Pokemon Conclave Part 25: Heart and Soul © 1999-2000 Willow McCall    “I…I’m really sorry, Dr. Kobi,” Aoife said, as they cleaned up his laboratory.  After Clyde’s Vulpix accidentally taught itself Humanize, it had changed itself back into a Pokemon and itself and its owners beat a hasty retreat out of the labs.  “I had no idea that pulling on those strings on the box would do that…I didn’t know…”  Dr. Kobi held up a silencing hand.  “Please, Aoife, don’t worry about it.  I still have some more TM51s, and I can make more too!  So don’t worry for a second, all right?”  “All right,” Aoife agreed.  “By the way…do you have any idea where the Fuchsia Gym is?  I need to go there to get my next badge.”  “Ah, Fuchsia Gym,” Dr. Kobi nodded.  “That’s where your friend Fawn had just come from.”  Aoife’s face fell.  “Fawn’s already been to the gym?”  “Apparently so,” Dr. Kobi said.  “She says it’s about a mile outside the city, in a Japanese mansion on the edge of a chasm with a river running through it…the chasm, not the mansion,” he added with a laugh.  “Outside the city, huh?” Petra said.  “Well, maybe we better get going then, Aoife, if you want to get that badge today.”  “Yeah, that’s what I was planning on,” Aoife said.  “Well, goodbye then, Dr. Kobi.  Maybe we’ll see you again if we pass this way sometime.”  “Maybe,” Dr. Kobi said.  “Goodbye, Aoife!”   ***    “Here it is!” Bonnie squealed, holding up the red and black Team Rocket uniform for Sundance to see.  “Well?  You like?”  Sundance looked mildly approving.  “Red is a good color,” she said.  “Sure, I’ll try it on.”  She disappeared inside the dressing room while Bonnie and Clyde stood outside its door, waiting.  “Oh, and by the way,” Sundance’s voice came from inside the dressing room, “now that I can talk I can finally tell you what I think of your…_performance_ as Team Rocket members.”  “Yes?” Clyde pressed.  “I think you’re thoroughly…” Sundance began, but Bonnie interrupted.  “Wonderful?” she supplied.  “Outstanding?” Clyde contributed.  “Amazing?”  “Brilliant?”  Sundance flung open the door and stood there in her new Rocket uniform, sneering at her two new partners.  “Disgusting,” she finished.  Bonnie and Clyde facefaulted.  “If you disapproved of us so much,” Bonnie yelled, “then why did you obey us?”  “Had to,” Sundance shrugged, jerking her thumb at Clyde.  “He’s my owner, unfortunately.  It should really be the other way around, since I’m much more of a criminal mastermind than you—I picked up a lot just listening to the Boss—and I could run this show better than the two of you put together.”  “Then why don’t you?” Bonnie scoffed.  “If you think you’re so great and everything.”  “Good idea,” Sundance smirked.  “I’ll do just that.  From now on, I’m the new leader of this operation, okay?”  “Great,” Clyde mumbled.  “Now look what you’ve done, Bon.”  “I was being sarcastic!” Bonnie screeched.  “And, as a condition,” Sundance added, “I’m never going in that Pokeball again, okay?  Unless I’m in Pokemon form and I faint.  But never again.  It’s so cramped in there, I can hardly stand it.”  “Fine, fine,” Clyde muttered, putting Sundance’s Pokeball away.  Sundance smiled.  “Good.  Now, I have a strategy I need to tell you…”    ***    “Do you think this is it?” Sora asked.  “Sure does look like a Japanese mansion,” Petra muttered.  “Shall we go look?” Aidan suggested, nodding towards the sprawling one-story house in front of them.  “Of course we shall!”  Aoife bounded forward and slid open the paper-thin screen doors.  “I gotta get this badge.”  She slipped through the doors, followed by Sora, Petra, Aidan, and Ferio.  Aoife walked down the corridor that faced them, turning whenever they were faced with an intersection.  “Helloooo?  Anyone in here?”  “Um, do we know where we’re going?” Aidan spoke up.  “Doesn’t look like it,” Ferio said.  “Hey!”  Aoife spun around.  “Guys, be quiet a minute.  I heard someone…someone laughing!”  “I didn’t hear—” Ferio began, but was silenced by Aoife’s “Shhhh!”  “Chin, chin, chinchou!” a voice giggled from the shadows.  A small Pokemon hopped out, looking like a small bluish-gray fish but with tiny legs and two antennae.  “Chou, chou!” it laughed.  “Hey!” Aoife said, glaring at it.  “What are you laughing at, huh?”  She pulled out her Pokedex and pointed it threateningly at the new Pokemon.  “Chinchou,” said Dexter.  “The angler fish Pokemon.  The tips of its two antennae are charged with positive and negative charges to paralyze its enemies.”  “Chouuu.”  Chinchou stuck its tongue out at Aoife and the others before bouncing off around the corner.  “Hey, you!” Aoife yelled, running after it.  “You won’t get away that…YAAAAAAH!”  In her pursuit of the Chinchou, she hardly noticed that she had reached a dead end, almost literally.  