Dirk Amoeba
01-25-2004, 03:25 PM
The classic Pokemon comedy returns! MOOHAHAHA!
Chapter 1
Black opened his eyes. Another beautiful dawn in Azalea town! Pidgeys singing, sun shining, and Bellsprout dancing.
"Bellsprout dancing?" Black questioned the narrative. "What? Huh?"
"Bellsprout. Bell. Sprout. Bellsprout." The Bellsprout turned on the radio next to Black.
“One more time...mmm... You know I’m jus’ feelin’... Celebration... Tonight... Celebrate... Don’t wait too late...mmm.... Y’know.....we don’t stop...you can’t stop..”
Black considered this happening. "Hmm... a Bellsprout on my bedroom floor. Looks like he brought confetti, balloons, and a big bowl of punch. Yeah. Uh, there's some techno music playing loudly on my radio. Where is this familiar from?"
He concentrated real hard. "Oh yeah!" he said. "This is the same thing that's happened over and over since I met Bellsprout at some birthday party! He followed me home and he keeps sneaking into the house and annoying me! I didn't even like that kid, anyway!"
The idea that this Bellsprout party was a staple of everyday life finally registered with his brain. "Woah! That's scary!" he said aloud!
Then, he became even more terrified. His mom walked in with dark circles under her eyes. She was pretty scary looking, but that's not what he was scared of. "If I've told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. NO BELLSPROUT PARTIES IN THE HOUSE! This is the third time this month. Tell your friend to go home. NOW." She walked out the door and closed it. Then, she came back in. "Oh, by the way," she said, "you're grounded for three more days."
Suddenly, Black let loose his anger. He screamed very loudly, waking up his father and twin sister.
“Wahh!” he heard. He heard footsteps running past his door from the direction of Sara’s room toward his parents. “Mom! Black woke me up!”
“I know, Sara,” she said. She was again in Black’s room within seconds. “Better make it a week.”
A week came and went. Black was stuck in the house when not at school, and he could never go forth into the fresh air and warm sun that always seemed to be shining in Azalea Town. This was a usual part of life, because it seemed Bellsprout seemed only to show up on the day he would no longer be grounded.
"I have bad luck," he commented to himself sitting Friday by the window, throwing stuff at various objects outside which either A) resembled Bellsprout B) he wished resembled Bellsprout, or C) he hoped would resemble Bellsprout by the time he finished deforming them by throwing things at them.
"So close, yet so far," he thought about his grounding. He picked up a squeaky moose and threw it at the mailbox outside. It hit the box and made a faint wheezing noise. "Yay," he said sarcastically in the monotone of boredom. "Point for me."
Then, Saturday, his day of freedom came. "Yes!" he said as he walked out of his house. "It's a lovely summer day, and I'm off to do what I do best: WASTE MONEY!"
He rushed to the comic book shop where he was known as the annoying kid whose hair looked like it had been cut by a rooster.
"Time to buy like crazy!" he said.
"Yeah, right," muttered the man at the counter. He knew what Black did at a comic store. He found all of his favorite comics' latest issues and made sure to cover every inch with his fingerprints then put them back.
"That was fun!" Black said. :Time to go outside and experience the lovely Azalea sun!"
He stepped out to notice that it was raining in sheets. "Oh, just my luck again." He began his long and tiresome journey to his home in the rain.
Suddenly, he heard a clang. A garbage can, tipped on its side, rolled over, and a very dizzy and injured Slowpoke rolled out of it.
"Awww... It's so cute. But my Mom and Dad would never let me have a Pokčmon of my own after all those Bellsprout incidences..." As he trailed off in mid-sentence, he noticed that the Slowpoke was cowering in fear. There were scratches all over its back. He could not just leave it in the garbage can, maybe to die.
"Oh, I suppose I should take it to the Pokčmon center." The Pokčmon center was nearby, luckily. He dragged the Slowpoke to the place of healing that all great trainers had visited, including the new champion as of a few months ago Gold.
The nurse healed the poor Slowpoke and released it into the wild. "This Slowpoke was beaten by a grass type move, but it’s now fine. You should get yourself home. This rain is supposed to get even worse. You should take a rain poncho."
"Thanks," he said. The nurse handed him one and he slipped it on, walking out the door. He looked at the Slowpoke, sitting outside the center. "Cute little guy..." he noticed the Slowpoke was looking at him. He walked over and petted the Slowpoke, then started for home.
At his house, he sat playing his Gamecube until he got sick of losing every game and decided it was time for a rest. He lay in his bed, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the house. He didn't know why, but he liked that sound. As he listened it, he drifted to sleep.
However, he had two visitors later at night after the rain had stopped. The Bellsprout opened the window and climbed in. "Who's ready to PAR-TAY?" he inquired. Then he noticed that Black was asleep. "Tsk, tsk, lazybones," he said in the peculiar language of Pokčmon, called "the peculiar language of Pokčmon." He thought. "Hey! Maybe that guy outside'll party!"
He went to Black’s garage and got a wooden board for a ramp. He put one end on the window, and one end where the heavy Pokčmon outside could walk up. The Slowpoke walked in.
"Yo! It's Party Time!" said the Bellsprout.
"Huh? Oh... It's that nice boy who helped me today. I like him. I also like food. And playgrounds. And-"
"Just shaddup and boogie!" Bellsprout turned on the party music and started to dance.
"Huh... Oh... Huh...?"
"Dance!"
"Oh...Yeah!"
So, the pair boogied for about five minutes. And then Black woke up. A bit of a delayed reaction, I guess.
"What? Again? And there's the Slowpoke... Huh? Oh... Huh...?" Black sounded a lot like the very Slowpoke he was referring to.
Suddenly, a realization dawned on Black. "Wait... the nurse said Slowpoke was beaten by a grass Pokčmon... BELLSPROUT! So you were the Pokčmon who hurt Slowpoke! You should be ashamed, you, you, you--"
"No! Not me!" Black only heard "Bell! Sproutbell!" but the Bellsprout made negative gestures like hand waves, head shakes, and the Macarena.
"Oh yeah? Then who?" Black asked skeptically.
Bellsprout suddenly jumped out the window.
"Wow. That Bellsprout jumped out the window. What a strange Pokčmon,” said Black. “Oh well, Slowpoke. You can stay outside until morning. Then I'll ask my parents if I can keep you." He lifted the Slowpoke and put him outside. "I doubt they’ll say yes, though."
Meanwhile, Bellsprout ran looking for the real culprit. He had seen earlier. He saw many things in the town. Soon, he found him: a boy with an Oddish. The boy was giving his Oddish a pep talk, but he suddenly saw Bellsprout.
"A Bellsprout!! I want one!" The boy dove for Bellsprout. Bellsprout might have been grabbed if not for his dance moves which helped him get out of the way.
"AHHHHHH!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!" Bellsprout screamed. Of course, all that the boy heard was "SPROUUUT!!!! SPROUT BELLLLL!!!!" But Bellsprout ran. He was trting to make it look like he was just running to get away, but Bellsprout was actually attempting to lead him to Black's house.
White, the boy with the Oddish, chased the Bellsprout. He thought he could catch it,
when it ran into a house window. Black was soon at the window.
"HEY!!!" said Black. "Who are you? Wait.... I get it! You're the one who hurt the Slowpoke! That's what Bellsprout is trying to tell me." Black, if you haven't guessed, is quite the slow one.
White looked at the familiar Pokčmon. "So what? It's how you get experience on a journey! Get to bed kid! Don't bother me."
Black went back to bed. But then he got back up. "Hey, wait! This is my property! You come barging into my backyard, yelling and screaming, then you tell me to go to bed? What's wrong with you?"
