Pokémon GS

Pokémon GS, The Johto League

Part 9: The PokéBall Maker

by KentaMarina

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The PokéBall Maker

By the time they got out, it was already noon, and Matt soon found his stomach grumbling suddenly.

"Matt, not now," said Kenta, also hearing Matt's stomach as they went into the old man's house.

"Why don't you two make yourselves at home while I just clear some stuff up," said the old man as he went into a room.

The house was large enough, with what looked like a workshop near the far corner of the room. Kenta took a look around, when he came across a picture. He looked at it closely to see the old man, only younger, with two other people. One whom he thought looked very familiar, and a young boy holding a little sphere-like object in his hands. Kenta suddenly felt a hand on his other shoulder, which wasn't occupied by Cyndaquil, who now recovered on its own.

"That's me right there with my son," said the old man as he pointed to himself in the picture, with the young boy right in front of him.

"So who's the other one?" asked Kenta, pointing towards the familiar-looking person.

"Believe it or not, that's Prof. Oak himself when he was younger," replied the old man with a smile on his face.

"Whoa," said Kenta in surprise, "he kinda looks different."

The old man laughed, then cleared his throat.

"I'm very sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Kurt."

"I'm Kenta, and that's my little brother, Matt," said Kenta, pointing at Matt, who had just appeared right beside his older brother.

"Hi!" greeted Matt.

"Well, I have to thank you two for saving the Slowpokes from Team Rocket," said Kurt as Kenta put the picture down.

"You actually know Team Rocket?" asked Kenta.

"Mm, and I have had a few encounters of them in the past," replied Kurt.

"So what do you know about them?" asked Matt.

"One thing's for sure, this is not the Team Rocket that I have heard of three years ago," said Kurt as he went to look outside from a window near them.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kenta.

"Team Rocket was disbanded three years ago by a young Trainer that was known to those who didn't know him as Red. After he became a Hall of Famer in almost all of the Pokémon Leagues, he mysteriously vanished. Some rumors say that he went off in search of the remaining Rockets, but I think he is just out there, training to become even stronger than he is already now," explained Kurt.

Kenta was awe-stricken at this. He wondered if he could find Red and beat him in a Pokémon Battle.

"So, what do you do around here?" ask Matt.

"Me? Well, I create PokéBalls," replied Kurt proudly.

The two brothers' eyes widened.

"Really? Can you make us a Master Ball?" asked Matt.

"Well, no, but I create special Balls for special situations," replied Kurt.

"Darn it, and to think that I had my hopes up," said Matt, hanging his head low.

"Creating a Master Ball would take a long time, plus I need all those little gadgets to make 'em, machines and all that, and it's certainly not gonna fit in my house."

"So, what kind of 'special situations' are you talking about?" asked Kenta.

"I'll give you an example. Imagine a very fast Pokémon that could almost flee instantly, or a very heavy Pokémon that's hard to catch even with using an Ultra Ball, or a Pokémon whose Level is probably lower than yours."

"Oh..." replied the two brothers at almost the same time.

"But, to create PokéBalls that would be useful in those kinds of situations, I'm gonna need some Apricorns."

"What are Apricorns?" asked Matt.

Kurt reached for the picture that had the younger Prof. Oak and pointed to the object his son was holding.

"That's an Apricorn," said Kurt.

"But where do we find them?" asked Matt.

"You really are an eager one, aren't you? You can find Apricorns out in the trees in the back. Just bring one or two back and give me at least 2 days to make a PokéBall out of your Apricorns. Remember, the PokéBall that I'll make depends on the color of the Apricorn you give me, so just pick one and hope that the PokéBall will be one that you like."

"Do we have to pay you anything?" asked Matt again.

"Since you saved the town's Slowpokes, it's for free," said Kurt, smiling.

"Great, let's go!" shouted Matt very quickly as he went out through the back door.

"Ah! Hey, wait up!" called out Kenta as he followed his little brother.

* * *

"Nice going, genius," said Kenta sarcastically.

