Hello and welcome to the wide world of Poke’mon”. Just a little disclaimer here: while Poke’mon, Ruroni Kenshin, and their characters aren’t copyrighted to me, characters such as “Landon” and “Zeru” are. In this story, you’ll join our young hero, Landon, in his epic and unusual journey in the world of Poke’mon. Equipped with a magical bell, he and his friends must stare down the face of evil, win every challenge, make new friends, and claw their way to the top. But can they stop the ultimate evil that threatens their world? There are many twists and surprises, so you have to keep reading if you really want to “Catch ‘em all!” in:

 

                                      Poke’mon X

 

       Landon, May, Zeru, Wally, and Shoura gazed at the many different stores in Verdanturf Town. Toya and Phanpy chewed on glazed donuts while they lay atop their trainer’s shoulders. Landon held Vulpix in his arms, brushing her fur gently. People on bicycles zoomed through the streets happily. Verdanturf Town was nothing like the other towns and cities the group had visited—the air was much more pleasant to breath and the buildings brought out the true green of the grass. Being a town that sat on the foothills of a mountain made it even more pretty to look at. Some of the houses had small gardens in front of them with lots of multicolored flowers, while others were decorated with (Landon scoffed) lawn gnomes. (Finally, our heroes made it to Verdanturf Town. What adventures will await them in this town? What surprises will they meet as they compete with the challenges that lie ahead?)

 

                Theme Song: Pocket Monsters X(treme)

Running at

The speed of sound

What adventures can be found?

Traveling the world all around

As fate just spins it upside-down

Little monsters

Everywhere

Find a new one and I’m there

Victory is just for fun

There’s no stoppin’ till I’m number one

 

Crys-tal,

Clear, and Shadow

Three lights—

That fight the way

Protect those legendary

Is my destiny!

 

Poke’mon X

(Poke’mon X)

Leading the way

Is my sweet victory

Poke’mon X

(Poke’mon X)

A mystery

Behind each one we see

 

Poke’—mon X

(Ex—Ex)

This journey I’ll run

Has only begun!!

 

                           Episode 27: “Contest of Poke’beauty!”

       “I wonder what was so important that Professor Birch had to call us for.” Zeru wondered aloud. “Well, we’re on our way to the Poke’mon Center. We can pick it up there.” May said, “Probably bugging Landon to catch more Poke’mon.” Landon, however, wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. Instead, he pulled a red case from his backpack and flipped it open. Inside was a bunch of cube-shaped candies in all sorts of different colors. He held out his other hand from underneath Vulpix and picked out a few red ones. With a flip of the case top, he slipped it back into his backpack. “Here you go, Vulpix.” “Vulpix!” Vulpix gobbled up the square candies in Landon’s hand happily. Then, Landon went back to brushing Vulpix’s fur. “Weren’t those candies you were feeding Vulpix poke’blocks?”  Wally pointed to the candy. “I’ve heard of those; they’re candies that are supposed to be healthy for your Poke’mon.” Zeru pointed out. “Yeah, they are. And they’re made from my very own special recipe.” Landon held up his hand and pointed his index finger, “I started blending my own ingredients into poke’blocks before we left Slateport City and I’ve been trying different combinations that work best on my Vulpix.” “Vul!” He said and Vulpix smiled. Zeru glanced at May and grinned a sinister grin. Shoura started to sweat anime style—she had spent most of her life with Zeru and knew his habits. “Gee, didn’t someone else want to enter the contest too?” Zeru slid up to May and poked her in the shoulder. For once, she didn’t say anything. “It looks like Landon is more prepared than you. You’re not gonna’ lose to him, are ya’?” “Zeru is right, May,” Shoura started, “I hear that these Poke’mon contest are just as hard as gym battles if not harder.” May still remained silent, though her temple beat anime style to show that it was becoming very difficult to keep cool. “It’s no use talking to a brick wall—she’ll be slacking off as usual.” Zeru put his hands on the back of his head. “Oh, can it!” May finally exploded. Angrily, she reached to her waist pouch and pulled out a poke’ball. “If I was seriously slacking off, I’d be panicking right now.” She let it burst open n her hand. There was a flash of shimmering light as Eevee was released onto the ground. Her fur glimmered in the sunlight and her eyes sparkled as if they were some sort of jewel. “Wee-wee!” She smiled sweetly. “Whoaaa…” Everyone except Landon gazed with dumbstruck expressions. Eevee appeared as if she had been to a professional salon and back in just a mere second. Just by looking at her fur, it was easy to tell she was both strong and healthy. May gave a triumphant grin, “What was that about slacking off, Zeru?” Zeru felt as if he shrunk down to a one-foot dwarf. “In truth, May has been training fro the contest way before I have, that she has.” Landon stated. May picked up Eevee and stood next to Landon, “Let’s reveal our morning ritual!” They said together. (A clock appeared behind them before they flashbacked to their morning ritual) “Each morning, May and I get up bright and early.” Landon started, “We call our Poke’mon and start with a morning jog around the area.” “Then, we groom our Poke’mon’s fur, followed by breakfast that Landon made from a special healthy recipe.” “Afterwards, we feed Eevee and Vulpix some poke’blocks that’ll bring out as shine in their fur and a pep in their step.” “Once our Poke’mon are taking their break, Lan and I study the contest guide for about half an hour and come up with routine moves.” “Finally, we both end our morning ritual with a final poke’ball treat.” (Background effects end) “Wow, you guys are serious about this.” Shoura told them. “You’d better believe it.” Landon told her, brushing at Vulpix’s tuft of hair. Zeru had fallen all the way to the back of the group. He kept his silence by staring up at the sky and putting his hands in his pocket.

