Chapter 12:
Thundering Clash in the Sand!
Route 3 – Seabreeze Way
It's been a couple days since the group had said goodbye to Moki Town, and continued their journey, now heading east, towards Burole Town.
The journey after leaving Moki was pleasant and uneventful. Like Lakeside View, Seabreeze Way was mostly a contrast of the greenery provided by vast expanses of grass, circumvented by trees, with the blue of many small lakes and streams. The sky was completely clear, the sun shining brightly without any cloud dampening its light. Even if the temperature was a little warmer than ideal, the weather was great to stay in the outdoors.
So far they didn't see any Pokemon that they hadn't seen before. All that they saw were Mankey fighting each other, Lotad waddling near the streams, Owten flying around the tree canopies and Feleng either lazying around or trying to find some food –though Bonnie swore to see a Buizel jumping from the surface of one of the streams. That's it, until Serena saw a new Pokemon she hadn't seen before.
"Hey, what's that?" Serena asked, pointing to a nearby cluster of bushes.
Following her direction, they saw a bunch of red and black insect-like Pokemon gathering berries.
"Well, there's one easy way to find the answer," Ash said, as he and Serena pulled out their Pokedex.
"Smore, the Cute Ant Pokemon. Bug. If a Smore approaches your picnic, it's not trying to steal your food, it just wants attention. Still, some people are afraid of them."
"Well, they really look cute," Bonnie said, as she hopped towards the group of Bug-types. "Hello there!"
"Nene!" Dedenne added, waving to them as well.
The bunch of Smore turned around at Bonnie, looked at her in alarm, and disappeared under the shrubbery with the berries they were collecting.
"Hey, where are you going?" Bonnie asked, pouting a little. "Come back, please!"
"It seems that those Smore were shy," Clemont began. "Or maybe they were afraid you were going to take their food away from them."
Bonnie crossed her arms, scowling. "I wasn't going to do that. Plus, the Pokedex made them look like they liked humans, but it lied to me."
As they continued walking, they could see that the greenery started to slowly fall back, replaced by more blue, this one belonging to the sea rather than rivers or lakes, as well as yellowish-white sand. They could also hear the racket of many people in the distance. The few trees they could see also changed, the oaks and pines being replaced by palm trees.
"Look! There's a beach over there!" Bonnie pointed out, visibly excited. "Let's make a stop here!"
"I'm with Bonnie. This could be a good place to stop and rest," Ash agreed, much to the blonde's joy.
"Yeah. I think we could also have lunch on the beach as well," Serena added.
"Well, looks like the majority has already spoken., so sure, why not?" Clemont asked.
"YAAAAY!" Bonnie cheered, jumping into the air.
"Heh, no wonder this place is called 'Seabreeze'. Otherwise, it wouldn't be close to the sea," Clemont pointed out.
"Well, that other route near Moki was called 'Lakeside View', yet it had no lakes, only a river," Serena pointed out.
"Maybe they mistook the river for a lake?" Ash offered weakly.
As they looked for a spot for them to take, they took a look around the beach. There were many people scattered around the white sand, either sitting on beach chairs or lying on towels. There were many children playing near the shore, and some grown men and women fishing with rods. There were also some teens with surfboards in the water.
Aside from people, there were also many Pokemon on the beach as well, vastly different from those they had seen in the grasslands or the mountainside. There were some Corsola playing in the shallow water –the way Serena looked at them made Ash remember the time she tried and failed to catch one, and wondered if she'd try again–, while there were some brown and green Pokemon in the sand that neither he nor his friends had seen before.
It had the body of a coconut, with three legs that looked like seaweed on each side of its body, as well as two additional front limbs ended in brown pincers. A long thin neck ended on a tiny head sprouted of the coconut-like body, said head having black eyes on stalks.
"Cocaran, the Coconut Pokemon. Grass/Ground. When they retract their eyes and legs, they're almost indistinguishable from a coconut. Their shells are very buoyant, so they float in water," the Pokedex droned.
"Grass/Ground, huh? Given the way they look, I thought they'd be Water types," Ash said, taking a look at the Coconut Pokemon.
"Hey, maybe we can get coconut milk out of them!" Bonnie pointed out, as he looked at the Coconut Pokemon with renewed interest. Cocaran, however, grew mighty uncomfortable.
"According to this, they don't produce milk," Serena said, checking Cocaran's entry on the Pokedex, much to Bonnie's disappointment. She then raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. "In fact, coconut milk is their favorite meal."
"...so they eat their own?" Bonnie asked, looking a little taken aback.
Cocaran shot Bonnie an incredulous stare, before it decided to leave the scene by burrowing under the sand.
After finding a good spot to place all their things and getting changed into their swimsuits, the group decided to release their Pokemon, so they could enjoy the nice beach day as well.
"Come out, everyone!"
Pokeballs flew into the air, opening up and releasing beams of light that materialized into their Pokemon. Some looked around the unfamiliar place, almost as if trying to locate opponents to beat, while most of them realized that it was a leisure day, so they relaxed and stretched their limbs.
"Cooooo..." they a little moan of pain.
