Click-ick! “Kecleon, the Color-swap Poke’mon. Kecleon alters its body coloration to blend in with its surroundings, allowing it to sneak up on its prey unnoticed. It is unable to totally camouflage the zig-zag on its stomach.” Landon’s Poke’dex spoke. However, the Kecleon image on the Poke’dex was totally different from the one on the floor. The real Kecleon was sprawled out across the grass. It was panting heavily and its color was drained from brilliant green to a dull jade. “Ack! What happened?!” Landon, May , and Zeru rushed over to it. “I don’t know. Earlier, I let my Kecleon outside to play, but it didn’t come back. I went to find it and that’s how I got here.” Nici explained. “This Kecleon is very sick; how could you let it get like this?!” May said a bit sternly. “Why didn’t you take it to a Poke’mon Center?!” Zeru shouted. “I have my reasons!” He and Nici shot each other dangerous looks. “You are so irresponsible!” “And you would know all about that!” “Stop it,” Landon said seriously. He dropped to his knees and started to examined Kecleon. He felt its back, looked at its pupils, and felt its hot, clammy head. “Hmmm…..fever…labored breathing, color drainage….” He wiped a little sweat from its head, “and excess sweating? These are all symptoms of a Poison Gas attack!” “Dah!” The others gasped. Landon pulled his vackpack off and unzipped it. “I really wish you would’ve taken Kecleon to the Poke’mon Center, Nici. Because you waited, its condition is becoming critical.” He pulled out a clear jar with a red medical cross on it. It was filled to the brim with red-colored pills the size of tiny beads. “This makeshift medicine will help flush the poison out of Kecleon, but I need some ice water to cool it down.” “I can help; let me go get a bucket of ice.” Nici jumped eagerly. “Please let me do this for my Poke’mon, Landon.” “Okay, but please hurry back.” Landon said calmly. Nici took a short bow and dashed out of the clearing. The three watched her swiftly disappear behind the shrubbery, until they couldn’t see her anymore. Nici glanced back; no one was looking at her after that speedy exit. She looked around as well to see that not a soul was watching her. Beep-beep-beep-beep! A small, but sharp beeping noise sounded from Nici’s shorts pocket. She slowed down to a stop, but didn’t answer it immediately. Instead, she sported a rather worried look and let it beep for a little bit. Slowly, she reached into her pocket and withdrew a small, black radio phone. A red light at the top was blinking madly as the machine continued to beep. Nici pressed the black button in the middle, “H-hello?” She answered. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t call you, did you?” A voice from the receiver spoke sinisterly. “Is everything going according to plan?” “Yeah, Himura and his friends are exactly where you want him.” Nici answered. “Good, good; we have to get Himura off our backs so he doesn’t mess up our plans.” “Remember our deal; you cure my Kecleon from the Poison gas and I trick Landon.” She stated more sternly. “But of course; we’re a team of our word.” The radio gave a short laugh. Nici frowned and felt as if she wanted to crush the device.

       Back in the clearing, Landon took the old indigo sash he used to use for his hair and folded it up. Phanpy, May, and Zeru just sat with their backs against a tree, watching him attempt to fill a doctor’s position. “Toya, use your water gun on this, will ya’?” He asked. Toya nodded and spurted a splash of H2o on the cloth. “Thanks,” Landon smiled and applied the cloth to Kecleon’s head. “Kecle….” It shook a bit, but was still lingering on the state of being conscious and unconscious. IT tried to move its body, but dizziness kept it grounded. “Take it easy, Kecleon.” Landon pulled open the jar and took out two of the red pills. “I’ll need you to use the rest of your strength to chew these up.” He helped Kecleon open its mouth and tossed them in. Toya helped to make sure it chewed them. “Well, that explains why Nici had all that medicine.” May said, staring at the medicine bottles Nici dropped. Landon picked one up and read it. “…she tried, but Poke’mon aren’t meant to take medicines made specifically for human consumption.” “So, how did you become a medical expert all of the sudden?” Zeru asked. “You know why, Zeru. While Poke’mon training is great, I think I get more pleasure in nursing them back to health.” Landon reached into his backpack and withdrew a few colorful berries, a bowl, and a spoon. “When I found that I liked Poke’mon nursing, your mom helped me out.” “But my mom is a human doctor.” Zeru said. “Yeah, but she helped me get a feel of the medical field and a perception of temporary medicinal treatment. I’m only able to delay Kecleon’s condition.” Landon measured and grounded the fruits into a purple juice, “We’ll still have to get it to Nurse Joy as soon as possible. Here, Kecleon, this’ll help with your breathing.” He sat Kecleon up and helped it drink the medicine down.

