“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

(Our heroes have just started on their Poke’mon journey and our ready to take on their new paths and destinies…let’s just hope they remembered to pack their supplies rather than their egos.)

 

          Landon, May, Shoura, and Zeru were resting in the back of a hay truck leaving from the town of Littleroot. The canopy of trees over their heads provided excellent shade from the sun. The vibration of the truck driving along the smooth road was soothing and relaxing on their bodies. “Shoura, what made you come with us, anyway?” Zeru asked Shoura, letting his legs dangle over the side. “Who wants to stay and listen to Roberto? I need to see some action out of life; kinda’ choose my own path.” “I thought you’d go off by yourself or something.” May said, scooting down to them from the top of the hay mound. “Traveling alone is boring.” Shoura told her plain and simple. Landon was busy flipping through the pages of the Poke’sphere, being very careful not to rip the withering pages. His mind tried to decipher the ancient symbols scribbled in it with no such luck. With every flip of the page, his thoughts wondered to the Crystal Bell. Toya was snoozing soundlessly in her trainer’s hair. Her tail twitched from time to time, probably from a dream or something. “Lan, are you okay? What’s with the blank stare?” May brought Landon back to reality. “What’s got you so spacey, and what’s with the book?” Zeru snatched up the Poke’shpere right from under Landon’s nose. “Hey! Be careful with it, Zeru!” Landon shouted. He watched Zeru thumb through the pages before tossing it back a bit roughly. “How could you read that stuff? It looks like a bunch of scribbles.” “It’s ancient Teothlithan writing writhing from the deceased Kingdom of Poke’tilan.” May took up the book more gently than Zeru, proving that some people actually pay attention in class. “Looks like chicken scratch. Can you read it?” Shoura glanced at it. “No—no one can. At least, no one in this century can; the language was created to be readable only by the ones who created it. Landon,” May shut the book and looked up to Landon, “Poke’tilan artifacts are very rare and haven’t been seen for several years. How did you get something like this?” “Well…” Landon started to laugh nervously and rub the back of his head. He sweated anime style, staring up at the sky in hopes that an answer would fall on him.

          He had promised not to tell and his friends were determined to draw the secret out of him. “It’s…well—?” Suddenly, the hay truck stopped abruptly on the side of the trail. “Okay, I’ve taken you halfway across route one-o-one.” A voice sounded from the front. An old man with his graying hair hidden under a baseball cap, looked to them. “Thanks for helping us out.” Landon said as he and the others jumped out onto the dirt trail. “That was a nice trip—it saved us a lot of time.” Shoura adjusted her orange bandana on her head. Zeru reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “How much do we owe you, old timer?” “Oh, there’s no charge; trucking around you kids is no big deal.” The old man smiled. “But let me warn you; this area is home to a bunch of territorial Furret. They don’t really cotton’ into humans roamin’ through their territory, so most trainers avoid the straight path.” “Don’t worry about us.” Landon patted the reverse—blade sword on his belt, “Besides, it could help us get a better understanding of Hoenn’s Poke’mon.” Shoura grinned. “Well, it’s your call. You kids play it safe.” The old man revved up his truck and drove off following the trail around the area of trees, leaving a swirling dust cloud behind him.

 

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 knew 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 4: Furret--tales

 

 

“C’mon, guys—” Landon started off, but May grabbed his arm. “I bet you didn’t want to go around because you wanted to catch some of those Furret.” She grinned and Landon sweated anime style. “Uh, yeah, that was the general idea.” “Then let’s get going so we can make it to Odale Town already.” Zeru started down the trail and the others followed. Meanwhile, two black-cloaked figures, Darkhorn members no doubt, stood on the high limbs of an oak tree. One of them, a girl, had short brown hair, mahogany skin, and purple eyes. The other, a boy, had white hair that was held back with a headband, peach skin, and blue eyes. The two held up some binocular-like devices to their eyes and started to scan the area with them. “Do you see anything worth taking? EX Poke’mon, jewels, stuff like that?” The girl asked. “Nah, this place seems pretty empty. Maybe it would be better if we moved to Pettalburg City.” “You know Miru won’t let us go near there; it could ruin his plan if people noticed some Darkhorns around there.” She told the boy. “But we don’t have to go as Team Darkhorn. We could be just like everybody else.” He said. “I don’t think so; I hear the police are seriously beefing up their security ever since the attack at the Poke’henten—” The girl stopped abruptly and focused her binoculars. “What do you see?” The boy asked. “I see four suckers who look like their loaded! Let’s move it!” They pocketed their binoculars and jumped out of the tree, flipping their hoods over their heads.

