Journeys Of A Pokémon Trainer

Episode 64: Slowpoke Well!

"So should we head to the Pokemon Center first?" Ashton asked. "Yeah. We need our Pokemon at the top of their game if we want to challenge the gym leader here," Justin said. "Yeah, plus the Pokemon Center is closer," Okotsu said.

"Right then let's go. Hey Blastoise how's the egg?" Ashton asked. Blastoise showed Ashton the egg. "Blast!" Blastoise said happily.

"Right. Let's get going then," Ashton said. The trainers and Blastoise started walking down the street towards the Pokemon Center. "So what do you think the Gym Leader is like?" Ashton asked his friends. "Probably a nice person," Justin said. They continued walking until they eventually reached the Pokemon Center.

They walked inside and walked to the front desk. "Hello. Could you heal our Pokemon?" Justin asked. "Of course. Hand me your PokeBalls and we'll begin their treatment," The nurse said. Ashton, Justin, and Okotsu handed their Johto PokeBalls to the nurse and she put them in the machine. "Oh yeah, could you check on my egg and see how it's doing?" Ashton asked.

"Of course. Let me see the egg," The nurse said. Blastoise handed her the egg and the nurse began to examine the egg. "Hm. The egg is doing well. It's getting ready to hatch soon in fact. You must be taking extremely good care of it," The nurse said, handing the egg back to Ashton. "Of course! That's because I have my friend Okotsu here teaching me on how to take care of the egg!" Ashton said, putting his arm around Okotsu.

"Yeah. Taking care of it is easy when you have great experience taking care of eggs," Okotsu said. Ashton handed the egg back to Blastoise.

After a couple seconds of waiting, the nurse took the PokeBalls out of the machine and handed them to the trainers. "Here's your PokeBalls. Have a nice day," The nurse said with a smile. "Thank you!" The boys said as they all walked out of the Pokemon Center.

When they stepped out, they saw a familiar white haired boy walking towards them. "Well well well. If it isn't the little loser himself, Ash!" Eric said. "Eric?! You're in the Johto Region?!" Ashton exclaimed.

"Why of course. Since I got unlucky and lost the Kanto League Tournament, I decided to come here and make my Pokemon stronger. I should've known that you would be here. Whatever, you can do whatever you want, but you'll never get stronger than me. You'll continue to grovel in the dirt while I'm flying high." Eric said  as he walked past the boys, shoving Ashton to side, and into the Pokemon Center.

"Still as annoying as ever," Ashton said. "Agreed. What's his problem with you anyway?" Okotsu asked. "That's a long story. Anyway, let's go guys! The Gym is close by!" Ashton exclaimed. Ashton, Justin, Okotsu, and Blastoise walked down the street and eventually arrived at the gym. Justin and Okotsu walked in and Ashton and Blastoise were about to walk in when they saw a shocking site.

A team Rocket grunts had grabbed a Slowpoke walking around and starting running away. "Hey! Blastoise let's go!" Ashton shouted. Blastoise nodded and Ashton and Blastoise started chasing after him. They got out of the city and reached a well. The grunt pulled a ladder up out of the well and climbed inside.

"Blastoise, you stay here and protect the egg!" Ashton said. He climbed down the ladder and jumped down once he was at the bottom.

The ladder has led to a cave. " Where is that grunt taking the Slowpoke?" Ashton asked. He walked down the cave and saw a shocking site. A grunt was holding a butcher knife and was about to slice the Slowpokes tail off. "Hey stop!" Ashton yelled. The grunt jumped in surprise and looked at Ashton. "What the?! How did you get here? This place is top secret!" The grunt shouted.

"I followed you here! Why are you trying to chop that Slowbro's tail off?!" Ashton yelled. "For Money! Slowpoke sells for a lot! If you want to stop us, then you'll have to stop my boss!" The grunt yelled. "You mean Giovanni? I already beat him," Ashton said. "What? You must be Ashton then," The grunt said.

"Yeah thats me! I guess I'm really popular among Team Rocket," Ashton said. "Something like that. My boss actually wanted to meet you here," The grunt said. "Giovanni? He's here?" Ashton asked. The grunt shook his head.

"He's referring to me," Ashton heard someone say. Damien walked out of the shadows next to the grunt. "Damien! Why are you here?!" Ashton exclaimed as he grabbed a PokeBall. "Relax. I'm not here to battle you. I'm here to give you a warning," Damien said.

"A warning? About what?" Ashton asked. "About our plans. Team Rocket has big plans for Johto and we wont let you ruin them. If you continue to get in our way, we'll be forced to use drastic measures," Damien said. Ashton gulped at this.

"That's all for now. Let's go Shawn. Theres no point in the Slowpoke operation anymore. We've been caught," Damien said. The grunt nodded and the two Team Rocket members walked out of the cave. Ashton walked back to the ladder and climbed back up it.

He got out of the well and saw Blastoise waiting for him. "Alright Blastoise I managed to stop them! Let's go!" Ashton said. "Blast!" Blastoise said. Ashton and Blastoise walked back to Azalea Town and back to the gym. They got to the gym and walked inside, ready for Ashton's match.

End of Episode
Next Episode: Bugsy, the Walking Bug Encyclopedia!

Word count: 946 words