 

       Landon pushed through the glass doors of the Poke’mon Center and walked up to the front desk. May and Shoura walked over to the message board and Wally and Zeru just waited by the benches. The entire center was a busy hustle and bustle with Poke’mon talk from other trainers, fans, and other Poke’mon associates. “Hi, can I help you with anything?” Nurse Joy asked Landon. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Poke’dex, flipping it open. The screen fuzzed at first before flashing with his name and picture. “Message for Landon Himura.” Landon smiled. “….oh, yeah; just wait one moment.” Nurse Joy walked back to the right side of the u-counter and withdrew a small box from the bottom desk drawer. She set it in front of him with a smile and held out a clipboard and pen. “Just sign here and it’s all yours.” “Okay,” Landon scribbled his name on the bottom of the paper, then took up the parcel. “Thanks, Nurse Joy!” He waved to her. Then, he averted his attention to the box. Inside were three pairs of goggles—one blue, one red, and one green—and a note. “So, what’s in the package?” Zeru asked as he and the others walked up to him. Landon tore the envelope to the package open. “….the package may be from Professor Birch, but it was originated from my granpa.” He stated, “But the letter just says: ‘Devon Company’s most recent product, the Go-goggles. They may come in handy later on.’….oh, wait—there’s a P.S. here, too. ‘Lank, good luck and catch more Poke’mon!” Landon let out an annoyed sigh. May put her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t sweat it, Lan. You’ll catch more Poke’mon. But right now, you and I have a score to settle.” “Yeah,” Landon nodded. As soon as they pushed out of the doors of the Poke’mon Center, a series of police cars whizzed across the streets. Their sirens bent against the pure air loudly and forced everyone else to move out of the way. “Huh?” The group of kids blinked. The red and blue lights flashed into the distance towards the mountain area. Nurse Joy stepped out from the center with a look of worry. “I wonder what’s going on out here?” A kid with brown hair ran up to them, “Someone is trapped inside of Rusturf Tunnel!” “That’s terrible!” May gasped. “Whoever they are should know that some of the entrances to Rusturf tunnel are unstable. They should be more careful.” Wally stated, “My cousin, Wanda, used to point out ones that took a chance to crumble.” Landon scratched his hair as one of the police cars slid to a halt in front of the Poke’mon Center. The dark window rolled down to reveal a man with light brown hair and green eyes. He was a little on the plump side and wore a blue shirt and red pants. “Wally!” “Uncle Charles?” Wally blinked. “Wally, I’m so glad you’re here! Wanda is stuck in Rusturf tunnel and we have to get her out.” The man said. “Dah!” Wally took a shocked step back. He couldn’t believe that the same cousin who told him not to go playing around in the feeble tunnel entrances was trapped by the same means. “Phanpy-Phanpy! Pha—an!” Phanpy gave Zeru a serious look and he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we have to help get her out of there.” “Right,” “Mudkip!” Landon and Toya flashed a thumbs-up. Wally wrenched the door of the police car and jumped in first, followed by May and Shoura. However, there’s wasn’t enough room for Landon and Zeru. Even if they tried to squeeze in, they wouldn’t fit without having to sit on each other. “Don’t worry; I’ll radio the next police car to let you in.” Officer Jenny waved from the driver’s seat. Landon nodded and the police car sped off in a swirling cloud of dust.

