Pokémon Ultra: Sparkling silver

Whew, man… I just got through Union Cave, the cave that stood between me and Azalea Town… But I’m finally here! I could tell that my team was pretty tired out from traveling through the cave too…

“You doing alright, Mareep?” I looked down at Mareep, who nodded, while also looking a bit tired.

“Hey, don’t worry buddy…” I patted Mareep on the head. “We’ll head over to the Pokémon center, then you’ll all feel much better!”

We were about to walk into Azalea Town, but I could see something going on outside of town… Right outside the town, there was a well, and in front of the well I could see this old man, who was arguing with a younger man wearing a black uniform with the letter R on his shirt…

“Beat it, old man!” The younger man snapped. “We’re not letting you get in the way of our plans!”

“There is no way I’m letting you Team Rocket grunts continue hurting these innocent Slowpokes!” The older man snapped back. Wait a minute… Team Rocket? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before…

“Get out of my way!“ The old man shoved the guy out of the way, running past him towards the well.

“Hey! Get back here!!” The man then quickly then ran after him. Wait, we’re these Team Rocket people hurting these Slowpoke or something? Maybe I should help that old man out…

…After I heal up my team first, of course.

Sometime later…

After healing up at the Pokémon center, I quickly ran back over to the well, Mareep clinging onto the top of my head as I climbed down a ladder, that lead to the bottom of the well. Once I arrived at the bottom, I saw the older man, who was hunched over, grumbling to himself. 

“Oh no… Hey, sir! Are you alright?” I asked, quickly running over to the man.

“Argh, yeah, I just… I took a tumble down the well chasing after that Rocket grunt.” The man grumbled.

“Oh man… A-are you sure you don’t need help? I can find someone if you need it…”

“No, I’m alright… I just need a few minutes…” The man paused, sighing. “But, those poor Slowpokes… Now I can’t… Help them…”

“Um, sir… If you don’t mind me asking, who exactly are Team Rocket? And what are they doing to the Slowpokes?” I asked.

“You see, Team Rocket is an evil organization that steals people’s Pokémon…” The man replies. “Years ago they were defeated back in the Kanto region, and everyone thought they were gone forever. But now they’re back causing trouble here in Johto… Right now they’re cutting off the tails of the Slowpokes living in this well, and selling them.”

“What?! That’s horrible…”

Why the heck would anyone do this to these poor Slowpokes?! They don’t deserve this…

“Hey, sir… I can help those Slowpoke! I’ll take on however many Rocket’s I need to…” I say confidently, the man looking surprised for a bit, before giving me a weak smile.

“That’d be great, kid.” The man smiled, as he nodded. “Just please be careful… These Rocket grunts can be dangerous.”

“Of course… Don’t worry, sir. I’ll go save those Slowpoke!”

I quickly was about to run into the next cave…

“Hey, uh, kid…” But the man quickly spoke up again, stopping me in my tracks. “You uh, you got something on your back…”

“Huh? What is…”

I turned my head around, to see a pink Pokémon sitting on my backpack. 

“What the? Where’d you come from?”

“Heh, it’s a Slowpoke!” The man chuckled. “It must like you.”

“Aww, you’re cute, Slowpoke…” I patted the Slowpoke on the head, who stared back at me with a blank smile as it still clutched onto my backpack. “Don’t worry, you can stick with me! I’ll protect you from Team Rocket… Alright Mareep, let’s go save the rest of the Slowpokes!”

I now ran over into the next cave, immediately running into the Team Rocket grunt that was talking to the man earlier.

“Hey! You lost or something, kid?” The Rocket grunt huffed.

“No… I want you Team Rocket people to leave these Slowpoke alone right now!” I snapped. “Hurting these innocent Slowpoke for money is just mean!”

“Pfft! You think we care about being mean, kid? You have no idea who you’re messing with!” The Rocket grunt cackled, as he held up a Poke ball. “Kid, I’m not letting you get in the way of our plans here, so you better skip on outta here… Unless you want your Pokémon beaten to a pulp.”

“…I’m not going anywhere.”

Sometime later…

After defeating that one Rocket grunt, I had to battle two more before I reached the end of the cave, running into one last Rocket member.

“Well well, what do we have here…? Looks like you’ve defeated all the other grunts…” 

“Yeah, I have… I want you to get out of here and leave these Slowpoke alone as well!” I snapped. The man smirked in response, shaking his head.

“You don’t scare me, kid. For I am Proton, one of the stronger and scarier admins of Team Rocket… And I will NOT let you interfere with our business!!”

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BATTLE… BEGIN!!

Proton: “Go, Zubat! Use Leech Life!”

Ara: “Use Thundershock, Mareep!”

Proton: “Use Supersonic!”

Ara: “Dodge it! And use Tackle!”

Mareep quickly dodged and attacked, knocking out the Zubat.

Proton: “Urgh… Go, Koffing! Use Smog!”