They all noticed that said moan came from Colarva. The poor Bug and Ice-type Pokemon was sprawled on the sand, looking tired and unwell. A dark puddle of what appeared to be sweat began to form on the sand around him.
"Pi?" Pikachu asked.
"Colarva? Are you okay?" Ash asked, a little worried, before he kneeled before his suffering Pokemon.
Clemont placed his hand under his chin, deep in thought, as if trying to remember something. "Didn't the Pokedex say that Colarva live in the snowy peaks of East Tandor?" the inventor asked. "I believe the poor guy must not be used to warm climates."
"Then we need to do something to keep him fresh!" Serena said, as she looked at the other Pokemon. "Do any of you guys know Ice-type moves?"
All Pokemon looked at each other. Some shrugged, others looked a bit crestfallen over not being able to help. Dunsparce looked indifferent.
Bonnie saw a pair of kids walking by, each eating an ice cream. This gave her an idea. "Maybe we could feed Colarva an ice cream?"
"That's a great idea, Bonnie!" Ash said, as he began to look around. "There must be an ice cream stand somewhere... oh, I think that must be it! Come on Colarva!"
Bonnie looked at Ash, then at Serena. Her lips curved into a devious smile.
"Hey Ash, why don't you-"
"Do you mind if I come with you?" Serena asked, interrupting Bonnie. "I feel I could use an ice cream too."
"Oh, sure," Ash happily said, as he picked Colarva up. "Come on buddy! You'll feel better in no time!"
Serena quickly joined Ash, before he shot Bonnie an annoyed look. The young blonde appeared to be a bit taken aback at first, but she smirked, seemingly satisfied with the result of the event.
…
Ash and Serena walked through the hot white sand towards the ice cream stand in the distance, leaving Clemont, Bonnie and all their Pokemon behind.
Serena looked at Ash –and also took the chance to admire his body devoid of most of the clothes he usually wore– who looked back at her, and smiled, before he returned his sight to the ice cream stand. She wasn't planning to accompany Ash, but Bonnie had put her on a bind. Normally, she'd appreciate the younger girl's efforts of pushing them together, but her approach tended to vary wildly from one occasion to another.
Serena would have to sit Bonnie down and explain her the difference between getting herself out of the way –and maybe taking Clemont with her– so Serena could spend some time alone with Ash, and blatantly pushing for the two of them to do something together when there's no need to.
"If Bonnie is going to not-so-subtly suggest Ash to take me with him as to get closer, I might as well do it on my own volition," Serena thought, letting out a sigh, before looking at Ash a second time. "Oh well, since we're at it, I might as well enjoy the moment."
"Don't worry buddy, you're going to feel better in no time," Ash gently reassured the Pokemon between his arms.
"Pikapi," Pikachu added, as he patted the overheated Colarva on his shell.
"Um, Ash. Has this happen before with any of your other Ice-type Pokemon?" Serena asked. She did remember that Ash had a couple Ice-types on Oak's ranch. Glalie stood out among them.
"Not really. Though I know it's not unheard of of such thing happening," Ash began. "I'd say Colarva is pretty young, so he still takes warm temperatures badly. And his time under Team Omega's captivity, and then trying to survive on his own on an unfamiliar environment didn't do him any good. Then again, I'm sure that after some training and a good diet, he won't have this trouble again."
"It's a pity none of our Pokemon know any Ice-type moves. Otherwise, they could have helped keep Colarva cool," Serena pointed out. "Maybe we should try to teach them, in case another situation like this happens?"
"That's a great idea, Serena!" Ash praised her, making the honey blonde smile bashfully. "I think Greninja's arsenal could use an Ice move. And I'm sure Selkid can learn Ice type moves as well. Plus, having her learn an Ice type move could give her a lot more options for performances. Look what Vitor did with his Eletux!"
"True," Serena nodded. "After seeing how the Contests in Tandor are like, I think me and my Pokémon need to be able to create more varied combinations. Sticking solely to the same routine won't get us far here."
"Didn't Pancham learn Thunder Punch not long ago?" Ash asked.
Serena nodded. "He did. But he did on his own rather than because I taught him. Same with Sylveon learning Moonblast. The only Pokemon who hasn't learned anything new is Braixen. Maybe I should work some new moves with her."
"I've been busy training the Pokemon I captured here, though I'm starting to think that I'm neglecting Pikachu and Greninja," Ash pointed out. "Just because they're veterans doesn't mean that I shouldn't give them attention."
"Pi, pika," Pikachu said, shaking his head, as if to reassure Ash that he wasn't neglecting them. Ash gratefully smiled at him.
"Yeah. I've been busy too making sure Selkid and now Minicorn catch up, that I fear I might not giving my other three Pokemon the attention they deserve," Serena said, before letting out a sigh. "Things were easier when I had so few Pokemon."
"Don't worry, you'll get better in time. I mean, it's entirely normal that new Pokemon demand more attention that Pokemon that have been with you for a long time," Ash reassured her. "As long as you don't forget that your older Pokemon still exist, everything is fine."
Serena didn't say anything, but she couldn't picture herself forgetting about Braixen, Pancham and Sylveon just because she caught shiny new Pokemon.