There was no wall at the end of the hall that the Chinchou had disappeared down, leaving the end of the passage open to the cliff below.  Aoife clung to the wall, staring wide-eyed down at the river 100 feet below her.  “Wheeew…”  “Aoife!” Petra and the other three came around the corner.  “You okay?”  She inched forward and peered down the cliff face.  “Wow.  Long way to fall, huh?”  “You can say that again,” Sora said nervously.  “Hey, where’d that thing go?”  “No idea,” Aoife said, heading back down the corridor, trying to get as far away from the cliff as possible.  “But let’s forget about that dumb Chinchou and find the gym leaders, eh?”  They continued their search through the mansion, still looking for some sign of a gym.  “Maybe this isn’t the right place after all…” Sora said.  Suddenly, one of the walls crashed down on the group’s right, and they jumped back, Pokeballs at the ready in case of a fight.  The cause of the wall’s collapse appeared to be Bonnie and Clyde, who were currently sprawled on the floor on top of the remains of the wall, and a redheaded girl who was standing above them and looking none too pleased.  “Well?” the girl said.  “Get up, you two!  Up!”  Bonnie and Clyde groaned and got to their feet.  Ferio was the only one who caught on.  “Oh, it’s Sundance.”  “Ahh,” the group said in collective realization.  “Guys?” Sundance prompted her partners.  “The motto?”  “Oh, right!” Bonnie said.  “Prepare for trouble!”  “And make it double!” Clyde added.  “To rule the world with greatest power!” Sundance said proudly.  “Stalking around at the midnight hour!” Bonnie said.  “To denounce the greatness of evil and sin!” said Sundance.  “With our Pokemon we’re sure to win!” Clyde said.  “Bonnie!”  “Clyde!”  “Sundance!”  “Team Rocket, flying in the night!” Bonnie and Clyde chorused.   Sundance leaped forward and landed in a kneeling pose in between them.  “Surrender now or you’ll lose the fight!” “That’s right!” Bonnie and Clyde finished.  “Chou, chou!” a familiar voice chuckled.  “It’s Chinchou again!” Aoife cried, turning to see the fishlike Pokemon watching from the corner, snickering.  “Chinchou?” Bonnie, Clyde, and Sundance repeated, stupefied.  “Chin!” Chinchou squeaked, hopping off down the hall.  “Hey, we can’t miss this chance!” Bonnie said, rushing forward and pulling Clyde and Sundance behind her.  “We gotta steal this Pokemon!  It looks really rare!”  “And we gotta stop them!”  Aoife chased Team Rocket down the hall.  “C’mon!”  “Chinchou!” the fish Pokemon cried, jumping down into a hole in the floor in front of them.  The humans who were pursuing Chinchou didn’t see the hole in time and they all fell in, one on top of the other.  “Chinchou, chinchou!” Chinchou laughed some more.  “Hey, shut up!” Sundance yelled, struggling to stand.  “You little…”  “May I help you?” a voice asked.  The ones who had managed to stand so far turned around to see who had spoken.  It was a young woman with dark spiky hair in a hairstyle similar to Bonnie’s, wearing a purple ninja uniform and cape similar to the karate outfit that Ferio wore around the dojo.  Aoife stood up.  “I’m Aoife Ketchum from Pallet Town and I’m here to challenge the gym leader.”  “And I’m Bonnie and this is Clyde, and Sundance.”  Bonnie stood up as well and pushed Aoife to the side.  “And we’re here to take all the Pokemon in this place!”  The girl looked unimpressed.  “I am Anzu, the daughter of ninja master Koga!  My father is now part of the Elite 4, so I have taken over his gym.”  Anzu smirked.  “So you’re looking for the gym leader, you say?  You’re looking at her.”  Petra hurried to Anzu’s side and took her hand.  “I certainly am looking at her,” she said, blushing, “and it’s a beauteous site to behold!”  A loud crack echoed off the walls, and the next minute Petra was on the floor clutching at a red hand-shaped mark on her cheek and Anzu was glaring at her.  “I’m in training to be a ninja,” she said.  “I don’t have time for boyfriends…or girlfriends, for that matter.”  “And the Chinchou is yours?” Ferio asked.  Anzu nodded.  “Yep.  It’s not really my type—I train poison and bug Pokemon—but I kept it anyway.”  Team Rocket perked up and Clyde reached over and snatched Chinchou when he heard this.  “So if you don’t like water/electric type then maybe we can take it off your hands, hmm?”  Chinchou glared at Clyde.  “Chinchou!” it said indignantly.  Charges of electricity passed between its antennae.  “Erm, Clyde, maybe you better drop it…” Bonnie said.  “Chou!” Chinchou cried, shocking Team Rocket as Chu-Chu often did.  They went flying through the roof, yelling “We’re blasting off again!” until they became no more than a dot in the sky.  “Good, that takes care of them,” Anzu said, patting Chinchou on the head.  “Good work, Chinchou.  Now, you want a match, do you?  