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The Clefairy Caper
By: Des O
****
"Chansey, doubleslap it!"
"Chan! Sey!" it cried as it smacked the Caterpie. It fell, and
did not get back up.
"Caterpie, return!" A small girl recalled the Caterpie and turned
to face Taran. "I don't like you now!" she yelled. She ran away through
the surrounding bushes.
"Squir-tle?" (What's her problem?) Squirtle had been watching
the battle from the sidelines.
"I have no idea, Squirtle. Good job, Chansey, let's go." Taran
led them both down a trail that was shown on the map. They had been trying
to follow it for a couple hours now, and had been challenged more than
a few times. All her Pokemon needed some rest in a Pokemon Center. Potions
couldn't cure everything...
"Squirt squirtle!" (What's that!)
A small round Pokemon with large purple eyes approached them
both. "Jigglypuff!" it said.
"Marina, what's a Jigglypuff?" She whipped out her Pokedex and
pointed it at the oncoming Pokemon.
{{Jigglypuff, a balloon Pokemon. When its huge eyes light up,
it sings a mysteriously soothing melody that lulls its enemies to sleep.}}
"Let's catch it, Squirtle! But watch out for its singing."
"Squirt!" (Okay!)
"Tackle it!" Squirtle did so, but Jigglypuff jumped right back
up. A soothing melody came from the Pokemon. It made Taran sleepy, but
she was able to shake off the effects. "Squirtle, give it a tail w-- huh?"
Squirtle had fallen asleep, and was snoring softly. Taran tried
yelling, but that didn't wake him. Jigglypuff pounded Squirtle, and he
still didn't get up.
"Alright, you try, Chansey. Pound it!" Chansey almost flattened
the Jigglypuff. It rebounded by singing again, but Chansey covered its
ears.
"Good job! Pound it again!" It pounded the Jigglypuff again,
and it stayed down this time.
"Okay! Pokeball, go!" Taran threw a Pokeball at the Jigglypuff,
and it was sucked into the ball. It wobbled once... twice...
And then popped back open! The ball was now useless. It lay in
two pieces on the grass beside the Jigglypuff.
"Aw, man! I'll have to try again. Chansey, why don't you try
singing at it."
Chansey copied the Jigglypuff's song, note for note, and it fell
asleep, just as Squirtle had! Taran saw her chance, so to speak, and threw
another Pokeball. This time, she captured Jigglypuff successfully.
Taran retrieved the broken Pokeball, which she placed in her
pack. She'd try to fix it later. As she picked up Jigglypuff's Pokeball,
it vanished in front of her eyes, as Rattata's ball had the other day.
She sighed, retrieved Chansey, and went to wake Squirtle up.
He, to her surprise, was already awake. He stood and walked to
where she was standing. "Squirt-squirtle?" (You got Jigglypuff?)
"Yeah. It sang you to sleep out there. Now, let's get out of
here." They again set out.
****
Night fell as they neared the end of the trail. The lights from
a Pokemon Center could be seen easily in the early dusk. There had been
many trainers fought that day, and all of Taran's Pokemon were exhausted.
"Whew, Squirtle, we made good time today!" Taran commented.
"Squirtle, squirtle squirt." (Yeah, but I'm beat.)
"I can agree with that one." She laughed. "Hey... is that a cave?
Wonder where it leads..." She stopped and pointed for Squirtle.
He looked in the direction she pointed. A large cave was barely
to be seen to the right of the Pokemon Center. Half-hidden by trees and
bushes, it led into a mountain.
He shrugged. "Squirtle squirtle." (I dunno.) He led her away
from the cave and to the Pokemon Center.
****
A nurse met them at the desk, and Taran had to do a double-take.
She looked exactly like Nurse Joi from Pewter City!
"Hello, Taran. I'll heal your Pokemon for you." The nurse held
out a tray for her to place her Pokeballs onto it.
"Uhh... sure, Nurse... ah..."