 

       A landslide of rocks covered the mouth of Rusturf Tunnel securely. Tons of firefighters and police officers crowded around the cave entrance with their equipment to try and break the wall. Behind the police tape were tons of bystanders, shouting and yelling noisily. The Poke’mon in front of the rescue team had only their small heads poked out of the dirt. Their noses were dark red, their fur was brown, and their eyes were black. The only man in front of the tunnel that wasn’t a cop was a man with sand-colored hair. He wore an orange button shirt over his blue T-shirt and white pants. “Okay, people; on my signal.” He said to the officers and firefighters. The rest of the police cars came to a screeching halt and Wally jumped out. “Wanda! Wanda, can you hear me?” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “Wanda!” “Wally?” A muffled voice was barely heard through the chatty people and large rocks. “Hang on—I’m coming!” “Whoa, there! You can’t cross that police line, kid.” A couple of male officers grasped Wally by the arms to stop him from running. “Hey, let me go! My cousin is in there!” He shouted. Landon stepped out of the car before Zeru and May, and Shoura was just dead last. He gazed at the wall and scratched his hair again. “That’s really nasty-looking. I’d hade to be Ms. Wanda right now.” “Mudkip—mudkip,” Landon stated and Toya agreed. His eyes fell on the Poke’mon and a pang of excitement stabbed him. “Hey, those are Diglet!” Landon ran to the edge of the police tape and flipped his Poke’dex open. Click-ick! “Diglet, the Mole Poke’mon. Diglet never pull their entire body out of the ground and are able to draw their heads under at the speed of sound. You can always tell where a Diglet has been by the upturned earth.” The machine spoke. “And…….now!” The guy with the sandy hair shouted. “Diglet—” “Diglet—” The Diglet’s light voices echoed around the area she they drew their heads underground like lightning. Their trails were traced by the pushed-up dirt they left behind them. “Look at those little guys go!” May marveled. “Yeah, they may be small Poke’mon, but Diglet are super strong.” Shoura told her. The Diglet crashed into the boulders covering the cave and plowing through them. “Yeah, that’s the way. Keep your dig attack strong, Diglet!” The sand-haired young man coached to the Poke’mon. The boulders crumbled rapidly under the mercy of the Diglets’ strength. Wally wished he could help, but had to be satisfied with just watching. Rocks form above loosened and took a tumble down the face of the landslide. “Chad, watch out!” One of the officers shouted loudly. The man with the sand hair jumped back just in time to miss being crushed by a stray boulder. Quickly, he pulled a silver whistle from his shirt pocket and blew on it. FWWEEEP!! “Diglet team, pull out! Another avalanche is forming!” He shouted. At the sound of his voice and whistle, the trail of uprooted dirt doubled back towards the entrance. A cloud of dust kicked up once the last brick fell to the grass. The police, firefighters, and bystanders sweated a little bit from the nasty turn of events. “Whoa!” Was all Chad managed to say. “It seems that, no matter how many times they start to get through, more boulders will fall in its place.” Zeru stated, which wasn’t very comforting to Wally. “The problem is that they aren’t hitting it fast enough.” Landon said, “Without the necessary speed, the rocks will keep falling in succession. But I bet we could break it.” Landon looked to Toya. “…...Mud! Mudkip-Mudkip!” Toya gave a grin and he grinned back. “Aww, man,” Chad scratched his head, “How are we gonna’ get through here?” If—what the freak?!” He suddenly gasped; Landon kicked off the ground and over the police tape. Toya held onto his hair tight so as to not fall off.