I’ll give you a match, then…”   (Who's that Pokemon?  It's Chinchou!)    “Three Pokemon each,” Anzu announced, as Aoife stood in the challenger’s box and her friends looked on from the sidelines.  “You may switch and recall Pokemon as often as you like, but once I send out a Pokemon I cannot return it.  Does that sound all right?”  “Yes, yes, that’s all right!”  Aoife fiddled with a Pokeball impatiently.  “Now let’s battle!  Weepinbell, I choose you!”  “Bell,” Weepinbell droned as it left its Pokeball.  “And I choose Ekans!” Anzu yelled, sending out a snake Pokemon.  “Grass/psychic type,” Ferio mused, “versus poison type.  I don’t know about you guys, but my money’s on Aoife.”  “Ekans, poison sting!” Anzu said.  Ekans opened its mouth, revealing a row of pointed fangs, and shot poison-tipped spears at Weepinbell, most of which missed anyway.  “Weepinbell, Acid Armor!” said Aoife.  “Weep-weep!”  Weepinbell spit a large glob of acid out of its wide bowl-shaped mouth that not only dissolved the poison spears on contact but also splashed on Ekans’s face.  “Ekansssss!” the snake hissed, flailing around, blind eyes stinging from the acid.  “Return, Ekans!” Anzu said, calling back the snake and sending another Pokemon out.  “Go, Nidoqueen!”  The Pokemon that came out of Anzu’s Pokeball was bigger than Anzu herself, though this wasn’t saying much as Anzu was fairly short to begin with.  But Nidoqueen was big and sturdy and looked as though it had a thick coat of armor on.  “So that’s what my Nidoran’s going to evolve into,” Aoife said, appraising her opponent’s Pokemon.  “It would look like that,” Ferio muttered, “if she’d ever train it.”  Fortunately Aoife heard none of Ferio’s disparaging words and carried on with the battle.  “You can do it, Weepinbell!” she said encouragingly to her plant Pokemon, who was looking slightly intimidated.  “Use Vine Whip!”  Weepinbell followed its trainer’s orders, but the vines just didn’t cut it on Nidoqueen’s hide.  At Anzu’s command, Nidoqueen charged toward Weepinbell, head lowered, and head-butted it into the wall.  “Return, Weepinbell!” said Aoife.  “Niiiii!” Anzu’s Pokemon bellowed triumphantly.  “Let’s see, which one should I use…” Aoife thought, trying to decide on a Pokemon to use.  “How about…Vaporeon!  Go!”  “Vapoooooooreon!” Vaporeon cried, emerging from the Pokeball.  “Hydro Pump, Vaporeon!” Aoife said.  A jet of water issued from Vaporeon’s mouth, landed at Nidoqueen’s feet, and ricocheted upwards, its pressure slamming Nidoqueen into the ceiling.  When the attack was over, Nidoqueen crashed back down to the ground in a slump.  “Return, Nidoqueen!” Anzu called.  “Now my last Pokemon, although I haven’t exactly saved the best for last…Nidoqueen was my best, and you’ve already defeated it.”  “Yes!” Aoife grinned.  “So I have a good chance of beating this one too.”  “But don’t get too confident yet,” Anzu warned.  “I choose you, Sneezing!”  Much to Aoife’s surprise, out came a Pokemon that looked somewhat like a Koffing, but it also resembled a Geodude, floating in the air and pumping its fists.  “Sneezing!” it said in a nasal voice.  “Sneezing,” Dexter echoed in its mechanical voice.  “The smog Pokemon.  When Weezing evolves, it splits into two or more Sneezing and grows arms and a nose.”  “Ahh,” Aoife said, out of recognition.  “So this is evolved from a Weezing; that’s why it looked so familiar.”  “Sneezing, acid attack!” Anzu said.  Sneezing used an attack similar to the Acid Armor attack that Aoife’s Weepinbell had used earlier, by spitting acid at Vaporeon.  The acid got in Vaporeon’s eyes, and Aoife was forced to recall it.  “We’re both even now, Aoife,” Anzu said.  “Both only one Pokemon each.”  “Yes, I noticed that, thanks,” Aoife replied, glowering at the gym leader.  “I guess I’ll use you, Chu-Chu.”  “Pika?” Chu-Chu questioned, looking up at its trainer.  “Yes, I’m sure,” Aoife said.  “Now go ahead.  Give it your best Thunder, okay?”  “Chu.”  Chu-Chu nodded, then faced its foe.  “Pika…” it geared up for the attack, collecting electricity in its cheeks.  “Chuuuuuuu!”  Soon enough Sneezing was out; yet another victory Chu-Chu won for Aoife.     Author's Notes I'm very glad I didn't make up an English name for Chonchii (Chinchou) because I recently found out all the G/S Pokemon's official English names and I had to go back and change Clefeather to Cleffa and all those other ones...eesh.  The ending for this was kinda...abrupt?  And the battle was really short, but hey, at least the ep. as a whole wasn't as short as the last one.  And Sneezing is my own creation, so that's two new Pokemon in one episode.  Anzu, I believe, is the G/S gym leader of Fuchsia, and Koga really does go off and join the Elite 4 in G/S.  No pics of her, but you can see... Sneezing and Chinchou.   back