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Pokemon: (-AD-)

Chapter IX

Saga III-Infernobadge

Chapter II- Safari Zone Blues

Part I-Two Heads Equal One Head and an Artificial Head.

************

Tom was silently daydreaming to himself, and was quickly interrupted by 
Porygon. "T-om," Porygon said, "th-ere-'s a si-gn ju-st a f-ew me-t- er-s 
fr-om h-ere."

"Can you read what it says, Porygon?" Tom asked, snapping out of his 
thinking train.

"It sa-ys... Po-ke-mon Saf-ar-i Ch-all-en-ge. Ra-re, un-us-u-al, an-d har-d 
to ca-tch Po-ke-mon. Te-st y-our ca-p-tu-re sk-i-ll-s he-re. O-ne mi-le a- 
he-ad."

"Rare and unusual, huh?" Tom asked himself quietly, stroking his bit of chin 
hair. "Rare Pokemon usually mean strong Pokemon," Tom trailed off, grinning 
to himself.

Porygon shook its head and muttered. "He-ad ca-se."

*******

One mile's worth of travel later, Tom and Porygon had reached the Safari 
Zone Challenge registration building. Stepping inside, Tom and Porygon found 
the small, quaint recdeption room to be quite bare, except for a few chairs 
lined on the walls. "Can I help you?" A red-haired woman from behind the 
counter of a kiosk built into the wall asked.

"Yeah," Tom answered, "How much for a round?"

"Do you have a Pokdex?" She asked.

Tom fished out his Pokedex from his trench coat pocket. "Why do you want my 
Pokedex anyway?" Tom asked.

"It's to see if you'll break the Pokedex improvement record while in the 
Safari Zone," the receptionist answered.

"Really? Who holds it?" Tom asked.

"Gary Oak."

"Gary Oak? Who's he?"

"You know, Gary Oak? He was Ash Ketchum's rival."

"Really? What's the record?"

"Hmmm," The receptionist hummed, typing way on her computer, "nineteen 
Pokemon seen, including five captured. A Doduo, three Rhyhorn, and a 
Parasect, all at out our Fushica City location."

"How many kinds of Pokemon are there in here, anyway?"

The receptionist looked at Tom in a funny way.

"I mean rare Pokemon."

The receptionist typed some more commands in her comuter. "Fifteen recorded 
Kangaskhan, forty-one recorded Tauros, six Pinsir and eleven Scyther. 
Anyway, back on topic, your Pokedex, please."

"Oh, right," Tom handed the receptionist his Pokedex, and the receptionist 
plugged the Pokedex into her computer. "Fifteen seen, four owned. A 
beginning trainer?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just started three weeks ago."

"Well, the usual free pass for beginners is five caught, but fifteen Pokemon 
seen, for a beginning trainer, and your a first-timer, I suppose I could let 
you in for free." The receptionist handed Tom a leather sac. Tom took a 
quick peek inside and found a wide assortment of different kinds of 
Pokeballs. "You've got an hour," the receptionist said, "Have fun."

********

Tom and Porygon were walking through the Safari Zone, when Tom suddenly felt 
a tugging on his trench coat. "Porygon, were you tugging on my jacket?" Tom 
asked his companion. Porygon shook its head. Tom shrugged and continued on. 
Seconds later, Tom felt another tugging on his coat. Tom whirled around and 
ordered, "Stop it!"

"Wh-at?" Porygon asked in innocent shock.

"Stop tugging my backpack," Tom said again.

"I sw-e-ar I did-n't e-ven tou-ch y-our ba-ck-pa-ck."

"Then, who-?"

Just then, Tom heard a soft baby-like caw behind him. Tom turned around and 
saw a strange bird-like Pokemon with two heads. Tom pulled out his Pokedex.

"Doduo, the Twin Bird Pokemon. This Pokemon is most commonly known for it's 
horrible flying, but famous for it's fast foot speed. Using it's two heads, 
it can invent complex plans to attack opponents. One head works on the 
attacking, the other works on strategies. It will gradually become smarter 
and faster as it evolves into Dodrio," Tom's Pokedex said.

Tom tucked his Pokedex away again and reached into his sac containing the 
special balls. Tom was going to grab a Bait ball when the Doduo struck out 
his left head and snatched the sac away from Tom. The quick tug on the bag 
was enough to yank it from Tom's hands, and spilling a Pester Ball on the 
Doduo's right head. Doduo ran in circles, squawking like mad and flailing 
it's two heads about as the ball let out a spray of pester liquid, puffing 
up into the air in an irritating cloud. Tom couldn't contain his laughter 
and began to chuckle. Tom soon stopped chuckling after Doduo bit his nose 
with his right head. "Ow, shit!" Tom yelped. "Porygon, don't just stand 
there!" Tom ordered, trying to wrench his nose free of the angered Doduo's 
beak. "Thunderbolt attack!" Tom yelped, trying to wrench Doduo's beak off 
his nose. Porygon was about to attack when Doduo's left head started pecking 
it furiously, keeping Porygon in one spot.

