Episode Twenty-Five
Michelle: Hard to believe that we've reached 25 episodes of this story.
Amanda: That just shows how committed this author is.
Pikachu: Pika! (He's very committed, isn't he, Eevee?)
Eevee: Eevee! (He's committed all right, Pikachu)
Mark: If he keeps pumping these out regularly, then the journey will be over before you know it.
Amanda: Excuse me, mister author, but could you give a quick recap of what we did last episode?
Me: I'll be happy to. The three of you participated in an automobile race, which Amanda won. Of course, it wouldn't be a Pokemon episode without some sort of Team Rocket interference, and they tried to cheat their way to victory.
Amanda: But they failed miserably.
Michelle: Now then, what's in store for us today?
Me: You'll find out once we start the show, which we're about to do right now.
As our heroes continue onward, they find themselves deep in a forest unsure of where to go next. During their walk, Amanda's stomach growled.
"I'm so hungry." She said. "When was the last time we ate something?"
"About eight o'clock this morning." Michelle answered.
"What time is it now?" Amanda asked.
"About one thirty." Said Mark. Amanda wasn't the only one who was hungry, though. Pikachu's stomach growled along with Eevee's.
"The Pokemon are hungry too." Said Michelle.
"I'll start cooking something up." Said Mark. He grabbed some ingredients and mixed them together to make some soup for everybody.
"Here you go, guys." Mark said. Pikachu and Eevee decided to taste it first. Eevee liked it, but the moment Pikachu sipped a spoonful, his face turned red, and a Flamethrower shot out of his mouth.
"Uh oh, looks like Pikachu needs some water." Said Michelle. Amanda quickly threw one of her Poke Balls.
"Squirtle, go!" she cried. Her trusty starter appeared instantly in a blaze of light.
"Squirtle, I need you to use your Water Gun attack to cool Pikachu down." Amanda said gently. Squirtle nodded and shot his line of fire right at the flames. The fire extinguished, and Pikachu let out a sigh of relief.
"I guess I made that a little too spicy for Pikachu's liking." Said Mark. "Sorry about that, buddy."
"Pikachu." Pikachu said, which meant 'It's okay.'
"Good job, Squirtle." Said Amanda, and she recalled her Pokemon.
"Okay, let's dig in." she said. Meanwhile, Conrad and Sally were also getting hungry.
"I don't remember the last time we had a decent meal." Said Conrad. His stomach started growling loudly. "Oh yes, now I remember. It was during that amazing dinner we had last night. I wish I could relive that."
"Maybe if you hadn't skipped breakfast this morning, you wouldn't be hungry right now." Said Sally. Just then, her own stomach growled.
"You know what, I think it's time we ate ourselves." She said.
"And then after lunch, we can come up with a plan to capture Pikachu and Eevee." Said Conrad. The two of them continued walking until they saw a spacious cabin.
"I wonder if the owner if this place is around." Said Sally. She knocked on the door, but nobody answered.
"Maybe they're not home." Said Conrad. He tried turning the knob, and much to his surprise, the door opened.
"That was certainly lucky." He said.
"Well, since it appears nobody's here, we'll make lunch for ourselves." Said Sally.
"Couldn't we just buy some groceries or something?" Conrad asked.
"No." Sally snapped. "For one thing, there's no grocery stores anywhere near here. Two, we don't have any money. We'll have to use whatever's here." They started rummaging through the pantry looking for any food that was available. Back in the trio's area, Mark, Michelle and Amanda were all enjoying the delicious soup.
"This is some of the best soup I've ever had." Said Amanda. "Where'd you get the recipe from?"
"My mom gave me some cooking recipes right before I left home to join up with the two of you, and soup was one of them." Said Mark.
"That's helpful." Said Michelle. They all agreed that the soup was very delicious, but about halfway through their meal, a Psyduck popped out from a nearby river and wandered over to them.
"Hey there." Said Michelle. "Is there something that you want?" Psyduck pointed to the bowl of soup that Michelle was holding onto.