"Joi. I'm Joi." She smiled.
"Are you related to the nurse in Pewter City, by any chance?"
"Of course!" She laughed. "The family resemblance give it away?"
"Yeah..." Taran grinned. She set her Pokeballs on the tray, and
Squirtle in the middle of it. "He doesn't like it inside the Pokeballs."
"I know. Joi told me all about you and Squirtle." She turned
to take the Pokemon into another room. "This will only take a few minutes,"
she called over her shoulder.
Taran knew the drill. She waited on a nearby couch until Joi
came back with her Pokemon. As she waited, she looked around the Center.
It was quaint, with rustic paintings and checkered patterns on some of
the furniture.
Another trainer was there for the night, but she didn't recognize
him. He lay on a different couch. She sighed and ate a cookie while she
waited.
The tell-tale chimes rang, and the nurse exited the little room
she had gone into.
Squirtle was busy eating a handful of berries and following Joi
as she came back with the tray.
"Squirtle squirt. Mmmm..." (These are good. Mmmm...) He trailed
off into another berry.
Joi set the tray onto the desk, and Taran took back the Pokeballs.
"How's Joi's old Chansey doing?" Joi asked.
"You know about Chansey?" Taran asked, startled.
"Of course! It's not every day that an assistant chooses to follow
one of the trainers it comes across."
"Chansey is doing just fine. I've seen that it has skills for
fighting as well as for healing."
"That's great. You must be tired. Why don't you rest in one of
the chairs for the night." Joi pointed at one of the big, fluffy chairs
over in a corner. "It should be big enough for both you and Squirtle together."
"Thank you, Joi." Taran headed for the big chair. She was tired,
and they had a ways to go tomorrow. She wanted to check out that cave.
She and Squirtle climbed into the big chair and slept soundly.
****
"Steve!" Sara hissed. "Get over here!"
Steve joined Sara behind a large bush. They were hiding from
any prying eyes that might be around to watch them execute their latest
plan.
Well, it was more like Steve was hiding from any prying eyes.
"Sara, why do I have to be the one in this stupid costume?" Steve
whined. He fidgeted inside of the heavy outfit.
Sara smacked Steve upside the... mask. "Stop sniveling. This
is a sure-fire plan to get all the Clefairy from Mt. Moon and give them
to the Boss. When we present them to him, we'll be greatly rewarded!"
They both stopped to think about what they would do with the
money they would get.
Makeovers... parties... jewelry... clothing... Sara thought.
Feasts... girls... more girls... Steve smiled goofily at the
thought.
They worked even harder on their plan so that it would be ready
in the morning.
****
Taran and Squirtle awoke to Nurse Joi shaking them hurriedly.
"Wake up!" she said.
"Huh... wha?"
"Squirtle?" (What the?)
"Something's wrong! Someone's stealing all the Clefairy from
the cave at Mt. Moon!" she said anxiously. She moved on to the other trainer,
and woke him up as well.
Taran rubbed her eyes and stretched. "How do you know?" she asked.
"One of them got away, see?" Joi pointed to a small pink Pokemon
that stood beside her. It could be considered cute, but not this early
in the morning.
"Clefairy! Clefairy, clef airy!" it whined. (Hurry! Please, help
me!)
"You have to try and stop them!" Joi was honestly worried about
all the Pokemon being stolen from their rightful habitat.
"We'll try, Joi. Come on, we've got to work together to help
the Clefairy!" The boy who was previously on the couch stood and addressed
her. He looked like he had just reached ten, with green eyes and brown
hair. He wore the standard white t-shirt and blue jeans.
His face changed, however, as he reached to his own belt.
"Hey, are my Pokemon ready, Joi?" he asked.
"Of course, Rick. I'll get them so you two can help the Clefairy
right away!" Taran and Squirtle fully awake, Joi left the room to retrieve
Rick's Pokeballs. She was back in a flash, gave him his Pokeballs, and
shooed them both out of the building, along with the Clefairy.
