Episode Seventeen
In the previous episode, our trio had quite an interesting adventure. The girls were both kidnapped by Team Rocket, but Mark managed to escape to safety. As for Team Rocket, they demanded that the Master Ball be handed over, not knowing that Mark had sent it to Professor Oak's laboratory. However, mark managed to find the girls unharmed, and our heroes sent team Rocket flying away yet again. Amanda then had her gym battle with Sabrina and won the Marsh Badge after an intense match. Now, our heroes are on their way to their next destination.
Professor Oak was sipping on a refreshing cup of coffee early in the morning.
"Ah, there's nothing like a good cup of coffee to begin the day." He said. He went to check on Amanda's Pokemon to see how they were doing. Magikarp and Tentacruel were happily swimming around in the little pond in Oak's backyard, while Spearow and Pidgeotto were making sure that no insects invaded the garden.
"Ah, you're all doing very well." He said and went back inside. He ate his breakfast and was about to start his work when he heard his phone ring. Rattata grabbed it with its' teeth and handed it to the professor.
"Thanks, Rattata." Said Oak. Rattata nodded its head and ran back off. Oak answered the phone and was greeted by an excited voice.
"Good morning, Professor!" exclaimed Amanda.
"Good morning, Amanda." Said Oak. "I take it that you have some good news to tell me?"
"I sure do!" Amanda cried and held out her new badge on the video screen. "I won this yesterday, so now I have four badges!"
"That's wonderful, Amanda." Said Oak.
"How are all of my Pokemon doing down there?" asked Amanda.
"They're all doing very well." Said Oak. "Your Spearow has been very useful as a guard bird."
"That's good to hear." Said Amanda. "Speaking of Spearow, I actually need to talk to you about that."
"Of course, Amanda." Said Oak.
"The next major location that my friends and I are heading to is Celadon City, and if I'm not mistaken, I think there's supposed to be a gym there?" Amanda wondered.
"You are absolutely correct." Said Oak. "Celadon is actually an incredibly viable choice for your next stop. Not only do they have a gym, but they also have a store that specializes in selling perfumes."
"Maybe Mama would like some of those perfumes." Said Amanda. "Anyway, back to business. Would it be possible for you to send Spearow over to me? I'll have my Haunter come back to you in exchange."
"That's not a problem at all." Said Professor Oak. "Let me get Spearow for you." He got up from the phone and headed out to the front garden.
"Spearow, can you come with me please?" Oak asked. Spearow nodded and perched itself on Oak's shoulder as he went back to the phone.
"Okay, I have your Spearow right here." Oak said.
"Awesome, professor!" cried Amanda. Oak got Spearow into his poke ball and the exchange was completed in no time.
"There you are, Amanda." Said Oak. "You know, I must say that I'm impressed with the amount of Pokemon that you've caught so far. In fact, I think you have more than what Ash had caught when he had earned his fourth badge himself."
"Well, some trainers like to catch more Pokemon than others." Said Amanda.
"That's very true." Said Oak. "Okay, I have to get to work, but keep doing your best. Catch as many more Pokemon as possible."
"Don't worry Professor, you can count on me!" Amanda cried excitedly. The call ended and Amanda happily skipped over to where Mark and Michelle were.
"Gee Amanda, you seem to be in very good spirits this morning." Michelle said.
"I'm just excited for my next gym match when we get to Celadon." Amanda said.
"I can tell, but it's going to take a bit of time for us to get there." Mark said.
"Exactly how long is it going to take?" Michelle wondered.
"From where we are right now, it's supposed to take at least a couple of days on foot, and that's including stops." Said Mark. Pikachu and Eevee's stomachs growled.
"Speaking of stops, I think we should have something to eat first before we go anywhere." Said Amanda.
"That's a good idea." Said Mark. He cooked them some delicious porridge and fed Pikachu and Eevee their Pokemon food. Once everyone had eaten, they started walking down the path. About twenty minutes in, the group was unexpectedly approached by a Fearow. It looked at each of them and asked worriedly "Fearow?" which meant 'Have any of you seen my little baby?'
"No, I'm afraid we haven't seen it." Said Michelle. "I don't even think there are any Spearow anywhere in this area." The Fearow was disappointed and was about to leave when Amanda held up a poke ball.
"Wait a second, Fearow." She said. "I'm not sure if this is your baby, but we'll see." She sent her Spearow out and allowed the Fearow to observe it carefully. It's eyes then lit up very excitedly.
"Fearow!" it cried, which meant 'My baby, I've missed you so much!'
"Spearow?" the Spearow asked in a confused tone, which meant 'What are you talking about?'