"Okay, open wide." Said Michelle. Psyduck opened its mouth and Michelle fed a spoonful of soup to the wild Pokemon. Psyduck smiled and asked for another bite.
"Okay, but this is the last one. I have to eat too, you know." Said Michelle. She fed him the bite, and then Psyduck went back into the river.
"Hopefully that'll satisfy him for a while." Said Michelle. The group took their time finishing the rest of their lunch, which Pikachu and Eevee also enjoyed.
"Well, let's get going." Said Amanda once they were all done. "I've got more Pokemon to see and catch, and more gym badges to win."
"I'm glad that you're eager and all, but we have to do the dishes first." Said Mark. Amanda groaned but helped out anyway. Once the chore was done and everything had been put away, the three of them continued onward. About thirty minutes later, the beautiful blue sky started to slowly cloud over. That didn't stop a Pokemon from jumping out at the group. This one had a body that was mainly colored green, and two pairs of cream colored wings shot out from behind its back.
"That's a Scyther!" Michelle cried.
"You're not afraid of a little Scyther, are you, Michelle?" Amanda asked.
"Afraid wouldn't even begin to describe it." Said Michelle. "It's very intimidating and it's also a Pokemon that I don't like. Do something, please!"
"All right, I will!" Amanda cried. "Nidoran, I choose you!" She threw one of her Poke Balls and the small poison type appeared.
"Poison Sting!" Amanda ordered. Nidoran shot sharp needles from its horn, but Scyther just batted them away like they were nothing.
"How did that not work?" Amanda wondered.
"Scyther's level might be pretty high." Michelle answered. Scyther then stuck out its sword arms and did a dance that Amanda hadn't seen before.
"Did it just do Swords Dance?" she asked.
"I think so." Mark answered.
"Hang in there, Nidoran." Said Amanda. "Try another Poison Sting." Nidoran shot more needles from its horn, but Scyther used its quick speed to dodge every needle that came its way. Then, it started to hack at Nidoran.
"Look out, that's a Slash attack!" Michelle cried. Nidoran moved quick to dodge the slashes, but it couldn't outrun them forever as the last one finally hit Nidoran and knocked it out.
"Nidoran, return!" Amanda cried. She recalled her small poison type and grabbed another ball.
"Flareon, I choose you!" she cried. The fire type Eevee evolution appeared instantly and stared at Scyther intently.
"Flamethrower!" Amanda ordered. Flareon shot a large line of fire right at Scyther, but it flew up to avoid the attack. Then, Scyther charged at the fire type with its top speed and hit it with its head, sending Flareon back and doing more damage than normal.
"How is it so powerful?" Amanda asked.
"Remember that Swords Dance attack it used earlier?" Mark said.
"Yes, but what effect does that have?" Amanda replied.
"Swords Dance increases its attack power." Michelle answered. "The more it gets used, the more powerful its attacks get."
"You have to try to end this quickly before Scyther wipes out all of your Pokémon." Mark advised.
"I'm trying." Amanda said. "Flareon, use your Swift attack." Flareon shot yellow stars out of its body and the attack finally landed. Scyther wasn't done yet, though, as its eyes glowed brightly.
"That has to be its Leer attack." Said Amanda. "Be careful, Flareon. This is a tough Scyther we're dealing with. Flamethrower, now!" Flareon aimed another shot of fire and this time, the attack landed.
"All right!" Amanda cried. However, Scyther opened its mouth and launched a Hyper Beam right at the fire type, and Flareon was knocked out.
"Flareon, return." Said Amanda, and she recalled her fire type. Meanwhile, the sky was now completely covered by grey clouds.
"Hurry up, it looks like it's going to start raining at any moment." Said Mark.
"I'm doing my best." Said Amanda. "Pikachu, go!" Pikachu ran in front of its trainer, but the look in Scyther's eyes caused Pikachu to freak out and run back to Amanda.
"I guess Pikachu's too scared of Scyther to fight it." Said Michelle.
"Don't worry, you don't have to battle Scyther if you don't want to." Said Amanda. Pikachu breathed a sigh of relief, and Amanda threw another ball.