"Shut up," said White, leaving. "You're so annoying!" As he walked away, he began grumbling. “Rrr... I guess I won’t be getting that Bellsprout."
Black went back to bed, and the night passed uneventfully.
"Yessss!" Black thought in the morning. "I wasn't grounded!" That was because the terrified Bellsprout had left, and Black had gotten some sleep.
But only a little. He had lain up most of the night thinking about starting his own journey with the Slowpoke. Then he could find that boy and teach him a lesson. But he also thought that the boy had done nothing wrong by beating a wild Pokčmon. It was, after all, what he was supposed to do...
He approached his parents at breakfast. He asked if he could keep the Slowpoke.
"Well," his dad said, "If you can avoid another Bellsprout incident for two weeks, maybe. But leave it at the Pokčmon center for now and tell the nurse to hold it for you."
After getting back from the center, Black took the board that Bellsprout had used as a ramp for Slowpoke and used it to block off his window. "This should keep that Bellsprout out."
To make a short story even shorter, it did. He picked up the Slowpoke the Sunday he was supposed to. Now came the hard part: getting permission for a Pokčmon journey.
"Dad," Black said simply. "Can I go on a Pokčmon journey?"
"No," said his dad.
"Why?" Black asked.
"No," said his dad.
"Please? That's what Read and Blue and Gold and all them did at my age!" Black persisted.
"Oh, I don't know. It's just that... It's a long trek away from home and hard work..."
"Oh, C'mon! I'm 12!"
"Oh, we'll see."
Meanwhile, Team Rocket leader Giovanni sat down, finally getting a moment of relaxation. "Ah," he said. "Another plan about to be put into action."
"Sir," came the call over the intercom. "This is Executive Jon. The machine is ready!"
"Good," said Giovanni. "Begin the process."
Giovanni watched the screen in front of him. It showed him a scene far over the border of Kanto. Diglett's tunnel, in fact. This was where the strange happenings began. A young trainer was battling one Diglett, when suddenly the Diglett he was battling was joined by others. All of the Diglett burrowed under him, causing the ground beneath him to cave in. He fell through the hole, and he found that he was in a tunnel. Before he knew it, he was being pushed along by about ten Diglett as a group of Dugtrio ahead worked on the tunnel.
Giovanni laughed. He loved it when his plans succeeded. The call came to his office. "Sir, this is Executive Jon. The plan has succeeded in its first phase."
"Excellent," Giovanni said slowly. Then he added, "Second-In-Command Jon."
It was a few weeks later that, very reluctantly, Black's parents agreed to let him have a journey, at least on a trial basis. He had a week to get ready.
“YEAH!!!!!!! I'M LEAVIN' ON A JOURNEY!!!!"
"Sloww.....?" Slowpoke looked quite puzzled.
"I wish I knew what you were saying. Now, I wonder if that party Bellsprout would like to come... I could use some Pokčmon."
However, Bellsprout had taken a hint that he was unwanted as a Pokčmon partner after several attempts on breaking a boarded up window. The problem was, as Bellsprout thought, that Black disliked parties. So Bellsprout's mission was to follow Black and introduce him to the joy of partying like it's 1999.
The day was upon Black. He would hike to New Bark and battle a little along the way. But he had to say goodbyes first.
"Here. It's a gift for you," his Mom said, extending a box toward Black. "Open it in front of Professor Elm."
"Thanks. Bye Mom," he said, grabbing the box and stuffing it in his backpack.
"Here's a gift from me, " his dad said, also extending his hand. "Open it after your mom's gift."
"Thanks. Bye Dad." He grabbed the gift and put it in there too.
Black left, waving. If he had been watching closely, he'd have known that a Grass Pokčmon with a party hat had seen him and was following him...
Chapter 2
"I'm gonna follow that boy and see if he'll be my friend!" Bellsprout thought to himself. Today, he was wearing a paper party hat and carrying a sack. This sack was full of party supplies because he was a party-loving Bellsprout. He still did not know that Black was sick of him. It thought Black hated parties and wanted to change his mind.
The sudden appearance of a board on Black's window had caused the Bellsprout to think this. Bellsprout had hi-tailed it out of Azalea. Actually, it was originally headed to New Bark to find a new home, and someone who liked parties. But as fate would have it, Black was also going. This was lucky. It was a sign from somewhere above. He was meant to party. And he would.
“Why did I decide to hike over Union Cave?” asked Black. Of course, the answer was to avoid a week of spelunking, but Black was a rhetorical question kind of guy.
He felt like he had been gone an eternity, when it had only been a few hours. It was lunchtime, but he had lost most of his food to a group of Ratatta a while back.
“Just one more insurmountably large rock, and I’m there,” panted Black. Although he didn’t believe it for a second, it sounded reassuring.
It was actually true. He sighed with relief as he leaned on a stick. He was so tired, more so than seemed usual. Using his last energy, he ran towards the lovely cityscape.
He decided that as soon as he got to the city, he would find a Pokčmon center and rest.
He got out the Pokčball he had found, now containing Slowpoke, but he tiredly dropped it, and picked it up. He walked triumphantly to the gates of the city and fell in a heap on the road. "Uhh... must make it to the center..."
As luck would have it, the Pokčball accidentally opened. "Slowwwwww..." said the Slowpoke. It took a while to figure out that Slowpoke should carry the trainer to a Pokčmon Center. Slowpoke left the spot , lugging Black, without glancing back to see he had forgotten the Pokčball. Slowpoke took even longer to locate the Center, which was a few yards away, but it found it and went in.
Only about half an hour later, someone else passed the same gate. Guess who! No, it's not Ross Perot. It's White! "Ah!" said White, picking up the Pokčball Slowpoke had forgotten. "I knew I dropped this Pokčball somewhere..." Suddenly, White too fell in a heap near the gates.
"Oh, My!" said a passing man (who, coincidentally, was also NOT Ross Perot). “I must help this person." The man carried White to the Pokčmon center, the closest place where he would be able to give him a little rest.
As soon as the man walked away with White, Bellsprout also approached. This gateway was a very popular place today. Seeing a Pokčball, a gift it could give to befriend Black, he bent and picked it up, but suddenly he also dropped to the ground. This time, though, nobody helped the victim, because nobody cares about a poor Bellsprout wearing an odd paper hat.
It was a few hours later. Black woke up in a Pokčmon center. A nurse and a familiar looking man looked at him.
"Hmm...” said the nurse. "The awakening worked. It must have been sleep powder."
"Yes, but what of the other boy," said the man. "We don't know for sure it was the same thing. We'd best ask this one some questions."
Black was fully awake. "Okay, but first I'd like to know who you are and how I got here. Will you please tell me that?"
"Oh, so sorry. I'm Oak, a Professor of Pokčmon. I hear a Slowpoke brought you here. Very odd behavior for a Slowpoke, that is, very odd indeed. Now I've got to ask you, what was the last thing you remember doing before you got here?"
Black was still in awe. "You're Professor Oak? THE Professor Oak?"
"Yes," said Oak. "Please answer my question."
"Sorry," Black apologized. "I took out my Pokčball that I had found earlier on the ground. I accidentally dropped it. I picked it up again, and collapsed."
"Hmm... Interesting."
Black walked to the couch where the other guy was sleeping. He gasped. He'd know that face anywhere, even though he had only seen it for a minute, about a month ago. "Hey! That guy beat up this Slowpoke with his Oddish before I found it! I talked to him the night I found the Slowpoke!!"
The Nurse walked over and applied some awakening to the boy. He woke up and immediately recognized Oak. "Hey! It’s Professor Oak!" A pause. “And some other guy!”