They reached the ice cream stand, and made their orders, one ice cream for each of them. Thankfully, the stand also sold ice cream for Pokemon, served on bowls so it would be easier for those lacking hands to eat. After paying for their ice cream, Ash and Serena sat on a nearby bench, Pikachu wedged between them, and Colarva under the shadow of the bench, protected from the heat of the sun.
"Co?" Colarva grunted as Ash placed the ice cream bowl in front of him. The spiky insect was immediately drawn by the cold the snack was emitting, smelled it, and took a tentative bite. "Co, colarva!" Colarva chirped, as he began to eat the ice cream with more gusto.
"Do you like it?" Ash asked, though he got no verbal response. "Heh, I knew you would like it. Hope it keeps you cooled off while we're here."
"Co, co!" Colarva happily chirped, the cold treat slowly restoring him to full health.
The two of them ate their ice cream in silence. Serena couldn't help but smile upon thinking that, her past self would get all flustered about how a situation like this, she and Ash eating ice cream together, wearing nothing but their swimsuits, with no company other than a couple Pokemon, would make it like a date. Over time, she learned to treasure every intimate moment she spent with Ash, regardless of how romantic they were, and to enjoy them for what they were.
Not that Serena had given up to pursue a romance with Ash. But she knew better than to rush it, or to get pointlessly flustered over it.
…
While Ash and Serena were away to buy ice cream, Clemont just sat on his towel, watching the rest of their Pokemon and Bonnie play or relax. While continue to work on his inventions was tempting, he felt that, just this once, he should relax and do nothing other than enjoy the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the sea breeze.
Then again, it's not that he could work on his machines while keeping an eye on the Pokemon and his little sister, now that Ash and Serena weren't there.
Speaking of which, her little sister was playing with Dedenne, Chespin, Bunnelby, Pancham, Selkid, Minicorn and Birbie on the shore, running around, laughing while they tackled each other into the water or tried to get the others soaked with splashes of water. Some other kids her age were drawn to her, no doubt thank to the large number of Pokemon she was playing with, and began to play with her and the Pokemon. Oh well, it was good for Bonnie to spend some time with kids her age.
The Pokemon that weren't with Bonnie didn't look to be up to much: Greninja was under the shade of a palm tree, sitting cross-legged, meditating. Or maybe dozing off, Clemont couldn't tell. There was a lump of sand Clemont knew was Dunsparce, probably sleeping as well. Braixen was happily basking under the sun. Luxray was lying on the sand, though not sleeping, as his barely blinking eyes were trained upon Bonnie and the other Pokemon, as if to make sure nothing bad happened to them.
And then there was Eevee, the newest member of his team, who was apparently flirting with Sylveon, the latter Pokemon not playing him much attention.
"Half my Pokemon have a crush on Serena's Sylveon," Clemont said, shaking his head a little. He then looked at the area where Bonnie was, and saw Chespin and Pancham trying to push each other into the water. "Heh, let's hope Chespin doesn't see what's Eevee is doing."
Even if Chespin hasn't tried to flirt with Sylveon for some time, Clemont wasn't sure that flame was truly gone, and he didn't want bad blood between his Pokemon.
Through the corner of his eye, Clemont saw that Eevee and Sylveon were heading towards the water – though not the area where Bonnie and the other Pokemon were playing.
Clemont was a little taken aback, given that he wasn't expecting Eevee to succeed like that. Moved by curiosity, he leaned forward, his eyes now fixed on his newest Pokemon.
Once they were near the water, Eevee formed a sphere of darkness in front of his mouth, and fired it into the horizon, the projectile creating small ripples on the water as it sailed into the distance.
"That was a Shadow Ball..." Clemont said, adjusting his glasses.
Then, it came Sylveon's turn. She tried to emulate Eevee, but unlike him, all she did was summon a small sphere of darkness, a little more than a marble, that petered out and dissolved into nothing before it could even sail over the water. Eevee once again repeated the move, and Sylveon tried to emulate it, without much success.
"So Eevee is trying to woo Sylveon by teaching her a new move..." Clemont realized, adjusting his glasses. A small smile appeared on his face, before adding out loud: "Well, that's a good tactic."
"Big bro!" Bonnie's voice yelled.
Clemont saw his little sister, still soaked from head to toe, walking towards him. The Pokemon were still on the shore, playing on their own. The kids she had been playing with were nowhere to be seen, but she didn't look like she had a fight or anything. In fact, she looked pretty excited.
"There's going to be a Magikarp Jump contest right now!" Bonnie happily said, bouncing up and down. "Why don't we go to see it? It sounds like really fun!"
So that's where the other kids went, Clemont deduced. Oh well, it's not like he was against spending time with Bonnie. Especially since, once they reached the Power Plant, he wouldn't have any other chance to do it.
"Sure, why not," Clemont said, as he got on his feet. "Luxray, will you watch over everybody else until I return?"
"Lux!" Luxray agreed, sounding as if Clemont didn't even need to ask him such a thing.
"Good. We'll be back in a while."