"Thanks!" said Matt, trying to smile as wide as he could.

"That wasn't a compliment," replied Kenta, shaking his head sideways slowly.

Matt ignored Kenta.

"So uh, how do we get those Apricorns?" asked Matt, pointing at a lone tree on the top of a high cliff above them.

"Something's telling me that that tree over there was never that high up," said Kenta as he began walking up the trail near them.

A few minutes later, the two brothers were already three-fourths of the way. For a very high location, the trail leading up to it was very short.

"Hey Kenta, are we there y-?"

"Matt, don't even say it," said Kenta as they continued on.

And before they knew it, they were at the top.

"That was...hard..." said Matt, breathing heavily.

"Come on, we still have to get back to Kurt for him to make the PokéBalls," said Kenta, trying to walk over to the Apricorn tree.

As Kenta approached the tree, some white needles came out of nowhere and stopped Kenta in his tracks.

"Big brother!" called out Matt.

They then heard two laughs, and a metal claw that seemed to come out of nowhere suddenly took Cyndaquil away from Kenta's shoulder.

"Cyndaquil!"

"Quil!" shouted the little Pokémon as it was being taken away from its Trainer.

"I'll bet you I know who it is..." said Matt as he got beside his older brother.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"To melt the claw with your Ember attack, Cyndaquil!" interrupted Kenta, which effectively prevented Jessie and James to complete their motto. Strangely enough, Cyndaquil was able to melt the claw with ease.

"I thought you said this claw was fire-proof!" said Jessie angrily at Meowth.

"Whoops, I still keep on forgettin' that we're not facing dat twerp and his Pikachu, so dis' claw right here is shock-proof!" explained Meowth.

"Well that's true. I guess old habits do die hard," said James with a sigh.

"But we still can't give up without a fight! Go, Seviper!" shouted Jessie as she released her Pokémon from the balloon.

"Cacnea, go!" shouted James. His Cacnea attached itself to James' face as usual.

"Don't get me, get them!" shouted James as he tried to chuck Cacnea to the ground away from his face and into battle.

"Weepinbell, go!" said Matt as he called out his Pokémon.

"Cyndaquil, do another Ember attack!" commanded Kenta.

"Quil!" shouted the Pokémon as it flared up its back and fired small bullets of flame that began to surround Seviper.

"Weepinbell, follow it up with a Vine Whip attack!" commanded Matt.

"Cacnea, stop it with Pin Missile!"

"Cacnea!" shouted the little Pokémon as it fired a volley of sharp pin-like needles at Weepinbell.

"Weepinbell, hit them head on with Razor Leaf!"

Matt's Weepinbell fired an equal number of sharp leaves which countered each and every one of the needles. Meanwhile, the flames that surround Jessie's Seviper finally extinguished, allowing it to attack again.

"Seviper, Poison Tail!"

"Seviper!" hissed the Pokémon as it lunged itself towards Cyndaquil, poised to strike with its now glowing tail.

"Cyndaquil, look out!" called out Kenta.

"Scyther, slash it away with Fury Cutter!" shouted a voice.

A Scyther suddenly appeared in front of Cyndaquil and made a sharp, slashing movement as Seviper came closer. Seviper suddenly stopped in mid-air, then was suddenly pushed upwards back to Jessie and James, almost crushing them from the weight of the Pokémon. James' Cacnea followed next, as it was also sent back at its Trainer from Weepinbell's attack. The Scyther looked at Cyndaquil behind him.

"Uh...Cyndaquil, Flamethrower!" said Kenta after watching the Scyther for a few seconds.

Cyndaquil flared its back up and fired a jet of flame right at the Meowth balloon, causing it to explode.

"Another loss to the new twerp," sighed Jessie.

"We really need to pick from one of 'em," said Meowth.

"But we don't even know where the other one is!" exclaimed James.

"Wobbuffet!" added the blue Pokémon, who had just popped out from its PokéBall.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" shouted the three as they once again disappeared over the horizon.

