| Pokemon Neo
Part 14: Electabuzz Roundup © 1999-2000 Willow McCall “ZAPDOS APPEARS TO YOUNG MAN AND WOMAN,” the papers at the newsstand screamed. Petra, concerned, picked one up and paid the operator of the newsstand for the paper. “What’s that?” Aoife asked. “Oh, shite,” Petra muttered. “Bonnie and Clyde leaked to the press.” “Typical,” Aoife said. “I bet someone offered them loads of money for the story.” “But we couldn’t report it,” Sora said. “And they shouldn’t have. It’s disrespectful to Zapdos.” “Oh well,” Petra said. “Nobody’ll believe them anyway. Come on, let’s get a hotel room or something.” They had arrived in Vermilion City, but wanted to rest up before Aoife challenged the gym leader. “Hey, look,” Sora said, pointing to a sign on the side of the road. “St. Elmo’s Inn. TV and bathrooms en suite. We should try that.” “Fine by me,” Aoife and Petra agree. Soon enough they had gotten a room and settled in. “So what’ll we do now?” Sora asked. “Watch TV, of course,” Aoife said, hunting for the remote. “If we have a TV we might as well take advantage of it.” “What’s on?” Sora wondered. “There’s probably a TV guide in the newspaper,” Petra flipped through the paper. “Hey look, my parents’ show is on!” “Really?” Aoife asked, reading the paper over Petra’s shoulder. “Cooking with the Stones, is that it?” “Yep,” Petra nodded. “Channel 4.” She clicked on the TV and switched it to channel 4, and there were her parents. “Then you peel the mushrooms,” her mother was advising. “Don’t wash them, they’ll go bad if you do. Just peel the skin off.” “Cool,” Sora said. It came to a commercial break, and an enthusiastic announcer’s voice came on saying, “Are you on your Pokemon journey?” “Yes,” Aoife replied. “Sick of getting lost in the woods and having wild Pokemon sneak up on you?” it went on. “Yeah, so?” Aoife said boredly. “The Nav-Comp can help!” the announcer declared. “What’s a Nav-Comp?” Sora asked. “The Nav-Comp is the size of a Pokedex, and will fit in your back pocket,” it explained. “It will show you on a map where you are, and the quickest way to get where you want to go. It will also tell you what Pokemon are in the area.” “Sounds useful,” Petra said. “So all you traveling trainers, get your Nav-Comp today! Only 1200 yen at your nearest PokeMart!” “The Nav-Comp, huh?” Aoife considered. “1200 yen. That’s about how much money I got from battling those guys in the fields just before we came here.” “Think we should get it?” Sora asked. “It could help,” Petra said. “Sounds almost perfect for us. And 1200 yen isn’t expensive so…why not?” “Cool!” Aoife said. “Let’s go to the PokeMart right now, okay?” She was already out the door and part of the way down the hall; Sora and Petra had to catch up with her. (Who's that Pokemon? It's Electabuzz!) “Hi, do you have any Nav-Comps in?” Aoife asked the clerk at the PokeMart. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “We’re due to get some in next week.” “Oh,” Aoife said, downcast. “We won’t be here that long.” “I figured you wouldn’t, if you’re buying a Nav-Comp,” the clerk laughed. “You can probably get them at Vermilion Electronics; do you know where that is?” “I know,” Sora said. “It’s near the Pokemon Center. We passed it on the way in.” “Well, you can probably get some there,” the clerk said. “Is there anything else I can do?” Petra, who had been looking lovesick this whole time, spoke up. “Yeah, I’d like—” “Not now, Petra.” Aoife took one arm and Sora took the other, and they marched Petra out of the store before she could say anything obscene. “Now where is Vermilion Electronics?” Aoife wondered as they walked along. “And where’s the Pokemon Center? I should stop by there too.” They found the Pokemon Center and Aoife made a quick pit stop, then they moved on next door to the electronics store. “Hi,” Aoife said to the clerk at the counter, who fortunately was male this time. “Do you have any Nav-Comps?” “Of course,” he replied. “We always have the latest technology here.” He took a package off of the shelf behind him and placed it on the counter. It had “Nav-Comp” on the front and a picture of a dark green gadget that looked somewhat like a Pokedex, but slightly smaller and structured more like a Game Boy. “1200 yen, please.” Aoife was fishing around in her bag for the money when the lights went out. There were panicked screams sounding around the store, but the clerk announced, “Everyone please remain calm. It’s probably just an electric Pokemon that’s gotten into our generator. I repeat, please stay calm.” He got out a flashlight to count the money Aoife had given him, and printed out a receipt for her when the lights flicked back on a few moments later. “There you go, miss.” “Thanks,” Aoife said, as she, Sora, and Petra rushed out of the store. “A blackout, huh? This sounds like something Team Rocket would do. Guys, check to make sure you still have all your Pokeballs and your money.” “I left my Pokeballs in the hotel anyway,” Sora said. Aoife looked worried. “Don’t worry, there’s a safe in the room.” “There is?” Aoife said, puzzled. “Oh yeah, that’s what that thing was on the wall above the shelf, huh?” They got back to the hotel safely, only to be greeted by an odd sight upon entering their room. The odd sight was yellow and black, and standing on their TV. It said, “Elll-elelelelel!” “Electabuzz,” Dexter said. “This electric Pokemon also has some characteristics of a fighting Pokemon and can hold its own in a fistfight. Its special attack is Thunder Punch, a combination of these two.” “Which we don’t want to find out firsthand,” Sora said, heading for the safe to get her Pokeballs. But the Electabuzz intercepted her trip to the safe and glared at her, sparks forming between its antennae. “It’s mad,” Aoife observed intelligently. “Go, Golem!” Petra threw her