"Uh, I have a name, and it's Black, from Azalea. You saw me a few weeks ago in Azalea. You completely massacred my Slowpoke."
"Oh. I guess I remember, kinda, sorta, a little, not really. I’m White of Cherrygrove. Now how did I get here?”
"I brought you," Prof. Oak said. “You had sleep powder on you."
"Hey! I think that makes a little sense. My Oddish learned Sleep Powder!” White explained. “I dropped my Pokčball in surprise, and in the excitement, I forgot to get it. I went back and found it at the gates, and I guess that's why I collapsed!"
"Oh, I found your Pokčball," Black said. "It's probably still at the gates, unless someone else took it."
"You don't want it," the nurse said. "It's covered in sleep powder!"
"Oh!" said Oak, Black, and White in unison. “That makes sense.”
"Wait! What If someone else did take it? That's not good," Black said. He left Slowpoke with the nurse and ran to the gates as fast as possible. He got there and saw a weird sight.
"No way! It's the party Bellsprout!" Black exclaimed as he saw the snoring figure. "I'd know that party hat anywhere!"
"What?" said Oak, getting there before White despite his old age. "A party Bellsprout? What’s that?"
"Long story..." Black groaned. He didn't feel like reliving his many encounters with the little annoyance.
White arrived just then and saw the Pokčmon. "Hey! It's the Bellsprout I chased to Slowpoke boy's house-- I mean Black's house."
Oak picked up the Bellsprout, inspecting it. "Yes, definitely sleep powder. I'm no doctor, but I can recognize these things."
"Yes," said Black. "Glad that's over, though. Let's get him to the center and use some Awakening. I needa get Slowpoke anyway."
White got out a cloth and scrubbed the Pokčball, attempting to free it of sleep powder. He saw that it wasn't working, so he decided to see if he could get it cleaned at the center. So the three walked together.
When they got there, Nurse Joy boiled some water to kill the powder on the ball, telling White that it would take practice to control Oddish's new ability. Oak left Bellsprout with the nurse, and she went to get some more Awakening. Black got his Slowpoke, who was standing in the corner.
"Hey, buddy!" he said, hugging it. "Ya miss me?"
"Sllloooowwwwww... Poke Poke Solwwwww... Poke Poke..." Slowpoke said. If Black could understand the peculiar language of Pokčmon, he would have heard, "What? Huh? You were gone? I didn't even notice..."
"Here," Oak said, holding out a Pokčball. "It's a new Pokčball. You might want it, because this one won't put you to sleep, unless you stare at it for a few hours and get bored."
"Cool!" Black said as he called Slowpoke into the ball. The camera did a whirl thing, then a full body view. The background was green. He held the ball right in front of him and shouted "Slowpoke, return!"
"Wow," White said. "Somebody's overly dramatic."
"Now I need to get to New Bark Town in a few minutes, so I must take leave of you all," Oak said.
"Wait! How do you expect to get there in minutes?" Black asked Oak. "That's where I'm headed for. It's at least a day away!"
"Oh, I fly on my Pidgeot. You can ride too, if you'd like."
"Wow, thanks!" said Black.
As he boarded Pidgeot, he was a little nervous "I've never flown before," he commented to Oak.
"Just relax," Oak said. "Be sure to hold on tight!"
Black mounted the Pidgeot. As soon as Oak was on, the Pidgeot flapped his wings and they were up in the air.
"Wow!" said Black. "How fast!" And it was only getting speedier.
"Just try not to look down, okay?" Oak asked.
"Too late," Black said. But he wasn't really scared he just saw a rush of trees, then some buildings, then pitch-black smoke. Pitch-black smoke? "I'll have to check that out later," he thought.
It was barely a minute before they touched down slowly in New Bark Town. "Woah," he said. "Feel funny... woozy..."
"That's normal," Oak said. "I'll bet you're here to talk to professor Elm, aren't you?" Oak asked him.
"Yeah," Black said. "That's right."
"Oh, so let's go together."
As they walked, the two talked about Black's goals.
"You're going to want to collect plenty of Gym Badges, I'm certain," Oak said.
"Yes," said Black. "And I'm gonna try to get plenty of Pokčmon!"
"Sounds good," Oak said. Oh, here we are!"
They had arrived at Elm's lab. Nervously, Black walked in.
Meanwhile, in Violet City, Bellsprout was waking up. "Yay! I'm up!" He ran out of the center.
"I'm free!" he shouted. "Such a monumental event calls for a celebration!" He considered this. "Actually, any event would call for a celebration in my book.
He heard footsteps somewhere. He looked over and saw White.
"It's White!" said Bellsprout. "This calls for a celebration!"
He ran over to White, forced a paper party hat onto his head, and started dancing.
"Wha- Huh? What the heck are you doing! Get out of my face!" White yelled. He took off the hat, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. "Arg, go away!" He yelled at Bellsprout.
Bellsprout ran away. "That was close!" he said. "I made it out okay, though! That calls for a celebration!" After a quick dance of joy, he overheard Whit mumbling. It seemed White was going home to Cherrygrove to show off to his family. He decided to follow White until he saw Black again. The two walked out of Violet City, White not aware that he was one of a twosome.
It was about half an hour later. Bellsprout had been following White and his Oddish at a safe distance. White had let his Oddish out for company. "Hey, three's enough for a real party!" Bellsprout exclaimed. He got up and ran toward them.
But before he could make it, he felt a rumble in the Earth.
"Wuzzat? White asked. "Oddish, return. You need to be safe." He returned Oddish to his Pokčball. Suddenly, A bunch of nasty looking Diglett popped up from the ground. What?" White yelled. The ground caved in on him, and he was swallowd into the ground.
Bellsprout was confused. It panicked. Then, the Diglett and Dugtrio took him away too. This was the latest in a series of events that have involved mad Diglett and Dugtrio kidnapping humans. And this is what Oak was meeting Elm to discuss.
Chapter 3
Cherrygrove city was a bad place to be. Very bad, in fact.
Hordes of Diglett and Dugtrio were bringing young Pokémon trainers into buildings against their will. There were Weezing above every building, puffing out smoke to make the illusion of a dark cloud. Guards were posted at every possible exit. These guards were almost exactly like Rocket Grunts, but they wore shirts with a bright blue circle on the back, in which the letters SSA were written in red.
That qualifies it as a "BAD PLACE TO BE" in my book.
One of the guards, a tall man with light brown hair, went into the Pokémon center.
The PC was broken, the healing machine was turned off, and the lights were all turned off. In a corner, the nurse was sitting, gagged and tied up. There were more "SSA" guards at the stairs.
"I have to get up there. Prisoner transport," The guard from outside said. "On orders from the boss."
"Ok. Let me see your I.D."
"C'mon, you know me!" the guard insisted.
"Yeah, Rob," said the guard. "Boss's rules, though. It's kind of stupid. Nobody is loose in the streets but us!"
"Fine," said Rob. He reached into his pocket and took out a wallet. He opened it up and took out a card that proved that he was authorized. In fact, he was a lot more than a guard. He was an Executive, outranking the guard at the door.
The man looked at the card. "Okay. It checks out. You are allowed up there. Not like I didn't already know that."
He walked up the stairs. There were a few guards here. Pretty much a wreck, like the bottom floor. The entrances to the Cable Club areas were blocked off, and there were prisoners tied and gagged all around the room.
Rob motioned toward a tall boy with light colored hair tied up next to a Bellsprout wearing a party hat. Another guard silently untied the bonds on their feet (or roots, whichever one applied to them) and led them down the stairs and toward the door.
