====Chapter 4: Pewter City====
As dawn approached, Shelly was still happy over having "caught" a
Kakuna. So much that Ash gave his Kakuna to Shelly and caught a Weedle
instead.
"I still can't believe that you gave her your Kakuna." Misty commented
as they continued on their way to Pewter City.
"Um, Ash?" Shelly asked.
"What is it, Shelly?" Ash asked.
"I was just wondering what a Kakuna can do." Shelly answered.
"They can harden their shells against predators." Ash answered.
"Um.... is that good?" Shelly asked.
"Not really. They're usually more useful as their final evolution,
Beedrill." Ash responded.
"Evolution?" Shelly asked.
Ash felt like crying. Misty just slapped her forehead.
"Stay alert. There might still be some Rockets around here." Jessie
warned as they entered Mt. Moon.
"Why would there be more Rockets?" Ben asked.
"Da last time we was here, dey had gotten dese rumors about a buncha
Pokemon fossils around here." Fox answered.
"Ah, and a ressurrected Pokemon species would be- wait a minute!
Pokemon _FOSSILS_? Pokemon have only been around for about eight
decades at most, how could there be fossils of them?" Ben inquired.
"Some science guys dink dat Pokemon have been poppin' up all drough out
history. Ancient Pokemon were said ta be the final stages of da
dinosaurs." Fox responded.
"Well, I guess that's plausible. It would make sense that there would
be something like Pokemon in every era and mankind just didn't notice
them." Ben said.
Then, they came upon where the Pokemon were being held in their
Pokeball prisons. Ben looked at all of the pokeballs and groaned. It
would take a truck to get all of the pokeballs out of the cave.
Luckily, there were no more members of Team Rocket in the area. Well,
as far as they knew.
"Got an idea on how to get all these out of here?" Ben asked.
"Sure, da same way dey got in. Da truck." Fox said, pointing at the
Nissan Pathfinder that had a sign pointing at it that read "Da Truck".
[Obviously, someone has a weird sense of humor.] Ben thought to
himself.
"Jessie, see about gettin' it started, we'll start loadin' it up." Fox
said.
"Right." Jessie said, opening the driver side door and looking for the
keys. It turned out that someone had used a clever turd-like hide-a-key
to hold the keys. Jessie tossed the key-hiding item out the window
after taking out the keys.
"Hey, what's that buzzing noise?" Misty asked.
Ash, Shelly, Misty and their Pokemon stopped and listened.
"Well, in this forest, the only thing that would buzz would be a
Beedrill....." Ash began.
"Uh-oh." Ash and Misty said in unison.
The swarm of Beedrills found the group and attacked.
"YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAWWWWWW!" Jessie cried as the Nissan Pathfinder found
it's path down the mountain. If it weren't for Fox and Ben's foresight,
they would've been pelted with pokeballs. Luckily, the pokeballs were
held in the backseat by a sturdy net. It was also lucky that Ben and
Jessie had sent their other Pokemon into their pokeballs or they
would've been crushed by flailing and panicked Pokemon.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Ben and
Fox cried, praying that their seatbelts and Lady Luck would save them.
"FINALLY!" Ash gasped out as the group came into view of Pewter City
and stopped running.
"Oooooh, can we visit a candy shop?" Shelly asked, re-energized at the
sight of a town.
"If they have one." Ash answered tired.
"WAI! WAI! WAI! CANDY!!" Shelly cheered, getting Sir Stings-A-Lot
(her Kakuna, which had evolved into a Beedrill during the fight),
Squirt, Zappy and Nibbler into the same happy dance she was doing.
"She's...<PANT>... beyond nuts. <GASP><PANT><GASP>
She's...<PANT><PANT>...just plain crazy." Misty commented, before
falling flat on her face..
"How...<GASP>...can she...<PANT>...<WHEEZE>...have
so...<GASP>...much...<PANT>...energy?" Ash gasped out before collapsing.
"And here I thought _I_ was the crazy one." Ben said to himself as
Jessie drove recklessly down the road, honking at various terrified
Pokemon trainers who made the mistake of being in her way. Luckily, all
of them had managed to get out of the way.
