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Chapter 8: Gotta catch 'em all!


      With six badges in hand, I was ready and willing to head to the next Gym. But where is it?
      "I believe Cinnabar Island. I heard the Gym Leader there has powerful Pokémon." Zach told me.
      "Really? Do you know what element he uses?" I asked.
      "No, I don't know." answered Zach.
      "How far until we get there" Josh had asked us.
      "Pretty far" was all Zach could say.
      I started to get down, but my spirits were risen when I saw a big starfish-type animal swimming in the water. I took out my Pokédex. I knew I had seen this Pokémon somewhere before.
      "Staryu, a water Pokémon. It's core flows in a rainbow of several colors. Some people consider this core as a type of jewelery."
      Now I know where I've seen that before, the Cerulean City Gym had one! Well, now I was gonna capture my own. I sent out the best Pokémon for the job.
      "Raichu, I choose you!"
      The Poké Ball opened, and out popped Raichu. It was ready for battle, and I think it was a little too excited.
      "Raichu, use Thundershock!" I commanded.
Raichu did as it was told, and shocked Staryu badly. Staryu didn't even know what was going on until Raichu shocked it. Staryu fought back by using a tackle, but that barely made Raichu wobble. I ordered Raichu to use another Thundershock, and Staryu could barely move.
      "All right! Time to capture it! Poké Ball, GO!"
      The Poké Ball opened up, and sucked in Staryu in a red beam. It then plopped to the ground and started to shake. After a few seconds, the ball locked.
      "YES! I CAUGHT STARYU!" I shouted, as I jumped up and down.
      Then the Poké Ball glowed white and vanished. It had gone down to Professor Oak's. That was my 6th Pokémon I had caught this week, my 13th since we left Fuschia. Earlier I had caught Oddish, which evolved into Gloom during the battle, Magnemite, an Onix, a Growlithe, a Slowpoke, a Cubone, a wild Nidorina, Abra, Voltorb (I was able to capture it before it blew us all up), a Paras, a Tentacool, and Diglett. All since we left Fushia. I now had 26 Pokémon, although I was still behind Randy, who managed to capture over 50 so far. I was determined to capture all the Pokémon I could. Soon, we saw a huge river, and a town up ahead.
      "Hmm, that must be Seaside Town. So we're right here" pointed Zach.
      While Josh and Zach looked at the map, I spotted a wild Venonat. Exicted to catch my 27th Pokémon, I quickly sent out Flareon. Zach and Josh were just beginning to notice me.
      "Flareon, tackle it now!" I shouted.
      "Flare, Flare!" Flareon cried as it lept onto Venonat.
      In retaliation, Venonat sent out Stun Spore, but that was quickly vaporized by Flareon's Flamethrower. Flareon then sent a huge Flamethrower at Venonat, and Venonat was ready to tumble. Time to do what I do best, catch Pokémon.
      "Poké Ball, GO!" I shouted.
      The Poké Ball was almost on top of Venonat, when Venonat just disappeared right when the Poké Ball opened. Puzzled, I went over to where Venonat used to be, and seached. I didn't find anything though. It seemed like Venonat just disappeared without a trace. Josh then spotted something. I looked up, and saw Venonat, still weakened, being held by a large bird. I whipped out my Pokédex and analyzed it.
      "Pidgeot, an evolved form of Pidgeotto. This species of Pokémon can travel up to 1200 meters at speeds of up to Mach 2."
      "Wow! I'm going to teach that Pokémon to take away my Venonat for it's dinner! Graveler, I choose yo-"
      Josh put his hand in front of me.
      "What are you doing?" I asked him.
      "You're not going to catch it." Josh answered back.
      "Why not?"
      "Because I'm going to, that's why"
      "WHAT!? No way."
      "But I'm the one who noticed it!"
      And with that, I gave up. There was no point, Arguing with Josh was like a golden Nugget, usless. So Josh went about trying to capture Pidgeot.
      "Poliwhirl, go!" Josh exclaimed.
      The Poké Ball popped open, and out came the blue amphibian with arms, legs, and big spiral on it's chest.
      "Poliwhirl, use your Double slap!" Josh ordered.
      Poliwhirl did as it was told. It lept in the air and slapped Pidgeot twice. Pidgeot dropped Venonat, and came after Poliwhirl.