"See ya, Rob," said the guard from the stairs. Rob stopped, nodded a quick goodbye, and continued leading them.
White had a feeling of dread. He didn’t really have any idea of what was going on, and he had a feeling that he didn’t want to know.
Once a considerable distance from all other eyes and ears, Rob loosened the bonds on their hands and their gags. Immediately, White began his typical outburst. "Listen, Mr. Rob, You either let us go, or I'll... or I'll... uh..."
"Do what?" Rob inquired skeptically.
"Uh.." White pondered. "I'll be forced to ask you politely."
"What I thought. But you don't have to worry. I'm not Rob. I'm actually a researcher, working undercover here."
White gasped as he recognized the face. "I've heard of you!" he said. "You're the guy who invented the PC Pokčmon storage system!"
"Yep," Rob began. "I'm Bill. I'll be rescuing you today." He began walking, and White and Bellsprout followed. Him. Of course, Bellsprout was paying no attention. He was quite occupied listening to his Daft Punk: Discovery CD on his CD Walkman. But at least he was there.
White’s sense of dread was replaced with a huge feeling of relief. "Oh! Thanks! I was so scared! But what about the people who live here?"
"They are all locked in their houses with no way to escape," said 'Rob,' now revealed to be famed Pokčmon Researcher Bill.
"Oh no! My mom, dad, and brother live here! Tell them I'm okay!"
"Where do they live?" Bill asked.
"Just over there," White said, pointing at a house they passed by. "By the way, I'm White."
"Nice to meet you, White. I am taking you and your Bellsprout to a hidden tunnel out of here. I'm a spy from Professors Oak and Elm. The reason I rescued you is that you look like an able young man. I want you to go straight to Professor Elm and take him this note." Bill handed White a note as he led him and Bellsprout into a house. "There's a trapdoor under the table. It opens to a tunnel which leads into Elm’s lab."
White carefully opened the door, let himself and Bellsprout in, and closed it again. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor in the spot where Bill had promised. As White climbed down it, the house's door opened. Bellsprout hurried down, not wanting to be seen by any "SSA" guys, but he saw that it was Bill, holding a sack. "I think this is yours, Bellsprout."
"Bell!" thanked Bellsprout. There were some party supplies in the bag. They had been confiscated earlier while Diglett and Dugtrio were capturing him. There were even some extras that Bill had gotten as a gift. Bellsprout pulled out his tiny Boom Box and switched the CD from his Walkman into the Boom Box. He began to play his favorite song.
“One more time... We’re gonna celebrate... oh yeah... ah ha...”
"HEY BELLSPROUT! WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THAT!!! HURRY UP!" yelled White. Bellsprout rushed down the tunnel to catch up with White. As he ran, he wondered if it was really possible to have no time for Daft Punk.
Back in New Bark Town, Black stepped into a room full of very large and odd-looking machines. On a chair in the center of the large room sat a man in a lab coat, sleeping in front of a very large computer screen with a dancing Pichu screensaver.
It is said that first impressions are very important. This is Black's first impression of Professor Elm: A lazy scientist who likes dancing Pichu. And he may very well be just that, but that's beside the point. I don't know why I mentioned it.
The point is that Professor Oak walked over to Elm and prodded him with his finger. "Hello? Wake up!"
The professor still would not be roused, so Oak decided to use the sure fire way to wake him up: The Pokéflute. He held it in his outstretched arm, standing in a dramatic pose that looked very silly if anyone over the age of 53 did it. This has been clinically proven, by the way.
Immediately as Oak put the strange flute to his lips, a screeching sound emitted from the flute that was not very much unlike nails sc****** a blackboard.
Elm woke up with a start. "NO MORE!!!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!"
Professor Oak stopped playing. "What's that? I couldn't hear you over the music. Did you say ‘Encore? From the top?’"
"NOOOO!!" Professor Elm yelled, clutching his head.
"He's just cranky," Oak explained to Black. "He just woke from his nap."
"I’d be cranky too", thought Black, "if I’d have to be awakened by that"
"You don't know how to play that thing. Stop it," said Elm while snatching it away.
"It woke you up! I must be doing something right."
"No way," said Professor Elm, calming down. "Nobody could sleep through the blaring screech you just played. That’s why I woke up."
"You're just jealous of my musical talent!" wailed Oak.
"Oh yeah?" said Elm, anger rising in his voice once again. "You're just jealous about my expertise in Evolution! So THERE!"
"You are jealous of my study in Pokémon interaction!"
"You're jealous because Gold beat Red!"
Black had been stifling a giggle over the two distinguished professors arguing like children until now, when he realized the situation had now become a very personal insult to Professor Oak, who had acted as Red's coach during his first days of training.
"Oh yeah, well you are an inexperienced self-appointed Pokčmon authority!!" With that, Oak stormed out the door.
"Oh no... I've gotten him mad again," said Professor Elm, still not even having noticed that Black was there. He's a bit slow.
"Um... Professor, hi..." Black said weakly. Not to say that he said id every week. Uh... you get the picture.
"Oh!" said Elm, looking at Black. "Hi. Now how can I help you, young man?"
"I'm Black, from Azalea town. I want to become a Pokémon trainer."
"Well, now, what Pokémon do you want to begin with?” Professor Elm began cheerily. “I just received a nice Eevee in a trade, or maybe Gastly, which becomes Gengar, or Hoppip can become good as a Skiploom and a Jumpluff, or maybe an Oddish! Oddish are ni-"
"Excuse me for interrupting, but I've already got a Slowpoke." He detached the Pokéball from his belt and threw it. "I found it injured back in Azalea town." The ball opened and returned to his hand as Slowpoke appeared.
"Ooh, Slowpoke! Slowpoke can evolve into two different Pokémon! If you battle enough with it, it will be a Slowbro, but equip it with a King's Rock and trade it! You'll get a Slowking if you trade back! Bla bla bla bla bla..."
"Boy, this guy talks a lot", Black thought to himself.
"Well, I'll just enter you into this computer here...” He said while he quickly typed, “and presto! You have been registered!"
"Thanks." Just then, the floor shifted beneath Black's feet!
"Slowwwwww, slowww pokeslow... sloooooowwwwwpoooke Sloww!" Slowpoke yelled, coming to Blacks rescue at a slow speed.
Black jumped in surprise. Out of a hole in the now shifted floor climbed a boy with light colored hair that he recognized as White, and a Bellsprout that he recognized as the party lover.
"Hey, Slowpoke boy," said White.
"I have a name, and it's Black, Oddish kid."
"Yeah, well mine's White, and I'm here on an important mission right after being held captive by a group of very angry Diglett."
"Yep," said Black sarcastically as Slowpoke arrived at his feet only to find he no longer needed rescuing. "Oh, look. It's raining Weedle." Black was wrong. It wasn't. I even checked right after he said it, and there were none. He has a lying problem.
"Okay, think what you like, but Bill sent me to deliver this note!" He pulled an envelope out of his pocket.
"Ooh!" said Professor Elm. "This is what I've been waiting for!"
Professor Elm opened the letter and read it, but his face darkened. "Black, bring this to Oak, he's probably in the nearest restaurant."
Sure enough, Oak was in the Arcanine Bar and Grill. "Here, Professor," Black said entering the restaurant. "Read this and come to Elm's lab quick."
Oak read the note and his face darkened. "Quick, Robin! To the Batcave!"
"What?" Black exclaimed.
"Ih, I said 'Quick, Black! To the lab!' Yep, that's what I said! No Up, Up and Away!"
The two sped off in the direction of Elm's laboratory.
"Hey!" yelled the restaurant manager. "You’ve gotta pay for that food!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Expect the next few chapters to be reposted by Saturday!
