“I’m sorry,” Nurse Faith said, once Aoife and Petra had made it to the Pokemon Center, “but we’re all out of Paralyz Heals.”
 “You mean you can’t help Chu-Chu?” Aoife asked, looking sadly down at her Pokemon.
 “Not until we get some more Paralyz Heals,” she said.  “And who knows how long that could take.  However, I do know a woman in the forest who makes potions.  Her name is Cassandra.  If you take Route 5 out of Cerulean City you’ll get to her cottage.  She can give you something.”
 Aoife bowed slightly.  “Thank you.”
 “Mind if we kept your Pikachu here while you’re gone?” Faith suggested.  “It’ll be better for it in the long run.  You have other Pokemon you can use, I assume.”
 “Sure,” Aoife said.  “Now let’s go.”
 “Wait!” Petra grabbed Aoife’s arm.  “Route 5 is pretty long.  It might take more than a day on foot.  We should take bikes.”
 Aoife looked gloomy.  “I don’t have a bike.”  Then an idea made its way into her consciousness and she said, “But I know who does!”  She ran over to the computer in the Pokemon Center and logged in.  Then she went into her mother’s item storage PC.
 “Password?” the computer prompted her.
 “Hmmm…” Aoife thought.  “What could her password be?”
 “Her maiden name?” Petra suggested. 
 Aoife typed in “waterflower”.  “Nope, it won’t let me in.”
 “Maybe it’s ‘Ash’,” Petra said.
 Aoife tried that, and “Access denied: Password incorrect” came up on the screen.  “Crud.”
 “Her favorite Pokemon?” Petra guessed again.
 “Tentacool,” Aoife said, typing that in.  Again, “Access denied.”
 “Tentacruel?”
 “Dratini?”
 “Gyarados?”
 “Psyduck?”  Aoife was getting desperate.
 “Here, let me try,” Petra said, sitting down.  “Miniryu,” she typed.
 “What’s that?”
 “It’s Japanese for Dratini,” Petra explained.  “But that’s not it.  Let’s try…Koduck?  Nope.  Menokurage?”
 “What’s that?” Aoife asked.
 “Tentacool.”
 “Ah.”
 “Access denied,” the computer repeated.
 “Crud.”
 “How about…Dokukurage?” Petra guessed, typing it in.
 “Duke of what?” Aoife asked, butchering the Japanese word.
 “Do-ku-ku-ra-ge,” Petra repeated.  “Tentacruel.”
 “Welcome to Misty’s Item PC!” the computer said.
 “All right!” the two cheered, high-fiving each other.
 Petra clicked on “Withdraw Item” and scrolled down to “bicycle.”
 “How many?” the computer queried.
 Petra withdrew 2, and two bicycles popped out of the item transport mechanism.
 “Cool,” Aoife said.  “Let’s go riding!”

***

 Aoife and Petra (sans Chu-Chu) rode down Route 5 on the bikes they had borrowed from Misty’s PC.  “I hope Mom doesn’t get too mad at me for this,” Aoife said.  “But I bet she’ll understand when I tell her it was for Chu-Chu.”
 “I’m sure she will,” Petra replied.
 Two Bellsprout came out of the bushes and walked across the road.  “Bellsprout, bellsprout,” they said in unison.
 “Whoa!” Aoife stopped her bike.  “I nearly ran over those Bellsprout…guess they must be mates.  But since they’re here I might as well capture it, right?”
 “Water Pokemon like those at the Cerulean Gym are weak against plant,” Petra told her.  “A Bellsprout would be useful.”
 “Okay!  Go, Chu…I mean…” Aoife was about to send out Chu-Chu, but stopped.  “I forgot, I don’t have Chu-Chu.”  She took out another Pokeball instead.  “Go, Spearow!”
 “Spearow!” her bird Pokemon cried, emerging from its Pokeball.
 “Plant is weak against flying, right?” Aoife said.  “Fury attack, Spearow!”  Spearow beat on the Bellsprout with its wings and claws. 
“Bell…sprout!”  The Bellsprout, although weakened, managed to use its acid attack on Spearow.  But Spearow dodged the acid, used Mirror Move, and sent it back in the direction it came from.  “Bell!”  The grass Pokemon panicked as it was hit by its own attack. 
“Go, Mina!” Petra said, throwing her Mr. Mime into battle.  “Confuse the other one!”
“Mime, Mister!” Mina said, using Confusion. 
“Bell?  Sprout?  Bell?” the disoriented Bellsprout said, stumbling around.  It bumped into the other Bellsprout, then bumped into a tree
“Pokeball, go!” Petra yelled, throwing a Pokeball and capturing the Bellsprout that her Mr. Mime weakened.  “All right!”
 “Good job, Spearow!” Aoife congratulated her Spearow on its Mirror Move strategy, then returned it.  “Go, Pokeball!”  She threw an empty Pokeball, and the Bellsprout was caught.  “Yahoo!” Aoife yelled.  “I got a Bellsprout!”
 “That was great, Aoife,” Petra said.  “It’s getting dark.  I think we should set up camp out here overnight.  Would that be okay?”
 “All right,” Aoife said reluctantly.  “I want to get that medicine, but we shouldn’t be wandering around after dark too much.”
 Petra took two cartons of yogurt and some bread out of her bag.  “Here, have something to eat,” she said, passing a slice of bread and one of the yogurts over to Aoife.  “I would cook something, but I don’t have anything except for this.”
 “This is fine,” Aoife said, tearing off a bit of the bread.
 “By the way, Aoife,” Petra began, “I’m really sorry about Chu-Chu.  It’s all my fault, really.”  She looked down guiltily.  “If it weren’t for me having to get that Jynx, Chu-Chu would be all right now.”
 “It’s okay, Petra,” Aoife said.  “I understand.  You wanted that Jynx as much as I want a Zapdos.”
 “Zapdos?” Petra repeated.  “Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind having one myself.  With my rock Pokemon I’d be able to catch one easily.”
 “Yeah,” Aoife said.  “And it’s really okay about Chu-Chu.  It’s not like she’s dead or anything.  Just paralyzed, and it’s really the Pokemon Center’s fault for not having any Paralyz Heals.”
 “I guess you’re right,” Petra said, finishing off her blueberry yogurt and getting into her sleeping bag.  “Well, I’m going to sleep.  Good night, Aoife.”
 “Night, Petra,” Aoife replied. 
 But Aoife couldn’t sleep.  She kept thinking about Chu-Chu and wondering if she was going to be okay in the Pokemon Center.  She was also worried that they might get attacked by wild Pokemon, and Chu-Chu wouldn’t be there to defend them. 
“That’s dumb, though,” Aoife thought.  “If anything bad happens, Petra’s Pokemon will protect us.”