      "Poliwhirl, use Water Gun!" Josh shouted.
      Poliwhirl shot out a huge spray of water, which Pidgeot dodged and dived Poliwhirl, sending it into a tree.
      "Oh no! Poliwhirl! Use Bubblebeam!"
      The Water Pokémon stood up, and used the move taught to it via TM. Poliwhirl shot out a mighty blast on bubbles, and hit Pidgeot. Pidgeot then fell to the ground, weakened.
      "Ok! Gotta catch it now! Poké Ball! GO!" Josh yelled.
      The ball opened up and captured Pidgeot. It then started to shake, and shake, and just for the record, shake. After about 30 seconds of watching, the light finally dimmed, and a click was heard. Pidgeot was captured.
      "All right! We caught Pidgeot!" Josh shouted.
      We traveled along the river side, hopefully to get to Seaside, when I spotted a fish. I took out my Pokédex to see what it was.
      "Magikarp, a fish Pokémon. Magikarp are made up of scales and bones, and it only knows two attacks, Splash and Tackle. It is unknown what Splash does."
      Hmmm, I thought, With only two attacks, neither of them strong, I should be able to capture it without battling! I tried to send out my Poké Ball, but Magikarp had swam away. A few hours later, we came to a boat shop.
      "How can I help you?" the owner asked.
      "Yes, we would like to rent a boat to go to Seaside." I told him.
      "I'm sorry, but all our boats are currently rented out. If you would like, you can try to climb Mt. Artic. Once you get over it, you can cross a toll bridge over there."
      He pointed to the bridge, which was far away. I decided to go ahead and climb the mountain. I dragged Zubat, Josh, and Zach with me. Later that day, I'm guessing about 5:00, we finally came to the foot of the mountain, a town called Artic Valley. I went inside the Poké Center, and gave my Pokémon to Nurse Joy.
      "Umm, Nurse Joy?" I asked.
      "Yes?"
      "Why is the mountain called Artic Mountain?"
      "Because legends say the legendary Articuno resides in the mountain." she told us.
      I flipped open my Pokédex.
      "Articuno, one of the 3 Mystical Flying Pokémon. No data currently available."
      Nurse Joy went inside to the healing room, while Zach and Josh went to get a snack. I sat down on a chair, and decided to pass my time by listening to a CD. On this CD, it had my favorite tune.
      "Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all! It's you & me. I know it's my destiny! Pokémon! Oh, you're my best friend! In a world we must defend! Pokémon! Gotta catch'em all! A heart so true, our courage will pull us through! You teach me & I'll teach you! Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all! Gotta catch 'em all! Pokémon!" I hummed with the tune.
      While listening, a huge shadow came across me. I took off my headphones and looked up. High in the sky was a blue bird. It disappeared as I looked at it, but I knew it was Articuno. I told Zach and Josh when they came back, but they didn't believe me. Later that night, I decided to try and climb Artic Mountain and find Articuno. Zubat was with me all the way.
      In the morning, Josh and Zach were awakened by the banging of a steel drum.
      "Wake up you guys, get your gear on! We're going mountain climbing!" I said.
      "But............." Zach started to say, but then he saw me.
      I was dressed in hiker shorts and shirt, with climbing boots, and a big backpack. Zubat had a green bandana & black paint marks on him. After about 2 hours of forcing them to get a move on, we finally reached the the mountain. Zubat made sure the hooks and rope were secured properly, and I made sure Zach and Josh followed me. When we reached the first ledge, about 30 feet from the bottom, they wanted to rest.
      "What? You want to rest now? We barely started! How are we supposed to find Articuno if you guys keep acting lazy?"
      "Acting? I'm tired!" Josh told me, "Besides, I thought we wanted to go to Seaside, not find a bird that doesn't exist!"
      "But it does exsist! I saw it while you were getting a snack."
      Zach and Josh just groaned. Josh then noticed a cabin, of all things, on top of a cliff, about 50 feet up.
      "Let's find out who's up there! C'mon you guys! Let's go!" I said as Zubat hooked the end of the rope on a ledge up high.
      In about an hour, we reached the cabin. I peeked inside, but found no one. Suddenly, Josh and Zach fell and went to sleep.