****
When they were outside, Rick pulled out a Pokeball and pointed
it at the ground. "Abra, appear!"
A yellow, almost rat-looking Pokemon came out of the ball.
"Abra?" Taran asked. She whipped out her Pokedex and trained
it on the Pokemon.
{{Abra. A Psychic Pokemon. Using its ability to read minds, it
will identify impending danger and Teleport to safety.}}
"Squirtle. Squirtle squirt?" (You're psychic. Can you read minds?)
Squirtle asked.
::Yes, I can read your minds.::
The answer appeared in everyone's head at the same time. Taran
blinked. Rick nodded.
"Clefairy clef, clefairy!" (Enough of that, follow me!) The free
clefairy grew impatient, and ran on ahead. They all ran and followed the
Pokemon into the cave beside the Center.
"Well, I wanted to check this place out, and I guess I'm gonna
get to," Taran muttered under her breath as they went.
****
As they followed Clefairy, Rick and Taran talked. Taran told him
her story, and she asked about his.
"So... where ya from?" she asked him.
"I'm from Viridian. Just got a Boulderbadge from that Jared guy,
and I'm heading to Cerulean. Good thing that's where this cave leads..."
"It does? Great! I was heading to Cerulean as well. I want a
Cascadebadge from the Gym there."
Squirtle let out a yawn. "Squirtle squirtle squirt?" (Is this
going to be a recurring event?) He was still tired.
"I hope not, Squirtle. I need my sleep in order not to be cranky,"
Taran said, in the midst of a large yawn. she shook her head and stretched
her arms.
Abra got in front of her and motioned for her to pick it up.
She did, and Rick shrugged at Taran. It looked directly into her face.
"What'cha need, Abra?" She started walking again, but Abra's
eyes seemed so... so...
::You would be formidable when cranky. I would like for you
to get lots of sleep.:: Its eyes became quite magnetizing to Taran. Her
eyelids drooped... She stopped in her tracks.
"That's enough of that." Rick grabbed Abra and set it down. "Please
stop using hypnosis without people's consent, Abra. They might not like
it!" He looked back at Taran, who was still standing, but sleeping as well.
"Oh... great," he mumbled. "Squirtle, can you wake her?"
"Squirt." (Yup.) He took aim, and let loose with a water-gun
on Taran. She jumped, and became aware; especially of the fact that she
was soaked and cold in a dimly lit cave. She looked around in confusion.
"Aww... What the? What happened?" she whined in disgust.
The Clefairy had stopped so it would not lose the trainers' group.
"Clefairy, clef clef clefairy!" (Hurry up, you gotta help my friends!)
It began to hop agitatedly.
"Squirtle!" She wrung out her shirt onto the ground, and shook
her hair so most of the water was out. "Now I need to change clothes...
Stay away, all of you, and I mean it!" Taran hid behind a large rock and
changed quickly. Still shoving her wet clothes into her backpack, she rejoined
the group.
The Clefairy led them onward towards a brighter section of the
cave.
"Clefairy!" (Here!) It stopped at the entrance to a large open
area in the cave. Rick, Taran, Abra, and Squirtle immediately explored
it for themselves.
The roof had long since fallen in the area, and the sun shone
down on them all. It looked empty, at first, but Clefairy pointed their
attention to two large bundles and two small figures standing on the other
side of the cave. One looked human, but the other was... pink? And had
a tail?
Indistinct cries could be heard from the bundles. Small pink
forms blundered around inside them.
"Clefairy, clef! Clef clefairy!" (There, help them! In the bundles!)
The pink figure turned. It was... a giant Clefairy? It spotted
the free Clefairy, and turned to gesture at it. The other figure turned,
and gestured at the giant Clefairy.
"Clef clefairy, clefairy," the free Clefairy said ruefully. (Cheap
costume, but it worked.) It looked over at Taran and Squirtle, who had
hidden behind a rock to avoid being spotted, and then Rick and Abra, who
had hidden behind another rock.