***

 “Pikaaaa…” Chu-Chu moaned.  She had gotten up in the early morning hours, before even Nurse Faith had arrived, and sneaked out a window that one of the doctors had carelessly left open.  She crept through Cerulean City and off down Route 5, in search of Aoife.

***

 The next morning, Aoife and Petra got back on Misty’s bikes and rode off down Route 5 again.  After riding for 45 minutes (by which time Aoife was starting to get impatient), they came to a small cottage in the woods.
 “Think this is Cassandra’s?” Aoife asked, coming to a stop and pointing to the cottage.
 “Could be,” Petra said, knocking on the door.  The door opened and a woman in her 30s came out.  “Beautiful,” Petra thought, gazing at her.  “Too old for me though, I think.”
 “Petra,” Aoife poked her friend.  “Say something.”
 “Oh, ah, hi,” Petra replied.  “Are you Cassandra?”
 “Yes,” the woman responded.
 Aoife jumped in front of Petra.  “You’ve got to help us!  We have a serious problem.  Chu-Chu is…we need lots of Paralyz Heals and…”
 “Okay, slow down,” Cassandra laughed, putting up her hands.  “Paralyz Heals, is it?  Come on in, I’ll get some for you.”
 They walked in, and immediately the smell of different kinds of herbs assaulted them.  Aoife rubbed her eyes; a particularly strong herb stung her eyes and made them water.  There were herbs drying, hanging from bunches on the walls.  A Parasect was crouched in one corner of the room.
 “Parasect!” it said, scuttling over to Cassandra.
 “Parasect,” Dexter said.  “The mushroom Pokemon.  Its special attack is Spore, which puts the enemy to sleep.  Specializes in bug and poison attacks.”
 “Poison?” Aoife repeated, looking a tad nervous.
 “Parasect’s mushroom can also be used for Pokemon medicine,” Dexter added.
 “Whew,” Aoife sighed.
 Cassandra handed them a cloth bag with several plastic bottles inside.  “These bottles contain Paralyz Heals,” she said, taking one out of the bag.  The bottles had a small spraying device on the top.  “Spray them on your Pokemon and they’ll be okay again.”
 “Thank you, ma’am,” Petra said.  “How much will that be?”
 “18 dollars, or you can pay me in trade,” Cassandra said.  “Do you have a Pokemon you could trade me?”
 “Well, I caught a Bell—” Aoife started.
 “No, Aoife, you keep your Bellsprout,” Petra said.  “You’ll need it at the Cerulean Gym.  I’ll give her mine.”
 “But I thought you wanted that Bellsprout…” Aoife said.
 “Nah, it’s okay,” Petra replied, smiling.  She tossed the Pokeball containing her newly-caught Bellsprout, and it popped out.
 “Sprout?” it asked, still a bit confused.
 “It’s weak,” Petra explained.  “I just caught it.  But being a superior medicine woman, I’m sure you could heal it.”
 Cassandra blushed a bit.  “I’m not that great,” she said.  “But I’d love a Bellsprout!  It would be very useful, and I bet it’ll get along with Parasect.”
 “Paras?” Parasect said, poking the Bellsprout.
 “Bellsprout bell,” Bellsprout said.
 “Parasect parasect!” Parasect replied, waving its claw.
 “Looks like they’re getting acquainted,” Aoife giggled.  “Well, thank you for the Paralyz Heals, Cassandra.  We have to go now.” 
 “Here’s my card,” Cassandra said, handing them a business card with a picture of a Persian on it and writing that said “Cassandra’s Cures”.  “In case you need anything…”
 “This’ll be great!” Petra said.  “I’m a Pokemon breeder, so I might need some of your potions in the future.”  She winked.  “We’ll have to get together sometime.”
 Aoife hurried Petra out the door.  “We have to go, it’s kind of an emergency,” she explained to Cassandra.  “We’ll see you again sometime!”
