“How…much…longer?” Aoife wheezed, almost crawling through the passageways underneath Mount Moon.
 “Not much, I think,” Petra answered.  “That ladder up ahead might take us out of the cave.”
 “Really?”  Aoife suddenly perked up.  “I gotta get out of this place!  Before I see another stupid Zubat and it comes along and confuses my Pokemon for the zillionth time!”  She climbed up the ladder as fast as she could, in spite of her exhaustion, and at the top the surface light stung her eyes.  “Oww…the light…”
 “Told you,” Petra simply replied.
 Aoife jumped up the rest of the ladder.  “The light!  That means we’re out of the cave!  No more Zubat!  YAHOO!” 
 “Chuuuu!” Chu-Chu said, as itself and Aoife danced in a circle around a sign that said “This way to Cerulean City”. 
 “So you finally made it,” Fawn’s voice said.
 “Wha…”  Aoife looked up, thinking she was hearing things in her worn-out state, but sure enough Fawn was standing in front of her (accompanied, of course, by her three companions).
 Petra poked her head out of the ladder opening.  “Hey, Aif, who’s that?”
 Aoife frowned and turned to Petra.  “That’s Fawn,” she said.  “Unfortunately.”
 “Oh, so this is Fawn,” Petra said.  “She’s cute, but how old is she, eleven?  Too young for me.”
 “I never thought you’d make it out of that cave,” Fawn said.  “I made it through in about half the time you did.”
 “I would have done that too!”  Aoife said.  “If there weren’t so many Zubat.”
 “Zubat?” Fawn shrugged.  “Zubat are no problem.  That stupid confusing power doesn’t work on my Pokemon, because mine are at such a high level.”
 “Sure,” Aoife replied sarcastically.
 “And look at this!” Fawn exclaimed, pointing to a line of scrawly handwriting on the sign.  “Gary was here.  Ash is a loser!” it said.  “My dad wrote that 20 years ago when he was passing through this area.”  She smirked pretentiously at Aoife.  “Guess you come from a long line of losers.  First there was your grandfather, who was in Team Rocket but was such a coward that he quit.  Then there was your mom, who was a gym leader but nowhere near as good a trainer as her sisters, the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean.  She was nothing compared to them.  And your dad was so dense he used his Pikachu against the Pewter gym leader’s Onix!  And then there’s you.  I guess that explains it all.”
 Aoife’s eyes were shooting poison-tipped darts at Fawn.  “Don’t.  Insult.  My.  Family.”
 Petra, who knew she could beat up Fawn’s guys any day but wanted to avoid a fight, said, “Aoife, let’s go.  We can’t waste our time on her.  Apparently she has some sort of insecurity problem and feels it necessary to insult others to make herself feel better.”
 “All right,” Aoife reluctantly agreed and, still giving Fawn a death glare, trudged off with Petra.  Once they were out of Fawn’s earshot, Aoife growled, “I hate her!”
 “She’s an idiot,” Petra said.  “Don’t let her get to you.  I happen to know,” she lowered her voice in a gossipy manner, “that your mother’s sisters weren’t as great as Fawn says.  All they cared about was the way they looked, and they weren’t too great with Pokemon either.  Your mother was the only good trainer in the family.  And as for your grandfather, he could hardly be described as a coward.  He quit Team Rocket because he was a decent, hardworking man and he didn’t want a life of crime anymore.  Besides, if he was such a coward, then how did he rise to the top so fast in Team Rocket, eh?”
 “True,” Aoife said.  “You ever tried debating?  Because you just shot down all of her arguments there.”
 “No,” Petra replied.  “Maybe I should…”