      "You guys can't be that tired!" I said, but then I was hit from behind and fell unconsious.
      When I woke up, I found myself, Josh, and Zach tied up. Zubat was in a cage, trying to bite his way out. I heard a voice come into the room.
      "Ah ha! I caught you poachers before you could do anything!"
      He was dressed in brown pants, with a white coat. I had no idea what he was talking about.
      "Huh? What are you talking about?"
      "You know what I'm talking about! You poachers keep trying to take away Articuno!"
      I couldn't believe it. I knew that Articuno exisisted! Unfortunatly, Zach and Josh were still unconsious. I was about to plead a case, when an alarm sounded.
      "Huh? More poachers!" said the strange hermit.
      When he left, Zubat managed to get out of his cage and cut the ropes that I was tied to. I untied Zach & Josh and woke them up and told them what happened. Then the hermit returned and saw us free. He told us to get out, but I was facinated by a painting of Articuno on his wall. I then touched the wall, and fell down a secret stairway. I must have fell down around 200 steps, becuase I was ready to leave for the hospital. Zach, Zubat, & Josh ran down the steps to see if I was okay, with the hermit following close behind. When I got up, I saw a most wonderous, but also frightning sight. A huge, blue, bird, with a long, flowing tail and white spot on it's chest. The legendary Articuno! But I wish I didn't find it, as it looked like the bird was ready to have me for dinner. Zach, Josh, and Zubat came down, and were also scared. The hermit wasn't ready to stop Articuno, and we would've been history, but the ground started to collapse, and out popped a giant cobra with two humans, one girl with red flowing hair and a boy with purple hair, both dressed in with costumes with black gloves and pants. Following the humans was a talking cat.
      "Ah, the legendary bird! With it in our power, nothing can stop us!" exclaimed the girl.
      "Hold it, Team Rocket!" I shouted.
      "Huh? What are those brats doing here!" James shouted.
      "Never mind, it's time to do what we do best!" proclaimed Jesse.
      "What? Make your plans fail like the klutzes that you are?" I mouthed.
      "That's it! I've had it! Meowth!" shouted Meowth.
      Jesse and James stood beside each other, backs facing toward them and started to make me feel sick.
      "We're back to back so prepare for trouble! Watch your step or we'll make it double!"
      "To protect the world from devistation!"
      "To unite all peoples within our nation!"
      "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
      "To extend our reach to the stars above!"
      "Jesse!"
      "James!"
      "Great, now I'm going to be sick! Thanks you guys!" I told them as I was holding my stomach.
      "For that, we are going to pound you! But first, we have more inportant business to take care of!" Jesse said as she was looking at Articuno.
      Articuno yelled out, and flew out of the cave, or at least it was a cave now, because Articuno had created a huge hole, but it wasn't fast enough, as Jesse told Arbok to use Poison Sting, which poisoned Articuno and made it fall to the ground. Team Rocket was about to capture Articuno, when we stepped in. We challenged them to a Pokémon battle. Josh sent out Butterfree and I sent out Zubat. They chose the same two they always pick.
      "Butterfree, start things off with Psybeam!" Josh shouted.
      Butterfree did as it was told, and shot a powerful beam at the Pokémon.
      "Zubat, use Supersonic!" I told it.
      Zubat sent out many loud screeching waves at Arbok and Weezing, who began to fight with themselves. Butterfree and Zubat weren't safe, because Weezing and Arbok accidentally hit them. We decided to finish it.
      "Butterfree! Whirlwind now!" Josh called out.
      "Zubat, Double-Team now!" I shouted.
      The Pokémon did as they were told, and ended up blasting Team Rocket off again. Even though they were gone, there was still trouble, as Articuno was poisoned. We took it back to the cave, and saw multiple eggs. The hermit says that Articuno has been incubating the eggs for some time and that they will hatch soon. Articuno, meanwhile, was in a lot of pain. The poison sting had taken its effect, and it needed help. Luckily, Zach had been to the website of the top Pokémon breeder, Suzie, and knew how to take care of it. Using various ingredients, he made a makeshift Antidote. After spraying it on Articuno, Zach said it would be about 30 minutes before Articuno would fully recover. The hermit took Articuno to his house, while we cared for the eggs. It wasn't long before we heard yelling and things being broken above. We ran upstairs, and sure enough, guess who was terriozing Articuno?
