But there was one bird who stayed with her. He wanted to explore the world, but feared he would not survive out on his own, or worse yet, - get caught by a trainer. His mother had tried to reassure him, but he still insisted to stay with her. And so they stayed together for quite a while, and Pidgeot was glad that at least one of her children truly loved her.

In the time that Pidgey had stayed with her, he learned many important survival skills that he would not have known without her.

But one night the weather went from calm and peaceful, as it usually is in Viridian Forest, to cold and windy. In fact, it soon became a storm. Pidgey was quite frightened as he listened to the thunder and was almost blown away from the wind.

"It’s okay, Pidgey. Just stay here and we’ll be safe," Pidgeot said.

They clutched tightly to the small branch, but soon the branch began bending. They saw tons of leaves, twigs, and even a few terrified Spearows blow past.

"Mom! This branch is going to break! We have to find a stronger one!" screamed Pidgey.

The wind blew harder and they tried to fly in the awful weather, but it was no easier than fighting a waterfall. Pidgeot just managed to grab a branch with her wingtips. Then the clouds and the whole forest were illuminated for a second as a bolt of lightning touched the tree that Pidgey and Pidgeot had been perched on only a minute ago. Sparks flew from the lightning bolt and showered on the tree, burning up the leaves like hungry Caterpies eating in a time lapse video. The tree also cracked and began to lean on its side, and then the whole top half of the tree was blown away.

Pidgeot was struggling to get a better grip on the tree branch, and Pidgey was hanging onto her tail. Suddenly a bush came blowing through the air, and it hit Pidgeot in the face. She lost her grip, and so did Pidgey, and both of them were sent tumbling through the air in different directions, squawking like Dodrios.

The next day…

Pidgey awoke, and found himself lying on the ground. He got up, surprised and confused, and shook the leaves and dirt off his back. It took a while for him realize what was wrong.

Once the Caterpie saw him, it ran away.

"CAAAATAAAPIIIEEE!!" it cried as it scrambled up a tree. Pidgey shook his head.

"Where am I anyway, and what is a Caterpie doing around here? Maybe I’m still in Viridian Forest," Pidgey thought to himself. He looked around. He wasn’t still in the Forest. The trees were huge, and nothing seemed the same. Except everywhere he looked, he saw Caterpie.

"Just how far was I blown?" he asked himself. He started hopping around the forest. He looked at the strange scenery. The limbs of the trees were thin and twisted, the Caterpie were in many different sizes, and the climate seemed irregular.

Just then, he saw something yellow and brown. "Oh great. Not a Cute, adorable, lovable, cuddly Pikachu" he groaned. "Errr, Hi," said the creature in a Pikachu voice. When he saw Pidgey’s look of disgust, he asked, "What’s wrong? Don’t you think I’m cute?" the Pikachu said.

"YES! You’re too cute for your own good, lightning rat! You hog all the fame when it could be equally divided among the Pokémon! Someday someone’s going to arrest you for your cuteness, rat!" Pidgey squawked, obviously annoyed.

Pidgey thought for a moment and he was about to flap over and ask that Pikachu for directions, but he heard behind him a strange voice like nothing he had ever heard. It was a female voice, which was ever soft and faint. He turned around and half expected to see a Jigglypuff, but instead he saw a Pokémon that, besides the skin color and eyes, was far different. It was thin and white, with a few traces of pink. It had big blue eyes, and the feet of a rabbit. It had a long thin tail that seemed to form an oval-like shape at the tip. He stared in amazement, trying to figure out what this creature was. Then, once again it spoke

"Meeeewwww," it said. At first it sounding as if it were a Meowth, but then he realized this was no cat. This was a Mew, the rarest Pokémon in the world.

Pidgey stood there for some time, just staring at the creature who ofcourse stared right back. Finally, Mew rose up into the air and started floating away. When Pidgey finally overcame his amazement, he shouted, "Wait! Come back!" but the creature was gone, probably for good.

He sighed and decided to go to a place he would recognize. But which way was North? He certainly didn’t have a compass, and he didn’t know where he was anyway. So he decided to stumble through the tropical forest. In the end he gave up and decided to take up flying, and so he flew around in every direction, trying to find a place where the trees ended. Finally he saw a narrow path. He landed infront of it to read a sign.

He hardly ever read human writing, so he read it with some difficulty.

"What have I got to lose?" he said. "I gotta get out of this forest anyway." Pidgey was relieved that he wasn’t that far from Viridian Forest. But after the day of flying around aimlessly and hopping through mile after mile of forest, he had to take a rest. After about 5 minutes, he found a good sturdy tree and perched on a branch, and in no time he was asleep.

He had a dream that night. He dreamed of his mother, and all the times they had spent together. At the end of the dream, he watched as Pidgeot became the wind and blew away, her form slowly turning into a Mew.

Pidgey awoke in an instant, and cried himself back to sleep. He wondered if he would ever see her again, or if she was even alive. He decided that he must try to find her, even if she was in the darkest of caverns.

He awoke the next morning to find himself hanging upside down on one leg, on the tree branch. Pidgey squawked in surprise and fell to the ground. Some dream, he thought.

After eating a few berries that were ripe and still attached to the trees, Pidgey looked at his reflection in the water to make sure there were no leaves still sticking to his wings. "Now it’s time to fly out of here," Pidgey said as he saw a frightened Caterpie dart past.

Pidgey flew for a long time, and finally he saw a large cave that had a wide entrance at one side. He stuck his head in the cave and listened to all of the sounds and decided maybe going in there wasn’t such a good idea, especially when he thought about his blood being drained by Zubats. He wondered where to go next, and as he start walking away, he heard a strangely familiar voice. He saw the creature from behind a cluster of rocks by the entrance.

"Mew?" it said. The Mew had followed him to the cave. Pidgey was shocked and delighted at the same time, but then he asked, "Wait a second! If you are a Pokémon, then why is it that I can’t understand you?" He hardly expected an answer, but to his amazement the creature spoke, and this time he knew what she was saying.

"Well I was simply saying my name because I don’t want to be mistaken for a horribly underweight Jigglypuff. You know I’m kinda pink and I have big bluish eyes and the same ears as one of those walking balloons. But just because I am an outsider doesn’t mean I can’t talk the world wide language all Pokémon use to communicate," Mew said in a most beautiful voice. "And stop looking at me like that. Mew aren’t very rare at all, we just hide from humans because the thought of being stuck in a little Pokéball and then being forced to obey some trainer sounds most indignant and miserable. I can understand why Pokémon always put up such a fight when they encounter a Pokémon Trainer."

Pidgey couldn’t believe the whole time that Mew were just as common as Kinglers. "Are you the same Mew I saw in Caterpie Forest?" he asked. She nodded. "I better get going though. This cave is too dark and dangerous," he added.

"Not to worry! All Mew have a radioactive glow that will lighten any darkness. Check out my tail," replied Mew. It looked like one of those "Glow-in-the-Dark" toys, and small rays could be seen. Pidgey hesitated to enter Mt. Moon at first, but he finally decided it was worth the trouble. He hoped he could find Pidgeot in some city or forest at the end of Mt. Moon.

Pidgey stumbled around the dark cave, which was still dark even though the Mew was with him. "So can you tell me where I’m supposed to turn next? I really can’t see a thing," he said. "If I ram into a wall or fall in a pit, it will be- AAAAAA!" Pidgey screamed as he fell several feet and hit a rock. "…it will be…?" Mew asked. "YOUR FAULT!" he shouted.