***

 “Welcome to the Cerulean City Pokemon Center!” a cheerful nurse greeted Aoife, Petra, and Chu-Chu from behind the desk of the Pokemon Center.  “Would you like us to heal your Pokemon?”
 “Nurse Faith!” Petra recognized the Pokemon nurse right away.  “You’re the nurse from the Pewter City Pokemon Center!  Right?”
 “No, the one in Pewter City is my half-sister,” Faith laughed.  “I can see how one could get confused, though.  There is a lot of family resemblance.” 
 “But you’re so much more beautiful than your sister in Pewter,” Petra gushed, going into “cute girl mode.” 
 “Thank you,” Nurse Faith said, “but do you have any Pokemon that need treatment?  Otherwise I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
 “Yes,” Petra said, handing over her Pokeballs.  “Also, I need my annual physical examination, and if you would…”
 “Petra!” Aoife nudged her aside.  “Uh, please heal my Pokemon too,” Aoife put her Pokeballs and Chu-Chu on the table.  Nurse Faith smiled and took the Pokemon.  “Honestly, Petra…”
 “Sorry,” Petra said sheepishly.  “It’s just that I thought she was the nurse from Pewter City.  I went to school with the Nurse Faith from Pewter.  Even when I was in 7th grade I had such a crush on her.”  Petra blushed.
 Five minutes later, Nurse Faith returned with the Pokeballs.  “Thank you,” Aoife said, gratefully taking her Pokeballs and Chu-Chu back.  “How ya doing, Chu-Chu?”
 “Pikka!” Chu-Chu said.
 “That’s good,” Aoife replied.  She then noticed that the man in line behind her had an unusual-looking Pokemon.  It looked almost like a miniature human, with long blonde hair and a dress.  “Hey, what’s that?” she asked her Pokedex.
 “Jynx.  The human shape Pokemon.  Has very unusual attacks and appearance, and its elements are a strange combination of ice and psychic.”
 “A Jynx!” Petra shouted, getting almost as excited about this Pokemon as she got over Nurse Faith.  “Wow!  I’ve wanted a Jynx since…since…well, for a long time, anyway.”
 The man noticed them admiring his Pokemon, and he got out of line to talk to them.  “You’re the Pewter City Gym leader, right?” he asked.  “I’m honored that a gym leader likes my Pokemon.”
 “It looks very well-raised,” Petra said.
 “Thanks,” he said.  “And check this out!”  The man lifted the Jynx’s dress.  Aoife gasped and turned away, but Petra didn’t.
 “It’s a…male Jynx?” Petra said in awe.  “Oh wow!  I’ve always wanted a Jynx, even if it was female, but a male would be even better!”
 “But if it’s a male,” Aoife said, once the man had covered the Jynx up again, “how come it wears a dress?”
 “Because that’s what Jynx do,” the man said.  “Even the male ones wear dresses, because if they didn’t the female Jynx wouldn’t want to mate with them because they’d be different.  It’s a courtship thing, in a way.”
 Petra was staring at the transvestite Jynx with stars in her eyes.  “Cool!  It’s just like me!  Wanna trade?”
 “I don’t know,” the man hesitated.  “I’d be reluctant to part with him…but if you really wanted to, there is one Pokemon you could get for me in exchange.”
 “Yes!  Yes!”  Petra nodded furiously.  “Whatever you want for it I’ll be more than happy to get for you!”
 “Good,” the man replied, nodding.  “Then how about…a Kingler?”
 “Kingler?” Petra repeated.  “I don’t have a Kingler…but I could go catch one for you if you want!”
 “Petra!” Aoife said.  “Do you know what you’re getting into?”
 “If you mean the fact that rock is weak against water, Aoife,” Petra said, “then of course I do.”  She turned to the man and saluted.  “I’ll get that Kingler for you, sir!”
 “All right,” the man said.  “I’ve never seen anyone who’s willing to go out and catch a Pokemon, just to trade, but…okay!”

(Who's that Pokemon?  It's Jynx!)

 “Petra…is this worth it?”  Aoife was sitting on a fallen wall by the side of a stream outside of Cerulean City.  Petra had bought a fishing rod and some bait especially designed for catching Kingler, and she was up to her knees in the water trying to catch one.
 “Of course it is!” Petra replied.  Suddenly, something tugged on the line.  She eagerly pulled it up, only to discover a Dratini on the end of the line, munching on the bait.
 “Dra?” it asked, looking at Petra, confused.
 “No, I don’t want you,” she replied, letting it go.
 “Hey!”  Aoife jumped up to get a good look at the dragon Pokemon.
 “Dratini.  The dragon Pokemon.  It was thought to not exist until recently, when a fisherman caught one in his net,” Dexter explained.
 “I gotta catch this Pokemon,” Aoife decided.  “Pokeball, go!”
 “Tini!  Tini!” the Dratini said, swimming away.  Aoife’s Pokeball just fell in the water.
 “Darn,” Aoife muttered.  “Why’d you have to let it go?”
 “Because I need a Kingler!” Petra said, hurrying to bait her line again.  “I have to get a…OW!”  Petra suddenly felt something bite her foot.  She pulled her foot out of the water and found a Shellder attached to it.
 “Shellder!” it squealed, grinning.
 “Stupid crustacean!”  Petra yelled, swearing at the clam and shaking her foot to get it off.
 “Chou!” Chu-Chu said, shocking the Shellder (and, unintentionally, shocking Petra).
 “I…hate…water Pokemon…” Petra collapsed to the ground.
 “Shell…” the Shellder said, letting go of Petra’s foot and sinking back into the stream.
 “But I gotta catch this Kingler!”  Just as quickly as she had been shocked into submission by Chu-Chu, Petra jumped up again, casting the line out into the stream.
 Aoife reclined on the wall.  “This could take a while…”