After a few minutes walking, Clemont and Bonnie arrived to a spot on the beach where many people were gathering, and he correctly deduced that must be where the contest was taking place. He scanned the crowd, wondering if Ash and Serena were there, but if they were there he didn't see them. Maybe he didn't find a Magikarp Jump contest appealing, and truth be told, Clemont didn't either.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the Magikarp High Jump tournament is about to begin!" said the announcer.
And thus, the contest began. People cheered whenever the Magikarp jumped, holding their breath as they leaped into the air, before they stopped and let gravity pull them back down. The crowd cheered wildly whenever a Magikarp jumped especially high, and Clemont found himself rather enraptured by something that sounded so boring on paper.
Eventually, they reached the finals, between a rather muscular man under the name of Kasukarp and his shiny Magikarp, nicknamed Shinegoldie, and a boy Clemont's age named Goh who had short black hair and a fairly androginous appearance, and his larger than usual Magikarp. According to the announcer, Goh was also from the same region as Ash, funnily enough.
"Ready... get set... jump!" the announcer called.
"Magikarp/Shinegoldie, jump!" Goh and Kasukarp yelled at once.
While Shinegoldie managed to jump a respectable height, Goh's large Magikarp jumped so high, he disappeared into the sky, much to everybody else's utter amazement.
"Whoa, Goh had wiped the floor with Kasukarp!" Bonnie cheered. "Well done, Goh!"
The public continued to look into the sky, looking for any sign of Goh's Magikarp coming down. But they waited and waited, but the Magikarp didn't come down. People started to mutter. Goh looked visibly worried.
"Uh... since according to the tournament rules, the results are measured after landing..." the announcer began, sounding unsure. "...that means Kasukarp's Shinigoldie is the winner by default!"
There was a half hearted applause at the announcement.
"Yes!" Kasukarp cheered, seemingly happy with winning through a technicality. "We're still the kings of Magikarp Jump!"
With such a weird and frankly anticlimatic ending to the tournament, the crowd began to disperse. Clemont and Bonnie walked back towards the spot their Pokemon and their things were at, passing through a row of several men who were fishing near the shore.
"Man, what a bummer. The tournament was so great, but then Goh's Magikarp loses because of such a dumb reason," Bonnie whined.
"Nene," Dedenne agreed.
"I'm worried about that Magikarp," Clemont pointed out. "What must have happened for it to not come down?"
"Maybe it jumped so high it flew out of the planet," Bonnie casually said.
"Come on Bonnie, that's ridiculous," Clemont said. "Do you know the amount of energy needed to escape the planet's gravitational pull? For a mere Pokemon to be able to do that... it's scientifically impossible."
"OUCH!" somebody cried in pain.
Clemont and Bonnie's heads quickly turned towards the source of the cry, and they saw it was one of the men fishing by the shore. He had dropped his fishing rod into the water, and was nursing his hand as if something had hurt it. The two siblings quickly went to check on him.
"Are you okay, sir?" Clemont asked the fisherman, before picking up the rod and handing it back to him.
"I think. Thanks," the fisherman said, as he gratefully took the rod back.
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"A mostly odd thing... I was fishing, when something bit the bait, and I reeled in... and something zapped me!" the fisherman explained.
"Zapped?" Clemont repeated. "...well, maybe you caught a Pokemon that's both Water and Electric?"
"It must be that damned Eletux again," a second fisherman said.
"Eletux?" Bonnie asked.
"That can't be right," the fisherman said, shaking his head. "Eletux live mostly in lakes and rivers. They've been spotted in the sea a couple times, but those times are extremely rare. Plus-"
BZZZZ!
"OW!" another fisherman yelled, dropping his fishing rod as well and falling to the shallow watter on his rear. "What the...? Something shocked me!"
BZZZZ!
"AW!" a third fisherman shouted, unwittingly following the actions of the first and second ones.
The rest of the nearby fishermen, seeing what happened, quickly pulled back their rods and got out of the water.
"Just... what in the name of Leviathao is going on?" another fisherman asked.
"Maybe it's an Eletux after all..." the first fisherman was forced to admit.
"See? I told you! That Eletux has been here bothering us for quite a few days now," the second fisherman said, before looking towards the sea, and scowled. "Good for nothing troublemaker, bothering people who are just minding their own business..."
"But what it's doing here? This is seawater!" another fisherman protested.
"I don't know, but as long as that Eletux is here, we won't be able to fish. I better go somewhere else," another fisherman said, as he walked away. The small group of fishermen followed suit, quickly dispering, leaving Clemont and Bonnie alone.
"It seems that Eletux is a troublemaker," Bonnie said, crossing her arms and gazing into the water, as if trying to see where he was. "Unlike Vitor's Eletux, which is so nice."
"Well, it's kind of expected. Trained Pokemon tend to be less unruly and hostile to humans than wild Pokemon," Clemont explained.
"We should do something about it. Shocking those fishermen wasn't very nice," Bonnie said.
"If he continues causing trouble, somebody will call the Rangers, and they'll solve this problem as fast as efficiently as possible," Clemont replied.
"The Rangers? Ha!" the second fisherman said. "I already called them a few times, but according to those guys, a mere Eletux bothering people isn't reason enough for them to show up. Heh, as if they had anything better to do..."
