Chapter 16: Teddiursa & The Magical Myth

Today, Gilbert and his friends were taking a short break in a small forest area. Gilbert was training Ivysaur, Spinarak, Sneasel, Spearow, Psyduck and Poliwag for their upcoming gym battle in Saffron City. "Alright, team, remember that when we reach Saffron City, we'll be up against a gym leader with strong Psychic Pokémon. So, we'll have to stay on our toes." Gilbert instructed. Ivysaur was firing his Razor Leaf at Spinarak, who dodged by swinging around with String Shot. Sneasel and Spearow practiced their endurance by striking each other with Metal Claw and Steel Wing. Psyduck and Poliwag, still being the newest addition to the family, practiced their Water Gun on several targets Gilbert placed on the trees. Suddenly, during the training, Ivysaur sensed something. "Saur?" He looked at Gilbert's shadow and noticed a couple of bright glowing red eyes before they faded away. "Ivysaur?" He said in confusion.

"Hey, everyone, lunch is ready!" Yolanda called. As the group and their Pokémon sat down and started eating their lunch, nobody noticed a long tongue stick out from Gilbert's shadow as it sneakily reached for a plate of rice balls, grabbed them all and brought them into the shadow as they disappeared. Tad reached for the plate that the rice balls were on, but it was empty. "Huh? Uh, did you guys already eat all of the rice balls?" He asked. "No, I didn't." Gilbert said. "Neither did I." Yolanda said. "I didn't touch them." Sakura said. Even the Pokémon admitted that they didn't take the rice balls either. They weren't aware that there was a mysterious being hiding in Gilbert's shadow, and was the one who took the rice balls. "Not to worry. I filled a basket with fresh various kinds of berries I found in the forest earlier." Yolanda said, bringing out a basket of berries. But before she could hand out any of them out to the Pokémon, something small snatched the basket, surprising Yolanda. The Pokémon revealed itself to be a wild Teddiursa. "Ursa." "It's a Teddiursa." Sakura said, scanning Teddiursa with her Pokédex.

Teddiursa, the Little Bear Pokémon. A Normal-Type. Teddiursa are easily frightened, but can still be cute and cuddly towards caring people. Its claws are usually covered in sweet honey, which makes it frequently suck its own paws.

"It might be cute, but that's no excuse for stealing! Give back those berries!" Yolanda exclaimed. "Teddi." Teddiursa just took off running. "It's getting away!" Sakura said. "After it!" Gilbert exclaimed. The group and their Pokémon chased after Teddiursa, but it proved to be pretty fast as it leapt over some bushes. "That's one fast Teddiursa." Tad said. The group and their Pokémon jumped over the bushes, but Teddiursa wasn't anywhere in sight. "Where'd that Teddiursa go?" Tad asked. "I don't know where it went or how it just disappeared so quickly like that." Gilbert said. "Snea?" Suddenly, Sneasel started sniffing the air. "Snea! Sneasel! Snea!" He started chanting as he picked up a scent. "What is it, Sneasel? You smell Teddiursa?" Gilbert asked. "Snea!" Sneasel nodded. "Alright, lead the way." Gilbert said. Sneasel led the way as the group and their Pokémon followed.

Sneasel continued sniffing Teddiursa's scent as he led the group and his fellow Pokémon. "Where do you think Sneasel's leading us?" Sakura asked. "We'll find out when we find that Teddiursa." Yolanda said. After a while, the scent had led them to a small opening with a small pond. "Oh, wow." Gilbert said. "What a beautiful place." Sakura said. "Huh? Look! There it is!" Tad said, spotting Teddiursa by the pond with the basket. It was feeding a strange butterfly-like Pokémon with the berries. Gilbert suddenly became stunned when he saw that Pokémon. "What's wrong, Gilbert?" Sakura asked. "I recognize that Pokémon. It was in the book about the Giver Duo." Gilbert said. "Look at its wing. It looks like it's injured." Tad said, noticing that the Pokémon's left wing was badly injured. "Teddiursa's been helping it. That's why it took our berry basket." Yolanda said, realizing she misjudged Teddiursa.