Sadly the Smog attack ended up poisoning Mareep…

Ara: “Oh no… H-hang in there, Mareep… Now use Thundershock!”

Proton: “Now use Tackle!”

Ara: “Use Thundershock!”

Mareep was getting a lot weaker now… As the poison knocked him out.

Ara: “Alright… You can finish this, Gastly! Use Curse!”

Proton: “Use Smog, Koffing!”

Ara: “Use Lick!”

The combination of Gastly’s attack, plus the curse inflicted on the Koffing… ended up knocking it out.

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“Urgh…” Proton grumbled, rolling his eyes as he returned his Koffing, stuffing the ball in his pocket. “You know what? Team Rocket may have broken up years ago, but some of us have continued our activities underground… We may have had most of us fall apart from another kid trainer years ago, but we are NOT gonna let that happen again!” Proton huffed. “You’re just a small obstacle after all… You won’t get in the way of our next plans. I advise you to be very afraid of what is to come!”

Proton quickly then rushed past me, as he walked away. Well, I’m glad I was able to save these Slowpoke today, but what was Proton talking about? Should I be worried…?

“Hey, kid!” I could see the man running up to me, with a smile on his face.

“Oh, hey! Is your back feeling better?” I asked.

“Sure is! And I saw all the Team Rocket grunts hightail it outta here… Good work! Say, I never got your name…”

“Oh, it’s Ara… What’s yours?” I asked.

“The names Kurt… It’s nice to meet you Ara! I really appreciate you helping out all these Slowpoke… Heh, it looks like you’ve made pretty good friends with that one, too!”

“Oh! Right…” I looked back at the Slowpoke that was still clutching onto my bag. “I totally forgot you were still here…”

I took off my bag and set it on the ground, gently grabbing Slowpoke and setting her on the ground as well.

“Sloooow?” Slowpoke stared up at me with her same smile, cocking her head at me curiously.

“Hey, don’t worry Slowpoke! Team Rocket is gone now, so you don’t have to worry anymore…”

“I feel like I need to reward you, kid… Say, are you familiar with apricorns?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah, actually…”

“Great! Follow me then.”

Sometime later…

I had to stop at the Pokémon center again before I went over to Kurt’s house. When we both arrived there, Kurt told me all about how he can make special types of Poke balls out of these apricorns, which luckily for me I’ve managed to collect a decent amount of them. I gave Kurt a few of my apricorns, as he started working on them. While he was working, I asked him some more questions about Team Rocket, and their history and such.

“Yeah, years ago Team Rocket wreaked a lot of havoc in the Kanto region…” Kurt explained. “Stole a lotta people’s Pokémon, and even managed to capture the legendary bird trio… But they were eventually stopped by this kid named Sam, and some of his friends as well. But now sadly, they’re all back here, causing trouble in Johto.”

“Wow, these people sound like bad news…” I sighed. “I wish I knew what their next plans were…”

“Yeah, me too. But sadly, whatever they’re planning, none of us can really do anything about it right now.” Kurt says. “All we can do right now is wait. And besides, you’re still young, Ara. And you’re just starting out your journey, yeah? I appreciate you helping out today, but you should probably avoid these Rockets from now on, and focus on your journey.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right… Ooh! I was about to go challenge the gym…” I reply happily. “But uh, I don’t wanna be gone for too long once those Poke balls are done…”

“Oh, don’t worry! These balls won’t be done for atleast another day or so…” Kurt says, pausing his work as he smiled at me. “Go on, challenge the gym! You have my number now, anyways… So I’ll call you when they’re ready!”

“Oh, alright! I will… Thanks, Kurt! I’ll see you later…” I waved goodbye to Kurt as I left his house, and I could already see the gym in the distance of the town.

“Alright, Mareep! Let’s go challenge the gym…”

“Mareep! Eep!” 

“Hm? What’s wrong, Mareep?”

Mareep was pointing and tilting his head up at something, pointing to my back. I looked behind myself…

“Wha?” And I could see the same Slowpoke from earlier, who was clutching onto my backpack once more. “Hey, where’d you come from? How’d you find me again?”

“Sloooooo…” Slowpoke poked her head into my bag, rustling around in there for a bit. When she poked her head back out, she was now holding an empty Poke ball in her mouth. “Hey… What are you…”

Slowpoke then pressed onto the Poke ball, as she went inside…

…1 shake…

…2 shakes…

…3 shakes…

…Click!

“What the…”

Did… Did I just catch Slowpoke?! Or, did Slowpoke… Catch itself? 

I picked up Slowpoke’s poke ball, sending her back out.

“Aww Slowpoke, did you wanna become my Pokémon? You’re so cute…” I smiled down at Slowpoke, patting her on the head. “I’ll be glad to be your trainer!”

“Slooo…” Slowpoke turned around, pointing out towards the well in the distance.

“Hm? You wanna go back to the well? You changed your mind?”

“Slooooo…” Slowpoke shook her head no, still pointing out towards the well.