 

       It wasn’t long before Nici returned with a silver bucket filled with ice. She set it in front of Landon and dropped to her Poke’mon’s side. “Thanks, Nici.” He said. “IS Kecleon going to be alright?” Nici asked him. Landon had Toya use her Water Gun technique in the bucket and dipped the cloth in it. “It’ll be fine if we can get it to a Poke’mon Center.” He sponged Kecleon’s head. “Thanks a lot, Landon.” Nici smiled. Suddenly, Landon’s eyes flickered with a dangerous seriousness; he stood up abruptly, but a little too late; a net went zooming through the trees like lightning and wrapped around him. “Hey!” He shouted as he struggled. “Lanodn!” The others started towards him, only to be ensnared in nets as well. “Phanpy! Phanpy!” Phanpy beat the ground with her trunk. “What is this?” Landon growled angrily. “Well, well; looks like we’ve got quite a catch.” A female voice sounded between the trees. “Who are you!?” Zeru shouted. Nici gave a worried look, “It’s them…” “Allow us to introduce ourselves.” A different voice echoed. From behind a tree, two girls took a stylish step out. Once of them had short, blonde hair and blue eyes while the other had long, brown hair and green eyes. What surprised the kids the most was the fact that the girls were wearing the Team Aqua uniform. “Oh-no, no more criminal teams!” Landon thought to himself. “What do you want this time?” May shouted. “You’re a feisty little girl—not very becoming of a lady.” “Just answer the question!” She raged. The two Aqua grunts let out a sigh. “I guess we should introduce ourselves to our captives.” The blonde brushed her bangs from her face, “My name is Bri.” “And I’m her cousin, Rei.” (together) “And we’re a part of the infamous Team Aqua!” They flashed a thumbs-up and winked. “What’re you doing? This wasn’t part of the plan!” Nici shouted. Landon, May, Zeru, Phanpy, and Toya all turned to her in aroused curiosity. What could Nici possibly know about Team Aqua’s plan? “You said that you would help Kecleon if I captured Landon!” “What!?” Landon growled. Zeru folded his arms—he knew there was something up with Nici the entire time. Too bad he was in no position to brag. “Sorry, little girl, but when you’re dealing with Team Aqua, there’s only our plan.” Rei said. She and her cousin walked up to her and grasped the net. “Hey!” Nici cried as they lifted her and Kecleon off the ground. “This girl will be worth a nice ransom. We’ll not only have that artifact, but a healthy sum as well.” Bri said. “The artifact? I should’ve known you’d be behind the museum robbery!” Zeru said. “Yup, and we must leave you now, so tootles!” Team Aqua gave a smile so sweet, that it was deadly before dashing off into the trees. “They’re so fast…we may never catch up to them now.” May said in a defeated tone. “Oh, yell we can.” Landon grinned and pulled a poke’ball from his belt. Since his sword was lying next to a tree, there was no way he could’ve cut himself out. “Nici tricked us good, but didn’t count on our Poke’mon.” He said, “We can use our fire Poke’mon to get out of those nets, then use Phanpy’s nose to find Team Aqua.” “Yah,” “Okay; good plan.” May and Zeru did the same. They all held out their poke’balls through a hole in the nets. “Vulpix, Torchic, Charmander, we choose you!” They shouted together, releasing their Poke’mon. “Char-char!” “Vul!” “Torchic-tor!” They smiled. “Use Ember attack to burn the nets!” The trainers exclaimed and the fire Poke’mon spurted a small stream of flames, as not to singe their trainers. Landon’s net sparked ablaze slightly and he used his arms to shield his face from the flames. The other two nets became weak enough for their captives to break out. “Yeah,” Zeru patted the bits of net off his shirt. “Good job, you three. Return now,” The kids recalled their Poke’mon to their Poke’balls. Zeru knelt down to Phanpy and rubbed her underneath her ears. “Phanpy!” She smiled gleefully to show her gratitude. “Hope I don’t get sued, but ‘are you ready to follow your nose’?” Zeru asked. “Phan-py!” Phanpy nodded.