"In that case, let us deal with him!" Bonnie offered, before she looked at Clemont. "Besides, Eletux might try to zap people bathing in the water too," Bonnie said, before she looked towards the direction they came from. "Some of our Pokemon are still playing in the water."
Clemont looked in the same direction, and saw said Pokemon blissfully playing in the water, splashing at each other. Remembering how quickly they turned on each other when Minicorn stole their food, the inventor realized that if Eletux chose them as their next targets, another free for all might happen as a result of the Pokemon trying to find the culprit.
"...I think you may have a point," Clemont said, adjusting his glasses. "Let's make sure that Eletux doesn't cause any problem."
"If he doesn't have a trainer, you should catch him yourself," Bonnie suggested. "You didn't catch any new electric Pokemon after Luxray."
Clemont didn't say anything, but he didn't oppose the idea.
…
A few minutes later, after Clemont fetched Luxray and Chespin –leaving Braixen in charge to watch the remaining Pokemon– , Clemont and Bonnie had returned to the area the fishermen were. The plan was to use Luxray's vision to locate Eletux, and Chespin's Vine Whip to catch him and pull him out of the water, while Clemont was on the water, acting as the bait.
"Why I'm the one who has to be on the water?" Clemont protested.
"If not you, who else then? Dedenne?" Bonnie asked, while holding her Pokemon protectively. "Come on! Pretend you're having a great time so that Eletux comes to ruin your day!"
"Okay..." Clemont sighed, as he began to waddle through the water from one side to another.
As Clemont pretended, rather unconvincingly, to be having fun, Luxray watched the water intently while Chespin just stared at both his trainer at the sea with a hesitant expression, not knowing well what was he doing there.
Clemont spend a few minutes waddling through the water and making some small splashes with his hands, but nothing happened. For a few minutes, Bonnie watched his brother's lame attempt at drawing Eletux out. Then, during a brief flash, she saw something moving close to him.
"Clemont, I think it's there!" Bonnie yelled.
"Where-AH!" Clemont yelped, seemingly seeing something swimming close to him underwater. The blond began to panic, but managed to call for action. "Chespin, Vine Whip!"
"Ches!" Chespin replied, firing two vine whips into the water next to his trainer. The whips wrapped around something, and pulled it out of the water...
"Karp!"
...revealing it to be a Magikarp.
Both Bonnie and Clemont sighed, the former in disappointment, the latter in relief, before Chespin, not knowing what to do, opted for returning the clueless fish back to the water.
"I should have realized it wasn't an Eletux. Otherwise Luxray would have seen it, right?" Clemont asked.
"Lux," Luxray, who was lying on the sand on his belly, nodded softly.
"Let's try again," Bonnie said.
And try again they did. Clemont managed to draw quite a few aquatic Pokemon, but none of them was Eletux. It was obvious in hindsight that none of them were Eletux since Luxray didn't warn him of Eletux's presence. However, whenever Bonnie would see something move near Clemont, she would scream, causing Clemont to panic and order Chespin to fire Vine Whip. After several failed attempts, Clemont was ready to throw the towel.
"This isn't working," the inventor said. "We need to think-"
"LUXRAY!" Luxray shouted, as he jumped to his feet, his body tense and ready to battle.
"What, where!?" Clemont panicked, as he looked around him, trying to find a hint of where the mischevous Pokemon might be.
"Tux, tux," a voice cried softly behind him.
Clemont turned around, and indeed, there was an Eletux there. Or better said, the head of an Eletux peeking out of the water, looking at Clemont with an unreadable expression. Or at least, an expression that didn't make Clemont feel safe around the Water-type Pokemon.
"Hey there," Clemont said, trying to sound friendly.
"Tux?" Eletux asked, titling his head quizzically.
"You're an Eletux aren't you? Well, of course you are, that was a bit dumb of me to say, hehe," Clemont chuckled nervously, as he began to look around. "So... haven't you been causing some problems to those fishermen, weren't you?"
Clemont expected some form of acknowledgement for his question, but all he was met with was silence.
"I'm sure you didn't mean harm and you only wanted to play," Clemont continued. "But you can't-AGH!"
Clemont was interrupted when all of sudden, Eletux fired a Water Gun to his face, making him fall backwards into the water.
"LUX!" Luxray roared, as he jumped into the water, ready to protect his trainer from the rogue Water and Electric type.
"Chespin, pull Clemont back!" Bonnie hastily ordered.
Chespin obeyed, firing two vine whips, this time directed at Clemont, which wrapped under his arms, lifted him out of the water, and gently placed him back on the sand. Meanwhile, Luxray attempted to catch Eletux, but the Hippocampus Pokemon had advantage in the water, and quickly swam away. Letting out a low growl, Luxray swam back to the shore. And shook the water out of his fur.
"Are you okay, Clemont?" Bonnie asked, holding her hands a little worried.
"Y-Yeah, that Water Gun wasn't that powerful," Clemont reassured her, before coughing out some water he had swallowed. "I guess that Eletux does like to cause mischef for fun."
"That Eletux needs somebody to set him straight," Bonnie said, crossing her arms, and looking into the water. "Though, I don't know how are we going to catch him now. If you get into the water, he'll know it's a trap."