They kept stumbling around the cave, until Pidgey tripped and squawked, which woke up a colony of Zubats. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEE, EEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEE!" they shrieked in high, earsplitting voices. The Zubats were everywhere, and in no time Mew and Pidgey were surrounded. They started making noises that can only be described as supersonic. This drove Mew crazy, and she ran around insanely.

They started attacking Pidgey. He shouted as they bit him and hit him in the face. He pecked wildly, hoping he would hit one of them. Two Zubats fell down. He pecked at another, who also fainted. Then one of them flew behind him and knocked him over. Then the Zubats swarmed all over him, biting ferociously. He flipped himself over and they scattered. Pidgey spun around and slapped a couple of Zubats with his wings and they fell down too.

Just as the little Pidgey thought he was winning, he heard one more Zubat, only this one was much louder, stronger, and bigger. Right away the Zubat began flapping its wings at an incredible speed. It started a whirlwind and Pidgey was blown fifteen yards away and hit a cave wall. Then the Zubat came at him again, but Pidgey dodged the attack and it ran into the same wall that Pidgey had been blown to. But the Zubat got up again and started making a supersonic screech. Pidgey covered his ears with his wings though, so he didn’t go into a daze.

He hit the Zubat with his left wing and the Zubat fell over, but it got up again right away. It started circling Pidgey’s head even though he tried to run away. Then the Zubat bit him in several places until the bird started bleeding. He tried to fight even though the bleeding was getting worse every minute. But the pain really slowed him down and the Zubat easily avoided his furious peck, and Pidgey came crashing down on the ground. He got up just in time to see the bat flying forward to bite him again. But he somehow managed to block the attack by slashing the Zubat’s back with his talons. The bat was badly injured, but it began whacking Pidgey with its wings. Pidgey could barely get up, much less fight back. He thought for certain he was doomed.

Then....

"MMMEEEEEEWWW!" a brightly glowing creature with a long thin tail jump out of nowhere and kicked the Zubat with its rabbit like feet so hard that it shot to the other end of the cave, shrieking "Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Once Pidgey was standing again he managed to blurt "Mew? How did, uh why did you…?" Mew looked away. "I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. But that Supersonic noise really makes my head spin. I recovered at the last moment. I guess I wasn’t too late to save you," said Mew. "But man, are you in bad shape! I’ll have to heal you."

"You don’t know softboiled though, do you? Only Chanseys can do that," Pidgey said. "Well it’s not actually Softboiled, but it works the same way." Mew healed Pidgey using her own health, and soon Pidgey was as lively as ever. Mew had looked better. She added, "Let’s get out of here and find a Pokémon Center. I’m flying slower every minute."

"Or shoplift a Super Potion," Pidgey suggested. They both laughed. "But Mew, which way is out? And thank you for healing me, if I forgot to say that," Mew thought for a moment. "uh…I’m not sure. I haven’t been in this cave much. In fact I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever been in Mt moon before."

Pidgey groaned. "So we’re lost? Who’s idea was it to go into this place?"

Mew tried to ignore him. She looked ahead and noticed something. "Hey, is it just me or is that end of Mt. Moon lighter than here?" Pidgey looked around. It was quite true. "Okay, so that’s supposed to be the exit and we’re going to go running that way only to run into a wall, right?" he asked sarcastically. "Yep," Mew replied. Pidgey shook his head. "Why did I ever listen to an outsider?"

"You’re the outsider here," she said. Pidgey muttered as they walked toward the light.

They walked for a long way, but the lightness grew brighter and eventually the two Pokémon came to the other end of the cave without running into a single Zubat.

"Aren’t there supposed to be Clefairy in this cave?" Pidgey asked Mew. She said, "Well yes. But they are pretty scarce these days." Pidgey seemed to be looking somewhere else. "How about one of those? Are they scarce?" Mew spun around and saw a creature about the size of a human who was prancing happily through the cave.

"Clefable," it said in an enchanting voice which really meant "Intruders!" although the Pokémon spoke in a happy tone.

"Yyyesss," Mew finally answered slowly as the Clefable dissapeared into a dark tunnel of Mt. Moon. "I’ve had enough of this place. Let’s stop standing infront of the entrance like a bunch of dorks and start exploring!" Pidgey suggested. "Speaking of ‘dorks,’ I remember once I met a dorky Pikachu who just stood there and laughed when he saw me and kept saying ‘You’re cute but I’m way cuter than you! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!’," Mew commented. They both Laughed for a while together as they walked around in daylight again.

"Gosh, my eyes hurt though. I must have been in Mt. Moon a little too long," Pidgey complained. Mew nodded but said nothing. As soon as they found themselves in a city which they thought to be Curealon, Mew dashed straight to the Pokémon center. Pidgey waited outside on the roof waiting impatiently for her to come out fully healed. He also hoped to fly infront of Mew’s face and surprise her as she walked out.

Suddenly he heard a strange noise. It sounded like a Pokémon, but it didn’t sound quite right. "Ekannnssssssss!" something hissed. "AAAAAA! Leave me alone! You must have been sent on a mission by Team Rocket!" another voice called.

"Oh no! That sounds like…an Ekans attacking another Pokémon!" Pidgey said. He flew quickly to the scene, which was in the tall grass by a river and saw that the Ekans was chasing a Bellsprout.

Pidgey flew down infront of the Ekans who skidded to a stop. "What are you doing here? Can’t you see what I’m trying to do?" the Ekans hissed with anger. "I know what you’re doing, alright! Leave that plant alone!" Pidgey said bravely. The Bellsprout was shaking all over, keeping a safe distance from Ekans. "You stupid bird! You ruined my hunt!" Ekans shouted as the Bellsprout hide in the grass. "That was no hunt. That would have been a murder if I hadn’t stepped between you two just now," Pidgey said.

"Why do we snakes always get such a reputation? It really isn’t fair! I wouldn’t be doing this if my Master hadn’t told-,"

"WHAT MASTER?!?!?!" Pidgey shouted. "Uh…J-Jessssie," the Ekans stuttered. "I knew Team Rocket had something to do with this!" Pidgey said in an outrage. He whirled around when he heard a human voice. It was one of the Rockets!

"Well? What are you waiting for? Destroy that puny bird," Jessie commanded. Ekans nodded. I’ll show them puny, the Pidgey thought.

Ekans jumped at Pidgey, his poisonous fangs about to sink through the bird’s skin. Pidgey easily dodged the attack and the Ekans went flying into some bushes were it got kicked and slashed by some Sandshrews. Pidgey burst out laughing, and the Ekans hit him on the head with his tail. Pidgey squawked and started kicking up sand in Ekans’ face. Soon a whole cloud of sand was surrounding the snake.

"Common Ekans! Don’t stop now!" Jessie shouted. It got up and jumped into the air, trying to hit Pidgey, but it totally missed. Pidgey swooped down and pecked at him. Suddenly Ekans turned around and used headbutt, sending Pidgey spiraling through the air. He landed in a tangle of weeds but was able to free himself.

He started dashing toward the snake for payback, but Ekans moved out of the way and used tail whip. "OW!" Pidgey shouted as Ekans struck him with its tail again and again.

"That’s it, Ekans! Keep this up and that Pidgey will be ours in no time!" Jessie shouted. Pidgey managed to fly into the air, high above Ekans. He flew up and up until he couldn’t be seen. They waited. And waited. But he didn’t reappear. "Well, I guess we showed that bird who’s boss," Jessie said to Ekans, looking for the Bellsprout.

Suddenly Pidgey dove from the sky as fast as he could. He looked like a streak of lightning! He was doing Sky Attack! He looked down at the Ekans, his target. It was right where Pidgey wanted him. All of the sudden the ground exploded with sand and feathers all around Ekans. A cloud of dust fogged over them.