      "We want those eggs, now!" James said.
      "Give them to us!" Jesse ordered.
      "Meowth, and the bird or your going to be in trouble!" Meowth told him.
      "Hold it right there!" exclaimed Josh.
      "So, you little pests want to fight again huh?" James said.
      "Enough talk! Arbok go!" Jesse shouted.
      "Weezing, Attack!" called James.
      "Meowth, go!" Both of them shouted together.
      "I agree, Graveler, I choose you!" I said.
      "Pidgeot, GO!" Called out Josh.
      "Scyther! Let's go!" Zach yelled to his Pokémon.
      The six Pokémon were ready to fight. Arbok tried to use Glare, but it failed. Weezing produced a Smoke Screen, but that was canceled by Pidgeot. When the smoke cleared, Team Rocket was running away, with Articuno, and the eggs! We don't know how they got the eggs, but they were gone. Zach ordered Scyther to total Team Rocket's jeep, and sure enough, it was totaled. Josh then told Pidgeot to make a small whirlwind. Team Rocket just stood there, puzzled. Finally, Josh called to Pidgeot to use his most powerful attack, Razor Wind. Pidgeot disappeared, and while the wind was hurting Team Rocket, the real damage came when Pidgeot scraped his wing across Team Rocket. Team Rocket was fed up, and told Arbok to use Glare again, excapt this time it worked.. Scyther and Pidgeot were paralyzed. Team Rocket was about to escape, when they were confronted by Articuno. Jesse and James were about attack, but were frozen in their tracks, literally. Articuno shot out some kind of beam from its beak. I analyzed it.
      "Ice Beam, Articuno's strongest attack. A beam that, when it makes contact, will freeze whatever is there."
      "All right, Graveler, give Team Rocket a Seismic Toss to finish them off!" I said to Graveler.
      Graveler nodded and picked up the huge Team Rocket popsicle and spun around and around. Then, he launched Team Rocket across the countryside, blasting them off again. I was about to cheer, but then the Articuno eggs started hatching. We took them to the nest, and sure enough, they hatched. 6 tiny little blue birds, cuter than a Togepi, were cheeping right in front of us. After helping to take care of them while Articuno recovered to 100%, we left for Seaside. Articuno gave us a ride to the bridge in Seaside personally, where we said our good-byes. I wished Aritcuno luck with her new babies.
      It took almost two days to get across that bridge. We were all pooped when we finally reached the Pokémon Center. I was ready to collapse.
      "Who knew that bridge was so long?" I asked.
      In the morning, we went out to the bay so we could fish for some new Pokémon. We didn't have much luck. We couldn't say the same thing to the fishing boat next to us. They were loading a net full of fish onto their ship. On the top was a flopping Magikarp.
      "What? What's this useless piece of rubbish doing here?" One of the workers said, and kicked Magikarp back into the sea.
      The Magikarp just floated there, not moving. I knew what this meant.
      "Uh, guys, w-w-we should leave n-n-now." I stuttered.
      "Why?" asked Josh.
      "Trust me, we need to go!" I shouted, and pulled Josh and Zach away.
      The fisherman were as puzzled as Zach and Josh were, and then felt their ship move. All we could do was watch. A giant whirlpool was forming around the Magikarp, which was starting to glow white. I knew what that meant. Whenever a Pokémon turns white, it's getting ready to evolve, and Magikarp's evovled form was one of the most terrifying out there. Suddenly, the Magikarp grew about 30x it's normal size, had blue scales, and feathery fins all over it. The three of us trembled. We were gonners. We stood face-to-face with arguably the most dangerous Pokémon of all, Gyarados. Gyarados dived back into the sea, and started making a whirlpool, which turned into a huge Water Spout. The Dragon Rage attack, one of Gyarados's most devistating attacks. We were alomst pulled in, but I grabbed a street light so I wouldn't die. Zach and Josh were hanging from a fire hydrant. Zach was pulled away from Josh and was almost pulled into the Dragon Rage, but I grabbed his hand.
      "Gotcha!" I said.
      "Thanks" Zach told me.