 Aoife and Petra ran out to their (well, Misty’s) bikes, but when they got to the place where they had left the bikes, they found a surprise.  Chu-Chu was sitting on the handlebars of the one Aoife had been riding!
 “Chu-Chu!” Aoife cried out, running to her Pokemon.
 “Are you sure it’s not just a wild Pikachu?” Petra asked.
 “It must be Chu-Chu,” Aoife argued.  “See?  It’s got the Claddagh necklace I put on it.”  She indicated a silver necklace with a charm on it of two hands holding a heart with a crown.
 “Oh, I never noticed that before,” Petra said.  “Where’d you get that?”
 “It was Mom’s,” Aoife said.  “Her Togepi wore it.  Then she gave it to me for Chu-Chu before I left home.”
 “Piiiika…” Chu-Chu managed to get out.  “Pika…pika…”
 Hurriedly, Aoife sprayed on the Paralyz Heal that Cassandra had just given her.  “There.  You’ll feel better soon, Chu-Chu.”
 Already seeming a bit better, Chu-Chu said, “Pikachu!” in as happy a voice as it could manage.
 Petra smiled and got on her bike.  “Now, let’s go back to—”
 “Nowhere!” a familiar male voice said.  “You’re not going anywhere!”
 “Because you have to stay here and prepare for trouble!” a voice, now recognizable as Bonnie, said. 
 “And make it double!” the aforementioned male voice, which they now knew was Clyde, added.
 “To rule the world with greatest power!”  Bonnie’s silhouette appeared in the bushes.
 “Stalking around at the midnight hour!”  Clyde’s appeared next to hers.
 “To denounce the greatness of evil and sin!”
 “With our Pokemon we’re sure to win!”
 “Bonnie!”  Bonnie emerged from the bushes, followed by…
 “Clyde!”
 “Team Rocket, flying in the night!”
 “Surrender now or you’ll lose the fight!”
 “Vul!” Sundance crowed from Clyde’s shoulder.
 “Super,” Aoife muttered.
 “Give us those potions, child!” Bonnie demanded.
 “Why should I?” Aoife asked, not intimidated whatsoever.
 “Because otherwise we’ll do…uh, we’ll do…” Clyde was at a loss for words.  “Something really bad!”
 “Scary,” Petra remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
 “Chuuu!” Chu-Chu yelled, jumping off of Aoife’s shoulder.
 “Chu-Chu!” Aoife said, picking it up.  “You don’t have to fight.”
 “Pi, pika pika chu!” it said.
 “No, you’re not,” Aoife said, setting it back in the bike basket.  “You stay there.  I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
 “Pikachu!” Chu-Chu jumped out of the basket and flew at Team Rocket.  “CHUUUUU!”
 The resulting explosion caused Team Rocket to soar into the sky, yelling, “We’re blasting off again!” until they were no more than a tiny blue dot.
 “Chu-Chu!” Aoife yelled, going to pick up her Pikachu again.  “You shouldn’t do that!  But…I guess I can’t be mad, because you did save us from Team Rocket, after all.”
 “Come on, let’s go back,” Petra said, hopping on her bike again.  “I still haven’t gotten my Jynx, and you still haven’t gotten your second badge.”
 Aoife got on her bike, and with the now healthy Chu-Chu, they cycled back down Route 5 to Cerulean City.
 

Author's notes
Okay, I know there were a few inconsistencies in this, which I will explain now.  How Chu-Chu, paralyzed, could escape out of the Pokemon Center, I dunno.  Only the Chu knows, and it won't tell. :p Also it doesn't make sense that Petra would catch a Bellsprout, but she did, okay?  And that's the way it goes, so phooey. :p And didja like the password guessing scene?  I did.  Guess that's where Misty keeps her mallets and stuff too.  And yes, Cassandra is the same Cassandra.  So where's her Persian mascot?  Dunno.  Maybe it ran away. 

back