Pokeball. “Golem, get this Electabuzz out of here.” “El?” Electabuzz said, confused. “Elelelel!” It tried to shock Golem, but it had no effect on Golem’s rock exoskeleton. Petra, anticipating how Golem would go about getting rid of Electabuzz, opened the window for Golem to throw it out, so as to avoid Golem throwing the electric fighter out the closed window and forcing them to pay for it. “Thanks,” Sora said, unlocking the safe and taking out her Pokeballs as Petra recalled Golem. “Any time,” Petra said. “I wonder what that thing was—” Aoife started, but stopped as another blackout occurred and the room went dark again. “Oh, crud,” Sora muttered. “You know what? I bet that Electabuzz caused the blackout.” “You’re probably right,” Petra said. “But one alone couldn’t cause the whole city to black out. I bet there are lots of them. Maybe we should look around the hotel and see if there are any others.” Petra was right about there being more than one. The one they had found was the only one in the hotel, but there were others in the Vermilion City power plant. This wasn’t the power plant they had visited, that was the old plant. They had built a new and more modern one closer to the city so that it would be more convenient. “Gosh, look at them all,” Sora said, seeing the electricians who worked at the power plant going crazy trying to get all the Electabuzz under control. “I bet Team Rocket is responsible for this,” Aoife said angrily. “I bet they’re out stealing people’s Pokemon right now!” “No, we’re finished with that,” a voice, clearly Clyde’s, sounded from inside the plant. “Prepare for trouble!” “And make it double!” The duo went through their motto routine, then Bonnie announced, “We rigged this blackout, and look at our loot!” She held up a sack containing almost a hundred Pokeballs. “This must be all the Pokemon in Vermilion City!” “But only one problem,” Clyde said sheepishly. “The Electabuzz are out of control.” They both fell to their hands and knees and clasped their hands. “Please help us get rid of them!” “Not on your life,” Aoife sniffed. “You got yourselves into this mess so you can get yourselves out.” “But Aoife,” Petra said, “if we rely on them to clear this up they’ll never be able to do it alone.” “Gee, thanks,” Bonnie muttered sarcastically. “Okay, I guess so,” Aoife said. “Fine, we’ll help you. But you have to return the Pokemon you stole afterwards, okay?” “Of course! Anything!” Clyde agreed. Bonnie elbowed him. “Hey! We can’t do that! The boss expects those Pokemon.” “But Bonnie, we have to,” Clyde tried to reason with her. “I hate to admit this, but I think they’re our only chance of getting the Electabuzz to go away.” “Okay, fine,” Bonnie said. “Good,” Petra said. She had already called out Onix, Rhyhorn, and Golem, and was ready to fight. “You just stay here, we’ll do the work.” “Go Treagle and Doduo!” Sora yelled, bringing out her two Pokemon that would probably hold up best to the electricity. “Go Bellsprout!” Aoife shouted, bringing out her most electricity-resistant Pokemon. They worked together, with Doduo mostly using Wing Attack and Fury Attack, Onix rounding up the Electabuzz like they were sheep with its long tail, Rhyhorn and Golem beating them into submission, and Bellsprout and Treagle using Sleep Powder to sedate them. When most of the Electabuzz were either asleep, poisoned, paralyzed, fainted, or too weak to fight back, they had the task of transporting them back to the old power plant. “Now how are we going to do that?” Aoife wondered. “I know,” Sora said. “Treagle can take them using its vine tail to hold them up as it flies, and a couple on its back. My other birds can take them too.” “Fair enough,” Petra nodded. “Onix can help…oh, maybe it can’t. It won’t be able to go through the water, anyway.” “That’s okay,” Sora said, picking up some of the Electabuzz and putting them on Treagle’s back. “My Pokemon can do most of the work.” She called out Pidgeotto and Fearow, who assisted in transporting the Electabuzz. “Are you sure?” Bonnie spoke up. “You know, you guys are helping out so much…I’d kind of feel bad if we took these Pokemon.” She handed them over to Aoife. “Here, return them for us. We’ve got to go.” “Okay…WAIT!” Aoife realized their plan and opened the sack. It was full of apples, and Bonnie and Clyde were making off with the real sack. “There aren’t any Pokeballs in here.” Petra stepped forward and held out her hand. “Give those to me, guys.” “Okay, you caught us,” Clyde admitted, handing over another sack. “These are the real Pokeballs.” “We had made up the other one as a decoy beforehand,” Bonnie said, winking. “Smart crooks,” Sora commented. “Better make sure anyway, Aoife,” Petra said. Aoife rooted around in the sack, took out a round object…which was indeed a Pokeball. “Good,” Aoife said. “At least it’s not a Voltorb or something.” “Feeeeeeear!” came a Pokemon’s cry from overhead. “Fearow, Pidgeotto, and Treagle are back,” Sora said. “Are they all over there?” “Tree,” Treagle affirmed. “Great,” Sora said. “Thanks again!” Bonnie and Clyde said as they headed off. After giving the sack of Pokeballs to Nurse Faith at the Pokemon Center to give back to the people of Vermilion City, the trio returned to their hotel and had a peaceful sleep knowing they weren’t going to be disturbed by anything…probably. Author's Notes I figured it might be too time-consuming and space-consuming and just boring if I included details about everything, like exactly how they transported them and what Aoife did at the Pokemon Center, so you'll notice I left some details out. That was on purpose, just so ya know. This was kind of a pointless episode, but they did get the Nav-Comp, which might come in handy later. It's a very useful item; wouldn't it be convenient to have one in real life? back |