Chapter 1
Black opened his eyes. Another beautiful dawn in Azalea town! Pidgeys singing, sun shining, and Bellsprout dancing.
"Bellsprout dancing?" Black questioned the narrative. "What? Huh?"
"Bellsprout. Bell. Sprout. Bellsprout." The Bellsprout turned on the radio next to Black.
“One more time...mmm... You know I’m jus’ feelin’... Celebration... Tonight... Celebrate... Don’t wait too late...mmm.... Y’know.....we don’t stop...you can’t stop..”
Black considered this happening. "Hmm... a Bellsprout on my bedroom floor. Looks like he brought confetti, balloons, and a big bowl of punch. Yeah. Uh, there's some techno music playing loudly on my radio. Where is this familiar from?"
He concentrated real hard. "Oh yeah!" he said. "This is the same thing that's happened over and over since I met Bellsprout at some birthday party! He followed me home and he keeps sneaking into the house and annoying me! I didn't even like that kid, anyway!"
The idea that this Bellsprout party was a staple of everyday life finally registered with his brain. "Woah! That's scary!" he said aloud!
Then, he became even more terrified. His mom walked in with dark circles under her eyes. She was pretty scary looking, but that's not what he was scared of. "If I've told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. NO BELLSPROUT PARTIES IN THE HOUSE! This is the third time this month. Tell your friend to go home. NOW." She walked out the door and closed it. Then, she came back in. "Oh, by the way," she said, "you're grounded for three more days."
Suddenly, Black let loose his anger. He screamed very loudly, waking up his father and twin sister.
“Wahh!” he heard. He heard footsteps running past his door from the direction of Sara’s room toward his parents. “Mom! Black woke me up!”
“I know, Sara,” she said. She was again in Black’s room within seconds. “Better make it a week.”
A week came and went. Black was stuck in the house when not at school, and he could never go forth into the fresh air and warm sun that always seemed to be shining in Azalea Town. This was a usual part of life, because it seemed Bellsprout seemed only to show up on the day he would no longer be grounded.
"I have bad luck," he commented to himself sitting Friday by the window, throwing stuff at various objects outside which either A) resembled Bellsprout B) he wished resembled Bellsprout, or C) he hoped would resemble Bellsprout by the time he finished deforming them by throwing things at them.
"So close, yet so far," he thought about his grounding. He picked up a squeaky moose and threw it at the mailbox outside. It hit the box and made a faint wheezing noise. "Yay," he said sarcastically in the monotone of boredom. "Point for me."
Then, Saturday, his day of freedom came. "Yes!" he said as he walked out of his house. "It's a lovely summer day, and I'm off to do what I do best: WASTE MONEY!"
He rushed to the comic book shop where he was known as the annoying kid whose hair looked like it had been cut by a rooster.
"Time to buy like crazy!" he said.
"Yeah, right," muttered the man at the counter. He knew what Black did at a comic store. He found all of his favorite comics' latest issues and made sure to cover every inch with his fingerprints then put them back.
"That was fun!" Black said. :Time to go outside and experience the lovely Azalea sun!"
He stepped out to notice that it was raining in sheets. "Oh, just my luck again." He began his long and tiresome journey to his home in the rain.
Suddenly, he heard a clang. A garbage can, tipped on its side, rolled over, and a very dizzy and injured Slowpoke rolled out of it.
"Awww... It's so cute. But my Mom and Dad would never let me have a Pokčmon of my own after all those Bellsprout incidences..." As he trailed off in mid-sentence, he noticed that the Slowpoke was cowering in fear. There were scratches all over its back. He could not just leave it in the garbage can, maybe to die.
"Oh, I suppose I should take it to the Pokčmon center." The Pokčmon center was nearby, luckily. He dragged the Slowpoke to the place of healing that all great trainers had visited, including the new champion as of a few months ago Gold.
The nurse healed the poor Slowpoke and released it into the wild. "This Slowpoke was beaten by a grass type move, but it’s now fine. You should get yourself home. This rain is supposed to get even worse. You should take a rain poncho."
"Thanks," he said. The nurse handed him one and he slipped it on, walking out the door. He looked at the Slowpoke, sitting outside the center. "Cute little guy..." he noticed the Slowpoke was looking at him. He walked over and petted the Slowpoke, then started for home.
At his house, he sat playing his Gamecube until he got sick of losing every game and decided it was time for a rest. He lay in his bed, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the house. He didn't know why, but he liked that sound. As he listened it, he drifted to sleep.
However, he had two visitors later at night after the rain had stopped. The Bellsprout opened the window and climbed in. "Who's ready to PAR-TAY?" he inquired. Then he noticed that Black was asleep. "Tsk, tsk, lazybones," he said in the peculiar language of Pokčmon, called "the peculiar language of Pokčmon." He thought. "Hey! Maybe that guy outside'll party!"
He went to Black’s garage and got a wooden board for a ramp. He put one end on the window, and one end where the heavy Pokčmon outside could walk up. The Slowpoke walked in.
"Yo! It's Party Time!" said the Bellsprout.
"Huh? Oh... It's that nice boy who helped me today. I like him. I also like food. And playgrounds. And-"
"Just shaddup and boogie!" Bellsprout turned on the party music and started to dance.
"Huh... Oh... Huh...?"
"Dance!"
"Oh...Yeah!"
So, the pair boogied for about five minutes. And then Black woke up. A bit of a delayed reaction, I guess.
"What? Again? And there's the Slowpoke... Huh? Oh... Huh...?" Black sounded a lot like the very Slowpoke he was referring to.
Suddenly, a realization dawned on Black. "Wait... the nurse said Slowpoke was beaten by a grass Pokčmon... BELLSPROUT! So you were the Pokčmon who hurt Slowpoke! You should be ashamed, you, you, you--"
"No! Not me!" Black only heard "Bell! Sproutbell!" but the Bellsprout made negative gestures like hand waves, head shakes, and the Macarena.
"Oh yeah? Then who?" Black asked skeptically.
Bellsprout suddenly jumped out the window.
"Wow. That Bellsprout jumped out the window. What a strange Pokčmon,” said Black. “Oh well, Slowpoke. You can stay outside until morning. Then I'll ask my parents if I can keep you." He lifted the Slowpoke and put him outside. "I doubt they’ll say yes, though."
Meanwhile, Bellsprout ran looking for the real culprit. He had seen earlier. He saw many things in the town. Soon, he found him: a boy with an Oddish. The boy was giving his Oddish a pep talk, but he suddenly saw Bellsprout.
"A Bellsprout!! I want one!" The boy dove for Bellsprout. Bellsprout might have been grabbed if not for his dance moves which helped him get out of the way.
"AHHHHHH!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!" Bellsprout screamed. Of course, all that the boy heard was "SPROUUUT!!!! SPROUT BELLLLL!!!!" But Bellsprout ran. He was trting to make it look like he was just running to get away, but Bellsprout was actually attempting to lead him to Black's house.
White, the boy with the Oddish, chased the Bellsprout. He thought he could catch it,
when it ran into a house window. Black was soon at the window.
"HEY!!!" said Black. "Who are you? Wait.... I get it! You're the one who hurt the Slowpoke! That's what Bellsprout is trying to tell me." Black, if you haven't guessed, is quite the slow one.
White looked at the familiar Pokčmon. "So what? It's how you get experience on a journey! Get to bed kid! Don't bother me."
Black went back to bed. But then he got back up. "Hey, wait! This is my property! You come barging into my backyard, yelling and screaming, then you tell me to go to bed? What's wrong with you?"