"GET OUT OF THE PASSING LANE, MORON!" Jessie yelled at a Pokemon
trainer who was trying to outrun the Pathfinder.
"What does that mean?" Ben asked Fox.
"No clue." Fox answered.
Jessie turned on the radio and began bobbing her head to the song "Fire
Escape" by Fastball on the retro-station. Ben and Fox began relaxing a
bit at the song, but remained on guard in case she decided to do
something crazy.
It wasn't long before they reached Pewter City and found a nearby
police station. After a short explanation of what had been decided on
at the Veridian City Police Department and a LONG wait while they waited
for the police officers to contact the other police department and get
the same story, the police took the pokeballs into custody and Jessie
was verbally released from Ben's supervision. The police also took the
Nissan Pathfinder as it was used by Team Rocket.
"WAI! WAI! WAI! CANDY!!" Shelly cried leaping across the street into
the candy store. Her Pokemon, being held by Sir Sting-A-Lot, were
carried over. Ash, Pidgey, Pikachu and Misty looked at each other and
sighed.
"Let's just get a place to stay. Pikachu, stay with her and if she
leaves the store before we get back, send her to... that bus-station."
Ash said, pointing at the bus depot.
"Pika." Pikachu answered, nodding before looking for a way to cross the
nosy street.
"Pidgey, help her across, then return." Ash ordered.
Pidgey nodded. After delivering Pikachu across the road, it returned
and landed on Ash's shoulder. Pikachu scampered into the candy shop.
"Now, fly up high and see if you can see anything that has a... hmmm."
Ash began, before pulling out notepad and drawing the words Hotel and
Motel. Pidgey flew up and looked around. After about six minutes, it
began "wark"ing and pointing northwest. It landed back on Ash's
shoulder and the trio left in search of the hotel/motel that Pidgey had
spotted.
"Now what?" Jessie asked as they left the Police Department Building.
"Since we're in Pewter City, I'm going to take on the gym. Might as
well start getting some badges." Ben replied.
"What should I do?" Jessie asked.
Ben blinked.
"What, you don't know what to do? You're free. You can go anywhere
you want." Ben told her.
She gave him a blank stare.
"Which means you don't have to follow me." Ben answered.
"But you're good company. We're both crazy, why not stick together?"
Jessie answered.
[Why not? She's not a bad cook either.] Ben thought to himself.
"Fine, but most people don't just 'drop in' to a Pokemon Gym unless you
want to challenge the leader. You'll have to start a career as a real
Pokemon trainer." Ben answered.
"Sure. It doesn't bother me." Jessie answered.
After about twenty minutes of wandering around, Jessie asked for
directions and they were on their way. Two minutes later, they found
the Pewter Gym. They entered and found two young men waiting. One was
shirtless and had long silk pants and not shoes. The other had a
t-shirt that read "Hard Rock Cafe" and long jeans. He was also wearing
Nike Pumps. Both had spiky black hair and if it weren't for what they
were wearing, they would've looked identical.
"Hello. I take you two are Pokemon Trainers?" the t-shirt wearing one
inquired.
"Yeah. We're here to challenge the leader." Ben said.
"If you're that confident, then let's go!" the shirtless-wonder
declared.
"Hold it, Brick, no dueling in the gym. We can fight out back." the
t-shirt wearer declared.
"Jeez, Brock, I know better than that." Brick replied.
Brock let Ben, Meowth and Jessie through.
"Who wants to be first?" Brick asked.
"I guess I'll go first." Jessie responded.
"GEODUDE!" Brick yelled, throwing out a pokeball.
The pokeball opened to reveal a gray Pokemon that resembled a large
basketball with arms.
"MASON!" Jessie yelled.
The large purple Nidorino appeared. It eyed the Geodude with contempt.
"Mason, Horn Attack!" Jessie commanded.
The Nidorino slammed into the Geodude, knocking it back slightly.
"Geodudge, Tackle!" Brick commanded.
"Mason, Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered.