"Fearow." Fearow answered, which meant 'You look exactly like the Spearow that I've spent the last week looking for.'
"Spearow." Spearow said flatly, which meant 'I don't think I'm quite what you're looking for.' The Fearow didn't care, however. It grabbed the Spearow with the tip of its beak and started to fly away with it.
"Hey, that's not yours!" Mark cried. Fearow didn't hear him, however, and started to get further away.
"After it!" Michelle cried, and the three of them started chasing after both Spearow and Fearow. Fearow chuckled happily to itself thinking that its little trick had worked when it heard a voice from behind.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Amanda ordered. Pikachu launched its attack, but Fearow dodged it, and picked up speed. The trio continued running as fast as their legs would allow, but they quickly ran out of breath, and the Fearow was able to fly out of sight. The trio stopped running and went over to a nearby shady spot that was out of the sun.
"It's getting away." Michelle said sadly.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Mark.
"We'll have to try and figure out how to get Spearow back." Said Amanda.
"That might not be easy." Said Michelle. "The Fearow thinks that your Spearow is her baby."
"That's true, but it has to realize at some point that it's not hers. Once she does, she'll have to let it go." Said Amanda.
"I don't think we can just waltz up to the Fearow and say, 'Please give us back the Spearow.' She'll think that we're being too nice, and that Fearow isn't exactly what you call nice." Said Mark.
"Mark's right." Said Michelle. "Not only that, but we also don't even know where Spearow got taken to. I know how we can find out, though." She grabbed one of her own Poke Balls and sent out her Doduo.
"Doduo, I need you to fly into the air and see if you can spot Spearow and Fearow." Said Michelle. Doduo nodded and after backing up to take a running start, he flew up into the sky to track down Amanda's Pokemon.
"I hope Doduo's a fast flyer." Said Mark.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'Will Spearow be okay?'
"I hope so, buddy." Said Amanda. Now, even though Doduo didn't have any wings, he didn't have any trouble flying. With the exception of a few wild Pidgeotto, the sky was mostly clear. Then, not too far ahead of him, he saw the Fearow heading for a nest at the top of a tall tree. Spearow was still being held tightly by Fearow's beak. They landed in the nest, with Doduo close behind. He watched everything that was starting to go on.
"Fearow!" the large bird cried, which meant 'I'm so happy to have you again!'
"Spearow." The small bird said, which meant 'I don't know what you're talking about, but I am NOT your baby that you've been looking for!'
"Fearow." Fearow said, which meant 'Of course you are. I never forget who my own child is.'
"Spearow spear!" Spearow cried, which meant 'For the last time, I don't belong to you! I belong to a nice trainer named Amanda. Let me go back to her right now. I'm sure she's very worried about me.' Fearow shook its head.
"Fearow." It said, which meant 'You don't belong to her anymore, so forget her. If she's as nice as she says she is, then she wouldn't just abandon you.'
"Spearow!" Spearow insisted, which meant 'Amanda would never do that. She knows how to treat Pokemon like they're her friends.'
"Fearow." Fearow replied, which meant 'You leave me no choice.' The big bird dug into the nest and pulled out a yo-yo. Fearow swung it back and forth, and somehow managed to convince Spearow that it didn't belong to Amanda anymore. The evidence was the fact that Spearow's eyes turned a bright red. Doduo couldn't believe what it was seeing and started to hurry back.
"I wonder what's taking Doduo so long." said Michelle. "I'm getting kind of worried about it."
"Do you suppose it got kidnapped too like the Spearow did?" Mark asked.
"I hope not." Amanda said. They continued to wait for Doduo's return, and twenty minutes later, it came back giving the loudest screech possible.
"Were you able to find something?" Michelle asked. Doduo nodded and pointed with its beak.
"Doduo says that Spearow got taken that way." Said Mark.
"Is that right?" Michelle said. Doduo nodded again and started running off again.
"Follow that bird!" Michelle cried, and they all took off running.
"Doduo." The tall wingless bird said, which meant 'Remember, we have to be careful.'
"We know." Said Amanda. They kept running all the way to the nest.
"I think I see Spearow." Amanda said. She started to wave and yell at it, but Michelle quickly covered her mouth.
"Not so loud." She said. "We don't want them to hear us." However, Spearow was already looking at the three of them intently and started squawking loudly.
"Spearow! Spearow!" It cried, which meant 'Intruders!' Fearow quickly went over to them and gave the trio an angry look.
"Fearow!" it yelled, which meant 'What do you want?'
"That Spearow you have up there isn't yours." Said Michelle. "It belongs to Amanda."