The giant Clefairy ripped off its head to reveal... Steve? The
other person must be Sara! Their conversation became more audible as Steve
removed the rest of the suit and tossed it aside..
"So, we missed one!" Sara snarled. "Well, no matter. We've got
enough Clefairy to please the boss!" She cackled in glee.
"Right, Sara. The Boss will be so happy with us, he might give
us our own country when Team Rocket rules the world!" Steve started to
drool at the thought, and Sara smacked him.
"Stop drooling. We have Pokemon to deliver!" she snapped. "Let's
go!" They each grabbed a net full of Clefairy and began to leave the cave.
"NO! Leave them alone!" Rick yelled. He ran out to stop Sara
and Steve from taking the Clefairy. Abra, Taran, and Squirtle were hot
at his heels.
They both stopped. "Huh? Oh, it's you," Sara said as she spied
Taran.
Steve glared at her. "And you brought friends."
Rick turned to Taran. "You know these creeps? Who are they?"
Before she could answer, Sara and Steve began their introduction.
Taran and Squirtle both rolled their eyes.
"To protect the world from devastation," Sara said.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," Steve continued.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Sara." She dropped her load of Pokemon and bowed extravagantly.
"Steve." He bowed as well.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Rick had never seen Team Rocket before, and already didn't like
them. Neither did Abra, which Steve noticed off the bat.
"Ooh... an Abra! Give it to us, little boy!" Steve demanded.
"I've always wanted a Psychic Pokemon like that!"
"Uh... Taran? What do I do?" Rick whispered, for all the world
looking like a deer caught in the headlights. He snatched Abra up and held
it in his arms protectively.
She stepped between him and Team Rocket. "You ain't gonna get
his Pokemon, or those Clefairy. Let them go!"
"No, they're ours! We did catch them, and it's perfectly legal!"
Sara protested slyly. "Besides, you didn't honestly think that we'd just
give up without a fight, did you?" Team Rocket laughed together.
"Then let's fight," Taran said, and was pleasantly surprised
to hear Rick say the exact same thing along with her. He nodded at her
and took a battle stance.
"Koffing, go!" Sara cried.
Steve followed suit. "Ekans, go!" Their Pokemon appeared in front
of them.
"Squirtle, get out there! Kakuna, you too!" Taran yelled. Her
Pokemon appeared, joining Squirtle and the free Clefairy, ready to fight.
"Abra, go on." He shooed it in the correct direction, and it
sat down on the ground. "Drowzee, go!" Rick yelled. A yellow, snouted Pokemon
came out of Rick's Pokeball, and joined Abra on the floor of the cave.
Taran took this time to ponder the fact that Abra did look a
lot like a rat... Even had the tail!
::I can read your mind, you know...:: it said directly to Taran's
mind. ::I am not a rat.::
She blushed, and Rick began to laugh. His Pokemon must have told
him what she thought.
Team Rocket seemed assured of an easy win. "Koffing, smoke-screen!"
"Ekans, bite!"
Ekans went for Abra, and Squirtle was confused by Koffing, who
was circling him and spewing smoke. Abra teleported out of harm's way.
"Drowzee, confusion!" Rick yelled. It grabbed Ekans mentally,
and slammed it into a nearby rock a few times. Ekans began to chase its
tail, confusedly.
"Squirtle, try and water-gun Ekans! Kakuna, harden!" Taran cried.
Ekans was hit head-on with a blast of water from Squirtle, and went down.
It got back up, though, and shook off its confusion.
"Abra! Thunder wave!" Rick yelled. His Abra sent a blast of electricity
toward Koffing, who was still spewing gas. It fell to the ground, paralyzed.
It got up shakily, however, and was still willing to fight.
"Thunder wave?" Taran asked. "I thought that was an Electric
attack."