"Shut up," said White, leaving. "You're so annoying!" As he walked away, he began grumbling. “Rrr... I guess I won’t be getting that Bellsprout."
Black went back to bed, and the night passed uneventfully.
"Yessss!" Black thought in the morning. "I wasn't grounded!" That was because the terrified Bellsprout had left, and Black had gotten some sleep.
But only a little. He had lain up most of the night thinking about starting his own journey with the Slowpoke. Then he could find that boy and teach him a lesson. But he also thought that the boy had done nothing wrong by beating a wild Pokčmon. It was, after all, what he was supposed to do...
He approached his parents at breakfast. He asked if he could keep the Slowpoke.
"Well," his dad said, "If you can avoid another Bellsprout incident for two weeks, maybe. But leave it at the Pokčmon center for now and tell the nurse to hold it for you."
After getting back from the center, Black took the board that Bellsprout had used as a ramp for Slowpoke and used it to block off his window. "This should keep that Bellsprout out."
To make a short story even shorter, it did. He picked up the Slowpoke the Sunday he was supposed to. Now came the hard part: getting permission for a Pokčmon journey.
"Dad," Black said simply. "Can I go on a Pokčmon journey?"
"No," said his dad.
"Why?" Black asked.
"No," said his dad.
"Please? That's what Read and Blue and Gold and all them did at my age!" Black persisted.
"Oh, I don't know. It's just that... It's a long trek away from home and hard work..."
"Oh, C'mon! I'm 12!"
"Oh, we'll see."
Meanwhile, Team Rocket leader Giovanni sat down, finally getting a moment of relaxation. "Ah," he said. "Another plan about to be put into action."
"Sir," came the call over the intercom. "This is Executive Jon. The machine is ready!"
"Good," said Giovanni. "Begin the process."
Giovanni watched the screen in front of him. It showed him a scene far over the border of Kanto. Diglett's tunnel, in fact. This was where the strange happenings began. A young trainer was battling one Diglett, when suddenly the Diglett he was battling was joined by others. All of the Diglett burrowed under him, causing the ground beneath him to cave in. He fell through the hole, and he found that he was in a tunnel. Before he knew it, he was being pushed along by about ten Diglett as a group of Dugtrio ahead worked on the tunnel.
Giovanni laughed. He loved it when his plans succeeded. The call came to his office. "Sir, this is Executive Jon. The plan has succeeded in its first phase."
"Excellent," Giovanni said slowly. Then he added, "Second-In-Command Jon."
It was a few weeks later that, very reluctantly, Black's parents agreed to let him have a journey, at least on a trial basis. He had a week to get ready.
“YEAH!!!!!!! I'M LEAVIN' ON A JOURNEY!!!!"
"Sloww.....?" Slowpoke looked quite puzzled.
"I wish I knew what you were saying. Now, I wonder if that party Bellsprout would like to come... I could use some Pokčmon."
However, Bellsprout had taken a hint that he was unwanted as a Pokčmon partner after several attempts on breaking a boarded up window. The problem was, as Bellsprout thought, that Black disliked parties. So Bellsprout's mission was to follow Black and introduce him to the joy of partying like it's 1999.
The day was upon Black. He would hike to New Bark and battle a little along the way. But he had to say goodbyes first.
"Here. It's a gift for you," his Mom said, extending a box toward Black. "Open it in front of Professor Elm."
"Thanks. Bye Mom," he said, grabbing the box and stuffing it in his backpack.
"Here's a gift from me, " his dad said, also extending his hand. "Open it after your mom's gift."
"Thanks. Bye Dad." He grabbed the gift and put it in there too.
Black left, waving. If he had been watching closely, he'd have known that a Grass Pokčmon with a party hat had seen him and was following him...
Chapter 2
"I'm gonna follow that boy and see if he'll be my friend!" Bellsprout thought to himself. Today, he was wearing a paper party hat and carrying a sack. This sack was full of party supplies because he was a party-loving Bellsprout. He still did not know that Black was sick of him. It thought Black hated parties and wanted to change his mind.
The sudden appearance of a board on Black's window had caused the Bellsprout to think this. Bellsprout had hi-tailed it out of Azalea. Actually, it was originally headed to New Bark to find a new home, and someone who liked parties. But as fate would have it, Black was also going. This was lucky. It was a sign from somewhere above. He was meant to party. And he would.
“Why did I decide to hike over Union Cave?” asked Black. Of course, the answer was to avoid a week of spelunking, but Black was a rhetorical question kind of guy.
He felt like he had been gone an eternity, when it had only been a few hours. It was lunchtime, but he had lost most of his food to a group of Ratatta a while back.
“Just one more insurmountably large rock, and I’m there,” panted Black. Although he didn’t believe it for a second, it sounded reassuring.
It was actually true. He sighed with relief as he leaned on a stick. He was so tired, more so than seemed usual. Using his last energy, he ran towards the lovely cityscape.
He decided that as soon as he got to the city, he would find a Pokčmon center and rest.
He got out the Pokčball he had found, now containing Slowpoke, but he tiredly dropped it, and picked it up. He walked triumphantly to the gates of the city and fell in a heap on the road. "Uhh... must make it to the center..."
As luck would have it, the Pokčball accidentally opened. "Slowwwwww..." said the Slowpoke. It took a while to figure out that Slowpoke should carry the trainer to a Pokčmon Center. Slowpoke left the spot , lugging Black, without glancing back to see he had forgotten the Pokčball. Slowpoke took even longer to locate the Center, which was a few yards away, but it found it and went in.
Only about half an hour later, someone else passed the same gate. Guess who! No, it's not Ross Perot. It's White! "Ah!" said White, picking up the Pokčball Slowpoke had forgotten. "I knew I dropped this Pokčball somewhere..." Suddenly, White too fell in a heap near the gates.
"Oh, My!" said a passing man (who, coincidentally, was also NOT Ross Perot). “I must help this person." The man carried White to the Pokčmon center, the closest place where he would be able to give him a little rest.
As soon as the man walked away with White, Bellsprout also approached. This gateway was a very popular place today. Seeing a Pokčball, a gift it could give to befriend Black, he bent and picked it up, but suddenly he also dropped to the ground. This time, though, nobody helped the victim, because nobody cares about a poor Bellsprout wearing an odd paper hat.
It was a few hours later. Black woke up in a Pokčmon center. A nurse and a familiar looking man looked at him.
"Hmm...” said the nurse. "The awakening worked. It must have been sleep powder."
"Yes, but what of the other boy," said the man. "We don't know for sure it was the same thing. We'd best ask this one some questions."
Black was fully awake. "Okay, but first I'd like to know who you are and how I got here. Will you please tell me that?"
"Oh, so sorry. I'm Oak, a Professor of Pokčmon. I hear a Slowpoke brought you here. Very odd behavior for a Slowpoke, that is, very odd indeed. Now I've got to ask you, what was the last thing you remember doing before you got here?"
Black was still in awe. "You're Professor Oak? THE Professor Oak?"
"Yes," said Oak. "Please answer my question."
"Sorry," Black apologized. "I took out my Pokčball that I had found earlier on the ground. I accidentally dropped it. I picked it up again, and collapsed."
"Hmm... Interesting."
Black walked to the couch where the other guy was sleeping. He gasped. He'd know that face anywhere, even though he had only seen it for a minute, about a month ago. "Hey! That guy beat up this Slowpoke with his Oddish before I found it! I talked to him the night I found the Slowpoke!!"
The Nurse walked over and applied some awakening to the boy. He woke up and immediately recognized Oak. "Hey! It’s Professor Oak!" A pause. “And some other guy!”