"Spearow?" the small bird asked in a confused tone, which meant 'Who's Amanda?' The trio dropped to the ground with a loud groan, but they quickly picked themselves up.
"She is!" Mark cried, pointing to her. "She's your friend, and she captured you a little while back." However, the Spearow shook its head.
"Spearow." It Said flatly, which meant 'I don't remember any of that.' Amanda was about to start yelling herself, but Michelle put her hand up.
"It's no good." She said. "For some reason, your Spearow doesn't seem to know you."
"Fearow." Fearow said in agreement, which meant 'That's right. Spearow is only loyal to me now, so I'll have to ask you to leave.' The trio sighed and walked away.
"I don't understand this." Amanda said. "How can Spearow not know me? Something about that doesn't seem right."
"Maybe Doduo has an answer." Said Mark.
"Doduo, when you saw Spearow get taken here, did you witness something else?"
"Doduo." The bird answered with a nod, and it re-enacted exactly what it had seen, including the part where Spearow's eyes had turned red.
"You mean to tell us that Spearow's been brainwashed?" Michelle asked.
"Doduo." Doduo said, which meant 'That's correct.'
"Thanks, Doduo." Said Michelle, and she recalled her Pokemon.
"Pikachu chu?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'What does brainwash mean?'
"It means that Spearow has been tricked into thinking that it's not Amanda's Pokemon." Mark answered.
"There has to be some way to get Spearow back and for Fearow to realize the mistake that it made." Said Michelle. The three of them racked their brains together, and after about ten minutes, Amanda had an idea.
"Since Fearow tricked us, we'll have to trick it back and see how it reacts." She Said.
"How are we going to pull that off?" Michelle wondered.
"Maybe we can tell it that it's won a prize." Said Amanda.
"Like the prize I won from the game show that you and I were on?" Mark asked.
"Yes, exactly like that." Said Amanda.
"We can't just be ourselves, though, or else the Fearow will scare us away again." Said Michelle.
"That's a valid point." Said Amanda. She thought for a bit, and then she suddenly snapped her fingers. "I think I've got the answer!" Fearow, meanwhile, was trying to feed the Spearow some worms it had found while hunting.
"Fearow fear!" it cried, which meant 'Eat up!' Spearow looked at the worms and shook its head.
"Spearow spear." It said, which meant 'Let me make this clear right now. I don't eat worms.'
"Fearow!" Fearow exclaimed, which meant 'Nonsense. All birds have to eat worms. Now dig in.' Spearow didn't want to, but it had no choice as Fearow essentially force fed the worms down Spearow's throat. Spearow shook its head but swallowed the worms anyway.
"Fearow?" Fearow asked, which meant 'Well? How are they?'
"Spearow." Spearow answered, which meant 'A little salt next time wouldn't hurt.' Fearow breathed a sigh of relief as it was happy that the Spearow seemed to like the worms. Fearow then checked the area for surveillance and saw three people dressed up with trench coats and fedora hats. Those three were really Michelle, Mark and Amanda, but Fearow wasn't aware of that.
"Fearow!" Fearow screeched, which meant 'We have visitors.' Spearow kept watch as well and Fearow went to greet them.
"Fearow?" it asked, which meant 'Who are you three?'
"Greetings." Amanda said in a deep voice. "My colleagues and I are here on official business from the Pokemon Lovers Association."
"Spearow?" Spearow wondered, which meant 'I've never heard of that.' Next, it was Michelle's turn to talk in a deep voice.
"One of our fellow lovers has been wanting a Fearow for a long time and we think that you would be a perfect fit." She said. Finally, Mark spoke in a deep voice.
"If you were to come with us so our lover could meet you, he would appreciate it very much." He said. Fearow pondered all of this very carefully.
"What do you say, mister Fearow?" Amanda asked, still in her deep voice. Fearow shook its head.
"Fearow." It said, which meant 'No deal.' Michelle made an attempt to convince the Pokemon. She remembered to use her deep voice so as not to blow their cover.
"How about this." Michelle suggested. "If you come with us, we'll give you all the food you could ever need." Fearow liked the sound of that and nodded its head. Amanda excitedly pulled out a Poke Ball and threw it at the Fearow. The Pokemon was sucked inside and the ball landed on the ground beside her.
"I think it worked." Amanda whispered.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that yet." Said Michelle. The ball wiggled briefly, and then opened up. Fearow re-appeared in a blaze of white light and ripped off the disguises.
"Fearow!" Fearow screeched, which meant 'You can't trick me like that and expect to get away with it.' Fearow flew back up to the nest, and the three friends walked away to another spot close to the nest.
"How did that Fearow know it was us?" Amanda wondered.