 

       The wind blew lightly across the dunes of the beach. Small waves crashed up on the with coast in a gentle, slow rhythm. The secluded part of the beach remained empty form people and very silent. Off to the edge, a lighthouse stood out in the sand. The sun shone off of its pearly structure and sparkling glass windows. At the top was a large revolving light bulb as big as ten beach balls. Up the stairs and inside the large watch room, Team Aqua stood with their hostage. Nici was tied to a chair and gagged. On a cylindrical stone podium, a shiny object rested dormant. It was made completely of polished sapphire. The object looked like the upper circular portion of an old key, but the bottom looked as if it had been broken. “Just think of all the money we’re about to make, Bri” Rei said as she stood guard beside Nici. Bri pulled her cell phone from her pocket and started dialing on it. “The boss is going to be so proud of us; we got the Sapphire Drive, the curator’s daughter, and eluded Himura and his friends. Not even Team Magma could get that close to victory.” “I guess we’re just that good.” The two started to laugh arrogantly. Kecleon, who was bound by a rope, felt some of the effects of Landon’s medicine working. It started to regain some of its strength back and its dizziness was slowing down. “Hello?” A voice said from the other end of the cell phone. “Hello, Boss; everything is going according to plan. We’ve got the artifact and are holding the curator’s daughter for ransom.” Bri said. “Exellent work, Bri and Rei—I knew I could count on you to get the job done. I presume Himura didn’t follow you?” The voice in the phone hissed. “Let’s just say that Mr. Himura is tied up at the current moment.” Bri gave a sly look. “Good; well done! I will have our ship ready for you as soon as possible.” With that, there was a click on the other end. “Hear that, Bri?” “Yeah, we’re almost home free! Let’s call the brat’s mom and get out money.” Suddenly, there was a loud bursting sound; the door flew open to reveal Landon and his friends. “What the heck?!” Rei exclaimed. “How did they get in here?” Bri growled. Nici wiggled in the chair to try and get some attention. Landon’s eyes wandered around the room from the hostage, to the artifact, and back to Team Aqua. “Why do you guys always have to play hero?” Bri asked. “Because we get to kick your sorry butts around and ‘round.” Zeru answered. The two girls frowned, “How in the world did you find us?” They said behind clenched teeth. Zeru took Phanpy in his arms and she waved with her ear while giving a sinister grin. “We could smell your perfume.” May said. But instead of retorting, Bri and Rei folded their arms and grinned back at the kids. “Don’t think you’re getting off easy. We didn’t go through all this trouble of stealing and kidnapping just to lose it all to a bunch of kids.” They reached at their belts and pulled off a poke’ball. “Go, Marill!” They tossed them to the ground and they burst open in a flash of light. The Poke’mon that emerged were both identical; small and mice-like, they had blue fur, white bellies, and a rubbery blue ball at the end of their line-like tails. The only way to tell them apart was that one had a square earring in its left ear and the other had a spherical one in its right. “Mar—” “—rill!” They grinned.Click-ick! “Marill, the aqua mouse Poke’mon. Its fur repels water; it uses the oil-filled tail like a bobbin. Marill’s acute sense of hearing allows it to sense danger from miles away.” Zeru’s Poke’dex spoke. “I’ve got this one—leave it to me!” Landon stepped up, pulling the Poke’ball with the lightning sticker from his belt. “Pikachu, let’s do it!” He threw it to the ground and Pikachu flashed out. “Pika-pi!” It stood on its hind legs and sparked its red cheeks. The jolt gave a little feedback and it trembled from it. “Aww, he thinks he can beat us with a little mouse.” Bri grinned. Then, her and her cousin’s faces went serious.