"Ekans?! Where are you?" it’s trainer shouted. She could hear clawing and biting going on in the cloud. Finally when the dust cleared off and all was silent, it was plain to see what had happened. Pidgey was standing, covered with sand, panting and fluffing his feathers. Beside him, an Ekans covered with scratches, cuts, dirt, who looked about as unconscious as a Pokémon can be. "E-ee-ek-annsss," it croaked weakly.

Jessie was shocked at first, but then she brought out a Full revive and used it to treat her Ekans. "You know, I do have an Arbok, but I just happened to be given another Ekans after mine had evolved." The Ekans was ready to battle again, although it looked nervous. Pidgey used gust, and sand and rocks exploded in the snake’s face. Ekans fell back a few feet, but got right back up again. It poisoned Pidgey with it’s bite, and although Pidgey was feeling more pain every second, he managed to pull off a Mirror Move. The Ekans thrashed around on the ground like an oversized worm as the poison infected its body. Pidgey pecked at Ekans several times, and suddenly the snake rose to its full height and hissed.

Pidgey looked up, and Ekans made an awful glare. Their eyes were locked, and Pidgey felt as if he were under a spell. He couldn’t move! Then Ekans pushed him into the sand while his wings were folded, frozen at his sides.

Ekans was about to bite Pidgey again while he was lying helpless on the ground, but Pidgey somehow flipped himself onto his back at the last second and used his talons to slash at Ekans, who then gave up and fainted. Frustrated, Jessie withdrew her snake and send out Arbok.

"CHARRRRBOK! (or ‘DIE, CHALLENGER!’)" it shouted as it appeared infront of the small bird. "Bok? Charrrbok? (or ‘Where’s the enemy?’)" Arbok said, confused. "Get that Pidgey!" Jessie shouted impatiently. Arbok turned its head and looked at him once.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!" it laughed. "I’m supposed to battle you?" he laughed at Pidgey. Jessie was getting redder and redder as Arbok just stood there laughing. "So you think I’m weak?" Pidgey whispered. The Arbok didn’t even look down. Suddenly Pidgey gave the Arbok a Mega Kick which he didn’t know he could do, and the Arbok crashed into Jessie and they both went tumbling through the air. It was Pidgey’s turn to laugh now. He smiled, pleased with his victory, although he was still poisoned and partially paralyzed. He heard a voice and saw the Bellsprout creep out from the bushes. "You saved me, uh…Pidgey," it murmured.

"Aw, it was nothin,’ Bellsprout," Pidgey replied. "You sure put up a fight! I was amazed when you came down from the sky and bombed that Ekans like a missile!" Bellsprout said, obviously impressed. "And how did you do a Mega Kick? Pidgeys aren’t capable of doing that move."

"Well, when Arbok starting laughing like I was a Magikarp, I felt an amazing strength overpower my pain," Pidgey replied. The Bellsprout was looking behind him as he said this. "Huh?" the bird wondered.

"MEW!!!!!" the creature shouted. "AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Pidgey squawked as he jumped twenty feet in the air and fell on his back. "Hahahahahahaha!" Mew laughed. "Did I scare you or what?" Pidgey got up and shoved Mew over from behind. "Don’t ever do that again!" he yelled, still shocked. Mew continued to laugh though.

"Hey, where’d the ‘common as Golduck’ Mew come from?" Bellsprout asked. "Oh. She’s kinda my friend, although I’m not too happy with her right now. She helped me get to the other side of Mt. Moon and got rid of a Zubat who was getting the better of me," Pidgey replied. He noticed Mew was still giggling. "And Mew, what may I ask is soooo funny?" he added, directing his question to the small psychic creature. Mew got over her laughter and answered.

"Man! You should have seen the reaction from the humans when I walked casually into the Curelean City Pokémon Center!" Mew laughed. "It was the most hilarious site!" Pidgey and Bellsprout’s eyes lit up. "Continue," Pidgey said.

"It’s getting dark now, we should probably find a nice place to sleep until morning comes," the Bellsprout commented. "By the way, Why didn’t you both just Fly over Mt. Moon instead of fighting your way through it?" Pidgey and Mew looked at each other and fainted. "Uh... Guess they never thought of that," it said to itself.

The Bellsprout woke them at once by singing a horribly off-key tune (country, of course.) They awoke immediately.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH! Stop! Not that song!" Mew shouted while Pidgey flapped around. The Bellsprout stopped. Mew began prancing around and spotted a nice looking tree. "Let’s sleep on that branch. It surely won’t break, and we can all fit there." Bellsprout looked unsure, but it finally agreed to sleep in the tree. Pidgey flew up and perched on the center of the branch, and Mew jumped up and landed gracefully on the branch. They looked at Bellsprout.

"uuuhh, how am I supposed to get up there?" it asked like they were insane. Mew got up and using her magic powers, lifted Bellsprout off the ground and the Plant floated until its feet/roots were brushing against the branch. "Uh, thanks Mew," it said uncertainly. Soon they were asleep. But Mew remained awake. She looked up at the stars, and flew away, into space. This was something she would do often. She looked around in hopes of seeing another Mew or a Mewtwo to fly with. But except for stars, planets, and a distant sun, the gravity lacking and forever blackened sky of space was empty.

Mew sighed. She had always hoped to meet one of her own kind, even for a short while. But not even on special nights when all Mew would fly into space did she see anyone.

Mew was rather disappointed, and depressed as always, but she decided still to fly in space until it was nearing dawn. She zoomed back to earth, and got in maybe three hours of sleep before Pidgey was shaking her awake.

"I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time!" Pidgey said a little rudely. He turned to Bellsprout looking for approval. "You should check out Curelean Gym! I bet there are lots of battles going on over there, even at this time in the morning!" Pidgey added. Mew nodded. "Okay. If you want to watch that’s fine. I guess I’ll come with."

Mew and Pidgey flew and landed infront of the Gym. Bellsprout stumbled along on its thin legs, its head swaying from side to side as if it might fall over any moment. "So I take it you’re just going to follow me forever because I defeated a puny Ekans who was hissing at you. Is that it?" Pidgey asked Bellsprout. The plant nodded, and the movement of its head sent it falling over and landing upside down. "Bellsprout, a word of advice; try sticking your roots underground instead of using them as feet," Mew suggested.

The three Pokémon peered into the window. They saw Misty, the Gym Leader, and her Starmie trying to take on a Pikachu. The Pikachu, as always, gave it an electric shock, which did no more than stun the starfish. Then Starmie started whirling, its legs looking like blades. "Pikachu! Look out!" someone, obviously the Pikachu’s trainer shouted frantically. Pikachu turned its head, all too late. The whirling Starmie plowed into Pikachu who was sent flying through the air and landed in the water. "PIKACHU!?" the trainer screamed. Finally Misty’s Goldeen brought the unconscious mouse to the surface. "No! Not my beloved Pikachu," he moaned as he ran to its side. He lifted the Pikachu in the air. "Pikachu, are you okay?" he whispered. "Ch-uuu-uu," it said faintly. The trainer sighed and withdrew the Pokémon. Then he sent out a Wartortle. "Wartortle, Skull Bash NOW!"