"True. Eletux might like to cause problem, but he didn't look stupid," Clemont agreed.
"Fishermen appeared to be his favorite target," Bonnie pointed out. "We could try to fish him with a rod, but then he'll shock us..."
"Wait... that's it! All we need is a rod that Eletux can't use to shock us!" Clemont said, as his eyes gleamed with an excited glint. "And I have such rod! The future is now thanks to science! Clemontic gear on!"
However, nothing happened. It took Clemont a couple seconds to realize that he wasn't carrying his backpack. The inventor's face reddened a little.
"Well, that was embarrassing," he sheepishly chuckled. "Thank goodness no one saw that..."
"I saw it. And Luxray and Chespin saw it too," Bonnie flatly said.
…
A few minutes later, Clemont returned from the spot where he and his friends and sister had left their backpacks. He was carrying a sleek looking fishing rod.
"Behold! A normal fishing rod, but completely automatized! The rod uses professional fishing techniques to calculate casting techniques and depths to fish from, and then, once a Pokemon bites the lure, it automatically reels it in!" Clemont proudly explained. "I call it... the Automatic Fisher and Jumper Fishing Rod!"
"Not getting into how your naming skills still need a lot of improvement... how is that rod going to help us?" Bonnie asked, as she studied the invention with her eyes.
"Didn't you hear me? This rod does everything in place of the fisherman! Now look!" Clemont said, before casting the lure into the water, about five meters away from the shore. Then, he stabbed the lower end of the rod into the sand, deep enough for it to remain firm. "See? We don't have to do anything! The rod will do all the work!"
"Do you think it's a good idea to use an electronic rod to catch a Pokemon that likes to zap fishermen?" Bonnie asked, crossing her arms.
"I had that in mind, so I designed the rod to be extra resistant to electric attacks," Clemont said. "Now all we need to do is sit and watch."
Clemont and Bonnie sat on the sand, looking at the water in front of them, with Chespin and Luxray sitting besides them. Then, after a couple minutes, Luxray quickly jumped to his feet, growled and glared at the water, and a second after that, something pulled the line, followed by yellow electric sparks traveling alongisde it. However, like Clemont had said, the rod resisted.
"There! We have him now!" Clemont said, as the rod began to reel the line, and Eletux with it.
"ELE!" Eletux cried from the water, as his head was pulled. His body crackled with sparks as he sent more electricity towards the rod, while resisting its pull.
The rod held in place, but a buzzing noise could be heard from one of its components, while a thin plume of smoke appeared from another.
"Oh no! Eletux is overloading the rod!" Clemont said in panic.
"I thought you said you made it electricity-proof!" Bonnie yelled at him.
"I said I made it resistant to electricity, but I wasn't expecting Eletux's electric attacks to be that strong!" Clemont yelled back at her, though unlike Bonnie, his voice reflected worry and fear rather than anger.
"I knew it would end up exploding..." Bonnie deadpanned, as the thin trail of smoke coming from the rod became thicker.
Then, something unexpected happened. Luxray leaped towards the shore, but rather than going after Eletux, he bit down the line, redirecting Eletux's electricity from the rod towards his own body. Luxray flinched when the foreign electricity entered his body, but resisted. Then, with all his might, Luxray tugged the line with as much force as he could, violently pulling Eletux out of the water. The Water and Electric-type soared through the air in an arc above Clemont and Bonnie, the lure dropping from his mouth while mid air, before painfully crashing on the ground, raising a small cloud of sand.
"He did it! Luxray pulled Eletux out of the water!" Bonnie exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
Eletux got back on his feet, shaking his head to get rid of the dizzyness of the impact, before dashing towards the water. However, before he could reach the sea, Luxray jumped in front of him, cutting his path.
"Well done Luxray!" Clemont praised his Pokemon, as he ran behind him. "Now that Eletux is out of the water, he'll have to face us head on! Are you ready?"
"Lux!" Luxray nodded, before he glared at Eletux.
The Water and Electric-type returned the glare. It seemed that, despite attacking from the safety of the water, he wasn't adverse to a fight on solid ground. Eletux was the first one to attack, as the bulb on his longest tail glowed with a yellow light, before firing a thin stream of electricity.
"That's Charge Beam! Luxray, counter it with Swift!" Clemont ordered.
"Lux!" Luxray said, as he swung his tail towards the incoming attack, releasing a flurry of golden stars that flew towards the electric bolt in a straight line. The stars crashed against the incoming electric attack one after the other, bursting into golden sparkle whenever they impacted the Charge Beam, until both attacks cancelled each other.
"Now, Luxray, Thunder Fang!" Clemont ordered.
Luxray charged towards his fellow Electric-type, a torrent of electric sparks pouring from his open mouth. Eletux fired several Water Guns at Luxray, but the Gleam Eyes Pokemon was able to dodge them without slowing down. Once he reached close combat distance, Luxray sunk his electricity-imbued fangs onto Eletux's body.
"RAY!"
"TUUUUUX!" Eletux cried in pain.
"Hold on, Luxray! Don't let him escape you!" Clemont told his Pokemon, and Luxray faithfully obeyed.