      Zubat bit into a wooden plank to keep from getting sucked up. Finally, Gyarados stopped. All of us fell to the ground. Most of the pier was damaged or destroyed. Zach and Josh decided to act. Josh called for Nidorino, Butterfree, Pidgeot, and Poliwhirl, and Zach sent Scyther and Pinsir to attack Gyarados. Pinsir tried to grab Gyarados, but didn't succeed, neither did Nidorino, who's Double Kick didn't even faze the monster. Poliwhirl's Bubblebeam and Double slap didn't hurt Gyarados either, but it angered it, and slammed Pinsir, Nidorino and Poliwhirl, making them faint. Zach and Josh called back their Pokémon and sent their Flying army after the serpent. Butterfree's Spin Attack only mananged to cut Gyarados, and Scyther's Slash didn't fare much better. Pidgeot tried Razor Wind, and although it did more damage than Butterfree or Scyther combined, it still wasn't enough. Gyarados blew the 3 Pokémon away in one Hydro Pump. Now it was my turn.
      "Zubat, Raticate! Raichu! Beedrill! GO!" I shouted.
      The four Pokémon were ready to fight. Raticate and Beedrill were first up, and Raticate used it's Quick Attack to no avail. Gyarados wasn't fazed one bit. Beedrill used Pin Missle, which really hurt Gyarados, and made him very angry. It was so angry, it spit out a huge Hydro Pump, which engulfed Beedrill, but that wasn't the end of it. The Hydro Pump sent Beedrill flying into 5 or 6 buildings, threw a couple of street lights and telephone poles, and slammed into a mailbox and fire hydrant. We rushed over to poor Beedrill, who could barely move it's head, much less fight.
      "It's ok Beedrill, soon you'll be healed and ok soon." I said to Beedrill.
      After putting Beedrill back in it's Poké Ball, I yelled to Gyarados:
      "Gyarados, you are HISTORY! RAICHU, RATICATE ATTACK!" I shouted.
      Raticate was again first up. He used Super Fang on Gyarados, which weakened him considerably. Raichu was up now.
      "Raichu! THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shouted.
      Raichu powered up, and let loose the most massive thunder attack I've seen. Gyarados was in real pain. However, Raichu was getting tired, and stopped. Surprisingly, the Thunder didn't finish of Gyarados. Gyarados was mad, so mad that it destroyed what remained of the dock where Raichu and Raticate were, sending the two Pokémon flying. When they finally landed, both of them were wiped out. I called them back and sent out my top Pokémon, Zubat. Zubat's Wing Attack did little good, as did Supersonic. I called for a Leech Life, but Zubat couldn't get close enough. I decided to use a little diversion trick. I called Zubat over and wispered the plan into it's ear. Zubat understood, and was off. Zubat dove near the water surface and started flying around Gyarados at hyper speed. It looked like there was a dark blue ring around Gyarados, Zubat was going so fast. I then yelled for Zubat to put it into action, and it worked. Gyarados got a little dizzy from watching Zubat, which gave it enough time put Leech Life on one of Gyarados' fins. It took several minutes, but Gyarados was finally beaten. I threw a Poké Ball at it and captured the beast, but I wasn't that worried about that right now.
      Back at the Pokémon Center:
      "Please, Nurse Joy, you have to help Beedrill!" I said in a high voice.
      "I'll see what I can do." answered Joy, and she took Beedrill to emergency care.
      It took almost an hour, but finally, Nurse Joy came out. She had disapointing news.
      "The good news is that Beedrill is ok, and will live. The bad news is that it's arm is broken, it's very weak, and it won't be able to fight for a long time."
      I was shocked. I just stood there. Finally, Josh snapped me out of my trance.
      "If you let Beedrill stay here, maybe I will be able to get it 100% health again. Don't worry, although it will take time." Joy offered.
      "Whatever you can do to help Beedrill, I'm all for it!" I agreed.
      We said our good-byes. I wished Beedrill the best of luck, and will come right back when it feels better. Then I had to make an important decision. Wheather or not to keep Gyarados. On one side, it almost killed one of my most loyal Pokémon. I would never forgive it for that, but on the other hand, I had a gut feeling I would need this monster for my upcoming battles to get the remaining two badges, so I kept it, but I vowed myself to use Gyarados as a last resort. And with that, I bid you farewell.

To be continued...

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