The Geodude slammed into one of the Nidorino's poisoned spines and
instantly collapsed backwards. The Nidorino backed off a bit to regain
it's balance, but remained upright. The Geodude began looking really
sick and rolled onto it's back.
"...duuuude..." it uddered.
"Um, better get it into the pokeball and quick. It looks sick." Ben
commneted.
"Dammit. I hate that Geodude can get poisoned. There should be a law
against it." Brick said, drawing the Geodude back.
He pulled out a second pokeball.
"GRAVELER!" Brick yelled.
"Mason, Horn Attack!" Jessie commanded.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Ben asked.
"I've only got four Pokemon. The more damage Mason does to the
Graveler, the less damage the others have to contribute." Jessie
answered.
"Your choice." Ben commented.
The battle between the Graveler and Mason was going more in favor of
the former. Jessie withdrew Mason and sent out Jessy. Jessy scatched
and bit the Graveler, wearing the tough rock Pokemon down. Jessie
withdrew Jessy when the Nidorina grew tired and sent out her Spearow,
Hawk. Hawk use it's peck attack to finished the tired Graveler.
"Shoot!" Brick growled, withdrawing his Graveler. He slunked into the
gym to heal both the Pokemon.
"I guess it's now you and me." Brock commented to Ben.
"Yep. Feel up to it?" Ben asked.
"You bet." Brock said, sending out a Geodude.
"Shamrock!" Ben yelled, sending his Ivysaur forth.
"Aw, man. This sucks." Brock grumbled to himself as he watched his
Geodude get swatted around by Shamrock.
Brock withdrew his Geodude and summoned his Onix, in hopes that it was
strong enough to withstand the Ivysaur's attacks.
"Shamrock, Leech Seed, then Vinewhip." Ben suggested.
"Ivy." Shamrock answered.
The Ivysaur launched the special seeds and hit Onix square in the
torso. Then, it began striking the Onix with it's special whip-like
vines. The Onix didn't last long against the brutal plant-creature's
assault. Brock withdrew the giant Onix and sighed as Brick returned.
"Cheater." Brick grumbled.
"Quiet Brick. He fought fair and square. It's not his fault my
Pokemon aren't tough enough to resist those age-old weaknesses. Come in
and tell us your names." Brock asked.
About ten minutes later, Brock had pasted Jessie and Ben's name up on
the small plague of victors. Ben, Meowth and Jessie examined it.
"_We're_ the only ones to beat you guys? I would've figured that a few
others would've won by now." Ben commented.
"Nope. In fact, except for another kid, you're the only ones to even
challenge us." Brock answered.
"Another kid? Was he overly pompous, declare himself as the one true
Pokemon trainer in the world and then try and fight you with a
Charmander?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Brock asked.
"Just a hunch. So, ole` Greggy was here, eh? Well, if he comes here,
tell him to go suck eggs for me, okay? That loser'll never be an
official Pokemon trainer." Ben said, waving.
"Okay. I'll do it." Brick commented, grinning widely.
"By the way, do either of you know where the nearest gym is?" Jessie
inquired.
"Well, there's either the Grass Gym in Celadon City or the Water Gym in
Cerulean City." Brock told them.
"Cerulean City... why not. Feel up to it?" Ben asked Jessie.
"Sure. Besides, there are a lot of Pokemon that live up near Mt.
Moon." Jessie answered.
"MEOWTH! Yeah, we could get lotsa tough pokemon." Fox said.
And so, after Jessie and Ben each got an Official Pokemon League Badge,
they left for Cerulean City.
"Whmmmffz fa fym?" Shelly asked as she managed to talk through a mouth
full of candy.
Ash sighed. Shelly had just stuffed a handful of peppermint candy into
her mouth. Misty looked at her, then looked at Ash.
[Do I have to sleep in the same bed as her?] Misty's eyes asked.
[It was your idea to save money by getting one room with two beds.]
Ash's eyes replied.
"Gyms are where tough Pokemon are raised to battle. Trainers like us
fight the Gym Pokemon to try and get badges. Badges give us a higher
standing in the Pokemon League. You've heard of the Pokemon League,
right?" Ash asked.
