Chapter 4:

The Toto-Quil Napping

Phillip woke up early to train his new Pokemon. He knew if he had any hopes of developing his Pokemon he would have to train them non-stop. He wasn't sure why he was training so much. He had no plans to compete in any gym battles or do anything with the league. That was Nathan and his dad's desires. He just wanted to help his favorite Pokemon grow in strength and eventually evolve.

Nathan heard Phillip wake up and secretly followed him into the woods. He wanted to know how to train his Pokemon. He wondered how Phillip did it. They found their way into a nearby grove with a small pond next to it. Mareep and Tyrogue practiced battle situations and Phillip tried to teach each of them a new move. After they went back and forth for a while, he called them back to let them rest and went to the edge of the pond. He let Wooper and Magikarp out into the water. He began to do the same thing with them, but spent more time focusing on Magikarp. Nathan came out of the brush he was hiding in.

"Why did you catch a weak Magikarp. They can't do much."

Magikarp jumped out of the water and fired a water gun attack at Nathan. Phillip, Wooper and Magikarp laughed at him. Phillip went over to him to help him up.

"Sometimes it's not about strength Nathan. Sometimes you have to see what one will grow into and become. That's why I'm here with you. That's why I have the Pokemon I have. That's why I love coaching and developing, especially Pokemon. The Pokemon that Magikarp eventually evolves into is one of my favorite Pokemon, it also happens to be an extremely powerful water dragon. Not everything is what it seems. Sometimes you have to look past the here and now and see the future."

A scream rang across the woods and the guys knew it was Kathy. They took off towards it. When they arrived at camp she was running around and hiding from a troupe of Weedle. Nathan laughed hysterically.

"I'm gonna catch one!"

He summoned Cyndaquil. Together they chased down a lone Weedle. It was cornered.

"Ember attack Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil shot fire at Weedle incapacitating it quickly. Before he could throw a Pokeball a powerful blast of water sent him flying into the bushes behind Weedle.

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

Nathan bounced up and saw a Totodile protecting the Weedle. Together they ran deeper into the woods. Nathan chased them blindly. Once he got into an open area six powerful water shots pummeled Nathan and Cyndaquil.

Phillip and Kathy ran to a laid-out Nathan. Rubbing his head he rose to find his Cyndaquil missing.

"You idiot! You're such a novice! You don't take on a water-type Pokemon with a fire-type Pokemon! And you don't rush into a shadowy wood blindly! You don't know anything about Pokemon!"

"Shut up Kathy! I don't care about any of that! I just want to know what happened to my Cyndaquil!"

"Guys… stop." Phillip barked. "Yes, Nathan is still learning, but that's no reason to call him names, Kathy."

Turning to Nathan, Phillip addressed him as well.

"Nathan, you gotta be smarter. We'll help you look for Cyndaquil. Even if it takes us all night, we will find him."

He nodded in agreement and the three trainers began their search. In the meantime, floating on a nearby creek in an inflatable boat Brett and Betty were floating as they planned on how to capture Cyndaquil and recruit Phillip.

"This kid is becoming an irritant. We have to grab Cyndaquil, bring it to the boss and get promoted." Betty shouted.

"But how can we do this? He's always being protected by that twerp Phillip. He's such a good trainer!" Brett whined.

Before Betty could respond they ran aground and found a dark cavern.

"This will make a fine hideout for us so we can get that Cyndaquil." Betty announced.

Brett nodded in agreement and descended into the cave. They walked next to a fall inside the cave. Inside the cave Brett and Betty saw Cyndaquil talking to a Totodile, Staryu and a Poliwag.

"We just stumbled onto a gold mine Betty."

"And look there's Cyndaquil! How did he get here!?"

They looked around searching for Nathan, Kathy or Phillip. When they didn't see anyone except the Pokemon. Brett yelled out.

"Let's grab them!"

As Brett and Betty were about to summon their Pokemon to attack the group a Horsea popped out of a pool inside the cave and shot them with an ink attack. The two villains stumbled around blinded until they fell down the waterfall with a scream.

Outside the cavern Nathan, Kathy and Phillip continued to search all over the place for Cyndaquil. Nathan was going on and on about how it's all Totodile's fault that Cyndaquil is lost. Phillip couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"You need to stop Nathan! Cyndaquil is your Pokemon! It is your responsibility to take care of him and protect him! Whatever shortcomings he may have are your shortcomings! You have to start taking responsibility for your actions and your Pokemon!"

Both Kathy and Nathan's jaws dropped and they were in disbelief. Phillip had always been calm and collected and this is the first time they had seen him lose his cool. Nathan stormed off, stomping his feet. He hid in the brush and plopped under a tree. Tears began to stream down his face. He just wanted to find his Cyndaquil. He committed to not leaving until he did.

Totodile was hiding in some bushes watching Nathan. He was used to trainers abandoning and abusing their Pokemon. He had never seen one that genuinely cared for their Pokemon. Slowly Totodile inched out of the bushes towards Nathan. Nathan was caught off guard and jumped up. Totodile stepped back, wary of Nathan. With tears still coming out of his eyes he spoke to Totodile.

"Please… please… I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to capture you. I just want my Cyndaquil back. Please. Take me to Cyndaquil."

They stared into each other's eyes. Nathan's eyes full of love, desperation and passion, Totodile's eyes full of compassion and wonder. At that moment Horsea popped out of the water and spoke to Totodile. With a nod Totodile rushed to the water. Before he jumped in, he looked back at Nathan and nodded his head towards the water urging Nathan to follow him.

In a flash Totodile dove into the water. Within seconds Phillip found Nathan hearing the splash.

"Nathan!? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay Phillip. I just saw Totodile. I think he wanted me to follow him."