Tom decided to try and outsmart the Doduo rather than overpower it. With a 
quick swing of his shoulder, uuuu Tom grabbed the Doduo's left head, 
immediatley stopping him from pecking Porygon. "Porygon, now! Thunderbolt 
attack!" Tom ordered, struggling to keep the Doduo head from writhing free. 
Porygon shot out a blast of electricity at the bird Pokemon, just as Doduo 
yanked left head away from him, pulling Tom in front of him. Tom felt like 
his bones would rip apart as the Thunderbolt zapped his body and ravaged 
through it. When it was over, Tom fell to the ground, dazed senseless as 
Doduo started to caw, laughing.

Sensing Doduo's distraction, Porygon quickly shot out a blast of psychic 
waves at the spilled sac, knocking a lone Safari bll into the air. The ball 
clonked Doduo on his right head, driving a surprised squawk out of the Doduo 
before it was zapped inside the ball.

********

Part II-Love hurts

********

Tom's hand was still shaking from the remnants of the charge running through 
his body, holding a wad of paper tissue to his bleeding nose. He and Porygon 
had been wandering the Safari Zone for quite some time now since the capture 
of Doduo, and not a single Pokemon had come their way since.

"Porygon, how much time do we have left?" Tom asked.

"A-bou-t te-n min-ui-te-s" Porygon said. Tom groaned. "Only one Pokemon 
caught in fifty minutes?" he complained, "Great." Tom's cut cheek had 
scabbed over, so he threw the tissue away. Just then, Porygon spoke again. 
"T-om, up th-ere! A Po-ke-mo-n!"

Tom immediately cheered up. "Can you see what it is?" He asked eagerly.

"No, t-oo fa-r aw-ay. It-s ba-ck is tu-rn-ed."

Tom and Porygon continued on their way towards the Pokemon, and it soon 
began to take shape. It looked like a large light-brown Pokemon, maybe seven 
feet tall. Tom pulled out his Pokedex.

"Kangaskhan. The Parent Pokemon," Tom's Pokedex said. "Usually found in 
packs or clans. Kangaskhan are very sociable creatures, and like to be 
around other Pokemon, preferrably other Kangaskhan. It's signature attack is 
the Dizzy Punch. A punch that, when thrown the right way, can confuse 
opponents. Kangaskhan are very rare, and were once on the verge of 
extinction. Now they are protected by law and live within Safari Zones."

"Alright! A rare Pokemon!" Tom beamed. Almost as soon as Tom thought of 
reaching for a Pokeball, something poked him in the back of his mind. "But 
why is it just sitting there alone?" Tom asked Porygon Porygon only blinked.

The Kangaskhan was sitting on a large rock, slumped over and motionless, as 
if deep in thought. Tom looked at Porygon, who hummed an "I don't know."

"Hey Kangaskhan!" Tom yelled, challenging the Kangaskhan.

The Kangaskhan paid Tom hardly any attention.

"Khan," The behemoth groaned apathetically.

Tom was struck confused. He was expecting the Kangaskhan to charge at him 
after a challenge like that. "It see-ms ra-th-er sa-d," Porygon said.

Tom and Porygon walked around the Kangaskhan to face him, and Tom looked in 
Kangaskhan's listless eyes. "You're right, Porygon," Tom said with concern, 
"he does look sad."

Tom knelt down before the Kangaskhan. "Whazzup, Kangaskhan?" Tom said, 
trying to cheer the depressed Pokemon up.

The Kangaskhan just sighed again. "Khan," he groaned lethargically.

Just then, Porygon drove up to Kangaskhan. "What're you doing?" Tom asked 
Porygon.

Porygon did not reply as he began to glow a bright blue, and then turned to 
Tom. On queue, Kangaskan's eyes began to glow a dim indigo as well. Porygon 
then turned to Tom, and spoke in a voice that was not his own and asked. 
"What do you want?"

Tom looked confused, but then the idea hit him. Porygon had formed a psychic 
link with Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan transferred raw thoughts to Porygon, and 
Porygon translated them.

"Nothing," Tom said. "I just want to know why you're so sad."

The Kangaskhan only snorted. "What do you care?" the Kangaskhan asked.

"I just want to know." Tom inquired.

"If you must," the Kangaskhan sighed. "My girlfriend left me for my other 
friend." Tom could not find anything with which to reply. Unhindered by 
Tom's rapture, Kangaskhan continued. "They ran me from the clan. I tried to 
join other clans but they rejected me."

"Why?" Tom asked innocently.

"How the hell should I know?" Kangaskhan groaned. "I just feel so... so... 
worthless."

Tom caught an idea. "Hey Kangaskhan, why don't you join us?" Tom asked.

"Why?" Kangaskhan said through Porygon.

"What better way to forget than to travel?" Tom proposed. Kangaskhan looked 
at Tom, and Tom looked at Kangaskhan.

Kangaskhan sighed. "Sure. Why not?" Kangaskhan muttered. Kangaskhan stood 
up, his bulky figure towering well over Tom. Porygon severed the psychic 
link between the two and both Porygon and Kangaskhan's eyes returned to 
normal. "Khan!" the Kangaskhan exclaimed, smiling. Tom opened up a Safari 
Ball, and zapped Kangaskhan inside.

Just as Tom put the Safari ball back in his pouch, the loudspeaker 
announcement system turned on. "Tom Simms, your Safari Game is over. Please 
return to the reception desk," a voice blared through a microphone mounted 
on a pole.

Tom smiled. "C'mon, Porygon, let's go."

-End

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