       “Marill, attack formation!” “Mari—!” “Mari—!” The two Marill dashed forward, paw-in-paw. Pikachu got on all fours as it braced itself for a quick impact. “…Now!” Landon was amazed at the coordination and teamwork his opponents possessed; the two Poke’mon waited until they were hair’s width from Pikachu before separating to either side. Pikachu and Landon sweated anime style, glancing at an attacker from both the east and the west. “Marill!” One took in a deep breath and blew out a beam of forceful bubbles. On the other side, the other Marill did the exact same thing. “Pika?” Pikachu trembled in confusion. “Keep cool, Pikachu, and jump up!” Landon ordered. Pikachu nodded, jumping into the air in the nick of time. The splatter of bubbles filled the lighthouse room as the two attacks collided. “Great job, Pikachu. No matter what, we won’t lose!” Landon cheered and Pikachu shared his optimism. “Don’t count on that one, Himura. Marill, Water Gun barrage now!” Team Aqua cried. “Hmph!” The spherical earringed Marill started to run across the side with its twin mirroring it. “Mar!” SPWEE!! “Pikachu!” Pikachu leapt back with a jet-stream of water rushing under its feet. “Mar—” “—rill!” The Marill both slid to halt at the exact same time. It was as if they had used some sort of telepathy with each other. “Marill-Marill!” They spurted out a barrage of wild-flying water bullets in a crazy array of power. But instead of being worried, Pikachu remained calm just like its trainer instructed. “Oh, yeah!” Landon clenched his fists and grinned. The Crystal Bell started glimmering a blue color along with his hair. “Crystal EX activate!” “Pikachu-Pika!” Pikachu felt a jolt race through its body. “Let’s race!” Landon shouted. Pikachu used its Agility technique to dodge the water shots; it spun to the right, flipped to the left, and darted around the floor to evade. The Water Gun barrage was fast, but Pikachu was even quicker. Landon could feel the adrenaline rush flowing through his Poke’mon flow through him as well. Pikachu cart-wheeled with an endless supply of energy away from the ricocheting water attack. “Pikachu, use Thundershock!” Landon said. “Pikaa—” Pikachu’s cheeks lit up with a high-voltage charge, “Chuu!!” It launched a trail of lightning from its cheeks towards one of the water mice. Both it and its trainer trembled from the feedback of the shock. “Marill, Duo Defense Curl!” Bri and Rei exclaimed together. “Mari-mari!” Marill!” The two Marill dashed back together and slapped each other a high five; they jumped up slightly, rolling up into a defensive ball. Pikachu’s Thundershock merely bounced off of their bodies. “Ack!” Pkachu and Landon took a shocked step back, sweating anime style. Their cheeks were a little scratched from the recoiling shock they hand received. “That’s amazing; I’ve never seen a Defense Curl  that powerful before.” Landon thought to himself. Pikachu’s voice sounded in his head for the first time. Its voice was a lot lighter than his other Poke’mon. “Let’s do it again, Pikachu; Thundershock!” Landon exclaimed. “Pikaaaa!” Pikachu jumped slightly as jolts of electricity burned its cheek. “It’s your turn to dodge!” Bri and Rei sounded. Both Marill mirrored each other by rolling away on either sides of the room; the bolt of lightning bounced off of the floor, shorting out quickly. “Now, use Mega Punch!” “Marill-rill!” The Marill siblings regrouped and darted towards Pikachu at lightning speed. When they drew back their fists, they started to glow brightly. “Get ready to hand in there, Pikachu.” Landon said. Pikachu nodded, standing on it hind legs. SWISH!! “Ahha!” Pikachu sweated as it leapt back from one punch. Landon had seen the way the Marill attacked by now and knew that they would try a stunt like that. “Watch it Pikachu; the first Marill will start with a slow attack while the other follows up with an even faster one!” Just as he predicted, the other Marill flashed behind Pikachu in an instant. Pikachu’s eyes widened for the shock froze it in place; the punch struck it in the back and sent it sprawling. “Ack!” Landon shook at the pain that shot through his back. “Geez! That punch was no joke.” He panted.

