“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

 

 

 

     
  It was a full moon out in the dark purple sky. The sleeping sounds of the Poke’mon echoed throughout the trees of Petalburg Woods, providing the setting with a serene state. A decent-sized red tent with a square top was set up by a nearby lake. It had white poke’ball markings and the roof was made of see-through plastic. Inside, Zeru and May were wrapped in their sleeping bags, snoring loudly with their mouths open. “….May, get you foot outta’ my face…” Zeru talked in his sleep as he turned to his side and kicked her. “Kick me again…and I’ll slap you…” May yawned. Landon’s sleeping bag, however, remained empty and his pajamas were folded neatly on the side. (Tonight, we find our Poke’mon heroes in a state of total rest and relaxation. Who knows what adventures the next day will bring, what Poke’mon to meet, and what challenges…. [zooms in on Lan’s sleeping bag] but wait; where’s Landon?)

       The only sound besides snoring was the slow drip and ripple of Azile Lake. The night sky was as clear as crystal, but in the area below the trees, a misty fog hovered in the air. Landon sat at the bank of the lake with his fishing like bobbing in the water. The black and red rod actually belonged to Zeru, but Zeru had let him borrow t before he went to sleep. Pikachu was resting peacefully besides Landon with Toya using its side as a pillow. Landon wasn’t the least bit tired. He just sat there, waiting for a Poke’mon to tug at his line. He didn’t know what possessed him to go out and fish at night, but it seemed to be like a sort of meditation. “Wow…it’s been nearly a month since I left Littleroot Town.” He thought aloud, “So much has happened in such a short time and the best thing is that I know there’s more to come….huh?” Landon looked up at a slight tug on his rod—he had caught something! He tried to gaze out and take a glimpse, but the fishing line was so far out that he couldn’t see a thing. “I bet it’s something big like a Seaking, or maybe even a Kingler!” Landon stood up excitedly to real in his catch. At his excitement, Pikachu and Toya had awakened slowly. They yawned in the process of adjusting from their dreams. Landon’s rod bent slightly at the tip each time he cranked the reel. He was so excited, he was about to wind it right off the rod. Slowly, a silhouetted figure at the end of the line came into view through the fog. “What is it?” Landon asked when the figure didn’t strike him as familiar. Nevertheless, he continued to pull it in; with his trusty Poke’mon by his side, no danger was a real threat. The figure came in closer and became more distinct in its appearance. The Poke’mon had beautiful mahogany fur, whereas its paws were a darker brown. The little quadruped fox’s belly was white and it had a curly tuft of orange hair with short bangs. Its nose was jet black and its eyes were a yellow-jadish color. Probably the best feature on it was its six, gorgeous, curl-tipped orange tails. The fishing line had hooked on a small wooden raft the Poke’mon was drifting on. “A Vulpix?” Landon blinked cynically and pulled out his Poke’dex. Click-ick “Vulpix, the Fox Poke’mon. To keep itself from overheating, this Poke’mon blows fire from its mouth. It is admired for its beautiful tails, which become more attractive as it evolves.” “Oh…” Landon gazed from the image on the machine to the real deal.


 

                     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 9: Teenee Dratini

      
Re-pocketing his Poke’mon Index, Landon reeled in the rest of his line until the raft was at his feet. He bent down to get a closer look at the Poke’mon. It looked like it had gotten beat up pretty badly; it was even panting lightly. Its fur was really messed up and it was a wonder how it could still look so beautiful. “Hey, little guy, what’re you doing out here on the water?” Landon asked, looking at it all over. “…Oops; I guess you’re not a boy at all, little girl. My bad,” He scratched the back of his head and sweated anime style. Then his face went back to seriousness, “But what’s a Vulpix doing out on a lake, much less around these woods.” Landon wondered if he should’ve picked her up or not. She just sat there, starting at him with those glimmering eyes. “Erm…” Slowly, he grasped her around her belly and lifted her off the rickety raft. Pikachu and Toya got close to examine it suspiciously. “This Vulpix looks pretty banged up,” Landon said to himself, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I helped it out.”  Vulpix averted her gaze from Landon’s face to the Crystal Bell. The item was vibrating lightly and chimelessly. Vulpix gave Landon a sniff before smiling happily. “Vulpix-vul!” She tried to lick his face. “She’s friendly; let’s fix you up first. Then, I’ll figure out what to do with you afterwards.” Landon told her.