“Ok… Do you, uh… Need something from there?”

“Slooooow…” Slowpoke nodded.

“Hm, alright then… Let’s go!”

I picked up Slowpoke, as we all went back down into the well, and into the cage again. We walked through the cave a bit, until we stopped in front of a small pond…

“Slow…” Slowpoke suddenly jumped out of my arms and into the water. She swam across, hopping onto the land on the other side. I watched as Slowpoke grabbed onto something, hopping into the water again and swimming back over to me.

“Hm? What’s that?” I kneeled down as I looked at the item, which looked like a yellowish colored rock that was almost shaped like a crown. 

“Ooh, cool…” I took the rock from Slowpoke, placing it on top of her head. “Wow, look at that! A rock fit for a queen, heheh…”

“….Slooowpoke…” Slowpoke looked up at the rock as she smiled, as I scooped her back up again.

“Alright then… Come on guys…

…It’s time to go fight the gym!”

Sometime later…

I made my way to the gym, where I was able to get into the battlefield right away, seeing the gym leader standing on the other side…

“Heya! The names Bugsy! Your names Ara, correct!”

“Yup! That’s me!”

“Great! Glad you’re challenging my gym today, then!” Bugsy says, an excited smile on his face. “Alright, so in this gym, you’re only allowed to use three Pokémon…”

“Ooh, ok. Let’s see…” I held up my four Poke balls. So… I think I’ll use Cyndaquil, Mareep, and Gastly. As much as I wanted to use Slowpoke, I did only catch her today. And I did promise Gastly I’d promise to use him in my next gym battle.

“Alright, I know who I’m gonna use!” I say, Bugsy nodding in response.

“Great! Then get ready… To face the power of my bug type Pokémon!”

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BATTLE… BEGIN!!

Bugsy: “Show em what you’ve got, Scyther!”

Ara: “Let’s go, Mareep! Use Thundershock!”

Bugsy: “Dodge it! Then use Quick Attack!“

Scyther was pretty fast, dodging Mareep’s attack and striking back pretty hard.

Ara: “Alright Mareep, use Tackle!”

Bugsy: “Use U-Turn!”

Mareep’s attack only did a small amount of damage, as Scyther striked back, doing a lot more. Scyther quickly then returned back to his ball, as another Pokémon popped out.

Bugsy: “Kakuna, use Poison Sting!”

Ara: “Use Thundershock!”

Mareep did do a lot of damage to Kakuna, but the Poison Sting attack ended up poisoning Mareep. Man, Mareep’s not having good luck with poison today…

Ara: “Man… You’ve got this, Mareep! Use Thundershock again!”

Mareep attacked once more, quickly knocking out the Kakuna before it could attack again.

Bugsy: “Alright… Come on back out, Scyther! Use Quick Attack!”

Ara: “Dodge it this time! And use Thundershock!”

Mareep tried to dodge, but Scyther attacked too fast. Mareep was at least able to attack again though… But the poison ended up knocking him out.

Ara: “Hm, alright… Let’s go, Gastly! Use Lick!”

Bugsy: “Use U-Turn!”

Scyther did a decent amount of damage, as Scyther was returned back to its ball again… As another Pokémon was sent out.

Ara: “Use Lick!”

Bugsy: “Use Tackle, Metapod!”

Metapod’s attack didn’t do any damage to Gastly, phasing right through him instead. Ohh, wait a minute… Normal type attacks don’t do anything to Gastly, right? Cause he’s a ghost type… Oh man, I completely forgot about that! Luck is on my side now…

Ara: “Alright Gastly, keep using Lick!”

Gastly attacked multiple times, quickly knocking out Metapod. Alright, now it’s just Scyther left…

Bugsy: “Go, Scyther! Use U-Turn!”

Ara: “Gastly, use Curse!”

As Scyther attacked, Gastly used Curse on Scyther… But it ended up knocking him out.

Ara: “You’ve got this, Cyndaquil! Use Ember!”

Bugsy: “Use Quick Attack!”

Ara: “Dodge it! And use Quick Attack as well!“

Cyndaquil was barely able to dodge the attack, attacking back. And combined with that, and the curse… Scyther then fainted.

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“Yeah, we did it! Great job, Cyndaquil! You did amazing!”

“Cynda! Quil!” Cyndaquil ran up to me, jumping into my arms as I hugged him.

“Wow, you did amazing! You really are an expert trainer…” Bugsy says, smiling as he walked up to me. He then reached into his pocket, handing me a badge and a TM. “Here, you’ve earned it! This here’s the hive badge, and this is the TM for U-Turn!”

“Nice… Thank you so much, Bugsy!”

Wow, this really was amazing… My second gym badge! And we actually went through this battle without Cyndaquil’s blaze ability activating and going wild! I’m so happy. I really feel like I’m developing a strong, awesome team… Man, I’m so tired now. I really need to go to bed. And first thing tomorrow…

…I’m gonna go train Slowpoke!