       “I’ll help you out, Landon.” Zeru stepped up and pulled a poke’ball from his belt, “Treecko, I choose—” “No way,” Landon said sharply. He stood up straight and clenched his fists. “Pikachu and I will win this battle together.” “You should’ve taken the help. Use Bubblebeam attack!” Bri shouted. “Pikachu, shock ‘em down!” Landon shot. The Marill spurted a beam of bubbles form their mouths and Pikachu released a shocking bolt of lightning; the two attacks collided with each other in mid-air, whipping at each other in a dangerous stalemate. “Bri, let’s just forget the money—It’s not worth losing the Sapphire Drive over.” Rei tried to reason. Bri, however, shot Landon an angry glare. Her body rattled with anger and she clenched her fists. “Not a chance; we finish this battle now.” She growled. “But, BRi, our ride is almost here. Let’s go—” “Go, Duo Rollout attack!” Bri shouted, ignoring her cousin. “Maaaaa-“ both Marill got a speedy running start, “Rilll!!” SWISH!! They spun their bodies into whirling blue spheres, racing across the ground like wheels. They spun around and around the room to build up speed in their spin. The more speed they received, the more power they achieved. Pikachu started to sweat as its eyes darted all around. Both it and Landon started to feel dizzy from the whirling circular motion of blue. “Arrrghhh! I have to focus!” Landon rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wipe the dizziness out of them. He had to find some sort of strategy to knock them down before they attacked. “Some way…c’mon….—!” “Pikachu!” He shouted, “On my mark…get set…” The Marill forced their bodies to cannon forward from opposite sides. “Now, jump to the side and channel Thunderwave through your tail!” “Pka!” Pikachu skipped sideways and plopped its tail on the floor; it started to spark with a faint, blue electricity. The feedback wasn’t as powerful, but still painful. The Marill duo were going way too fast to stop or alter direction. Bri and Rei stared with widened eyes, for they knew what was coming. The water Poke’mon rolled onto Pikachu’s tail and received a jolt that channeled through their bodies. They spun out of Rollout formation as their shocked bodies couldn’t move. “Lift ‘em up and let ‘em have it! Thunderbolt!” Landon punched at the air. Pikachu lifted its tail mightily, causing its two passengers to fly helplessly in the air. “Piiikaaachuuu!” It fell to its bottom as a great burst of electricity shot from its body. “Mari—” “Mari-marill!” They cried, dropping to the ground with a dusty plop. “Return, Marill!” Bri and Rei returned their Poke’mon. Landon’s hair returned to normal and the Crystal Bell simmered to a halt. With a grin, he and Pikachu held up the “V” sign for victory. “Yeah!” “Great job, Landon!” May and Zeru cheered. Rei made a grab for the Sapphire Drive and snatched it off the stand. Hers and her cousin’s sour expressions of defeat were replaced by grins of triumph. The group of kids gave them both a reproachful look. “Well done, young Himura, but don’t take this victory to your head.” Bri said. “You may have won the battle, but this war has just begun. See ya’!” With that, the two turned and dashed towards the lighthouse balcony. “They’re getting away with the artifact!” May was the first to follow, then the two boys. The three chased Team Aqua down the short corridor. Bri and Rei were coming up to the edge of the run. “Ha! No place to run.” May grinned. Instead, Bri and Rei didn’t slow or stop; they jumped the railing into the air without fear. “Wha!?” The three kids gasped. They couldn’t believe it—Team Aqua actually jumped! When the three reached the edge, they glanced over to see what fate literally befell their opponents. Instead of seeing street pizza, Bri and Rei floated towards the sea with big kites strapped to their backs. In the sea was a large black mariner with the Team Aqua insignia marked on the side. “Look, it’s the Team Aqua battleship!” Zeru pointed out. “So long, losers!” Bri and Rei waved back. They landed on the sandy beach and started towards the water. Landon, May, Zeru, Pikachu, Toya, and Phanpy watched them deftly land on the deck of the ship. The mariner let out a smooth whistle as it sped out to sea. There was no way the heroes could catch up with them now. “Darn it! They’ve escaped!” May said. “And with the Sapphire Drive.” Landon added. “What could they possibly want with such an ancient item? There’s now way they’ll sell it; they wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to get rid of it.” Zeru asked. Landon gave a look of suspicion. Could it be linked to the danger his Poke’mon crush warned him about? “Mmmm! Mmm!” “Huh?” The group glanced back. Nici had hopped in her chair all the way over to them with Kecleon in her lap. She looked pretty angry as she struggled to break free of her bindings. “Oh, sorry about that, Nici; we didn’t mean to leave you all tied up.” May said, sweating anime style. Landon withdrew his sword and flipped it over on the sharp side; he swung it once with swiftness and accuracy. Immediately, the ropes fell to pieces to the floor. Nici removed her gag and gasped for air. “Thanks a lot; any longer and that would’ve been it.” She said. “Kecleon-kecleon!” Kecleon showed that its stamina was slowly recovering by clapping. “Oh! Speaking of which, we need to get Kecleon to the Poke’mon Cernter! Landon exclaimed. “Hey, guys,” Nici started in a low voice. “I’m really sorry for tricking you. I think I want to go back to my mom now.” With that, she smiled to them and they smiled back.