Eletux, however, was about to prove to be more resilant than his appearance would suggest. His cheeks puffed up, before releasing a cloud of cold, white smoke into Luxray's face. This caused the Gleam Eyes Pokemon to accidentally drop Eletux, who quickly used the mist as a cover to put some distance between himself and his much stronger opponent.
"That's Mist!" Bonnie said in realization.
"Quickly, Luxray, don't let him escape!" Clemont urged him.
"Luxray," the Electric-type Pokemon calmly said, his eyes glowing, shaking his head.
Clemont understood what he meant. "He... he isn't trying to escape?"
"Lux," Luxray nodded.
"I see," Clemont said, his eyes locked onto the mist. "In that case, Eletux will try to use the fog as a cover to attack. That will be your chance, Luxray! The mist is useless against your eyes!"
"Ray!" Luxray proudly agreed.
It didn't took long for the attack to come. A yellow light shone within the mist, before a ball of electricity shot out of it, aiming for Luxray.
"Electro Ball, huh? Luxray, counter it with Discharge!" Clemont commanded.
Once again, Luxray's body crackled with electricity, before firing multiple yellow lightning bolts at the incoming electric orb. But much to Clemont and Luxray's surprise, the electric orb suddenly transformed into a circular net made of electricity. Most of Luxray's bolts went through the net's openings, before Luxray was trapped by the net.
"Luxray!" Clemont cried.
"Just what was that?" Bonnie asked, sounding outraged. "What kind of attack-"
"Electroweb. An electric attack that can slow down a Pokemon," Clemont said in realization. "Electroweb sometimes looks similar to Electro Ball just after it's been cast. I should have ordered Luxray to dodge instead."
Luxray shook the web off of his body, but his body already felt a little more numb and heavy. That moment, the fog disappeared, revealing Eletux. The Water and Electric type Pokemon looked at Luxray smugly.
"Luxray, Discharge!" Clemont ordered once again.
For the third time, Luxray's body was charged with electricity, before releasing it in the form of multiple lightning bolts. However, those bolts appeared to move slower than they did before. Eletux began to jump around the sand, skillfully dodging Luxray's attacks, before firing a powerful stream of water at Luxray from his mouth.
"Luxray, dodge!" Clemont called.
Luxray tried to get out of the way of the attack, but thanks to Electroweb's effect, he wasn't fast enough, and the stream of water slammed into his body, sending him crashing backwards.
"Luxray!" Clemont cried. "Luxray, are you okay?"
"Lux..." Luxray wheezed, as he got back to his feet. He was panting, and his body had a few bruises, but he didn't look to hurt.
"That Eletux is craftier than I thought," Clemont said, before looking at Chespin, who had been watching the fight in awe. "Chespin, go and help-"
"LUXRAY!" Luxray roared, causing Clemont to startle. He then glared at Eletux, before growling softly at him.
"Luxray..." Clemont said. He felt the need to call his Pokemon out for acting so prideful, but it was in Luxray's nature. He was a loyal and dutiful Pokemon who saw himself not only as the protector of the rest of Clemont's Pokemon, but their trainer as well. And if Luxray couldn't defeat this Eletux who had dared to attack Clemont, what would that say of him? "Alright, Luxray, I have faith you can do it!"
"Lux!" Luxray said, standing proud on his four legs.
Eletux then began to run and jump around Luxray, raising small trails of sand around him. It seemed that Eletux was aware that he was now the faster of the two, and wanted to exploit that advantage for all what it was worth. He sometimes fired Charge Beams of Water Guns at Luxray, which the Gleam Eyes Pokemon was too slow to dodge.
"That Eletux thinks that he has mobility advantage over Luxray. Does he know Luxray has an attack that can't be dodged?" Clemont wondered. "Luxray, use Swift!"
"Ray!" Luxray cried, swinging his tail at Eletux, releasing yet another flurry of golden stars.
Eletux moved around in an attempt to dodge the attack. But much to the Hippocampus Pokemon's shock, the stars actually homed on him as if they had life of their own. Caught off guard, he was hit by the attack before he could use one of his own to counter it, and was painfully pelted by a shower of energy stars.
"Time to finish this! Luxray, Wild Charge!" Clemont called.
"Luuuuuux...!" Luxray charged as fast as he could towards Eletux, as a thick cloak of yellow electricity engulfed his whole body.
Eletux was still reeling from the damage caused by Swift when he caught a glimpse of what was coming to him, and looked at Luxray like a Deerling caught in the headlights. "El?"
"RAY!"
Luxray slammed into Eletux with as much force as he could muster, and the moment he slammed into his foe, the cloak of electricity exploded into a blast of lightning bolts. The force of the slam and the electric explosion sent Eletux flying backwards, before loudly crashing against the sand.
As this happened, Clemont pulled out an empty pokeball from the pocket of his swimming trunks. "Pokeball, go!"
Clemont tossed the pokeball towards the downed Eletux. The capture device found its mark, opened up, and sucked Eletux inside it, before closing and dropping to the ground. Clemont and Bonnie held their breath as they watched the pokeball wiggling a couple times, before it stopped, and dinged, signaling a successful capture.
"You did it, Clemont! Yay!" Bonnie cheered, as she began to jump up and down.