***

“You can do all the things that you’d like to do…” Aoife, having gotten bored with watching Petra fishing for a Kingler, had taken out her Discman and started listening to a Stereophonics CD and singing along.  “All around, upside-down, pick a part that’s new.”
 “Hey!  Another bite!” Petra said, feeling a tug on the line and reeling it in.  “Please let it be a Kingler, please Kingler, please Kingler…”
 “Psy?” the Psyduck on the end said.
 “AAAAAAGH!” Petra yelled, nearly pulling her hair out.  “I WANT A FREAKING KINGLER!”
 “Duck?” the Psyduck said, holding its head.  Petra sighed and put the Psyduck back in the water.
 “ ‘Cause half of the lies you tell ain’t true,” Aoife continued to sing along in the background, headbanging to the song.
 Cursing her miserable luck, Petra baited her line again and cast it out into the stream.  “Okay, if I don’t catch a f***ing Kingler this time, I’m going to dive into the stream and f***ing catch one with my bare hands.”
 “Kachu…” Chu-Chu sighed.

***

 Half an hour later, Petra got another bite.  “Okay!” she said, determined.  “If this one isn’t a Kingler, I’m going to MAKE it into a bloody Kingler!”
Aoife had switched to a Corrs CD and was now step-dancing around the field, humming Toss the Feathers to herself.
 Petra reeled in her line, and the Pokemon on the other end said, “Ku ki ku ki.”
 “Can it be?” Petra said to herself.  Daring to look at what she had caught, she peered down and saw an oversized red crab with spikes on the back of its head.
 “A KINGLER!” Petra yelled.  She could have kissed the shellfish Pokemon…that is, until it pinched her hand.  “AIEEE!  Bloody water Pokemon!  I hate them!  I hate them!”
 Aoife stopped jigging around and turned to Petra.  “All right!  She finally found one!”
 “Pii!” Chu-Chu said.
 Petra shook the Kingler off her hand, and it crawled across the sand, saying “Kuuuukii…”  She reached for a Pokeball, but stopped herself.  “Oh…they’re all weak against water.”
 “Pikka!” Chu-Chu said.  “Pikachu pika?”
 “Oh!” Aoife said.  “Why didn’t I think of that?”
 “Think of what?” Petra asked, fishing in her backpack for an empty Pokeball to catch the Kingler in.
 “Chu-Chu says she wants to help you catch the Kingler!” Aoife interpreted.
 “Would you really?” Petra asked Chu-Chu.  “It’d be a big help if you would.”
 “Pikachu,” Chu-Chu nodded.
 “Okay!” Petra agreed.  “Thundershock, Chu-Chu!”
 “Kao!” Chu-Chu agreed, shocking the Kingler.
 “Ku…ki,” it said, weakened.
 “Maybe not weak enough to catch yet…” Petra mused.  “Better try a slam, Chu-Chu.”
 “Ka!” Chu-Chu agreed, dashing towards the crab.
 “KIII!” Kingler bellowed, grabbing Chu-Chu in its claws.
 “Pii…pika…” Chu-Chu said.
 “No!  Chu-Chu!” Aoife cried.
 “Kukikuki!”  Kingler took its revenge on Chu-Chu for shocking it by using its Glare attack on the Pikachu, paralyzing it.
 “Chaa…” Chu-Chu said.  The Kingler released it and it fell over.
 “Chu-Chu!”  Aoife ran to her Pokemon, who wasn’t completely fainted, only paralyzed.
 “I’ll try catching it now,” Petra said.  “Pokeball, go!”  She threw an empty Pokeball at the Kingler.  The red and white ball jumped twice…stopped…then opened, releasing the Kingler.  Petra swore, then threw another one.  This time it was caught.
 “YES!”  She yelled, running to pick up the Pokeball.  “I got a Kingler!  Now the guy will give me his Jynx!”
 “Chu-Chu…” Aoife picked up Chu-Chu.  “We have to get it to the Pokemon Center!”
 

Author's notes
...and I thought I'd cut it off there because the next part of the Kingler saga could be a whole other episode in itself.  Just thought I'd mention..."Aif" (what Petra called Aoife) is pronounced "eef" and it's short for Aoife.  I decided to spell it that way because Aoif would be too long and just looks strange.  Also, this is the first episode where I had a Who's That Pokemon, and I've put them in the other episodes too, just 'cause I think it'd be cute.  Also, to make up for the fact that Dratini never appear in any episodes of the TV show (and I think they should, being that they're my favorite Pokemon and all), I put one in this episode.  I could have had a Magikarp just the same, but they're shown way too often when they could be showing Dratini instead (and later on, one of the main characters is going to have a Dratini).  Also, soon I am going to introduce Aoife's new traveling companion (after she gets the Cascade Badge), and that's going to be cool.
 
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