"Uh, I have a name, and it's Black, from Azalea. You saw me a few weeks ago in Azalea. You completely massacred my Slowpoke."
"Oh. I guess I remember, kinda, sorta, a little, not really. I’m White of Cherrygrove. Now how did I get here?”
"I brought you," Prof. Oak said. “You had sleep powder on you."
"Hey! I think that makes a little sense. My Oddish learned Sleep Powder!” White explained. “I dropped my Pokčball in surprise, and in the excitement, I forgot to get it. I went back and found it at the gates, and I guess that's why I collapsed!"
"Oh, I found your Pokčball," Black said. "It's probably still at the gates, unless someone else took it."
"You don't want it," the nurse said. "It's covered in sleep powder!"
"Oh!" said Oak, Black, and White in unison. “That makes sense.”
"Wait! What If someone else did take it? That's not good," Black said. He left Slowpoke with the nurse and ran to the gates as fast as possible. He got there and saw a weird sight.
"No way! It's the party Bellsprout!" Black exclaimed as he saw the snoring figure. "I'd know that party hat anywhere!"
"What?" said Oak, getting there before White despite his old age. "A party Bellsprout? What’s that?"
"Long story..." Black groaned. He didn't feel like reliving his many encounters with the little annoyance.
White arrived just then and saw the Pokčmon. "Hey! It's the Bellsprout I chased to Slowpoke boy's house-- I mean Black's house."
Oak picked up the Bellsprout, inspecting it. "Yes, definitely sleep powder. I'm no doctor, but I can recognize these things."
"Yes," said Black. "Glad that's over, though. Let's get him to the center and use some Awakening. I needa get Slowpoke anyway."
White got out a cloth and scrubbed the Pokčball, attempting to free it of sleep powder. He saw that it wasn't working, so he decided to see if he could get it cleaned at the center. So the three walked together.
When they got there, Nurse Joy boiled some water to kill the powder on the ball, telling White that it would take practice to control Oddish's new ability. Oak left Bellsprout with the nurse, and she went to get some more Awakening. Black got his Slowpoke, who was standing in the corner.
"Hey, buddy!" he said, hugging it. "Ya miss me?"
"Sllloooowwwwww... Poke Poke Solwwwww... Poke Poke..." Slowpoke said. If Black could understand the peculiar language of Pokčmon, he would have heard, "What? Huh? You were gone? I didn't even notice..."
"Here," Oak said, holding out a Pokčball. "It's a new Pokčball. You might want it, because this one won't put you to sleep, unless you stare at it for a few hours and get bored."
"Cool!" Black said as he called Slowpoke into the ball. The camera did a whirl thing, then a full body view. The background was green. He held the ball right in front of him and shouted "Slowpoke, return!"
"Wow," White said. "Somebody's overly dramatic."
"Now I need to get to New Bark Town in a few minutes, so I must take leave of you all," Oak said.
"Wait! How do you expect to get there in minutes?" Black asked Oak. "That's where I'm headed for. It's at least a day away!"
"Oh, I fly on my Pidgeot. You can ride too, if you'd like."
"Wow, thanks!" said Black.
As he boarded Pidgeot, he was a little nervous "I've never flown before," he commented to Oak.
"Just relax," Oak said. "Be sure to hold on tight!"
Black mounted the Pidgeot. As soon as Oak was on, the Pidgeot flapped his wings and they were up in the air.
"Wow!" said Black. "How fast!" And it was only getting speedier.
"Just try not to look down, okay?" Oak asked.
"Too late," Black said. But he wasn't really scared he just saw a rush of trees, then some buildings, then pitch-black smoke. Pitch-black smoke? "I'll have to check that out later," he thought.
It was barely a minute before they touched down slowly in New Bark Town. "Woah," he said. "Feel funny... woozy..."
"That's normal," Oak said. "I'll bet you're here to talk to professor Elm, aren't you?" Oak asked him.
"Yeah," Black said. "That's right."
"Oh, so let's go together."
As they walked, the two talked about Black's goals.
"You're going to want to collect plenty of Gym Badges, I'm certain," Oak said.
"Yes," said Black. "And I'm gonna try to get plenty of Pokčmon!"
"Sounds good," Oak said. Oh, here we are!"
They had arrived at Elm's lab. Nervously, Black walked in.
Meanwhile, in Violet City, Bellsprout was waking up. "Yay! I'm up!" He ran out of the center.
"I'm free!" he shouted. "Such a monumental event calls for a celebration!" He considered this. "Actually, any event would call for a celebration in my book.
He heard footsteps somewhere. He looked over and saw White.
"It's White!" said Bellsprout. "This calls for a celebration!"
He ran over to White, forced a paper party hat onto his head, and started dancing.
"Wha- Huh? What the heck are you doing! Get out of my face!" White yelled. He took off the hat, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. "Arg, go away!" He yelled at Bellsprout.
Bellsprout ran away. "That was close!" he said. "I made it out okay, though! That calls for a celebration!" After a quick dance of joy, he overheard Whit mumbling. It seemed White was going home to Cherrygrove to show off to his family. He decided to follow White until he saw Black again. The two walked out of Violet City, White not aware that he was one of a twosome.
It was about half an hour later. Bellsprout had been following White and his Oddish at a safe distance. White had let his Oddish out for company. "Hey, three's enough for a real party!" Bellsprout exclaimed. He got up and ran toward them.
But before he could make it, he felt a rumble in the Earth.
"Wuzzat? White asked. "Oddish, return. You need to be safe." He returned Oddish to his Pokčball. Suddenly, A bunch of nasty looking Diglett popped up from the ground. What?" White yelled. The ground caved in on him, and he was swallowd into the ground.
Bellsprout was confused. It panicked. Then, the Diglett and Dugtrio took him away too. This was the latest in a series of events that have involved mad Diglett and Dugtrio kidnapping humans. And this is what Oak was meeting Elm to discuss.
Chapter 3
Cherrygrove city was a bad place to be. Very bad, in fact.
Hordes of Diglett and Dugtrio were bringing young Pokémon trainers into buildings against their will. There were Weezing above every building, puffing out smoke to make the illusion of a dark cloud. Guards were posted at every possible exit. These guards were almost exactly like Rocket Grunts, but they wore shirts with a bright blue circle on the back, in which the letters SSA were written in red.
That qualifies it as a "BAD PLACE TO BE" in my book.
One of the guards, a tall man with light brown hair, went into the Pokémon center.
The PC was broken, the healing machine was turned off, and the lights were all turned off. In a corner, the nurse was sitting, gagged and tied up. There were more "SSA" guards at the stairs.
"I have to get up there. Prisoner transport," The guard from outside said. "On orders from the boss."
"Ok. Let me see your I.D."
"C'mon, you know me!" the guard insisted.
"Yeah, Rob," said the guard. "Boss's rules, though. It's kind of stupid. Nobody is loose in the streets but us!"
"Fine," said Rob. He reached into his pocket and took out a wallet. He opened it up and took out a card that proved that he was authorized. In fact, he was a lot more than a guard. He was an Executive, outranking the guard at the door.
The man looked at the card. "Okay. It checks out. You are allowed up there. Not like I didn't already know that."
He walked up the stairs. There were a few guards here. Pretty much a wreck, like the bottom floor. The entrances to the Cable Club areas were blocked off, and there were prisoners tied and gagged all around the room.
Rob motioned toward a tall boy with light colored hair tied up next to a Bellsprout wearing a party hat. Another guard silently untied the bonds on their feet (or roots, whichever one applied to them) and led them down the stairs and toward the door.
"See ya, Rob," said the guard from the stairs. Rob stopped, nodded a quick goodbye, and continued leading them.