"Fearow, go!" she cried. The big flying type appeared instantly and lunged right at Scyther.
"Fearow, wait! I haven't told you what to do yet!" Amanda cried. Fearow didn't care, however, and pecked right at Scyther, causing the bug type to scream in pain.
"I think Fearow might be out of control." Said Mark. A small rumble of thunder was heard.
"And I think it's going to start raining very shortly." Said Michelle. "You've got to wrap this up, Amanda."
"I know." Amanda replied. "Fearow, use your Wing Attack!" Fearow ignored the command, however, and kept charging at Scyther with Quick Attacks, but the mantis Pokemon dodged each of them. Scyther then used Swift, which caused Fearow to scream in pain. Michelle shook her head.
"Looks like you might need some help." She said. She was about to send out Electabuzz, but Mark stopped her.
"If you use an electric attack, Fearow will get hurt too." He said.
"It's up to you, Amanda, but please hurry." Said Michelle.
"I'm working on it." Said Amanda. "Fearow, you have to listen to me right now! Try a Drill Peck attack!" Fearow continued to disobey and used Double Edge instead, which did a chunk of damage to Scyther. Then, without even waiting for a command, launched a close range Hyper Beam that Scyther couldn't avoid, and it was knocked out.
"Poke Ball, go!" Amanda cried. She tossed an empty ball at Scyther, and the dual bug and flying type got sucked inside. The ball wiggled and shook a little bit, and even Pikachu looked on to see if the catch would be successful. After a few more wiggles and shakes, the familiar ping sound was heard. Amanda picked up the ball and proudly held it in her hand.
"We got Scyther!" she cried. Another rumble of thunder was heard.
"Just in time, too. We have to find shelter immediately!" Michelle cried. Amanda quickly sent her new Scyther to Professor Oak's lab and recalled Fearow. All of them then started running as fast as they could in the hopes of avoiding getting caught in the impending storm.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, which meant 'Run faster!'
"We're going as fast as we can, Pikachu!" Amanda yelled. Fortunately, they found a giant cave that provided plenty of room for them inside. All of them rushed into the cave and sat down along the wall just as the rain started pouring.
"That was a close one." Said Mark.
"If that battle had lasted any longer, my skirt would've gotten soaked." Said Michelle.
"The important thing, though, is that we made it and we're safe in here out of the rain." Said Amanda. A part of her expected Conrad and Sally to show up on them unexpectedly like usual, but that didn't happen this time.
"Hey guys, you don't suppose Team Rocket got caught in this storm, do you?" Amanda asked.
"I hope not." Said Mark. "I know they're our enemies, but we've seen them so much now that it's gotten to the point where we have to look out for their well-being too."
"Eevee." Eevee squealed, which meant 'He's right, you know.' In the cabin, Conrad and Sally had finished up their lunch and were about to head out when they saw the heavy rain coming down.
"Hey Sally, by any chance, would this be good weather to go out into and steal the twerps' Pokemon?" he asked. A loud rumble of thunder went off.
"No, this would be the complete opposite." Sally answered. "We'll have to stay here until this storm clears."
"What are we going to do until then?" said Conrad.
"We'll have to try and entertain ourselves." Said Sally. "Maybe this place has some board games or video games. Help me look around." They searched the entire cabin, but the only things they found were some decks of cards.
"I guess this will have to do." Said Conrad. "You cut and I'll deal." In the cave, Amanda had taken Fearow's Poke Ball off her waist and was holding onto it as she looked out at the storm. She had a worried look on her face and let out a sigh. Pikachu ran over to check on her.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu wondered, which meant 'Are you all right, Amanda?' Amanda smiled at him.
"I'm fine, Pikachu." She answered.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'Are you sure about that?'
"Well, maybe there's something bothering me just a little." Amanda answered.
"What is it?" Michelle asked.
"Up to now, Fearow's always been completely obedient." Said Amanda. "But during that battle with Scyther, it completely disobeyed me and did the opposite of what I told it to do. I wonder what could've changed."
"Maybe it's possible that Fearow doesn't like you anymore." Said Mark.