Suddenly, a net appeared out of nowhere and caught the Pokémon. The group, their Pokemon, and even Teddiursa gasped in shock. Just then, Hun and Attila showed up, revealing to be the ones who fired the net from one of their special net-firing bazookas. "Well, look at how our luck has turned." Attila said smugly. "Team Rocket!" The group exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?!" Gilbert exclaimed. "What else? We're snatching us a very rare and unfamiliar Pokémon." Attila said as he retracted the net and held it up. "We've been hearing stories about the Mythical Pokémon known as the Giver Duo. And now that we have the one, the other will be easy as pie." Hun explained. "Stop it! Can't you see that Pokémon's wing is badly hurt?!" Sakura exclaimed. "So what? Capturing an injured Pokémon is far much easier than trying to catch a fully well Pokémon." Attila said. "If that's what you think, you're nuts! Ivysaur, cut that net with Razor Leaf!" Gilbert ordered. "Ivysaur!" Ivysaur fired Razor Leaf from his bud and sliced up the net, freeing the Pokémon and shocking Team Rocket. "Quick, Beautifly, catch it!" Sakura called. "Beautifly!" Beautifly quickly flew over and caught the Pokémon on her back before flying back to the group.

"Oh, I've enough of you little punks getting in our way!" Attila exclaimed angrily. "Steelix, let's go!" Hun exclaimed as she tossed her PokéBall. "Skarmory, Muk, you go too!" Attila exclaimed, tossing his PokéBalls. "Grrlix!" "Skar!" "Muk!" Steelix, Skarmory and Muk growled as they came out. "If it's a battle you want, we'll give you one." Gilbert said. "Yeah!" The group exclaimed as their Pokémon got ready to battle. "Ursa!" Teddiursa hopped over, wanting to battle too. "Teddiursa, you want to help?" Yolanda asked in surprise. "Ursa!" Teddiursa nodded. Suddenly, the mysterious being started emerging from Gilbert's shadow. "What's that?" Gilbert asked, feeling the mysterious being unleash a chill. Just then, the mysterious being appeared next to Teddiursa, revealing itself to be a… "Gengar." It said with a chuckle. "It's a Gengar!" Tad said in shock. Gilbert scanned Gengar with his Pokédex.

Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. A Ghost-and-Poison-Type and the evolved form of Haunter. Gengar absorbs any and all heat around it, making it feel 10 degrees colder than normal.

"I wonder… Gengar must've followed us from Lavender Town, hitching a ride in my shadow." Gilbert deduced. "And I think Gengar was the one who ate our rice balls earlier." Tad added. "Saur. Saur." Ivysaur started chanting. "I think Ivysaur's saying that he sensed Gengar's presence while we were training." Gilbert said. "Saur." Ivysaur nodded. "Nobody cares about who's been following who! Steelix, attack with Dragon Breath!" Hun ordered angrily. "Grr…lix!" Steelix fired Dragon Breath from its mouth. "Gen…GAR!" Suddenly, Gengar blocked the Dragon Breath with a dazzling rainbow glow. "That was Dazzling Gleam!" Sakura said in surprise. "URSA!" Teddiursa charged towards Steelix, its right paw glowing red. Then it leapt up and punched Steelix hard in the jaw. "And Teddiursa used Dynamic Punch!" Tad said in stun. Steelix fainted from the damage. "Ugh! How could a tiny teddy bear beat my Steelix?!" Hun exclaimed angrily. "I'll stuff that teddy bear! Skarmory, use Sky Attack!" Attila ordered. "Skar!" Skarmory charged towards Gengar and Teddiursa with Sky Attack. "Gen…" Suddenly, Gengar's eyes started glowing bright blue. Then, Skarmory became outlined in the same bright blue glow and completely stopped, much to its confusion. "What are you stopping for?! Keep going!" Attila exclaimed. "Gengar just stopped Skarmory with Psychic." Yolanda said. After dealing a lot of Psychic damage, Gengar threw Skarmory back towards Team Rocket, knocking it out. "Wow, what a shot." Tad said. "Yeah…what a shot…" Gilbert said, impressed with how strong Gengar is.

"Oh, now I'm really mad! Muk, attack with Gunk Shot!" Attila ordered angrily. "Muk! MUK!" Muk fired multiple blobs of gunk. "Ursa!" Teddiursa leapt up as its body glowed in a bright orange. And then, the blobs deflected off Teddiursa and struck back at Muk. "What was that?" Tad asked. "That was Counter, one of Teddiursa's egg moves." Yolanda said with impression. "Counter can deflect any attack and send it back with twice the power." Gilbert said, remembering how Counter works. Muk started panting heavily from the damage from its own Gunk Shot being deflected by Counter. "Get it together, Muk! Use Sludge Bomb!" Attila ordered. "Muk!" Muk fired Sludge Bomb. But then, Gengar quickly stepped in front of Teddiursa and took the attack, seemingly not taking any damage. "What happened?!" Attila exclaimed in shock. "Gengar's part Poison-Type. So, other Poison-Type moves aren't effective against it." Yolanda said. "Gen…Gar!" Gengar then blew Icy Wind at Muk, blowing it back at Team Rocket and knocking it out. "That was Gengar's Icy Wind." Tad said. "Wow…those Pokémon sure know quite a variety of moves." Gilbert said. "You said it." Yolanda said.