"I think it figured out quickly even before you tried capturing it that we had tricked him and refused to fall for it." Said Michelle.
"Fearow tricked us first, though, and we still don't have Spearow back." Said Mark.
"Any more ideas?" asked Michelle.
"Since disguising ourselves didn't work, maybe a lullaby will." Said Amanda. She grabbed Clefairy's Poke Ball and threw it. Clefairy happily appeared in a blaze of light.
"Clefairy, do you see that nest down there?" Amanda asked. Clefairy looked around, and once she saw it, she nodded.
"That nest has both Fearow and my Spearow in it." Amanda explained. "What I need you to do is to use your Sing attack to put both of them to sleep so that one of us can climb to where the nest is and grab Spearow. Do you think you can do that for me?" Clefairy nodded and happily bounced up and down.
"Okay Clefairy, follow us." Said Michelle. The three of them went back over to the nest, with Clefairy close behind.
"Okay Clefairy, here's your chance." Said Amanda. "Wait until I introduce you first, though." She then called up to the top.
"Excuse me, Fearow." She said. Fearow turned to look at her.
"We have a special musical guest for you." Said Amanda. She nodded at Clefairy, and it began to sing its tune. Both Fearow and Spearow started listening to the melody without issue, but their eyelids soon grew heavy and fell asleep.
"Good job, Clefairy. Just keep it up." Amanda whispered. Unfortunately, the three of them also started yawning and fell asleep on the ground right next to the nest. Clefairy finished its tune, but was a little disappointed to find that everyone was asleep. Clefairy just shrugged its shoulders and went to sleep itself. The trio woke up two hours later feeling refreshed.
"Ah, that was a nice nap." Said Amanda. Clefairy woke up and pointed upwards.
"That's right. We forgot about this part because of the song Clefairy was singing." Said Michelle.
"Which of us is going to climb up to get Spearow?" Mark asked.
"Since it's my Pokémon, I'll do it." Said Amanda. "You two stay here with Clefairy."
"Clefairy." Clefairy said, which meant 'Good luck, Amanda.' Amanda carefully started to climb the tree. She went at a bit of a slow pace to ensure that she didn't get hurt. When she reached the top, she saw that both Fearow and Spearow were still snoozing peacefully.
"Good, they're still asleep." Amanda whispered. She slowly made her way over to Spearow and was about to pick him up when both Pokemon suddenly shot themselves wide awake and stared angrily at her.
"Nice weather today, isn't it?" Amanda said sheepishly.
"Fearow!" Fearow yelled, which meant 'Get out!' Amanda climbed back down and shook her head at her friends.
"No luck, huh?" said Michelle.
"Nope." Amanda replied.
"Clefairy?" Clefairy wondered, which meant 'Did I do all right?'
"You did fine Clefairy." Said Amanda. "You did what I asked, but it was bad luck that we fell asleep ourselves and ended up missing our chance. I'm still proud of you, though." Amanda returned Clefairy to its ball and pondered.
"There's one more thing that I think could work." She said. She then noticed a pile of rocks near where they were standing.
"Bingo!" she exclaimed, and grabbed a rock from the top of the pile.
"What are you doing now?" asked Michelle.
"Trying to knock some sense into my Pokemon." Amanda answered, and threw the rock at Spearow. It scored a direct hit, leaving the Pokemon with not only a bruise, but also even more angry.
"Spearow!" it yelled, and immediately flew down. It lay its eyes on Pikachu and was about to attack it when Michelle intervened.
"Leave Amanda's Pikachu alone!" she demanded. "It wasn't the one who threw the rock at you."
"Pikachu." Pikachu said firmly, which meant 'That's right!'
"Spearow?" Spearow asked angrily, which meant 'Then who did?'
"I did." Amanda answered. "Spearow, you're going to listen to me carefully because what I'm about to say will NOT be repeated."
"Spearow." Spearow said more gently, which meant 'I'm listening.'
"Ever since I caught you, you've been spending more time with Professor Oak at his lab than with me, but that's because I hadn't really needed you." Said Amanda. "What this Fearow did was to try and convince you that I don't exist. But guess what, I DO exist. I should know because I was the one who captured you. Don't you remember that day?" Spearow thought back to the day when Amanda had first caught it, and it also remembered how excited Amanda had been when that had happened. After Spearow's little flashback ended, it looked at Amanda and started to smile.
"When this Fearow here took you away from me, I was a bit upset. Now that we're back together, I need you to come back to me. You don't belong to this Fearow and you have to realize that." Spearow pondered a bit, then shook off the red brainwash glares that been stuck in its eyes and happily flew onto Amanda's shoulder.