"Yeah," Rick said. "I found a TM just lying on the ground, picked
it up, and used it to teach the attack to Abra."
"Ekans, wrap that Drowzee!" It lunged at Drowzee, and wrapped
it successfully. Rick cried out as his Drowzee's energy was sapped.
"Koffing, tackle the Abra!" Sara commanded. The knobby ball flew
toward Rick's Abra.
"Squirtle, tail whip Koffing!" Squirtle whipped his tail around
and knocked Koffing back in the direction it came. It landed on Steve,
knocking him flat on his back.
"Oof! Ooh... tackle the Pokemon, not me!" He stood, angrily,
and kicked it away.
"Don't kick my Koffing!" Sara yelled. She kicked Steve, right
in the groin. He fell, moaning.
"It's okay, Koffing. He won't hurt you again," Sara cooed to
the ball of poison gas.
It was all pretty funny to see. Taran and Rick laughed. Kakuna
saw too, and his eyes started to shine, as if it were laughing inside.
"Hey! Ekans, bite that Kakuna!" Steve cried in a high-pitched
voice. He had forgotten about it in his agony. Ekans lunged for Kakuna,
and it was unable to dodge. Ekans started to clamp down onto it.
"Kakuna, harden!" Taran shouted. It shimmered, and its shell
grew stronger just as Ekans clamped down hard.
It clamped down so hard...
Ekans' teeth snapped!
That, combined with the free Clefairy's pound to its head, sent
it slithering back to Steve, whining. He soothed it, and then Team Rocket
retrieved their Pokemon.
Taran, Rick, their Pokemon, and the free Clefairy approached
Team Rocket all at once. "Release the Clefairy you stole," Taran and Rick
demanded.
"No," Team Rocket said simultaneously. They each raised a bazooka
and leveled them at the trainers. They fired a few times, and multiple
nets entrapped everyone.
How to get out... The Pokemon and humans struggled frantically.
Team Rocket laughed and turned to leave with the captured Clefairy.
Taran got an idea. "Pikachu, I choose you!" The electric mouse
appeared from its Pokeball. "Thundershock the nets on my command." Taran
said. Her eyes flashed. "And... now!"
"Kachuuu!" it yelled. Their combined attacks succeeded in toasting
all the nets... as well as everyone else inside them.
"Sorry, guys... We didn't mean to..." she apologized as her friend
lay twitching. All their Pokemon, except for Pikachu, were twitching as
well.
"Chuu..." it said apologetically.
She shook her head, and turned back to the task at hand. "Now,
Pikachu, thundershock Team Rocket!"
Sara and Steve tried to make a run for it, dropping their bundles
of pink Pokemon in the process, but they failed. Taran pointed her hands
at Sara and Steve, and released a thunderbolt, just as Pikachu released
its own thundershock. Both electric discharges hit Team Rocket at the same
time, and they were thrown into the air and out of the cave.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Steve and Sara
yelled together.
****
They released all the Clefairy from the nets, and every one of
them scampered off into the cave. That is, except for the free Clefairy.
Taran turned to it.
"Thank you for your help today. You weren't half bad!" She petted
it. "Would you like to come with me an' Squirtle, Clefairy?"
"Clefairy? Clef, airy, clefairy clef clef-airy!" (Huh? Yeah,
well, you've gotta catch me first!) It ran a short distance away from Taran,
and faced her.
Squirtle translated, and Taran nodded. "You're on. Squirtle,
tackle it!"
Rick and Abra stood back to watch.
Clefairy dodged, and began to sing, as Jigglypuff had before.
"Squirtle, cover your ears!" He did, and was unaffected by Clefairy's singing.
"Now, water gun!" He sent a gush of water at Clefairy, and it was unable
to dodge. It was floored, but it got back up and shook the water from its
ears.
"Tail whip!" Squirtle connected with Clefairy, and it flinched.