"But before we do that, I just wanted to apologize to you Nathan…"

"…There's no reason to. You were right Phillip. I need to take more responsibility for my Pokemon, this is all my fault."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, but I shouldn't have taken that tone with you. It was out of place. Now let's follow Totodile and get your Cyndaquil back."

With a nod the two trainers ran to the water and dove in.

On the other side of the cavern Brett and Betty were climbing up the waterfall cliff with a bag in hand. They were going to catch all these water Pokemon, and Cyndaquil, then bring them to their boss for a big reward. While all the water Pokemon and Cyndaquil were huddled together Brett and Betty sprung into action capturing everyone except Horsea and Totodile.

Totodile and Horsea leapt after Brett and Betty just missing them. As the two thieves held tightly onto their bag they summoned Spinarak and Zubat. Totodile and Horsea fired a water gun attack together. Spinarak and Zubat dodged the attack. Brett ordered Spinarak to do a poison sting attack while Zubat fired a confusion ray attack. The two moves combined overwhelmed Horsea and Totodile until they began to lay down. Horsea was badly poisoned.

Leaping from the water into the cave Phillip and Nathan arrived soaking wet. Team Rocket and their Pokemon froze for a second. Phillip released Tyrogue who jumped to the defense of Horsea and Totodile. With a karate chop and a jump kick attack Tyrogue sent Spinarak barreling into Zubat. Nathan ordered Cyndaquil to burn open the bag and then called out Heracross.

A fire from inside the bag burned it wide open and all the Pokemon fell out. Cyndaquil fell on his feet ready to fight.

"Ember attack Cyndaquil!" Nathan yelled.

While Team Rocket was burning up, the water Pokemon gang all struck an attack stance.

"Poliwag! Staryu! And Goldeen! Water gun attack!" Phillip yelled.

Without hesitation the three Pokemon fired a series of water gun attacks sending Team Rocket soaring into the abyss. The minute Team Rocket flew off Phillip ran to Horsea. He was checking on him like a Pokemon doctor. After taking a look at him Phillip very carefully tended to his wounds and applied a poison antidote.

At the same time Nathan ran to Cyndaquil apologetically. Cyndaquil turned away for a moment. Nathan's eyes began to well up and he was so sincere in his apology every Pokemon in the cavern felt it. Totodile stood between Phillip tending to Horsea and Nathan apologizing to Cyndaquil. He found himself gravitating towards Nathan.

A few more minutes passed before Horsea began to feel better. In an instant Horsea was bouncing around joyously. The water Pokemon escorted Phillip and Nathan up to the bank of the lake where Kathy was anxiously waiting for them. She ran and hugged Phillip first and then asked about Cyndaquil. Nathan let him out of his Pokeball so Kathy could see him. The water Pokemon gang followed the team to the edge of the lake on Route 30. While they all turned around Totodile and Horsea refused to go back.

"I think they want to go with us." Kathy said.

Phillip squatted down to look at Horsea.

"Is that what you want Horsea? Do you want to come with me?"

Horsea showed enthusiasm to come with. At the same time Totodile kept hitting his nose against Nathan's leg, wanting to go with him. Nathan and Phillip looked at each other, then back at Totodile and Horsea.

"Would you be willing to battle us so we can catch you fair and square?" Phillip asked.

The two Pokemon struck a battle pose and showed that they were ready to go. Phillip nodded and summoned Wooper to battle Horsea. As soon as they were ready Horsea dove into the water.

"Be ready Wooper! Watch out for the sneak attack!"

Horsea charged at Wooper from behind. Wooper reacted to the tackle moving out of the way, the attack just barely missing him. In a quick move Horsea let out a smokescreen making it hard to see in the water. Phillip struggled to know what was going on. In a flash Wooper bounced out of the water trying to regain its composure. Horsea popped up firing a water gun attack. Wooper jumped out of the way.

"Fire a mud shot while you're in the air!"

Horsea was surprised and blinded by the mud.

"Wooper! Tail whip into a slam!"

Before Horsea could react Wooper was driving him into the ground. Phillip threw a Pokeball. After a tense moment Horsea was caught.

Phillip and Kathy jumped for joy.

"I guess it's my turn now. Are you ready Totodile?"

Totodile nodded as he got ready for the impending attack. Nathan sent out Cyndaquil. Phillip was about to say something but held it in.

"That's a dangerous move." Kathy whispered to Phillip.

Phillip had a focused look on his face. This seemed like a moment to let Nathan be Nathan.

"I guess we're going to have to trust him."

Totodile began running towards the water.

"Cyndaquil! Set the grass on fire to prevent Totodile from jumping in the water!"

Totodile was caught off guard. He charged at Cyndaquil with claws out ready to scratch Cyndaquil.

"Dodge that Cyndaquil!" Nathan shouted pointing at the move.

Cyndaquil rolled out of the way.

"Tackle attack!"

Cyndaquil tackled Totodile. Totodile rolled up out of it struggling to breathe.

"Cyndaquil fire an ember attack all around you trapping the both of you!"

Cyndaquil set a circle of fire around the two battling Pokemon. Totodile braced himself for a rage attack, still breathing heavily, the smoke getting to him.

"Now Cyndaquil! Before he strikes! Do a smokescreen attack!"

Cyndaquil did just that. Totodile was being weakened by the smoke.

"Once more! Tackle attack!"

Cyndaquil tackled Totodile and bounced right up. Nathan threw a Pokeball. Totodile was caught.

"Great strategy Nathan!" Phillip shouted.

"I'm impressed." Kathy said in agreement.

Totodile joined Nathan's ranks, and Horsea committed himself to Phillip. The group made their way into Violet City after a final meal in the woods

"Now! It's time to get a Zephyr Badge!" Nathan shouted.

To be continued…