"Sure, daddy works there. He runs the snack counters." Shelly
answered, having finished all of the candy.
"Anyway, by winning a Pokemon fight against a gym, we win the badges."
Ash responded.
"Okay, so we gotta find and beat a gym, then we get into the league?"
Shelly asked.
"Actually, there are about nine gyms in the world. We've gotta beat
them all to enter the League." Ash answered.
"Awwww. Nine?" Shelly asked.
"Well, I think only eight are official right now." Ash answered.
Shelly sighed.
"Anyway, we might as well take the gym on. You wanna come?" Ash asked.
"Sure!" Shelly replied, re-energizing.
"I'll just stay here and watch some TV." Misty answered.
"STUPID CHARMANDER!" Greg yelled.
The Charmander wimpered and began trying to wide.
"You're less than useless." Greg told it, kicking it over.
The Charmander let out a yelp.
"Pathetic." Greg spat.
"I could say the same about you, Greg." Ben said.
Greg spun to see Ben, Meowth and Jessie.
"Stay outta this, dork. This is personal." Greg spat.
"Not when you start blaming the Pokemon for the faults of the trainer."
Ben snarled.
"If you care about this Pokemon, then take it. I'll just go buy a
better one." Greg yelled, throwing the Charmander's pokeball at Ben.
Ben caught the ball and withdrew the cowering Charmander before walking
up to Greg.
"What is it?" Greg demanded.
"I've waited months to do this." Ben said, drawing a fist back before
driving it into Greg's face, sending the rich brat to his butt,
clutching his now-bleeding nose.
"If I see you abusing more Pokemon, that won't be the last time my
fist'll be in your face, slimeball. Pokemon are to be treated as
friends and equals, not as servants or slaves." Ben growled.
"Pokemon are around because WE made 'em!" Greg responded.
"Try reading up in da news sometime." Fox said, throwing a newspaper at
Greg.
Greg grabbed the paper and read the headline.
"Prehistoric Pokemon Fossils Found. Proof that Pokemon have been
around for generations." Greg read aloud, before throwing the paper to
the ground.
"Who cares? Anyway, don't get my way. I'm going to buy a really
strong Pokemon and beat the crap out of your Pokemon." Greg snarled,
stomping on the paper before leaving.
Ben released the Charmander, who cowered slightly. Ben sighed glared
after Greg before turning to Fox.
"Meowth, can you talk to it? I wanna get it to understand that we're
not going to hurt it." Ben asked.
"Sure. One moment. Meeeeeeeowth, meowth, meoooowth, meowth." Fox
said.
"Char?" Charmander inquired.
"Meowth." Fox replied.
"CHARMANDER!" Charmander exclaimed, hugging Fox as tears fell out of
it's eyes.
"It's.....really.....happy...." Fox managed to get out.
"I'd guess so. Greg isn't exactly Mister Personality." Ben answered.
"Char...?" Charmander inquired, releasing Fox a bit before looking
between Ben and Jessie.
"It also wants to know who it's new trainer is." Fox asked.
Ben shoved the pokeball into Jessie's hand and pointed at her.
"Char!" Charmander exclaimed, hugging Jessie.
"But, but..." Jessie began.
"I've got enough Pokemon for now. You can have a few." Ben answered.
Jessie patted her new Charmander on the back and smiled.
"Now, on to Cerulean City!" Ben declared, striking a heroic pose.
"Right!" Jessie and Fox answered.
"I AM THE PIRATE KIIIIING!" Ben sang as they skipped on.
"Um, hello? Is anyone here?" Ash asked.
"Oh, greetings. Let me guess, first time at a Pokemon Gym?" Brock
asked as he watched the nervous Ash take off his hat and fiddle with it
while Shelly looked around the gym. Squirt, Nibbler, Zappy, Pikachu and
Pidgey were looking around and could be described as gawking. Sir
Stings-A-Lot just hovered where it was.
"Yeah. Um, I'm here to challenge the leader of this gym to a duel."
Ash answered.