It knocked out the Starmie with a single Skull Bash. Misty’s eyebrows twitched in surprise, and she sent out Staryu. "HYAH!" Staryu said in its familiar voice. It blasted Wartortle away with BubbleBeam. The Wartortle was badly injured but it got up again. "Tackle attack!" the trainer instructed. Wartortle charged at Staryu and slammed into it. The Staryu fell over. "Now finish it off with a body slam!" Wartortle’s trainer shouted. The turtle got a running start, and as Misty was screaming for her Staryu to get up, it jumped high into the air and slammed down right on top of Misty’s Pokémon. It fainted immediately. "Staryu? How could you faint?" Misty said desperatley. The trainer walked up to her. "I deserve the Cascade Badge! I earned it!" he said trying to hide his excitement. The boy smiled smugly at Misty. "But we’re not half done with this battle yet," she said. The trainer was surprised. "B-but I thought you only had Staryu and Starmie," he started. "Not any more!" Misty replied. "GOOO Goldeen!" She threw a Pokéball, praying that it wouldn’t be that annoying Psyduck. She half expected to hear "Psy? Psyiy?" but instead heard "Goldeen, goldeen."

The trainer thought it was too unfair, but decided he couldn’t back out, or his friends would call him a chicken. "Uh… Wartortle, Hydro Pump!" he commanded eagerly. The turtle sent a huge wave of water at Goldeen. She moved out of the way, but was hit by another wave.

"This is exciting, isn’t it?" commented Pidgey. "Yeah, but I bet Misty will lose," said the Bellsprout. Mew said "I don’t know about that."

"Goldeen! Spike it with your head" Misty shouted. The Goldeen jumped at the Wartortle. Her spike hit it in the face. Wartortle started bleeding. "BubbleBeam!" the Trainer shouted to his Pokémon. A beam of bubbles hit the Goldeen, who fainted. Misty ran to her, but Goldeen’s eyes were spinning. Sighing, she withdrew the fish as well. Then she called out Horsea. "Psyduck? Psy?"

"PSYDUCK!!! I DIDN’T WANT YOU!!" she screamed. "Psyduck?" it said. "FINE! Psyduck, tail whip!" the Wartortle and its trainer started laughing. "Just faint it with Water Gun, Wartortle," he said. However, this attack made Psyduck’s headache increase. Its eyes began to glow. "Confusion," Misty said, knowing victory wasn’t far behind. Wartortle was slammed into the wall as the psychic waves struck it like lightning. It fainted. "What?" How could I lose to a little duck?" the Trainer wondered. "I have one more Pokémon left. Go Magnemite!"

"Magnemite," said the magnet in a low voice. "Magnemite, Sonicboom!" The Psyduck teetered on one leg as it tried to cover its ears while the sound filled the whole Gym. Finally it lost its balance and fell off the platform and into the water. It hadn’t fainted, but Misty was tired of Psyduck, and she sent out Horsea. "Horrrrrsea!"

"Horsea, Smoke screen!" Horsea puffed smoke out of its mouth and it surrounded Magnemite. "Don’t you think that’s a little too much like my Sand Attack?" Pidgey asked Mew.

The Magnemite couldn’t see. The trainer told it to tackle Horsea, but the Magnemite totally missed. "Good Horsea! Now Bubble attack!" Misty said to her seahorse. Horsea jumped in the air and struck Magnemite with bubbles that didn’t pop, but rather bounced. "Magnemiiiiite!" the magnet shouted. The trainer interfered and blew the smoke away from Magnemite. "Hey! You can’t do that!" Misty shouted. "Well then you can’t battle me with more Pokémon than I have!" argued the trainer. "Oh Yeah? Then why did you keep fighting?" "Because I wanted to show that I can beat you even if you brought more Pokémon than I have!" "Then why are you complaining?" "Because it’s still cheating!" "It is NOT!" "Prove that, then." "Well look at the list of rules you fool! It says nothing about not being able to use more Pokémon than the challenger!" "But that’s…" "But nothing! You cheated by blowing away the smoke!" the argument went on forever.

"Oh this is REALLY exciting," said Bellsprout sarcastically. "Hey, it WAS exciting before Misty started arguing like she argues with Ash!" Pidgey said defensively.

Finally Misty and the boy paused and looked at where their Pokémon had been fighting last. They saw a drowsy Magnemite floating in the water, with its eyes half closed, and a somewhat injured Horsea. "What…? Uh, Magnemite SuperSonic!" The Magnemite made a high pitched screech that only other Pokémon could hear, and the Horsea became vulnerable to Magnemite’s attacks. The Magnemite tackled it a few times, but then the Horsea recovered and hit Magnemite with another Bubble attack.

"Swift, now!" The almost fainted Magnemite started glowing, and suddenly yellow stars came from its head shooting at the Horsea. Horsea was hit, and it fainted. Misty sighed. "Gooooo Psyduck!" she said. The duck leaped out of her backpack. "Psy? Psyiy?" it said in a confused voice. "PSYDUCK!!! What is wrong with you? Can’t you see the Magnemite over there? I want you to get hurt so your headache increases and attack that Pokémon!" she shouted. "Psyduck," it replied. "Well? What are you waiting for?!" Misty demanded. "Psyduck." "RRRRRRR!! Why did I have to have YOU of all the Pokémon?" she screamed and kicked Psyduck infront of the Magnemite.

"Alright Magnemite! Do another Swift!" its trainer instructed. The stars hit Psyduck right in the head. "PSSSYYYYY!" it shouted in pain and fell flat on its face. It pulled itself up and stumbled around in a daze. "Psyduck! You better not faint!" Misty warned. The Psyduck tripped and fell on its side. When it got up its eyes started glowing.

"Hey, why is it doing that?" Bellsprout wondered as they peered through the window. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s evolving," Pidgey said. Psyduck’s wings, or arms were stretching out and growing thinner. Then the tiny fingers became long and pointed, and were webbed together. Then all of the feathers became a blueish color. Its short fat tail lengthened. Its legs stretched and stretched and reshaped until they looked like its new arms.

"Wow! Psyduck really is evolving!" Pidgey said. The Psyduck went through even more changes. All during this time, everyone including Misty was silent. She held her PokéDex up to it, but it said "Psyduck is in the middle of evolving. Try again when evolution is finished." She glared at the screen. "What do you mean? Psyduck is finished evolving! Don’t tell me you’re broken too!"she said. But Psyduck, who appeared to be done evolving, had its eyes closed. The shape of its once dopey eyes changed completely. Its eyelids were twitching as they became smaller. Finally it opened its eyes again. But this time, it didn’t have those big clueless eyes it once had. Now, it glared at the oponent, Magnemite, and the evolved Psyduck looked, for the first time in its life, evil. "Are you finished evolving yet?!" Misty said. "GOOLLLLLLDDDUUUCCKKK!" it shouted in a low voice as it knocked her to the floor. "Y-yes, you are," she said, feeling stupid. She pointed her Pokédex at it again.

"Golduck. Swims in a very graceful way. This Pokémon is said to be much stronger than the weaker form, Psyduck. It attacks with dangerous moves instead of scratch or tail whip and does not have a constant headache. Golduck has now learned Fury Swipes in place of tail whip." "Alright! Now I’m not stuck with a Psyduck anymore! Psyduck, er I mean Golduck, Fury Swipes now!" Misty said. The Golduck jumped high into the air and began clawing at the Magnemite furiously. It then retreated while still in the air and landed gracefully on its back feet without losing balance. Magnemite fell and hit the ground with a CLUNK! It rolled a few times and stopped. "Magnemite! Nooooo, this can’t be happening! I worked so hard to train these Pokémon, and now they’ve all fainted!" the boy said as he raced to pick up the Magnemite. "I’ll be back to challenge you later Misty, I swear I will! And next time, I’m gonna win!" he said as he walked toward the Gym entrance/exit.

"Hey! He’s coming, hide!" Mew shouted. They flew to the roof just in time. "Hey! What about me? I don’t want to be part of his army!" Bellsprout cried. Pidgey flew down quickly and grabbed it. The door creaked open. He was up on the roof again in a second. The boy walked out right after they couldn’t be seen.