       “Hey, kid, you can’t cross here!” One of the officers shouted. “Stop where you are!” “This is a restricted area!” Even though they kept shouting at him, Landon continued to run towards the mouth of Rusturf Tunnel. He grasped the top of his sword’s sheath, inching the Sakaba-tou out by the hand guard with his thumb. “Toya, use your Rock Smash attack to help me break up the boulders.” “Mudkip!” Toya nodded. Landon jumped into the air and withdrew the reverse-blade sword. Toya leapt off his shoulder and flipped her body forward to bring her tail down like a hammer. There was a series of flashes and they landed on the ground at the same time. There was a silent pause, followed by the bursting and crumbling of the boulder blockade. Chad and the others watched in awe as the mouth of the cave was revealed. “Huh?” The woman inside blinked. Just like Wally, Wanda’s hair was a light shade of field green, which she put into two long pigtails. Her eyes were nearly close enough to Landon’s sapphire. She was wearing a pair of white shorts and a green blouse. In her arms was a small, pink cat-like Poke’mon with friz-tip ears, a tan face, inner ear, underbody, and a black nose. Its tail looked like the bud of a flower and it had a single over-biting fang just like Landon’s. “Great job, Toya.” Landon told his Poke’mon, re-sheathing his sword as she kipped in appreciation. “Alright! I can finally get out of this cave!” Wanda, My dear Wanda!” Suddenly, Chad’s eyes became big glimmering jewels as he ran towards her with out-stretched arms. “Huh?...oh, Chad!” Wanda jumped up and dashed at him. “Ugh…” Wally, Shoura, and Uncle Charles sweated anime style. Chad pulled Wanda into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He told her. “Okay, men, let’s break it up; we’ll clean this mess up later.” A fireman spoke through a loudspeaker. The police all turned around and started for their ears. Officer Jenny and an ambulance stayed behind. The crowd had gotten bored and dispersed to find new interests. Finally, the fireman boarded their bright yellow fire truck and zoomed down the street.

       “Hey, little swordsman,” Chad said as he and Wandon walked over to him, “That was a difficult form of Kenjutsu. I think the style is called ‘Battou-jutsu’, right?” Chad asked. “Yeah, that’s right,” Landon nodded. “And your Mudkip has been well raised too.” “Thank you,” He smiled. “Thanks for saving me. I’m Wanda,” Wanda walked up to him and held out her hand. Toya clambered up to her trainer’s shoulder and plopped onto her belly. “And my name is Landon Himura. Nice to me you in person.” Landon shook Wanda’s hand. “Wanda! Hey, Wanda!” Wally jumped over the police line and called to his cousin. “Huh?” Wanda turned to the green-haired kid running to her. Shoura, May, and Zeru just walked behind him calmly. “Hello, little Wally.” Wanda smiled to her cousin. Wally hugged his cousin, “What were you doing to get yourself stuck in there, anyway?” He asked her. “Yaa! Ya-ya!” The Poke’mon in Wanda’s arms started to lick Wally’s face. “I was chasing Skitty around when she got lost in that tunnel. I went to go find her, but woke up a Loudred on accident. It cried so loud that it shook the entrance to Rusturf Tunnel shut. But then, Mr. Himura came and freed me.” “Please, Ms. Wanda, you give me way too much credit. Thank my Mudkip—she handled the heaviest ones.” Landon blushed a little. “Thank you, Mudkip.” Wanda stroked under Toya’s chin and her tailfin wagged. Landon reached into his pocket and pulled out his Poke’dex again. Click-ick! "Skitty, the kitten Poke’mon. Skitty is known to chase around playfully after its own tail. In the wild, this Poke’mon lives in holes in the trees of forests.” “Tha’t pretty cool.” Landon reached up and rubbed Skitty’s head. Skitty pushed back playfully with a giddy smile. “Wanda, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Charles told Wanda, slapping her on the back a little too harshly. “Thanks, dad, but I should really get going. If not, I’ll be late for the Poke’mon contest.” She coughed. “Oh, so you’re entering the Poke’mon contest too?” may asked. “Well, not really. Actually, I’m one of the judges there.” “Ack!” Everyone except Wally dropped to the ground anime style. “Wally, you never told them?” Wanda asked as Wally sweated anime style. “Well, I guess I just forgot.” “I’m sure he did.” Zeru mumbled.