 

       Toya sat on Landon’s head, eyeing Vulpix jealously as her trainer scrubbed the fox by the lake with a soapy sponge. Landon’s first-aid kit was sprawled out and he left it up to Pikachu to give him anything he needed. Vulpix sat on a towel all curled up while he groomed her fur. “Hmph!” Toya pouted. “Don’t be jealous, Toya. It’s not like I don’t care about you. I can’t just leave Vulpix like this.” Landon explained to her and Toya struck his head lightly with her fist. After drying and brushing Vulpix’s fur, Landon packed up his medical kit. He folded up the towel he used. Vulpix looked as new—hardly a single scratch was visiable on her body. “Thanks a lot, Pikachu. Return to your poke’ball.” Landon pulled out his lightning-stickered poke’ball; Pikachu returned to it in a thin beam of red light. “So how about you, Vulpix? Do you wanna’ hang out with me seeing as I don’t see a trainer for you.” “Vulpix!” Vulpix nodded and smiled at him warmly. Landon pulled a spare poke’ball from his backpack and slapped a flame sticker on it with one finger. “Go, poke’ball,” He held it out in his hand; it vibrated a little as it opened, trapping Vulpix in a flash of white light. “….It was an unusual catch, but I think I caught it!” “Caught what?” Landon jumped a little and turned around. May and Zeru were rubbing their eyes sleepily, standing in their pajamas. All three of their pajamas were the same; Zeru’s pants and shirt were light green decorated with leaves. May’s were light red with flames, and if Landon was wearing his, they would be light blue with water drops. “Uh…what’re you guys doing up in the middle of the night?” Landon blinked. “You’re one to talk.” They told him. “So, do you mind telling me what you woke us up for?” Zeru asked, rubbing his eyes. “…sure; come out, Vulpix.” Landon tossed the poke’ball onto the ground. It burst open to reveal his new and quite unusual catch.  “Vul-pix!” she smiled. She didn’t really greet the other two the same expression she did with Landon. “Oh, my!” May squealed and bent down to pick it up. But Vulpix just drew back, hissing dangerously. “How ‘bout that? It’s a Vulpix with an attitude. Now that’s interesting.” Zeru stated. “What’s wrong with her?” May asked. Landon just shrugged his shoulders, “I guess she doesn’t like strangers.” He told her. Vulpix clambered up her new trainer’s arm and took a place on his shoulder. Toya didn’t mind as long as she got to curl up in Landon’s hair.

       Suddenly, the bushes in the distance started to rustle. At first, the movements were slow and rythmatic. Then they started to move as if a breeze was blowing. “Is it a Poke’mon?” Zeru got on the offensive, clenching his fists. They all looked on with a slight caution as the figure emerged from the underbrush. “I’m no Poke’mon, I’m a human.” The boy said as his figure became more distinct in the moonlight. He was tall with brown spiky hair and hazel skin. His eyes were green and he had sort of a cheesy smile. The boy was wearing a white lab coat, a purple shirt, and blue pants. “How’re ya’ doing?” He beamed at the three. “Erm…fine, thanks,” May blinked, taken aback by his beaming. “I’m glad I bumped into some people in these woods. You see, my name is Professor Simus—” “Aren’t you a little young to be a professor?” Landon asked him. “Gee, I get that a lot.” Professor Simus rubbed the back of his head, “I guess I’m just lucky or something. But enough about me; I have a real important question to ask you.” “What kind of question?” Zeru asked, folding his arms. May was so sleepy, she didn’t even bother to talk anymore, for her words may not have came out right. “I want to know if you’ve seen a Poke’mon like this.” Professor Simus reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled a photograph. The Poke’mon on it was a small snake-like dragon with short ears that resembled wings and black eyes. Its body was pearly white and its underbody and face was light tan in color. The Poke’mon, however, could barely be seen since it was behind a waterfall. “That looks like a Dratini, but it’s colored different.” Zeru said as they crowded around the photo. He pulled out his Poke’dex and opened it up. With a few clicks, the image of Dratini came to the screen. The difference was that the one on the screen was blue instead of shimmering white. “Dratini, the Dragon Poke’mon. Once a year, Dratini sheds its skin its skin as it grows longer and heavier. When it is ready for evolution, it chooses a secluded waterfall. This Poke’mon is very cautious of humans and does its best to stay away from them.” “But why is that Dratini white and the one on the Poke’dex blue?” Landon asked. Professor Simus grinned as he ran his hand through his hair, “You see, I study in the field of unusual Poke’mon and my research has led me to the fact that there are some Poke’mon with odd body coloring. I want to find out if being oddly colored makes a Poke’mon stronger.”