"That close! Too close in fact," Bellsprout said.

"I have an Idea. Let’s go to the Pokémon hid out! It’s a great place to stay," Mew said once they were calm again. "The Pokémon hid out? You mean, the Pokémon Hid Out? We’re actually going there?" Bellsprout said excitedly. "Yep," Mew answered. "OH! I’ve always wanted to go there, but I never knew where it was!" the flower creature shouted happily. "Let’s go! I said let’s go, Pidgey. Don’t you want to come?" Mew asked as Pidgey stood there.

"Well, I kinda, um... have something to do. I’ll join you in a few minutes," he said. "Okay then. But it won’t be easy finding us amongst all the hundreds of Pokémon," she said. The two walked into the woods, Mew leading the way.

Mew and Bellsprout found a secret place in the forest. "Here’s the stair way," Mew said, lifting up some dirt to reveal a set of wooden stairs. "Yes! I’ve always wanted to go here, but I never knew where the stairs were," the excited Bellsprout said. Once the dirt was cleared away, the two walked down the stairs. Once they got to the underground hid out, they could see and hear much commotion.

It was an amazing site, filled with Pokémon ranging from common Rattatas and Pidgeys to a couple Mewtwo. Mew looked around hopefully. She was disappointed to see still none of her own kind. The place had many things to do: There were swimming pools (with signs that said "Charmanders, Charmeleons, and Charizards: Stay away! Deadly water ahead!") and dining rooms of the fanciest type. There were several movie theaters and arcades. There were bedrooms like those you can find in hotels, but the Pokémon could sleep in them and stay there for up to a month for free. And of course, there was a battle arena. This was obviously where Pokémon could battle to either show off to their friends or to gain experience and strength. Thise place, however, was not run at all by humans. Infact not a single human knew of this place. It had been built, and run entirely by Pokémon.

"Mew, when’s Pidgey gonna come here? He said he would," the Bellsprout wondered. Mew replied,"I don’t know, but he promised he’d be here soon. While we’re waiting let’s go for a swim."

Pidgey was making a sign. He made a copy of a photo of Pidgeot and stuck it at the top. Then he took out a marker and wrote underneath the photo. He looked at it a bit, decided it was done, and nailed it to a tree near the entrance to the sanctuary. It read:

"I don’t have time for your bragging of your stupid cuteness!" Pidgey hissed. "Ooooo! I think the little bird is jealous!" taunted the same Pikachu. "Oh, will you shut up? You’re making us all seem like brats who do nothing but boast and laugh," a female Pikachu said. Pidgey scratched the mean Pikachu who had teased him in the face. He fell over, and it looked as if he had been defeated. "Well that was easy," Pidgey muttered. He looked at the action and saw what all of the Pikachus, Raticates, Butterfrees, Seakings, and Eevees were cheering about. In the ring were an Electrode and a Gengar. They both looked injured, so Pidgey knew the battle wouldn’t last much longer. Pidgey had a hard time hearing what the Pokémon were saying to each other because so many of the audience were shouting things like, "Go, Gengar!" "Electrode, use Self destruct!" "Night shade, Gengar!" "No, Dreameater is better!" "C’mon Electrode, you can win!" "Defeat that ghost Pokémon!" "Electrode, you have to win!" "Gengar is da bomb!" "Electrode’s gonna lose!" "GENGAR! GENGAR!" "ELECTRODE!" "GEENNNGGGGAAAARRRR!!!!" "BOOOO!!!" "EEEEELECTROODEE!!!" "GENGAR!" "ELECTRODE!" "No way man, GENGAR!" "No, ELECTRODE!"

The cheering and arguing got louder and louder, but Pidgey found he did not need to hear what was going on, he could just watch it. He looked around the Arena, but did not find Mew or Bellsprout. Where are they? he worried. However, he found that he couldn’t look away from the action for long. He watched as Gengar hypnotized Electrode and it fell asleep. Then the Gengar used Dreameater. The Electrode woke at once, angered that it’s dreams had been taken. It yelled something, but Pidgey couldn’t hear it over all the screaming and cheering and booing. The Gengar laughed and was about to send Electrode rolling to the other end of the ring, but it rolled out of the way and the Gengar blew bast and hit the bleachers, the Pokémon who were sitting there scattered, trying not to get hit. Many Pokémon cheering for Electrode laughed, and so did Electrode. But then it was struck by night shade, and Pidgey and the Pikachus he was with could tell the Electrode had almost fainted. All of its Power Points were gone now, but it still had one move left. Now everyone was shouting the move to use. "SELDESTRUCT! SELFDESCRUCT! SELFDESTRUCT!" and it soon became a chant. The Gengar was back in the ring now, waiting for Electrode to do something. It slowly rolled up to the ghost, and knew what it must do.

Its eyes narrowed and it gave an evil glare. Its body started glowing a burning red orange, like fire, and it started smoking. "Wha...? NO!" Gengar murmured as it tried to run, but tripped and struggled to get up. The whole croud was silent now, and that was why Pidgey could actually hear his words. Electrode got redder and redder, and just when it looked like it couldn’t get any hotter,

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!

A great explosion took place, sending airborn many of the Pokémon in the front rows. Smoke and sparks covered everything. Finally, the smoke cleared. The Electrode was but a few pieces of red and white, and some ashes. The Gengar had fainted and its eyes were spinning, but they soon closed. He didn’t get up.

Pidgey knew the battle was over, but still the question remained: Who won? He asked one of the Pikachus (not the mean one.) "Well, I guess Electrode did, but it fainted while fainting Gengar. In fact, it exploded," the Pikachu said. "But how do Electrodes and Voltorbs live through selfdestructing?" Pidgey asked. "Well, if you’ll look down there, you can see some Chanseys collecting the remains of Electrode. Once they heal it at the PokéCenter down here (which is run only by Pokémon too) it will be back to normal again and in one piece," she explained.

"Chanseys, go figure," Pidgey said under his breath as he watched them take the stretcher with the remains of Electrode to the PokéCenter. Pidgey decided that before he got hooked watching the next match that was about to begin (between Sandslash and Arbok) that he had better find his "friends." He flew from the stadium and landed on the second floor. He looked for them in the croud, and a bunch of Spearows tripped over him.

"Hey! Is this our sworn enemy, a Pidgey?" One of them asked suspiciously. "KILL IT!!!!" one of them shouted, who looked pretty drunk. "What’s your problem? That’s all you ever say!" another Spearow replied and slammed the drunk bird into the elevator and it rose up, up out of sight. He glared at the other Spearows. "Go away and wait ‘til I’m finished with this guy!" he yelled. They hesitated, and peeked back a few times as they walked away. Once Spearow was sure they weren’t watching, he spoke to the frightened Pidgey.

"Hey. Are you from Viridian Forest? Yo’ mother is Pidgeot, am I right?" he asked. "Uh, y-y-yesss. Why do you ask?" Pidgey said, shaking. When the Spearow saw that he was afraid, he only laughed. "Oh, don’t worry! I’m not going to beat you up or abduct you or anything! I think I may know you, that’s all. You experienced the storm, didn’t you? And you were totally blown away, right? ‘Cause I haven’t seen you since," Spearow said.