White had a feeling of dread. He didn’t really have any idea of what was going on, and he had a feeling that he didn’t want to know.
Once a considerable distance from all other eyes and ears, Rob loosened the bonds on their hands and their gags. Immediately, White began his typical outburst. "Listen, Mr. Rob, You either let us go, or I'll... or I'll... uh..."
"Do what?" Rob inquired skeptically.
"Uh.." White pondered. "I'll be forced to ask you politely."
"What I thought. But you don't have to worry. I'm not Rob. I'm actually a researcher, working undercover here."
White gasped as he recognized the face. "I've heard of you!" he said. "You're the guy who invented the PC Pokčmon storage system!"
"Yep," Rob began. "I'm Bill. I'll be rescuing you today." He began walking, and White and Bellsprout followed. Him. Of course, Bellsprout was paying no attention. He was quite occupied listening to his Daft Punk: Discovery CD on his CD Walkman. But at least he was there.
White’s sense of dread was replaced with a huge feeling of relief. "Oh! Thanks! I was so scared! But what about the people who live here?"
"They are all locked in their houses with no way to escape," said 'Rob,' now revealed to be famed Pokčmon Researcher Bill.
"Oh no! My mom, dad, and brother live here! Tell them I'm okay!"
"Where do they live?" Bill asked.
"Just over there," White said, pointing at a house they passed by. "By the way, I'm White."
"Nice to meet you, White. I am taking you and your Bellsprout to a hidden tunnel out of here. I'm a spy from Professors Oak and Elm. The reason I rescued you is that you look like an able young man. I want you to go straight to Professor Elm and take him this note." Bill handed White a note as he led him and Bellsprout into a house. "There's a trapdoor under the table. It opens to a tunnel which leads into Elm’s lab."
White carefully opened the door, let himself and Bellsprout in, and closed it again. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor in the spot where Bill had promised. As White climbed down it, the house's door opened. Bellsprout hurried down, not wanting to be seen by any "SSA" guys, but he saw that it was Bill, holding a sack. "I think this is yours, Bellsprout."
"Bell!" thanked Bellsprout. There were some party supplies in the bag. They had been confiscated earlier while Diglett and Dugtrio were capturing him. There were even some extras that Bill had gotten as a gift. Bellsprout pulled out his tiny Boom Box and switched the CD from his Walkman into the Boom Box. He began to play his favorite song.
“One more time... We’re gonna celebrate... oh yeah... ah ha...”
"HEY BELLSPROUT! WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THAT!!! HURRY UP!" yelled White. Bellsprout rushed down the tunnel to catch up with White. As he ran, he wondered if it was really possible to have no time for Daft Punk.
Back in New Bark Town, Black stepped into a room full of very large and odd-looking machines. On a chair in the center of the large room sat a man in a lab coat, sleeping in front of a very large computer screen with a dancing Pichu screensaver.
It is said that first impressions are very important. This is Black's first impression of Professor Elm: A lazy scientist who likes dancing Pichu. And he may very well be just that, but that's beside the point. I don't know why I mentioned it.
The point is that Professor Oak walked over to Elm and prodded him with his finger. "Hello? Wake up!"
The professor still would not be roused, so Oak decided to use the sure fire way to wake him up: The Pokéflute. He held it in his outstretched arm, standing in a dramatic pose that looked very silly if anyone over the age of 53 did it. This has been clinically proven, by the way.
Immediately as Oak put the strange flute to his lips, a screeching sound emitted from the flute that was not very much unlike nails sc****** a blackboard.
Elm woke up with a start. "NO MORE!!!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!"
Professor Oak stopped playing. "What's that? I couldn't hear you over the music. Did you say ‘Encore? From the top?’"
"NOOOO!!" Professor Elm yelled, clutching his head.
"He's just cranky," Oak explained to Black. "He just woke from his nap."
"I’d be cranky too", thought Black, "if I’d have to be awakened by that"
"You don't know how to play that thing. Stop it," said Elm while snatching it away.
"It woke you up! I must be doing something right."
"No way," said Professor Elm, calming down. "Nobody could sleep through the blaring screech you just played. That’s why I woke up."
"You're just jealous of my musical talent!" wailed Oak.
"Oh yeah?" said Elm, anger rising in his voice once again. "You're just jealous about my expertise in Evolution! So THERE!"
"You are jealous of my study in Pokémon interaction!"
"You're jealous because Gold beat Red!"
Black had been stifling a giggle over the two distinguished professors arguing like children until now, when he realized the situation had now become a very personal insult to Professor Oak, who had acted as Red's coach during his first days of training.
"Oh yeah, well you are an inexperienced self-appointed Pokčmon authority!!" With that, Oak stormed out the door.
"Oh no... I've gotten him mad again," said Professor Elm, still not even having noticed that Black was there. He's a bit slow.
"Um... Professor, hi..." Black said weakly. Not to say that he said id every week. Uh... you get the picture.
"Oh!" said Elm, looking at Black. "Hi. Now how can I help you, young man?"
"I'm Black, from Azalea town. I want to become a Pokémon trainer."
"Well, now, what Pokémon do you want to begin with?” Professor Elm began cheerily. “I just received a nice Eevee in a trade, or maybe Gastly, which becomes Gengar, or Hoppip can become good as a Skiploom and a Jumpluff, or maybe an Oddish! Oddish are ni-"
"Excuse me for interrupting, but I've already got a Slowpoke." He detached the Pokéball from his belt and threw it. "I found it injured back in Azalea town." The ball opened and returned to his hand as Slowpoke appeared.
"Ooh, Slowpoke! Slowpoke can evolve into two different Pokémon! If you battle enough with it, it will be a Slowbro, but equip it with a King's Rock and trade it! You'll get a Slowking if you trade back! Bla bla bla bla bla..."
"Boy, this guy talks a lot", Black thought to himself.
"Well, I'll just enter you into this computer here...” He said while he quickly typed, “and presto! You have been registered!"
"Thanks." Just then, the floor shifted beneath Black's feet!
"Slowwwwww, slowww pokeslow... sloooooowwwwwpoooke Sloww!" Slowpoke yelled, coming to Blacks rescue at a slow speed.
Black jumped in surprise. Out of a hole in the now shifted floor climbed a boy with light colored hair that he recognized as White, and a Bellsprout that he recognized as the party lover.
"Hey, Slowpoke boy," said White.
"I have a name, and it's Black, Oddish kid."
"Yeah, well mine's White, and I'm here on an important mission right after being held captive by a group of very angry Diglett."
"Yep," said Black sarcastically as Slowpoke arrived at his feet only to find he no longer needed rescuing. "Oh, look. It's raining Weedle." Black was wrong. It wasn't. I even checked right after he said it, and there were none. He has a lying problem.
"Okay, think what you like, but Bill sent me to deliver this note!" He pulled an envelope out of his pocket.
"Ooh!" said Professor Elm. "This is what I've been waiting for!"
Professor Elm opened the letter and read it, but his face darkened. "Black, bring this to Oak, he's probably in the nearest restaurant."
Sure enough, Oak was in the Arcanine Bar and Grill. "Here, Professor," Black said entering the restaurant. "Read this and come to Elm's lab quick."
Oak read the note and his face darkened. "Quick, Robin! To the Batcave!"
"What?" Black exclaimed.
"Ih, I said 'Quick, Black! To the lab!' Yep, that's what I said! No Up, Up and Away!"
The two sped off in the direction of Elm's laboratory.
"Hey!" yelled the restaurant manager. "You’ve gotta pay for that food!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Expect the next few chapters to be reposted by Saturday!