       Zeru looked at the picture with a spark of interest. Dragon Poke’mon had always been his passion; he knew the most about dragons when he was a part of the Dragon Fangs. “My research has tracked this little Dratini to this lake all the way from the Johto region.” Simus added. “To this lake…hey, do you mind if we help you find that Dratini?” Zeru asked him. “Zeru! I’m too tired to go on a Poke’mon hunt.” May said in the middle of a yawn. “I don’t mind helping out if I get to see a rare Poke’mon.” Landon agreed and he and Zeru slapped each other a high five. “Landon, not you too!” May complained. “Cool; the more, the merrier. Just follow me to my tent so we can plot where Dratini will be next.” Professor Simus stated.

 

       “Awwwaaaa!!” May let out a loud yawn inside Professor Simus’s research tent. The gang was now fully dressed and wide awake, except for May. The tent was rather large with books piled in the corners. A wooden desk in the middle was cluttered with papers and articles Professor Simus had been going through. In the middle of the ceiling, there was a lit lantern that provided a little bit of light to the room. “If you’ll just wait right there, I’ll only be a couple of seconds.” Professor Simus walked to his desk and started sifting through his papers. “Why not? I’m up already.” May said groggily and a bit reproachfully. “Don’t be like that; just think of this as an opportunity of adventure.” Landon told her. “I have a question,” Zeru pointed to May’s face, “Do you always look that hideous when you wake up?” BANG!!! A sharp thud echoed through the tent as May gave Zeru a punch on the head. “And let me ask you a question: are you always this slow or does it come naturally?” She snapped. “…duhh…I can’t believe she actually hit me.” Zeru rubbed his head gingerly. “He may be my best friend, but I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.” Landon thought to himself, sweating anime style. “You two must really like each other; you fight like a couple—” BANG!! “You’re a mad-woman, May!” Zeru exclaimed after May struck Simus on the head. (Outside the tent) “No one can hear—” “No one can see—” “Stealth just like the night are we…I dunno’; I just don’t think that fits us at all. What’s wrong with what we normally say? Do we even need a motto?” Yoshimari said as he sat in the bushes beside Professor Simus’’s tent. He and his sister were, once again, in pursuit of Landon and following his every move. “C’mon, Yoshi; I read in the Team Rocket villain’s manual that every member group has some sort of motto.” Tsubimi said to her brother. “But we’re Team Darkhorn, not Team Rocket.” Yoshimari complained, “Can’t we work on this later, anyway? If those losers find that Dratini before we do, we could be out of a job.” “I’m tired of trying to swipe EX Poke’mon. I wanna’ go back to treasure hunting.” Tsubimi said aridly. “Don’t worry, though; this’ll all pay off one day and we’ll get the last laugh.” Yoshimari peeked out of the bushes at the tent. “This…is going to be a long night.”