Pidgey was relieved that the Spearow was actually his ally. "Actually yes! I lived in Viridian Forest with Pidgeot for a year, but we were seperated in the storm. I was blown to a strange place not far from Mt. Moon called Caterpie Forest. It was obviously crawling with Caterpie, and much to my disgust, I met a Pikachu there too. But I really need to find Pidgeot. You haven’t seen her lately, have you?" He explained as quickly as possible. "That’s a shame. I thought you both got out of the storm and flew to the same place or something. So duh, I haven’t seen her," Spearow answered. "Well, it’s good to see you at least. I feel a little ashamed now because I was always thinking about Pidgeot and pretty much forgot about you," Pidgey admitted. "And why do you hang out with those drunk, poorly raised Spearows?" he added.

"Well you know how it goes: They’re uncool and they’re pretty much losers, but they’ve talked me into joining them. But now I’ve gotten control over them and I’m their leader. But I’m gonna find some better Pokémon to hang out with when I can. So what’s been going on lately, Pij?" Spearow said.

"Well, lots actually. First I met a Mew who quickly flew away, then I flew to Mt. Moon, then the Mew appeared again and dragged me through the cave, Then we got attacked by Zubats, then we saw a Clefable, Then we –"

"Whoa. Slow down. So you’re saying that a Mew just appeared and started following you around and dragged you through a cave?" Spearow asked.

"It didn’t quite happen like that. And, oh yes; Mew went to the PokéCenter and then I saw an Ekans attacking a Bellsprout and I won a battle against it, and then the Bellsprout started following us like a Magnemite, then we watched this trainer lose to Misty only because Psyduck evolved. Then I came over here and watched a Gengar get defeated by an Electrode, and also embarrassed a Pikachu who was really asking for a broken nose, and then, uh…I ran into you," Pidgey finished.

"Not much has happened to me since then, but I did meet a Dratini who escaped from the Safari Zone. Keeps talkin’ about almost being captured that one time and how she finally escaped by digging a hole under the fence, which took a while because their bodies ain’t built for diggin’. I found her sleeping in a pond. Creature screamed when she awoke to see my face, thinking I was there to peck her apart like a regular, savage Spearow," Spearow recalled. "Just happened that she woke up right when I arrived. I never met such a pretty soul."

"Cool! Right now I need to find Mew and Bellsprout. You didn’t happen to see a Mew around here, did you?" Pidgey asked. Spearow shook his head. "Sorry. Haven’t seen one. You sure ya don’t know where they went?" Spearow replied. Pidgey sighed. "I arrived at the hide out a while after they did. I guess I better start looking. I hope I’ll see you again, Spearow." He started walking away.

"Wait! I’ll help," Spearow started, flying after him.

They began looking around in the stores, in the theaters, in the Café, but they couldn’t seem to find them. "Have we checked the pool yet?" Pidgey wondered. "!" They flew down and landed infront of the Pool entrance. Spearow pushed open the door. As soon as the door was open, they could hear loud splashing and shouting. When Spearow and Pidgey looked around, they saw a lot of Tentacools floating around like buoys. There were a few Goldeens, Staryus and Starmies, and some Shellders inching around on the bottom of the pool. They saw a Magikarp or two struggling to swim, and a Psyduck swimming in a very sluggish, clumsy way. They even saw, much to their amusement, some Slowpokes and SlowBros looking at the water surface, trying to decide whether to get in or not. There were other Pokémon too, of course, but let’s get on with the story.

"See that blue critter with the weird ears? That’s Dratini!" Spearow whispered. "Hey, I see Mew! And it looks like Bellsprout is swimming somehow too!" Pidgey exclaimed. Sure enough, there they were. "How are you sure that is the Bellsprout, not one of the other five trillion Bellsprouts?" Spearow said suspiciously. "Well, see how Mew is kinda leading it around? The plant seems to be following her," Pidgey pointed out. "Oh. Well this sure shows who’s more observant of the two of us," Spearow muttered. Before he could say anything else, Pidgey had flown infront of Mew. "Hey! I was looking for you! Are you having fun? And how can that shrimpy Bellsprout swim?" Pidgey asked. "Pidgey! You wouldn’t believe what just happened! I got a silver Metal for defeating a Zapdos in the Battling Arena! Bellsprout beat a Koffing, Golbat, Seel, Mankey, Grimer, and an Omanyte! But then it was bitten by a Rattata, and that was that. And how it swims, I will never know. But anyway, if Bellsprout can beat a few more Pokémon it’ll be one of the honorable mentions! After the Chanseys healed it, we went back here for a while. I figured you would have an easier time finding us if we stayed in one spot. You should try your luck at the Battle Arena!" Mew exclaimed.

They saw Bellsprout pull itself out of the water and come stumbling toward them on its thin roots/legs. "Hi Pidgey, I was looking for you! I had a great time, but now I’m going to get revenge on that Rattata for beating me! And also I- AND WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SPEAROW DOING HERE???!!!?!?! HELP! IT’S GONNA KILL ME, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Bellsprout tried to run as fast as it could, but it stumbled and tripped. Pidgey sighed, and looked behind him. Sure enough, Spearow was standing there next to them with Dratini. "Must be a coward," Spearow whispered.

"Calm down, Bellsprout! Atleast let me explain! Spearow here isn’t a regular Spearow. He is actually my friend from years ago. And look at his friend, a Dratini!" Pidgey told the Bellsprout. It stopped freaking out, but kept its distance from the fierce looking bird.

Mew talked with Dratini for a while, no longer wanting to swim. "Hey, do you mind if we leave here? You want to go to the Battle Arena, Right?" Mew asked. Dratini, Pidgey, Bellsprout, and Spearow didn’t hesitate. In a flash they were back at the Arena, just in time to see a Hitmonchan deliver the final punch to a Hitmonlee, ending the battle. Pokémon all over cheered, and the croud lifted him into the air and carried him to some other part of the huge hid out. Actually the hid out looked more like a cross between Holiday Inn (with a pool of course,) Mall of America, Disney World, ect. And although underground, it was bright as day. Anyway…

The first up to battle was Bellsprout again. It wondered who its challenger would be this time. As luck would have it, it turned out to be an Electabuzz. Bellsprout groaned, Electabuzz rooled with laughter. "You want me to beat that? HAHAHAHAAAAA!!! How can you call this a battle?! This stupid thing doesn’t stand a chance!" he roared. "Well, Bellsprout, are ya gonna chicken out or are ya gonna lose?" Bellsprout was red with rage from the hurtful insults.

"I’m gonna win, and that’s final," it said in a suddenly stern voice. "Ooooo, tough guy!" the Electabuzz laughed. But that battle had begun. Vines shout out of Bellsprout’s "mouth," but unlike Bulbasaur’s, they were covered in long thorns. It slapped the Electabuzz several times with the wines, until the thorns drew blood. When this happened, Bellsprout stopped, and began wrapping the Pokémon with its vines, tightening and pulling. But Electabuzz saw a great opportunity now. He sent electric waves from his body to the vines. In an instant, the electricity traveled from the vines to the Bellsprout and shocked it everywhere. Electabuzz burst out laughing as its eyes grew big as balloons.

But it wasn’t about to give up. Electabuzz started charging at the Bellsprout, but it jumped out of the way and Electabuzz crashed into the ground. Them Bellsprout slammed into Electabuzz head first, with amazing power. It could tell that he was weak now. But as Bellsprout was about to make its final move, Electabuzz sprang up and punched it in the chest (if you could call it that.) He had knocked the wind out of the poor Bellsprout, and knew for sure he would win now. But as he watched the Bellsprout spinning through the air, it landed on its feet! Bellsprout stood in a ready position, bracing itself to run or leap.