"Hmmmm, I guess it's okay. Yo, BRICK! You up to a fight?" Brock
asked.
"Naaah. Flipper's on." came Brick's answer from upstairs.
"Okay, I'll just use your Pokemon for you." Brock called.
"Fine." Brick responded.
"Okay, since this gym is a tad small for a fight, why don't we go into
the back?" Brock asked.
"Um, sure." Ash answered.
After Ash rounded up Shelly, Pikachu and Pidgey, they exited the rear
of the gym to the same area Ben, Jessie, Brock and Brick had fought
earlier.
"Okay, who's first?" Brock asked, tossing a pokeball up and down in his
hand.
"I guess that would be me." Ash said, pulling out pokeball.
Ash let Caterpie out.
"Geodude! Go!" Brock commanded.
Geodude appeared.
"Geo. Dude. Dude. Geo." Geodude answered.
"Caterpie, String Shot!" Ash commanded, having scanned the Geodude.
Geodude found itself being wrapped in a sticky film. It began having
trouble moving. Caterpie charged and struck the Geodude, sending it
rolling against the back of the gym, where it got stuck.
Brock sent Geodude back to the pokeball. Then he let Onix loose.
"Uh oh..." Ash commented upon seeing the massive Rock Pokemon.
He sent Caterpie back to the pokeball, then quickly scanned the Onix.
"Pidgey, Sand Attack!" Ash commanded.
Pidgey grabbed a beak-full of sand and flew up to the Onix's face
before spitting the sand into it's eyes. It roared in pain.
"Gust attack!" Ash commanded.
Pidgey sent the Onix reeling with a powerful gust of wind.
"Pidgey return. Go Caterpie! String Shot it to the ground!" Ash
commanded.
Caterpie began shooting it's string shot at Onix, slowly sticking it to
the ground. Suddenly, it ran out of string.
"Uh oh." Ash declared.
He brought Caterpie back and pull out Weedle.
"Weedle, String Shot!" Ash ordered.
Weedle finished the job that Caterpie couldn't finish.
"There. Got it." Ash commented.
"Okay, okay. You win." Brock told him as he sent Onix back to the
pokeball.
"YAAAAY! MY TURN!" Shelly said, dancing around.
"Okay, but don't expect any mercy." Brock said, sending out Brick's
Geodude.
"Squirt! Squirt it!" Shelly ordered.
"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirt answered.
Squirt hosed the Geodude until it slammed into the gym. Brock grumbled
to himself as he drew the Geodude back to the pokeball.
"Graveler!" Brock said, sending out the final pokemon.
"Squirt! Squirt it!" Shelly declared.
Squirt began spraying the Graveler as it had the Geodude.
Unfortunately, the Graveler was a lot tougher than the Geodude (not to
mention that it had legs to prevent it from rolling backwards). The
Graveler began slowly making it's way towards the terrified Squirtle.
"Squirt! Water Gun!" Shelly cried.
Squirt gathered the water in it's mouth and then fired the water at
Graveler with the strength of a high-powered fire hose. The Graveler
was caught off-guard and was sent rolling like the Geodude before it.
"YAY! I win!" Shelly cried triumphantly.
[Losing four times in a day, that's just sad. I gotta build up my
pokemon.] Brock thought to himself.
"All right, come with me so we can put your name up on the plaque."
Brock said, sending the Graveler back into the pokeball.
Once Ash and Shelly's names were on the plague, Brock gave them their
new Official Pokemon League Badges.
[So, Ben's been here too. But wasn't Jessie the name of that Rocket
girl? And where's Greg? I thought he'd be here by now.] Ash wondered.
Then Ash realized what that meant. Greg must have lost. As for
Jessie, he decided that it must have been another Jessie. Shelly,
Squirt, Nibbler, Sir Stings-A-Lot, Zappy, Pikachu, Pidgey and Ash
returned to the hotel.
===============================================================================================
In the next episode, Fox, Ben and Jessie begin their quest to Cerulean
City on foot through Mt. Moon, only to be interupted by Team Rocket.