"No, I don't think so." Said Amanda. "I like Fearow, and I thought it liked me. Maybe I'm not as good a trainer as I thought."
"Don't be silly." Said Michelle. "You're an excellent trainer. Fearow might just be going through a phase right now. I'm sure it'll start obeying you again eventually."
"I hope you're right, Michelle." Said Amanda. She stared closely at Fearow's ball.
"Fearow, what could've possibly gotten into you?" she said to herself. In the cabin, Conrad and Sally were concentrating on their card game.
"Do you have any fours?" Sally asked.
"Go fish." Sally said. Conrad grabbed some cards from the pile, and then he tried to sneak a peek at what Sally had. Not surprisingly, he got chewed out.
"Don't you dare." Sally snapped. "You already cheated in that race, so I'm definitely not letting you cheat in this game." Conrad sighed, but before the game could continue, the lights went out.
"What happened?" Conrad asked.
"The storm probably knocked out the lights in here." Said Sally. "I'll see if I can find a generator." She did another search but didn't find anything.
"Maybe there's some flashlights." Said Conrad. They looked through all of the spare closets but were unsuccessful in finding flashlights.
"Nothing." Said Conrad.
"We can't play our game in the dark, though." Said Sally. "We'll have to wait for the lights to come back on too." Conrad yawned and fell asleep on the couch.
"Come to think of it, this loud rain is making me a bit sleepy." Said Sally. She let out a yawn herself and slept on the other end of the couch. In the cave, Amanda was still trying to figure out the cause of Fearow's sudden disobedience.
"I just don't understand." She said.
"I think I might have the answer for you." Michelle said. "First off, how many badges do you have right now?"
"Five, but that shouldn't really matter." Said Amanda.
"Actually, it kind of does." Said Michelle. "Fearow might feel that you're not a worthy trainer."
"I've had other trainer battles too, not just gym battles." Said Amanda.
"Yes, I'm aware of that, but let me finish explaining." Said Michelle. "In Fearow's mind, it thinks you haven't had enough experience, and as such, it's not respecting you and disobeying your orders because of that."
"Oh, so that's probably why Fearow didn't listen to me when I was battling Scyther." Said Amanda.
"Exactly." Said Michelle.
"Do you think Fearow will ever obey me again?" Amanda wondered.
"I'm sure it will." Said Mark. "It would help if you got into some more trainer battles, though."
"Mark's right." Said Michelle. "The more trainers you battle, the more experience you get."
"And the more experience I get, the more Fearow will start to respect me." Said Amanda.
"Yeah, now you're getting it." Said Michelle.
"In that case, I'm going to find some trainers to battle to get the experience that I need." Said Amanda. She started to leave the cave, but Michelle and Mark held her back.
"Wait a second, Amanda." Said Michelle.
"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Amanda." Mark agreed.
"Why not?" Amanda asked. "I need to battle as many trainers as I can so that Fearow will start listening to me again, don't I?"
"Yes, you do, but it's still raining heavily outside." Said Mark.
"I don't think anyone's going to rush out to battle you in the rain." Said Michelle.
"Pikachu." Pikachu agreed, which meant 'They're both right, you know.' A loud rumble of thunder going off, and the rain getting harder told Amanda all she needed to know. She sighed and sat down next to Michelle.
"There has to be a way that I can get Fearow to start listening that doesn't require battling." Said Amanda.
"I might have an idea." Said Mark. He mixed together a bowl of Pokemon food and placed it on the floor in the middle of the cave.
"Let your Fearow out and see if it'll eat this." Said Mark.
"Okay." Amanda said. She was a little hesitant considering how out of control Fearow had been during the battle with Scyther, but she pressed the button on Fearow's ball, and the tall bird appeared.
"Fearow, Mark has some food for you." Said Amanda. Fearow looked at the food for a bit, but then turned his head away.
"Maybe he doesn't like this particular flavor." Said Michelle.
"Please eat this food, Fearow." Amanda begged. "Mark went to all this trouble to make it, so please eat it." Amanda pointed toward the food bowl, but Fearow wouldn't budge.