Electabuzz tried a thunderbolt. He shot strong waves of lightning right at the Bellsprout. But it made a strange guesture, closing its eyes, standing tall and straight, its right leaf/arm/hand and head raised to the sky. When the lightning reached it though, Bellsprout didn’t get shocked, instead it absorbed the electricity! "AAARRRGGHHH! What’s happening?" wondered the Electabuzz watching the lightning stream into the plant’s leaf/arm/hand. Bellsprout paused for a while, and its eyes remained closed. It slowly lowered its leaf/arm/hand down again. Then its eyes opened. In a singal leap Bellsprout was right infront of Electabuzz, with an enraged look on its face. It pointed both its leaves/arms/hands at the Pokémon, and suddenly an explosion of Solar Energy struck and surrounded the Electabuzz. When the beams stopped, a near fainted Electabuzz sat shivering and burned at the far corner of the Arena. "Please! Don’t kill me!!! I’m sorry I insulted you! I had no idea you were so talented that you knew Solar Beam, a move no other Bellsprout would know!" it pleaded and ran away in a hurry. Straight to the Pokémon Center.

Mew, soon followed by Pidgey, Dratini, and Spearow rushed down from the bleachers to congratulate Bellsprout. "Wow! A Bellsprout beating an Electabuzz, you’re something special! Even I’d have a hard time beating one of those Pokémon," Mew exclaimed.

"You know, I really under estimated you at first because you were getting beaten by an Ekans," Pidgey admitted. "Well, I fainted it several times, but that Team Rocket jerk kept using Revive on the snake and I eventually ran out of power to perform any of my moves," Bellsprout explained, though almost out of breath still.

"I’ve never met you before, but already I can tell you have powers greater than a Venasaur. By the way, I don’t think we ever really got introduced," Dratini spoke to it for the first time. "You’re no ordinary Bellsprout."

"And I’m no ordinary Pidgey," Pidgey bragged. "But it’s time for your battle! It looks like your challenger is a Pikachu!" Mew told him. Pidgey groaned. "Every one thinks a Pikachu will win every battle and wants them to just because they find the creatures cute. Personally, I find them no cuter than a Muk. Well I’ll show the world that cuteness isn’t everything!" Pidgey said. He flew into the ring. He looked back once at the others, who were cheering for him. Into the ring stepped the Pikachu.

Pidgey started off with a quick attack and Pikachu fell on his back. Then Pikachu tried to give him a body slam, but Pidgey dashed out of the way. Pikachu hit the concrete, hard. Pidgey did a Wing Attack, and Pikachu fell for a long time, vulnerable to any attack. Pidgey kicked up blinding sand. The Pikachu got up again, but couldn’t see his opponent.

Frustrated, Pikachu tried Thunder. But as it often does, the lightning missed. Pidgey laughed. He did a Mirror Move. And the battle was over.

"Ha! I showed everyone here that Pikachu would never stand a chance against me!" he laughed to his friends. "I knew you could win, pal," Spearow said. They did kind of a high five. "Hehehe. Pikachu didn’t hurt you once!" giggled Mew. "And now it’s time for you to fight…a Moltres!" she added.

"Ha. Yeah, I- Did you say Moltres? You’re kidding! I’m not ready to battle the legendary birds!" Pidgey shouted. "Give it a try, buddy. I wouldn’t be surprised if you win," Spearow said. "Mew, was getting Pidgey to fight a Moltres your idea?" Bellsprout asked. Mew looked away.

They noticed that Dratini didn’t seem to talk much. "She keeps to herself. Rather shy, but quite strong in battle," Spearow whispered. "And I guess you learned that from experience?" said Pidgey. "Indeed. When I awoke to his face, I thought he was there to pick my bones, and I tried to attack in a panic but missed. Luckily he was able to straighten things out before my attacks could hit him," she said softly. They looked at her as if wanting to know more, but she looked away.

Mew sighed and said, "Look, before you fight Moltres, how’s about I help you out with an HM, some TMs, and some SMs? (simple machines.) SMs are like Tackle, Leer, Scratch, whatever. And since we all can learn many more than a mere 4 moves, I’ll give you all some TMs, HMs, and SMs!" Well everyone was excited when they heard this. In no time Pidgey knew 29 attacks:

Tackle

Quick Attack

Whirlwind

Gust

Sand Attack

Fly

Mirror Move

Peck

Drill Peck

Wing Attack

Agility

Sky Attack

Leer

Rest

Mimic

Mega Kick

Rage

Counter

Fissure

Scratch

Slash

Screech

Slam

Pound

Psychic

Bite

Clamp

Fury Attack

Glare

Bellsprout knew: Solar Beam, Razor Leaf, Spore, Mega Drain, Wrap, Mimic, Tackle, Quick Attack, Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Slam, Acid, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Cut, Leer, Petal Dance, Absorb, Stun Spore, Rest, and Agility.

Dratini knew: Hyper Beam, Dragon Rage, Surf, Tackle, Skull Bash, Rest, Mimic, Wrap, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, uh…Oops! We’ll get back to the attacks later! Anyway, Pidgey was ready to fight. Moltres appeared infront of him in a blaze of fire.

She started out with a Sky Attack, but Pidgey attacked before she could, using Psychic. Using his psychic powers, he took control of her body and made her start slamming herself on the ground and flying in circles until she was dizzy. But finally she regained control. "No one can use Psychic powers on me for long," Moltres said in a harsh tone. And she pecked at him right between the eyes. Pidgey fell down, bleeding. But just when the Moltres thought she had won, he fought back.

Pidgey slashed and scratched with his talons, and he used drill peck and she fell. Then he slammed down on her and used pound. She started to get up, but Pidgey hit Moltres with a Quick Attack and she was down again. Then he used Sand Attack.

But Moltres suddenly got up. She used fire blast, and Pidgey barely dodged the fire balls that were spewing at him. Then he tried Mirror move, but it missed. Then Moltres used Flamethrower, and Pidgey’s feathers caught on fire. "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!! OOOOOOWWWW!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" He screamed, but this screaming turned into an attack: Screech. Moltres was desperately covering her ears in a corner of the ring. Seeing this, Pidgey calmed down and was able to put out the fire with a few flaps of his wings. He flew up, up, and up, and then he came tearing down from the ceiling and beat up Moltres. He felt sure he had won, but then he realised he hadn’t touched Moltres at all. He looked down infront of him. There lay a dirty, wounded, dazed Rattata. "Oh my gosh!!! I am sooo sorry! I was trying to beat up Moltres! Man, she is fast! Are you okay?" Pidgey apologized. "Do I look okay?" it coughed angrily. Then some JigglyPuff in the croud whistled, "Chansey!" and in a moment, some Chanseys appeared and took the rat to the Pokémon Center.

Pidgey looked around, confused. Where had Moltres gone? Suddenly Moltres flew in behind him and knocked him over with her talons. Then she used Fire Spin. "AAAA!!" Pidgey screamed as fire blazed infront of him. More and more streaks of fire appeared, until there were too many to dodge. They started swirling around like a tornado, then the fire twister closed around him. The fire whirled around the Arena, and Pokémon watching the battle had to run out of the way to avoid getting burned.

"Oh no! Pidgey!" Bellsprout worried. "Oh, boy. This does not look good," moaned Spearow. "WATCH OUT! THE FIRE TORNADO IS COMING RIGHT FOR US!!" screamed Dratini. They all jumped immediately and crashed in all directions. The fire swept past. Finally, with a wave of Moltres’s wing, the fire ceased. And a charred, blackened, sizzling, burning Pidgey collapsed on the floor. Everyone was shocked and dissapointed, and Mew, Bellsprout, Spearow, and Dratini were all very worried. "Oh dear! He looks dead!" feared Dratini. "I think it’ll take more than a Pokémon Center to cure this," said Spearow. Mew felt ashamed. "This was my fault. I had decided to make Moltres battle Pidgey. I should have known this would happen. It’s far too early to have him battling Legendary Pokémon," she cried.