 

Landon and Toya pulled themselves out of some bushes, both sporting rather disappointed looks. “No Furret here…Let’s go look somewhere else, Toya.” “Mudkip!” The two started through some more bushes. “Are they going to take all day?” May asked, yawning in boredom. “Come on, Lan; you’ve searched this area already. Let’s just go on to Odale town and find another Poke’mon.” Zeru said. But for all their efforts, Landon ignored their voices and continued to pat through the bushes. Deeper and deeper he crawled in, until his nose bumped something warm and soft. “Huh?” He blinked and started to poke it. He prodded it a few times, but it didn’t move. “Hehe…got you!” Landon grinned and jumped back from the bushes, “Toya, use your Water Gun attack!” Toya nodded and spurted a stream of water onto the object, causes the bushes to stir. “Okay, Furret, come on out and fight me.” Landon could his adrenaline rush through his body—a perfect tool for battling his first wild poke’mon. with each rattling of the bush, his heart rate increased, threatening to pump right out of his chest. “Here it comes!” Something black poked its yellow beak out from the leaves, revealing its glinting brown eyes. It had a red marking on its forehead and a white underbody. The Poke’mon puffed its black feathers threateningly at the young trainer and his Poke’mon. “That is obviously not a Furret,” Landon reached into his pocket and flipped open his poke’dex. There was a quick couple of clicks as a picture of the bird Poke’mon appeared on the little screen. “Tailow, the Tiny Swallow Poke’mon. These small Poke’mon are very territorial and like to prey on Wurmple and Caterpie. Tailow are known to never back down from a fight and often take on opponents bigger than themselves.” The machine spoke. “Well, it may not be a Furret, but that doesn’t mean I won’t battle it.” Landon re-pocketed his poke’dex. “Besides, having a Tailow around should be fun…..?” There was another rustling from the bushes and a pair of Tailow popped out, glinting just the same. One by one, Landon and Toya watched groups of Tailow sprout as if they were daisies. “Mud…” Toya backed up into Landon’s leg, shivers going through her body.

“He’s taking so long, I which he’d hurry up already.” Shoura, May, and Zeru sat on the dusty ground, drawing in the sand with some twigs. They were getting seriously restless at the fact that Landon wasn’t planning on leaving without a Furret. “Why does he want a Furret anyway? It’s not a Poke’mon I’d choose.” Shoura said. Zeru didn’t say anything, but rather got up to his feet irritably. “What’re you doing?” “I’m gonna’ go drag Lan out of there myself. We’ve been in this same spot for thirty minutes and I want to hurry to Oldale Town…!” Suddenly, Landon and Toya came bursting out of the bushes as if someone put hot-cold on their bottoms. They whizzed past the three, shouting “RUN!” as a flock of Tailow chased them dangerously. “Whaaaaa!” Zeru, Shoura, and May shrieked and ran off with the Poke’mon right on their backs. “What did you do?!” May cried with tears flying from her eyes. “What did I do? Toya was the one who attacked it!” “Mudkip-mudkip!” Toya snapped at her trainer. “So what if I told you to; you didn’t have to!” Landon exclaimed. The group bound through the underbrush. They dared not to look back or slow down for the sake of their lives. “Whu-oh!” Landon slid to a halt at the edge of a steep grassy hill, gasping. “We’re out of pathway!” “No choice!” Shoura thrust her shoulder into Zeru’s back and the four took a tumble down the hill. Landon tucked Toya into his stomach and balled up to protect her with his body. Faster they went, until they lost ground and plummeted into a deep pit.

“Oha…” Landon sat up and rubbed his head. Toya crawled out from his grip and rubbed her head. “Is everyone okay?” Zeru asked as the girls sat up, rubbing their heads as well. “I think I’m still alive.” “The tailow,” May looked up and watched the angry flock of Tailow fly overhead. They screeched and squawked loudly down at them. They hung around for a while before flapping away. “I think…I think we’re safe.” “Somehow, I don’t think that statement is totally true.” Zeru’s voice sounded a little shakey as he backed into the wall. Landon looked out in front of him and jumped a little. It had a long furry body with brown on the tips of its tan fur. There were three brown rings around its tan body and it had sparkling blue eyes, pointy ears, and brown markings on its face like whiskers. This Poke’mon had a triplet of three, small, kite-bodied Poke’mon curled up close next to it. They had rabbit-like black ears, a white ring on their brown bodies’ stomach, white feet tips, and black rings around their raccoon-resembling tails. The long Poke’mon glared at the kids dangerously, hissing silently as its fur stood on end. Without thinking about what he was doing, Landon flipped out his poke’dex and an image of the small Poke’mon triplets appeared onto the screen with a few clicks, “Sentret, the Scout Poke’mon. Sentret’s voice is a key tool for its survival because it uses it to alert its own kind of danger. When it feels the need, Sentret will stand on its tail to increase its voice range.” The picture of Sentret flashed into an image of the ferret-looking Poke’mon. “Furret, the Long body Poke’mon. Furret is the evolved form of Sentret. Since they blend into each other, no one can really tell where its body ends and its tail starts. The female Furret has three rings about its body where the male has four.”