 

       “Here it is!” Professor Simus turned the pages of a purple binder to a page showing some sort of map with scribbled markings and numbers plastered all over. “As you can see, I’ve been charting that Dratini everywhere it went, and if my calculations are correct, it’ll only be five minutes till it arrives at Azile lake.” “Good, let’s just find the Poke’mon so I can go back to sleep.” May voiced with a hint of boredom. She knew that they knew tomorrow would be a long day indeed, so why were they wasting time going on a Poke’mon hunt? “Now, there is some equipment I’m going to need you to set up.” “Set up?” Landon and Zeru looked at each other. From out of the corner, Professor Simus started piling their arms up with different gizmos and gadgets. “First, we’re going to need my camera’s—those are the most important—,” The two sweated anime style with each object he loaded, “then, we’re going to need my camera pods; oh, don’t forget my tape recorder—can I get you guts to carry my charts and graphs? My sketchbooks are next, not to mention my spot-light lamps; store up on Poke’chow, research books, all ten of my pencil cases, my fold-up chair—” “Simus—” “What, you mean we need more? Fine, here’s my laptop; we’ll need my calendars, my coffee—we may be up late—” “PROFESSOR!” Landon and Zeru shouted, their bodies shaking underneath the weight of the equipment. “I don’t think we can carry all this.” “Oh, but I thought you were the macho men who were willing to help find this Dratini, even if it meant searching in the middle of the night.” May walked up to them, smiling sinisterly. “Very funny, May, but you can help us too.” Zeru grunted. “And miss watching you struggle? Not a chance!” “Whaa!!” May slapped Zeru on the back and his weight shifted; he fell forward and came to a crash on the floor along with the equipment. “Oops…uh, Zeru, are you okay?” May asked, concerned. Zeru sat up and rubbed his head, “Just leave me alone, already!”

 

       Landon, Zeru, May, and Professor Simus hid in some nearby bushes beside the large lake. They had set up the instant stealth cameras and voice recorders all around the south side of the lake. Professor Simus and May had their sketchbooks out and pencils drawn for a sketch. Landon, on the other hand, was now starting to feel the torment of sleep, which was indicated by his bobbing head. Toya leap onto Zeru’s shoulder because the bobbing was driving her crazy. Vulpix had been feeling quite sleepy herself and was recalled to her poke’ball. “I have a question, Professor Simus.” May turned to Professor Simus. “How exactly is that odd-colored Dratini going to get here?” “That’s simple: there’s an underground canal that leads right into Azile Lake that Dratini is bound to follow.” Simus answered. “Gee, look who’s suddenly interested?” Zeru said and May blushed a bit. “I guess you were right; I didn’t know what kind of opportunity I was missing—” She stopped abruptly when Landon’s snoring drowned out her voice. “Somebody wake him up or we’ll miss out chance.” Professor Simus hissed and Zeru shoved Landon awake. The moonlight pierced through the misty fog blanketing the lake. It was cleared just enough to see the black and starry night. The reflection of the distant planetary body beamed into the water, bright but a bit wavy. “Wha… Landon yawned and rubbed his eyes. It had been a few minutes and they have yet to see any Poke’mon. He was seriously finding it hard to stay awake; his eyes were begging to shut for the night. Maybe if he hadn’t stayed out fishing all night, he wouldn’t have been sleepy. But then, he wouldn’t have found his fox partner either. He was bout to doze off again, when something in the water caught his eye. The brief rush of excitement was enough to wake him up completely and he struggled to see it better. A small light traveled from the underwater back and started towards the middle of the pool. It floated through the blue with little effort and resistance. The light came to a silent stop directly in the center. For a while, it just sat there and left the viewers in suspense before fading away. “Is that it? Is that what we’ve been waiting for?” Zeru thought with a pang of disappointment. “Maybe my research was inaccurate and Dratini is not going to appear in this spot.” Professor Simus started to doubt his research. Suddenly, the light reappeared from the black depths of the lake and slowly grew bigger—whatever it was started to surface! The tons of the water rippled a little faster and wider. Professor Simus could feel his insides wriggle as he watched on with excitement. “Here it comes!” Thought Zeru and there was a splash from the middle of Azile lake.

 

Fast Fact Quiz: What was the name of the gang Zeru used to belong to? If you can’t guess, find out at the end of this Chapter!



THIS IS THE END OF EPISODE 9, PART 1