"Welcome back to the team, Spearow!" Amanda cried happily. Michelle, Mark, Pikachu and Eevee were all happy to have Spearow back as well. That wasn't the case for Fearow, though, and it squawked loudly.
"Fearow!" it yelled, which meant 'What do you think you're doing? You come back to me this instant!'
"Spearow!" Spearow yelled, which meant 'No! I'm not listening to you anymore. I'm going back to Amanda where I rightfully belong and that's final!' The two birds continued to argue loudly at each other.
"I can't understand what they're saying, but I have a feeling Fearow still doesn't understand that Spearow belongs to me." Said Amanda. The two Pokemon continued their argument, which left Spearow exhausted. Then, it shook its head and started to glow a bright white. Amanda, Michelle and Mark all let out a collective gasp.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'Amanda, look!' Spearow's body slowly started getting bigger. First, its feet got large, and its wings grew significantly. Its main body also got larger, followed by its beak, and finally, its head. Once the white light went away, Spearow had completely disappeared. In its place stood a brand new Fearow.
"Did you evolve just to prove a point to this other Fearow?" Amanda asked. Her own Fearow nodded and stared down the wild Fearow.
"It seems like the only way to settle their differences is with a one-on-one battle against each other." Said Michelle.
"If Fearow wants a battle, it's going to get one." Said Amanda. She was about to issue a command to Pikachu when her own Fearow got in front of her.
"Fearow!" it screeched, which meant 'Let me handle this.'
"You mean you want to battle, Fearow?" Amanda asked. Fearow nodded again.
"All right then, go!" Amanda cried. Both of the Fearow were determined to win, but Amanda's was especially motivated.
"Start with Wing Attack!" Amanda ordered. Her Fearow opened up its wings and dealt the other Fearow a blow. The wild Fearow was hardly fazed, though, and used Peck to poke at Amanda's Fearow.
"You use your own Peck attack too." Amanda commanded. Her Fearow obliged, but the other one dodged. Then, the battle reached a point where both Fearow started to copy each other. Amanda called for Razor Wind next, but the other Fearow blocked and countered with the same move. This also happened with the Swift and Sky Attack commands that Amanda gave. With so much dodging and countering going on, both Fearow got very tired.
"You have to end this now." Michelle said. "I don't think either of them can last much longer."
"Finish this up with Hyper Beam!" Amanda called. Her Fearow had just enough energy to launch a bright yellow laser beam at the wild Fearow, sending it tumbling to the ground. They waited a bit to see if the wild Fearow would get back up, and it did attempt to do so, but then collapsed and fainted, which officially made Amanda's Fearow the winner.
"You did it, Fearow!" Amanda cried. Her Fearow stood tall, but then it fainted itself.
"Poor thing. That battle really took a toll on it." Said Mark.
"I think Fearow needs a good rest now." Amanda said and recalled the Pokemon to its ball. Once the wild Fearow had taken some time to recover from the battle, it gave Amanda a gentle look.
"Fearow fear." It said, which meant 'I'm sorry I tried to take your Pokémon away from you.' It then explained how a couple of weeks ago, its own baby Spearow had been captured by Team Rocket, and it had felt lonely ever since. It also stated that this was the reason for kidnapping Amanda's Spearow when she and her friends had arrived, because she wanted the joy of having her baby with her again.
"Fearow." It said, which meant 'That's the whole story. Can you please forgive me?'
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened to your baby, but that doesn't give you the right to steal my Pokémon." Said Amanda. "I do accept your apology, though."
"Fearow." Said Fearow, which meant 'Thank you very much.'
"You're welcome." Said Amanda.
"Come on guys, I think it's time we get a move on." Said Michelle, and the trio started walking away. Fearow waved to the three of them.
"Fearow!" it called, which meant 'Good luck on your journey!'
"Thank you." Amanda said, waving back in return. "I hope your baby returns to you someday."
"Fearow." Fearow said, which meant 'Thank you.' It watched the three young trainers disappear out of sight before retreating back to its nest. What a wild adventure we had in this chapter. Thanks to Spearow's evolution, Amanda now has a Fearow of her own. Lots of adventures still lie ahead for our trio, so come back next time and see what happens next.
TO BE CONTINUED
Amanda's Party: Pikachu, Fearow, Squirtle, Dratini, Clefairy, Nidoran Male
Michelle's Party: Eevee, Electabuzz, Doduo, Poliwag, Ponyta, Nidoran Female
Mark's Party: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Diglett, Gastly, Lapras
Amanda's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Rattata, Haunter, Magikarp, Butterfree, Zubat, Abra, Tentacruel, Pidgeotto
Michelle's Spare Pokemon in Storage: Gengar