"Tackle!" Squirtle jumped at Cl;efairy, hit it,
"Stand clear, Squirtle. Pokeball, go!" She threw the ball, and
its red beam absorbed Clefairy. The ball fell to the cave floor. It wobbled
once... twice... thrice...
And stopped. The button turned white, and Clefairy was Taran's.
"Yes!" she cried as Squirtle retrieved the ball. But he had not
gotten halfway to Taran before the Pokeball disappeared.
"Oh, yeah," she said to herself. "Forgot about that." She turned
to Squirtle. "Good job!" she said as she hugged him. Taran then turned
to the rest of her group. "Y'all did wonderful today!" she said. She gave
each a Twinkie.
Why do they all like Twinkies so much? she asked herself as each
one of them gobbled theirs. Even Abra and Drowzee seemed to like them a
lot.
Rick congratulated her on her new Pokemon, and it was time to
part ways...
"You were pretty good today. I've never actually seen a trainer
exhibit Pokemon characteristics, though!" Both he laughed, and Abra kinda
chuckled. "We made a neat team together: me, Abra, Drowzee, you, Kakuna,
and Squirtle..."
"Yeah..." she shrugged.
"You know," he began thoughtfully, I suppose we could team up...
Journey together..."
Abra's eyes lit up, and it nodded. Rick laughed. "Well?"
"Whaddaya think, Squirtle?" Taran asked her Pokemon.
"Squirtle squirt squirtle-squirtle... Squirtle, squirt squirt
squirtle squirtle, squirt-squirt squirt.." (He would help keep Team Rocket
off our backs... Besides, you need human friends as well as Pokemon, so
let's team up.)
"Okay then, it's official! We are now a team, Rick." They shook
on it, and Abra and Squirtle shook paws as well. Each trainer brought out
the rest of their Pokemon to meet the other's.
Rick brought out an Alakazam, a Butterfree, and a Staryu to go
with his Abra and Drowzee. Taran brought out her Pidgey, Chansey, and Caterpie
to join Pikachu, Squirtle, and Kakuna.
"Where'd you get the Alakazam?" Taran asked, awed. He must have
several badges to be able to control it!
"Actually, it was my dad's. He gave it to me when I first started
out. It won't listen to me, though. I gotta get a few more badges to be
able to control it. Alakazam ignores me because I'm not experienced enough
for its level." The Alakazam looked around in disdain. It did not like
the cave at all. Rick recalled it, and the rest of his Pokemon, except
Abra. Taran left hers out to enjoy the shadows of the cave while they could.
They rested in the shade of the cave's exit. It was pretty warm
outside.
"Kakuna... kakuna-ka?" (Taran... what's happening?)
Taran looked back at her Pokemon. "Kakuna?" She stood. Rick did
also.
It was quivering... a large slash opened in the back of its shell!
A strong glow emanated from the cocoon as a shriveled bug-looking creature
escaped it. The evolved Pokemon stood on its back two legs as its wings
dried, and it had two enormous stingers on its forelegs.
"Squirtle?" (Kakuna?)
"Beedrill!" the new Pokemon said.
"Wow! Beedrill!" Taran hugged it carefully, to avoid the stingers.
"This is so great!" She brought out Chansey, Pidgey, and Caterpie. "Meet
Beedrill!"
"Congrats, Beedrill!" Rick said. Abra nodded at it in acknowledgement.
They all welcomed it to the group. Rick ended up hugging it as
well. Then Taran put everyone back into their respective Pokeballs and
looked at her map.
"Hmmm... this says that Cerulean City is a few days' walk from
here yet. We'd better get started, you guys."
"Right! Let's go!" Rick said happily. Together, Taran, Rick,
Squirtle, and Abra began their journey to Cerulean.
****
This story is © Des O 1998. Taran is MY character and may not be used without express written permission from the author (me).
{{ Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, etc. are all the property of Nintendo,
Creatures, and Game Freak. I'm just... ah... borrowing them for the time
being.}}