"It's no good." Said Amanda. "Fearow won't eat the food."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed, which meant 'I'll eat it.'
"By all means, Pikachu, help yourself." Said Mark. Pikachu happily gobbled up the food, and Amanda recalled Fearow.
"Seriously, Fearow, what's gotten into you?" Amanda wondered.
"I don't think there's too much more we can do right now." Said Mark. "We're just going to have to let Fearow figure it out on his own." Amanda placed Fearow's Poke Ball back on her waist and let out a sigh.
"This better not become an issue for me later on when I make it to the Pokemon League." Said Amanda.
"We don't have to worry about the league for a while." Said Michelle. "Your Fearow's got a problem that needs to be addressed before we get to that point." Amanda let out a yawn.
"Maybe after we have a nap, this rain will go away." She said. She laid down on the cave floor and fell asleep. Pikachu curled up beside her and also fell asleep. Michelle and Mark closed their eyes and fell asleep themselves, with Eevee curling up beside Michelle. In the cabin, Conrad and Sally were both in a deep sleep and weren't even thinking about stealing any Pokemon for the time being. Everything was quiet in the cabin, but after another thirty minutes, a loud rumble of thunder woke Conrad up. Sally noticed this and woke up herself.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"I thought I heard some Pokemon moving outside." He said. Sally let out another yawn.
"It's just the rain and thunder." She said. "Go back to sleep." She closed her eyes and continued her slumber. Conrad shrugged his shoulders and went back to sleep himself. In the cave, Michelle, Mark, Amanda, Pikachu and Eevee were all fast asleep, with the only movement coming from the water Pokemon that were swimming around in the river. A couple of hours later, everyone woke up from their nap, and Amanda took a peek out of the cave opening.
"There's no more thunder, but the rain's still coming down." She said.
"I guess that means we'll have to stay here a little longer." Said Michelle.
"I'm afraid so." Said Amanda. "Hey Mark, you got any more food?"
"All I have left is a small bag of cookies." Said Mark. The bag contained six cookies, so they had two each. The three of them then continued to wait out the rain and hoped that it would end soon. By the time it finally stopped, however, nighttime had already started.
"There's no point in heading back out now." Said Michelle. "We'll have to sleep here tonight." All three of them fell fast asleep, and the following morning, the sunshine had returned.
"Look, Pikachu, the sun's back out." Said Amanda. Pikachu gave a thumbs up, as he was very happy. The trio packed up their things and left the cave.
"If I'm being honest, I really hope Fearow starts listening to me again sooner rather than later." Said Amanda.
"We're all hoping for that." Said Michelle. They were all happily walking toward their next adventure when Michelle felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw that it was the same Psyduck that had asked for some of their food the previous day.
"Hello again." Said Michelle. "If you want any more food, we don't have any left." Psyduck didn't want food, though. It nudged Michelle gently with its beak.
"I think it wants to go with us." Said Amanda.
"That would make the most sense since we did agree to share out food with it yesterday." Said Mark.
"Is that true, Psyduck?" Michelle asked it. Psyduck nodded, and Michelle pulled out an empty Poke Ball. He tapped it gently with his hand and allowed himself to be sucked inside.
"I think Psyduck will be a great Pokemon for you, Michelle." Said Amanda.
"Let's hope so." Said Michelle. Well, it seems Fearow has developed an obedience problem that will definitely need to be addressed down the road. In the meantime, though, both Amanda and Michelle picked up a new Pokemon friend. Now, our heroes head off to bigger and better things as the adventure continues.
TO BE CONTINUED
Amanda's Party: Pikachu, Fearow, Squirtle, Weepinbell, Flareon, Nidoran Male
Michelle's Party: Eevee, Electabuzz, Doduo, Psyduck, Ponyta, Charmander
Mark's Party: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Diglett, Gastly, Lapras
Amanda's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Rattata, Haunter, Magikarp, Butterfree, Zubat, Abra, Tentacruel, Pidgeotto, Dratini, Clefairy, Scyther
Michelle's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Gengar, Sandshrew, Nidoran Female, Poliwag