 
      
       The kids and their Poke’mon met back at the Poke’mon Center with Officer Jenny. Nurse Joy came out of the ER corridor, holding Kecleon in her arms. “Good news; your Kecleon is going to do fine. Whoever applied those medicinal herbs really knew what they were doing; I’m impressed.” She said. “Kecleon-Kecleon!” Kecleon leapt into Nici’s arms and they giggled. “So, you’re saying that Team Aqua got away with the artifact?” Officer Jenny questioned Landon, May, and Zeru. “Yeah, we tried to stop them, but couldn’t catch them.’ Landon said. “The curator isn’t going to be happy about that, but at any rate, at least you got her daughter back.” Jenny gave a relieved sigh. Suddenly, the doors to the Poke’mon Center burst open and Mrs. Ryo came bursting in. “Nici, my precious little girl!” She cried. As soon as she spotted Nici, her eyes started to water. “Nici!” “Mommy!” The two embraced each other in a hug. “Thank you, Thank you!” “It’s no problem.” Zeru said. The three nodded to each other and started to leave. The feeling of bitter-sweet triumph was enough to satisfy them. “Wait,” Mrs. Ryo’s voice sounded and they stopped. “You saved my daughter, and now I can re-open my museum.” She said. “How would you like a museum tour—free of charge?” Wide smiles spread on their faces. “Sure thing! Let’s go right now!” Landon exclaimed happily. “And then, to Mauville City to earn my third gym badge. YEAH!” Everyone laughed as he jumped up with his fist in the air. (And so, with the curators daughter back with her mom, Landon and friends get ready to head back out on the road. What adventures await? What dangers will befall them? And what does Team Aqua plan on doing with the Sapphire drive? Find out on “Poke’mon X”!)

 

Fast Fact answer: The name of Toya’s EX attack is the “EX Burst”. Stay tuned for more Fast facts.

 

                                      “Shine the Sky” (Ending Theme)

 

Shine the sky!

Crystal power hit the high—

Flying current to my victory

Try and Try!

Never give the fight away

I’ll take every challenge that I can get in my hands

Des—tiny!

Prophecy I can’t ignore

Know what surprises that it has in store

Shine the sky!

A new adventure I will face

Another chance at victory with Poke’mon!

 



 
This is the end of Episode 20. See ya'