Landon’s eyes wandered from the scratches on Furret’s rustled fur and some of his fear was replaced with pity and concern. Even though he wanted to catch it, he couldn’t bring himself to attack an injured Poke’mon. “We should get out of here, Lan; that Furret looks dangerous.” Zeru warned, getting to his feet slowly. But instead of starting away, Landon got on his hands and knees and started towards Furret in a cautious manner. The Sentred drew back into the Poke’mon’s body as it hissed even louder, its blue eyes narrowing dangerously. “Mudkip…” Toya arched her back to show that she would jump at any instant to defend her trainer. Probably the dumbest thing he had ever done in his life, Landon reached out his hand to the panting Poke’mon in an attempt to touch the small wound on her left cheek; Furret’s ears twitched and she would’ve nearly bit his fingers off if he hadn’t drawn back at the last minute. “What the heck are you doing? Are you trying to lose your hand?” Shoura snapped angrily. “Fuuuuurreeettttt!” Suddenly, Furret let out a loud shriek that caused the group to clasp their hands over their ears. “Arrrghh! She’s alerting some reinforcements—we need to get out of here fast!” Landon tried to shout over Furret’s cries. “I agree; let’s move it!” But before they could even attempt to climb out of the hole, a group of wild Furret had reacted the cry and peered down at them in less than a minute. They two hissed and glared aggressively. “How are we going to get out here? We’re surrounded!” “We’ll have to battle our way through.” Landon grasped Toya about the waist and held her up. “Toya, use your water gun to clear us a way.” “Mud-kiiiiip!” Toya made a gurgling sound as a stream of water shot up to the mouth of the hole. The Furret leapt back to avoid getting hit. Landon jumped up first to try to keep the Furret at bay while his friends crawled out. “Bubble attack!” Landon exclaimed. Toya spat out a burst of blue bubbles that exploded like mini bombs upon contact with the Furret. Zeru helped the girls out of the hole and started off. “We’re out!” “Right,” Landon picked up Toya and sprinted behind his friends. The Furret didn’t follow, but let out warning shrills just in case they came back.

 

Odale town was a small town about as docile as Littleroot, minus some of the many trees that surrounded the area. The Poke’mart and Poke’mon center were constructed right next to each other in blue and red as a conveyance for Poke’mon trainers. Inside the Poke’mon center, however, was about as empty as the streets of Odale. Only a few kids walked around the orange-tiled floor and up the escalator. Landon walked up to the front counter and rung the bell to alert the nurse. “Excuse me please,” He spoke up, a little shyly. This was his first time in a Poke’mon center and he wasn’t certain how the nurse would react to him. She had pink hair that looped at the sides and blue eyes. She was wearing a white nurse’s dress and a cap marked with the red medical cross on the front. “Hello, my name is Nurse Joy. How may I—?” She blinked at Landon, then smiled, “You wouldn’t happen to be Koryushima Himura, would you?” “Do you work for the government?” Landon eyed her suspiciously. “No, afraid not. But the teacher of the Kamiya Dojo sent her son a package from Littleroot town.” Nurse Joy reached behind the counter and pulled out a small parcel with the symbol of the Kamiya Dojo on it. “In the meantime, I can take a look at Mudkip for you.” “Oh, sure,” Landon let the Poke’mon doctor take Toya from off his shoulder.