"Nenene!" Dedenne cheered as well.
"Ches, chespin!" so did Chespin.
Clemont walked towards the now still pokeball, and picked it up.
"Today is a great day for science, I caught an Eletux!" Clemont said, raising Eletux's pokeball.
"...ray," Luxray said, before he collapsed on the sand.
"Luxray!" Clemont said, as he rushed to check his Pokemon. He was pretty tired and bruised, not to mention sweating down a waterfall, given he had to fight under such a heat, but so far, he didn't look too bad. Clemont smiled, as he rubbed Luxray's mane. "You were great, Luxray. An impressive battle."
"Lux..." Luxray weakly said, his mouth curving into something that appeared to be a smile.
"Say, how about a treat for helping me catch a new Pokemon?" Clemont suggested. "Right now, I think all of us could use an ice cream."
Luxray merely nodded.
…
Sometime later, the entire group gathered once again at the spot they had left most of their stuff and their Pokemon. Needless to say, Bonnie excitedly told Ash and Serena how Clemont and Luxray had fought and caught that rogue Eletux. They also made sure to bring Luxray a big bowl of ice cream, so the Gleam Eyes Pokemon could both fight the heat and recover his strength.
"Man, what a bummer. We split for the day, and we miss Clemont catching a new Pokemon!" Ash whined. Pikachu shook his head patted him on the head.
"So, why don't you show us Eletux, so we can greet him into the group?" Serena suggested.
"Of course," Clemont said, getting out the pokeball of his newest capture. "Come out, Eletux!"
The pokeball opened, releasing the Water and Electric-type starter Pokemon of Tandor. He looked around, and was a little startled to see the sheer amount of humans and Pokemon looking at him.
"Don't be afraid, these people and Pokemon are your new friends," Bonnie happily reassured him. "Say hello to Eletux!"
All the Pokemon did so, some with most enthusiasm than others.
"Co!"
And there was Colarva, who launched himself onto Eletux and gripped him with his little legs in an attempt to hug him. Eletux, accosted by the cold, growled and began to gather electricity in order to get rid of the literal cuddle bug.
"Lux..." Luxray growled, as he pierced Eletux with a dispproving glare.
Eletux gulped, and relented, resigning himself to suffer Colarva's cold loving embrace.
"Excuse me, Colarva, but I'm afraid that you're making Eletux a little uncomfortable, hugging him like that," Clemont politely asked. "Would you mind giving him some space?"
"Larva!" Colarva happily agreed, as he jumped off of Eletux's body, much to the Hippocampus Pokemon's relief.
"See, Eletux? You don't need to be mean. You can accomplish a lot of things by being nice," Clemont told him.
"Lux," Luxray added, underscoring what Clemont had said.
Eletux looked at Clemont, and then at Luxray, as if judging their words, before he reluctantly nodded, and let the other Pokemon greet him on a more personal basis.
The group spend another hour on the beach. Ash, Serena and Bonnie went to the water to play with some of their Pokemon, while Clemont decided to stay on his towel and rest a bit after the intense battle against Eletux, with Luxray keeping him company. After that, they got dressed back on their usual clothes, and continued their journey towards Burole Town.
…
Goh sat on the sand, crestfallen, looking at the sky, wondering what has been of his Magikarp. Would he be okay? Would he be safe? It was hard to tell. And the thought ate him on the inside.
"Huh?" Goh asked, upon seeing something blinking into the twilight sky. Startled, he quickly jumped to his feet as he saw that a meteor was heading right towards him. A meteor that was very familiar to him.
"KAAAAAARP!"
The meteor slammed into the ground in front of him, opening a large crater in the sand. And inside that crater was no other that Goh's larger than normal Magikarp, flopping as if nothing had happened.
"YOU'RE BACK!" Goh said, as he hugged the giant fish in elation.
Author's Note: And Clemont catches his second Tandorian Pokemon! Yay!
Yeah, we're 12 chapters into the story, so Clemont was due for a focus chapter, given that he didn't get enough focus during the Eevee capture episode since that was a collective capture. And as you can imagine, Eletux was a very deliberate choice on my part, since I feel Clemont needed at least another Electric-type beyond Luxray.
Speaking of Luxray, I took this chapter as an opportunity to flesh him out a little more. In the anime he's just Clemont's strongest Pokemon, but he only uses Luxray for tough battles or whenever they need to look for something, and almost never explore his personality after evolving, so I hope I give him some justice here by emphasizing his role as the "alpha" or "big brother" of Clemont's team, and all what it entails.
I felt like including Goh's cameo here after watching that two-shorts episode of JN, which was the only JN episode I had watched while writing this chapter (since then, I also watched Iris and Serena's respective return episodes). I originally watched it for the Slowpoke/Slowking shenenigans, but not only did I find that part rather meh, but I ended up liking the Magikark Jump contest a lot. And given that this chapter took place in a beach, I felt like including that contest as a nod to that episode.
Next chapter, our heroes arrive at Burole Town, where Ash will fight for his second badge and Serena for her second ribbon. In the meantime, don't forget to leave a review! Seeing your reviews really makes my day and encourages me to keep writing.