"You might've beaten our Pokémon, but we're not leaving without that Giver Pokémon!" Hun exclaimed. "Yeah! Now hand it over or else!" Attila exclaimed. But Gengar and Teddiursa were unfazed by their threats as they glared at them. "Uh, Hun, I don't like the way they're looking at us." Attila said, getting worried. "For once, I think I agree with you." Hun said, also getting worried. "Ur…SAA!" "Gen…GAR!" Teddiursa let out a massive Hyper Voice while Gengar fired a Dark Pulse. The 2 attacks combined and struck Team Rocket and their Pokémon, sending them flying. "Well, this is seriously effecting our perfect record." Hun groaned. "No kidding. And I think that Hyper Voice just gave me a headache." Attila groaned, rubbing his forehead. "AND NOW WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" They shouted as they disappeared into the distance.

"What a team! Combining a Hyper Voice with a Dark Pulse." Tad said. Just then, the Pokémon collapsed. The group and their Pokémon gathered around it. "Look at it. It looks worse than before." Sakura said with worry. Yolanda checked over the Pokémon's injury. "The injury looks pretty serious. But I forgot to buy any potions or medicines when we were in Lavender Town." She said. "It's okay. I think I can use the thing I did to heal Sneasler back in Vermillion City." Gilbert said. "Uh, what's he talking about?" Tad asked. As Gilbert knelt down, he focused his mind and held out his hand as it started to glow, beginning to heal the Pokémon. The group and their Pokémon stared in awe at Gilbert's amazing power. As he finished, the glow died down and the Pokémon's injury was fully healed. The Pokémon was so happy, it started flying around the group's heads. "That Pokémon seems really happy now." Sakura said, smiling. "Though I wonder if that Pokémon has a name." Yolanda said. Just then, the Pokémon flew over to the group and gave Yolanda, Sakura and Tad kisses on their cheeks out of gratitude before it flew away and disappeared out of sight. The group were left stunned after it kissed them. "I know how you guys feel. I was the same when the Pokémon I saved kissed me." Gilbert said.

Later, as the day's sun was setting, the group was preparing to continue on their journey. As Sakura and Tad were packing up their supplies, Gilbert and Yolanda were talking to Gengar and Teddiursa. "Teddiursa, I'm so sorry I got so mad and accused you of stealing our berry basket. I should've known that you were just trying to help your friend." Yolanda apologized. "Ursa." Teddiursa cuddled up in Yolanda's arms. "Oh, thank you, Teddiursa." Yolanda said. "And Gengar, I'm actually impressed with how well you've followed us in my shadow. Not to mention that you're pretty strong." Gilbert said. "Gengar." Gengar blushed at that. "Hey, Teddiursa, how would you like to come along with us?" Yolanda asked. "Ur? Ursa!" Teddiursa nodded happily. "And Gengar, how'd you like to come too?" Gilbert asked. "Gengar!" Gengar nodded. "Alright! Then let's go PokéBall!" Yolanda called, tossing a PokéBall at Teddiursa, sucking it in. "Go PokéBall number 2!" Gilbert called, tossing a PokéBall at Gengar, sucking it in too. Both PokéBalls rattled for a bit before they both dinged and sealed their captures. "Amazing. I caught a Teddiursa!" Yolanda cheered. "And I caught a Gengar!" Gilbert cheered. "Congratulations, you guys." Sakura said. "You 2 really made quite the captures." Tad said. "Yeah. And I think Gengar might be able to help in my upcoming gym battle." Gilbert said. "And I think Teddiursa and I are gonna be great friends together." Yolanda said. And so, after a brief encounter with another of the Giver Duo Pokémon, and picking up 2 new friends along the way, the group continued on their way to Saffron City and Gilbert's 4th gym battle.

Major Events:

The group encounter the other of the Giver Duo Pokémon

The strange shadow is revealed to be a Gengar

Gilbert catches Gengar

Yolanda catches a Teddiursa

The strange Pokémon gives Yolanda, Sakura and Tad kisses