 

       The contest hall was a large red building with tons of busy people. The floors were decorated with different-colored tiles depending on which room it was. Landon stood in a large orange titled room next to the u-counter. Different people and Poke’mon sat on the benches, prepping for the contest. Landon interestedly let his eyes wander around the room at the tons of ribbons and sketches of previous contest winners. Wally, Shoura, Zeru, Toya, the egg, and Phanpy were already in the stadium area, awaiting their friends to arrive. “Hi, I’d like to register for the Poke’mon contest.” May told the receptionist. The lady turned to her computer with a smile. “Okay, just tell me your name and your partner. She said. May reached to her pocket and withdrew a poke’ball; she let it burst open and Eevee burst out. “Eee—vee!” She smiled. “I’m May and this is my Eevee.” She told her. The receptionist started to type on the computer swiftly. “…okay, you’re number two.” She reached under the counter and gave her a white button with the number two marked on it. Landon stepped up and called Vulpix form her poke’ball. “I would like to register my Vulpix. My name is Landon.” He told the receptionist. Vulpix crawled up to his shoulder and smiled at him. “Vul!” “Charming,” The receptionist smiled and clattered her fingers against the computer keyboard. She then reached under the desk again and pulled out another white button. This time, it was marked with a number seven rather than a number seven. “Good luck, number seven.” “Thank you,” Landon took the button and smiled back. He and May walked from the counter and started to look around. Since the contest began in ten minute, there was no time to prepare anymore, but plenty of time to look around a bit. May was completely confident, but not to the point that she would get a big head. Landon was more worried about where to go. He was sure all coordinators were to meet behind stage, but there were three different stages in the building. “Oh, here, Vulpix; I brought your brush.” Landon pulled Vulpix’s brush from his pocket, for backpacks weren’t allowed to be worn by coordinators. He started to brush Vulpix’s fur and tuft of hair and she closed her eyes calmly. “That looks like a good idea.” May pulled out a brush as well and started to groom Eevee’s fur. Eevee also relaxed in her trainer’s arms.

       “Well, well, well; if it isn’t my life-long rival, Landon can’t-do-it-at-all Himura!?” “I know that voice!” Landon growled as he and May turned around. Syorin Hibiki stood with his arms folded and an arrogant grin on his face. The Poke’mon at his ankles looked almost like a small Pikachu, except its yellow paled in comparison. It’s cheeks were red with yellow plus signs on them. Its ear tips, front paws, and plus-shaped tail were red. “Plusle?” It blinked its black eyes. Landon pulled out his Poke’dex and flipped it open. Click-ick! It gave a click, but the screen showed a Poke’mon almost identical to the one before him. the difference was that in had a minus symbol for each red coloring on Syorin’s Poke’mon. “Minun, the cheering Poke’mon. This Poke’mon is a total team player—to show its support for its teammate, Minun will shoot sparks from its body. The tougher the challenge for its partner, the more sparks it shoots.” “Check your Poke’dex again, Einstein.” Syorin pointed out to Landon in an arrogant tone, “This is a Plusle, not a Minun.” “Plusle—Plusle!” Plusle folded its arms and pouted—it really looked insulted. The screen on Landon’s Poke’dex fuzzed before switching to Plusle. “Plusle, the Cheering Poke’mon. Plusle is just as supportive as Minun. If its partner loses, it cries loudly.” “Oh,” Landon blinked. “Just be warned; I’m gonna’ win this one.” Syorin told him. “In your dreams, Hibiki!” The two stared at each other, their eyes sparking anime style. “Hey, Lan, I think we have bigger problems.” May tapped Landon’s shoulder. He and Syorin glanced over through the crowd.

       Tsubimi and Yoshimari were actually wearing something normal: A pair of blue shirts and white pants. Landon sometimes wondered if they enjoyed looking like each other. Tsubimi’s eye caught the three and she frowned. Both sides didn’t say a word to each other, but rather wondered what the other side had in store for their opponents. “Excuse me, but can all Coordinators please report to their stages? One through seven should report to stage ‘A’. Eight through fourteen should go to ‘B’. and Fifteen through twenty-one to ‘C’. Thank you and good luck.” A voice sounded from the speakers above. Landon and Syorin glanced at each other with a competitive grin. “I’m number seven.” “And I’m number five.” “Good, then I can beat you in front of everyone.” Both, trainers and Poke’mon, growled at each other.

 

Fast Fact Quiz: Which two Poke’mon on Landon’s team have a crush on each other? If you can’t guess, find out at the end of this Chapter!

THAT'S ALL FOR PART ONE OF THIS EPISODE.