 

Landon glanced out the window of the Poke’mon center at the gray rain clouds that recently pulled into the sky. May, Zeru, and Shoura were sitting on the bench at the side wall and talked quietly to each other. Toya had come back from Nurse Joy quickly and sat in Zeru’s lap in perfect condition. Inside the box that Karou sent was some sort of all black poke’ball with a gold ring around its middle. In her note she had called it a Premier Ball and told him to catch a special Poke’mon with it. Still, even with his new gift, something still seamed to nag at him. He glanced out the window and watched the clouds drift even slower in the sky. His sapphire eyes started to glimmer as if he were concerned with something. “Landon, what’s wrong?” Zeru asked, letting Toya out of his arms to rejoin her trainer. “It’s just…” Landon’s mind flashed with the image of that injured Furret trying to protect her siblings. “She looked so hurt…what could’ve happened to her, I wonder…” He thought out loud. “Are you still on that Furret bit?” Shoura asked. “Yeah, I’m real worried about her injuries. Especially now that it’s about to rain.” “Did you see how tough they were? They can take care of themselves.” May told him. “So what if you didn’t catch a Furret—there are tons of other Poke’mon out there waiting for us to catch them. Now, let’s go get our trainer cards to compete in the Hoenn league.” But as the other three walked to the counter, Landon still stared out the window. He didn’t care about whether or not he caught Furret. What worried him the most was her condition and how she would fare. “But if she was strong enough to last that long, she should be fine.” A voice said in his head, though he wasn’t sure to believe it. With that still on his mind, he walked up to the counter with his friends. “Hi, we’d like to register for our trainer cards please.” May told Nurse Joy. “Why certainly; all I need to see are your poke’dex.” Nurse Joy smiled to them. “Hold on,” Landon reached into his pocket. “…It’s not here!” he gasped and looked up. In his memory, the sound of his poke’dex hitting the ground in the Furret hole echoed in his ears. “Oh-no—I left it in that hole! I’ll be right back!” “But Lan—” May started, but he was already out the door.

 

Landon’s shoes splashed against the wet grass as the rain fell down on him. Toya held onto his hair tight as she sat perched on his head. In a way, Landon was glad that he left his poke’dex; it gave him an excuse to see Furret again and, if possible, tend to her wounds. He was the only one racing across route one-o-one, so he was pretty confident it wouldn’t take long. “Lan!” Landon glanced back to see Shoura, May, and Zeru trailing behind him. Each of them were sporting a different colored raincoat. “We couldn’t leave you, so we’ve decided to help you.” May shouted through the rain. “Great,” Landon smiled. Meanwhile, the burrow that the Furret was in was surrounded by a group of other protective Furret. They were all hissing and arching their backs at a Loudred and a Tailow threatening their home. “Haha! Have you ever seen such a display of weakness in your life?” The cloaked girl from before asked her partner, “They’re actually willing to risk it all for that Furret in the pit. Their nobility is priceless!” The boy laughed. “Furr, furret,” The female Furret, obviously the leader of her pack, crawled out of the pit. Her siblings crawled over to one of the other Furret and it carried them off into the trees. “Oh, so you want to take us on by yourself, eh?” The girl blinked skeptically. “Well, it’ll make capturing a special EX Poke’mon such as yourself easier—” Without warning, the leader Furret rushed at the Loudred and Tailow in a reckless tackle. “Wing Attack,” “Mega Punch,” The cloaks said calmly. The two Poke’mon leapt or flew off to opposite sides to dodge Furret; Loudred struck her with its glowing fist and Tailow swatted her backwards. Furret was going so fast that she her feet slid against the wet grass when she tried to stop herself. “Lou-dred!” “Tailowwwww!” One by one, the cloaks’ Poke’mon struck and beat Furret’s body and forced her to the wet grass. “Loudred, use Supersonic!” The boy ordered and Loudred’s ears started to vibrate. Without giving its opponent much time to recover, it sent out a high-pitched sonic wave from its speaker-like ears. “Fur-ur-ur-ureet!” Furret tried to press her ears down to block out the sound, but the waves stung inside her head. Her vision zoomed in and out of focus and her body started to tremble from pain. She fought hard to stay on her feet, but the strong soundwaves was draining every bit of her energy. Furret’s arms fell to her sides and she collapsed to the ground, panting and barely able to see. Loudred’s ears stopped ringing and gave its bird partner a high five. “Taailoow-taillow!” The cloaks gave a chuckle as they looked at their prize. “That was the most pathetic fight I’ve ever seen in my life; How could this thing have an EX power living inside it?” “Maybe the scouter is broken” The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the binocular-like object. “Oh well, I guess Miru won’t mind if I catch this one for myself.” The girl took an empty poke’ball from her cloak pocket and pressed the button to make it palm-sized. “…Fur…et…” Furret panted pleadingly.



THIS IS THE END OF CHAPTER 4, PART 1