"Should we atleast try the PokéCenter anyway?" asked Bellsprout. "I guess," Spearow said doubtfully. And the Chanseys dragged Pidgey away to heal. But when the Chanseys brought him out again, he hadn’t been healed. "We’re very sorry. We tried everything. Nothing worked. We are very, terribly sorry," a Chansey told them, although she was mostly talking to Mew. The Pokémon were trying to hold back tears, but soon they gave in and started bawling. But Mew suddenly got an idea. "Wait! I know SoftBoiled! Except it’s more powerful than a Chansey’s move!" Mew said. And she used up her own health and energy and transferred it to Pidgey’s charred body. Mew was lying on the carpet, feeling very faint. "Take him to one of the Hotel rooms and tuck him into a bed. Put me on the other. Wait for a few hours and see if Pidgeyy recovers. When he does, if he does, give me this Hyper Potion. Until then, good bye," Mew instructed in a quiet voice. They heard her well. Soon she was unconscious, and Dratini layed her in one of the beds. Pidgey, too.

"She must really care about him a lot. I hope she knows what she’s doing," said Bellsprout. "And now for the long wait. Anyone got any Video Games? There’s a TV, Stereo, and Computer here!" Spearow joked. But he was just as worried as the others were. Finally Bellsprout took out a card deck and they began playing various card games. But they kept looking back at Mew and Pidgey uneasily. "Think they’ll Recover?" Spearow wondered. Dratini frowned, and Bellsprout shrugged and continued playing. Soon an hour had passed, and Dratini was trying some lame card tricks. "How about this one? Does this trick amaze you?" Dratini asked desperately. "Are you trying to amaze us Pokémon or just annoy us?" Spearow yawned. Dratini gave up. "Let’s play Poker."

Bellsprout looked up. "With what? I’m not willing to risk real money. I remember the last time when I played with a Charizard..."

"Uh, yeah. We don’t wanna hear ‘bout old Chary snatching all of your money. Now let me think. We could use bits of paper. Or marbles, or beans, or rocks, errrr, let’s just use paper," Spearow interrupted. So Dratini made balls of paper and they began to play. Surprisingly enough, Dratini won. But she was quite humble about winning. They were about to start a new game, but then they looked over to the beds again, and to their disbelief, Pidgey was himself again! He was fully healed and though he was sleeping, a smile could be seen on his face. The Pokémon were cheering with joy, and in no time they woke the sleeper, but Pidgey wasn’t mad, because he was so glad he was well again.

"Hurry! Give Mew the Hyper Potion!" Spearow shouted. Dratini handed it to him, and soon Mew sprang awake. "Pidgey, YOU’RE ALIVE!!!" she screamed and almost hit the ceiling as she jumped for joy. Pidgey couldn’t help but laugh. "Just how did I get healed anyway?" he asked. "Oh, well, I used a move like Softboiled but it’s much more powerful. Like the time in Mt. Moon," she said. "I must have fainted for a long time." Pidgey didn’t know how to say thank you. She had sacrificed her health and energy to save his. The rest of the night was spent there at the huge Pokémon place. The next day things went great too. It turned out that Bellsprout got a Bronze metal, Spearow defeated a Raticate, Sandshrew, Victreebel, and Wartortle. Dratini also got a Bronze metal.

"Say, can you tell us our levels? I’ve never really known what level I’m at," Spearow asked Mew that morning. The others wanted to know their levels too. "Let’s see. I can use a certain Psychic move to find out," Mew said. She paused for a moment. "Okay. Pidgey, you are at level 30. Dratini, you are at level 40. Bellsprout is at level 35, and Spearow is level 30 too. And I’m at level 57," she told them.

"Aw, darn!," Spearow sighed. "Hey, maybe if I go to the Battling Arena again..."

"No. You need a rest," Dratini said.

**************************************

Now it was 7:00 P.M. "Hey! Look at that Growlithe! It’s sure in a hurry!" Bellsprout exclaimed, pointed at the entrance stairs. Sure enough, a Growlithe was stumbling down the stairs looking terrified. It landed at the bottom of them stairs panting, then went rushing to the intercom. "Oh no. This isn’t good. I’ve seen Pokémon bounding down here and rushing to the intercom, it usually means something horrible is happening," a Diglett next to them whispered. Soon the desperate, panicked voice could be heard all over.

"This is an emergency announcement! Down by Lavender Town, there is a building where the scene is nothing but total chaos! Trainers, members of Team Rocket, objects and Pokéballs flying everywhere, and Pokémon in the midst of it all who are waisting their time screaming and running from Team Rocket! Please, we need all the help there we can! I need strong volunteers to come with me and fight off Team Rocket! Beware, some people there have Master Balls!" the Growlithe said hurriedly. The Pokémon couldn’t believe their ears! There were many gasps and surprised faces. Some Pokémon screamed and shivered, while others were ready for battle. As Pidgey looked around he could see Pokémon of all types swarming up the stairs. Leading the way was Growlithe, and you could bet that Mew wasn’t going to be far behind.

"I have to help! This is the worst we’ve gotten from Team Rocket yet!" Mew said to her friends. "Wait, I’ll come!" said the brave Bellsprout. Everyone stared down in surprise. When Bellsprout saw this, it said, ""o you think I'’ weak! You think I'm’crazy to run over there and let myself get pulverized? Well I'm’NOT gonna chicken out, and I'm’NOT gonna lose! Why? Because I am no ordinary Bellsprout, that’s why!" It said. For a moment, Dratini, Mew, and Spearow didn’t know what to say. Then Pidgey broke the silence. "We’re all in this together, right! We’ll all go, and work as a team to outsmart Team Rocket! What do you say? Are you with me?"

Dratini, Bellsprout, and Mew agreed. "Okay, okay. I’ll help, but enough of this speech-like stuff," Spearow said impatiently. So all five of them followed the long line of Pokémon to the house in Lavander Town. When they were back on the surface again, it was raining and the sky was dark and cloudy. Most Pokémon groaned, but Bellsprout was rather happy and sucked up all the rain that it touched. "Hey, why don’t you evolve?" Spearow asked suddenly. Bellsprout looked surprised. No one had ever asked it that before. "Well, I don’t really want to evolve. What about the rest of you, except for Mew who won’t evolve anyway? You have the chance to evolve!"

"I’m still think about it. Pidgey says he probably won’t," Spearow said. "I may evolve, but I find such sudden physical changes overwhelming and hard to get used to. But I may change my mind," the Dratini said. "How long is the walk?" asked Pidgey who was in a surprising normal mood for a bird that was soaking with rain and had heard of the Team Rocket crisis.

They walked, or rather ran, a long way through rain, puddles, and mud. Finally Growlithe came to a stop, and they were at a five story building. It was almost 8:00 now and the sky was getting quite dark. Lots of shouting and screaming was coming from the building from both Humans and Pokémon. "Alright, we’re going in," an Articuno said. It kicked the door open, and the scene they saw was chaos!

Team Rocket members chasing Pokémon, ordering their Pokémon to attack others, throwing PokéBalls. People trying to protect their Pokémon, screaming, throwing things, trying to beat up Team Rocket. Pokémon looking confused, being beaten, captured, scared, tortured, and trying to fight back. "Don’t stand here looking! ATTACK!" a Mewtwo ordered. In a moment everyone went crashing through the door and some Pokémon almost got trampled in the rush. Growlithe yipped and jumped out of the way. Mew looked at Dratini, Bellsprout, Spearow, and Pidgey. Pidgey nodded. They walked in too.