachu….
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'That's better!'
Our trio was able to get out of another dangerous situation. Now, Amanda's focus turns toward her next gym match. Come back next time to see how that turns out.
TO BE CONTINUED
Amanda's Party: Pikachu, Fearow, Wartortle, Weepinbell, Arcanine, Nidoran Male
Michelle's Party: Eevee, Electabuzz, Doduo, Psyduck, Ponyta, Charmander
Mark's Party: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Diglett, Gastly, Lapras, Nidorino
Amanda's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Rattata, Haunter, Magikarp, Butterfree, Zubat, Abra, Tentacruel, Pidgeotto, Dratini, Clefairy, Scyther, Flareon, Venonat, Rhyhorn, Goldeen, Dragonair
Michelle's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Gengar, Sandshrew, Nidoran Female, Poliwag, Tangela, Chansey