Meanwhile, Ash and company take a safer route. Greg meets some
interesting new friends. And Team Rocket begins to go on the move.
Pokemon Timeline, for those curious of the history of this world.
15,957 B.C. Last Pokemon of the old world dies. Other creatures
continue to live on.
2000 A.D. An old strand of Pokemon DNA was discovered in the Rocky
Mountains near Aspen, Colorado. All animals infected with the DNA are
found to reproduce and evolve quickly. All of the original specimens
reproduce and grow beyond their former limits, destorying various cities
and over-running others. Militaries were caught off guard at the vastly
out of control creatures and were quickly overwhelmed. Almost all of
the wild animals on Earth, such as wolves, bears, lions as well as
domesticated animals such as dogs, cats and birds vanished by the end of
the year. Later years would call this the great Pokemon Cataclysm.
Oddly, most cattle, chickens and other farm animals remain.
2001 A.D. The first Pokemon wave died down as the out-of-control
Pokemon died. Their descendants, while not so out-of-control, were just
as devastating to human civilization.
2010 A.D. After ten years of devastating human civilization, the first
friendly Pokemon-Human contact was recorded as a Pokemon saved a child
from a burning building. The first Pokemon vs. Pokemon fight was also
recorded as the Pokemon defended the child against it's fellow Pokemon.
2015 A.D. Domesticated Pokemon grow in numbers and mankind begins to
slowly recover from the devastation. Pokemon are found to be very
helpful in various situations, including regrowing forests and aiding in
construction. However, packs of roaming Pokemon still terrorize cities.
This is a trend that will not cease among wild Pokemon.
2023 A.D. More than 82 kinds of Pokemon have been discovered and
recorded.
2025 A.D. Various Pokemon are found to be addicted to sweets, such as
gum, chocolate and Pixie Sticks. Sugar cane becomes the favored crop
among farmers. The legend that an original Pokemon survived after 2001
A.D., but reports of it's survival are believed to be mere myth.
2050 A.D. The first pokeball is used in the successful capture of a
Pokemon. The Pokemon was indifferent to it's new trainer.
2051 A.D. Scientists and Trainers alike begin learning more and more
about Pokemon and what they can do, however Scientists still cannot
unlock the mystery of the Pokemon DNA, though they have begun to
experiment on cross-breeding.
2054 A.D. First Pokemon Gym opens in Saffron City. Second Pokemon Gym
opens on Cinnabar Island. Third opens soon after in Fuschia City.
2055 A.D. First Pokemon League Tournament starts. Too many trainers
show up. Problem is solved for next year. All entries MUST first
defeat one Official Pokemon Gym. All current Pokemon Gyms are made into
Official Gyms. Pokemon Gyms open in Pewter City, Vermillion City and
Cerulean City.
2057 A.D. The technology behind the Pokeballs is used in scanners to
allow computers to hold items as data. Smart-asses declare "Never saw a
scanner do THAT before." After busting over eighteen rings of
money-duplicators, a lock-out is made so that no one can duplicate the
information placed into the computer. Non-hackers live in content
knowing that their house doesn't have to be cluttered with crap.
Hackers begin long effort to break code without destroying the items.
2058 A.D. Huge retro-era. Marijuana and bongs make a comeback.
2059 A.D. Peace rallies begin as people want "The cuuuu 'lililil dings
fweee...".
2060 A.D. All Marijuana plants are burned and bongs are destroyed on
sight.
2061 A.D. Recovering drug addicts are told what they were proclaiming
two years ago. They ask "What in the hell does that mean?"
2064 A.D. Pokemon Gyms open Viridian City and Celadon City. However,
the Viridian Gym closes soon after opening. Saffron City gains a second
Pokemon Gym, however it is not recognized as an Official Gym until it's
leader can prove that Fighting pokemon are effective in combat against
another form of Pokemon.
2078 A.D. A supposed Super Pokemon escaped from labs. It's abilities
are unknown, but it also freed a new Pokemon named "MewTwo". No
information is known about either race. The lab responsible for both
Pokemon refused to aid police in their investigation.
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