Pokémon: Midnight Blue

Dratini

Fuchsia City is the home of the Safari Zone, a place where trainers can wander around in search of rare, wild Pokémon to catch. Seeing as I felt I needed more Pokémon on my team, I decided to pay the zone a visit.

I walked around the grasslands for what seemed like hours on end. I did not find anything that would prove useful to my team. Eventually, I came across a pond in one of the areas. I figured I did not have anything to lose, so I pulled out a rod that was given to me by a fisherman out on Route 12 and began to fish. Before long, I felt a tug on the wire and reeled the catch in. To my surprise, it was a Dratini.

The Dragon Pokémon sat there staring at me. It seemed to terrified to even move. I was extremely excited to encounter a rare Pokémon and I jumped up to try and catch it. Dratini apparently did not agree with me because at the sight of me rising up and reaching for my belt, it jumped up and dove back into the water.

I was startled by the fleeing Dratini, but as it crossed the surface, I ran after it, diving into the pond. I would be damned if I let this catch get away from me so easily. I swam vigorously after the small, serpent-like Pokémon and grabbed at its tail. Dratini cringed as I held a tight grip on it and then began straining.

Suddenly, I felt several electric currents jolt through my body. I was confused at first, but then it hit me. Dratini had used Thunder Wave. I quickly reached for a Pokéball from my belt, but it was too late. I could feel my arms going numb. Then my trunk, then my legs, and finally my head.

I was treading water now, and I could not make a move. I could feel my heart trying to rip out of my chest every time I tried to gasp for a breath. I watched in horror as Dratini slipped away effortlessly into the crystal-blue waters, which slowly faded to black.

I felt a loud slam on my gut that had me coughing and hacking and gasping for air. As I sat up, I felt something come up my throat as I coughed. I leaned to the side and spat up all the water that had gotten into my lungs. I looked over to see Gyarados towering over me.

Gyarados, I thought, I grabbed his Pokéball when I felt Dratini attack me. Was it able to break out of its Pokéball to save me? Then, as if to answer my question, Gyarados coiled itself around me and rested its head on its body.

"Thanks, buddy," I patted my Atrocious Pokémon gently, "That's twice you've saved my skin. It's too bad we couldn't catch that Dratini, though."

Gyarados picked its head up at this comment, then it uncoiled itself and reached to its side to pick up my Pokéball belt, which I had not realized I had been missing. It slid my belt down to its tail and handed it to me, looking at me intently, suggesting there was something different about the belt.

I looked closely, and I soon realized that there was a Pokéball in the fifth slot of the belt, meaning I had a fifth Pokémon on my team. I pulled the Ball from my belt and opened it. The look on my face went from curiosity to astonishment when I saw Dratini pop out of the Pokéball. Dratini shuddered, as if it was just getting over the shock of having been imprisoned in the Pokéball. It looked over at Gyarados and quickly coiled itself up, as if to hide from my loyal partner. My astonishment quickly turned into extreme complacency as a million questions that remain unanswered began swirling around in my head.

I had not the slightest clue how Gyarados did it, but it managed to catch Dratini for me.