"Great going, Scyther," said the voice again, and a Trainer who looked a lot like a Bug Catcher walked up to his Pokémon and recalled it to its PokéBall. He then turned to the two brothers.

"Who are you guys?" he asked them.

"Huh? Oh, my name's Kenta, from New Bark Town, and this is my younger brother, Matt," replied Kenta as Matt recalled his Weepinbell.

"I'm Bugsy, and I'm one of the leading authorities on Bug Pokémon," introduced the Trainer.

"You mean like a Pokémon Researcher?" asked Matt.

"Well, not exactly like Prof. Elm or Prof. Oak, but close to something like that," replied Bugsy. "Come on, we better get back to Kurt's."

The two stood there, talking to each other.

"You think he's the Gym Leader?" asked Matt.

"I'm not really sure, but I think he is," replied Kenta. "Now come on, we better go back to Kurt."

* * *

"Ah Bugsy, you took the back way in again, I see," said Kurt as he saw the unmistakable shadow of Bugsy coming in the door with his net.

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that, Kurt," apologized Bugsy. "It's just that I thought I saw a strange-looking balloon headed for something, and I went to see what it was."

Kurt turned around in his seat and stared at Bugsy. "A strange balloon?" he asked.

And at that, the two brothers entered, panting and breathing very hard.

"Perfect timing, you two," remarked Kurt. "I just finished making the fire, and now I'm ready."

"Thanks a lot, Kurt," said Kenta as he handed over a blue-colored Apricorn. Matt handed over a red-colored Apricorn.

"Oh I almost forgot," said Kurt suddenly before beginning to carve the Apricorn, "the two of you are on the League Challenge, right?"

"Yes," said Kenta and Matt at almost the same time.

"How many Badges have you earned so far?" asked Bugsy.

"One," said the two again at exactly the same time. Bugsy let out a small chuckle.

"Then you might wanna head over to the Gym right now," suggested Bugsy. "See you again, Kurt."

"Just don't use the back way again, Bugsy!" called out Kurt. Bugsy sweatdropped on the way out. Kurt turned to the two.

"Here's a tip for you guys: Don't underestimate the Leader, he's young, but he's tough and so are his Pokémon. Good luck, and you can pick these up tomorrow if you like," said Kurt.

"Thanks, but are you sure we can come back anytime we like so you can make the PokéBalls?" asked Kenta.

"Of course, it's the only thing I do in my spare time other than entertaining my granddaughter and her dad's Slowpoke, plus I owe the two of you for saving the town's Slowpokes. It's the least I can do," said Kurt.

Kenta nodded. "Thanks again, Kurt, and we'll see you tomorrow!"

Kurt gave a small chuckle to himself as the two left.

"I won't be surprised if he even becomes the Champion!" Kurt said to himself as he continued to carve the Apricorns into spheres.

Kenta and Matt stood outside the Gym, which was only a walking distance from Kurt's. As they stood there, Matt kept tugging Kenta's sweater.

"Hey Kenta, is it okay if you go ahead?" asked Matt.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Because I wanna stop by the Pokémon Center and get something to eat! My stomach feels emptier and emptier!"

Kenta sighed and allowed Matt to do so. Matt hugged his brother and was gone in a blink of an eye. Kenta stood there, watching Matt go.

"Unbelievable, he has a bigger appetite than I do," said Kenta, blinking. He then looked at Cyndaquil.

"You ready to do this?" he asked his Pokémon.

"Quil!" it said, putting its arms up like a boxer.

Kenta laughed. "Alright buddy, let's do it!"

And at that, the two entered the Gym's doors into a dark hallway.

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Disclaimer

Pokémon, Pikachu and all other characters are trademarks of Nintendo.

All rights, including the copyrights of game, scenario, music, and program reserved by Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and Game Freak Inc.

Other characters (like Matt) are owned and created by the author (me!!!).

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Contact Info

E-mail me for reviews and such at Lracer2790@aol.com. I can also be reached through AOL's Instant Messenger, only if I'm online, though.