Chapter 29: The Snorlax Stop (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus We woke up the next day, all refreshed and ready to... Oh that’s right, the Snorlax would still be there, and we’d need all our energy to figure out and accomplish getting it out of the way. The ten hour sleep was enough for us, couldn’t it be for the Snorlax? “Excuse me.” said the Nurse Joy of this place, “But I overheard you last night about that Snorlax that’s blocking the path.” “That’s right.” I replied. “I tried to say something but you were headed to bed and I didn’t want to bother you, lots of people have had to turn back because of it, deliveries have been delayed and we can’t get our supplies that are usually delivered from Terracotta City.” “Well we tried everything we could think of but we can’t move it nor catch it.” I explained. “It is possible to capture one but only when they’re not in deep sleep.” said Joy. “We tried to wake it up to do that.” explained Abby. “Only one thing can force a Snorlax to wake up, and that’s a Pokéflute.” explained Joy. “But we don’t have one.” I said a little annoyed. “I heard that an old hippy owns one, he owns a hoard of Snorlax down south.” said Joy. “Nurse Joy, don’t take this the wrong way but my being stuck here is because I can’t afford to waste time by going backwards or taking detours.” I explained politely. “Well perhaps the Snorlax belongs to someone. Why don’t you look around the area? Old men with Pokéflutes usually play them to earn a living, so if you hear one, there’s probably a hippy nearby.” pleaded Joy, she needed the Snorlax moved as much as we did. “Thanks Nurse Joy, we’ll make sure that Snorlax is moved.” I said confidently. “You sure you’re up to the task?” asked Abby. “I always keep my promises.” I replied, “I once promised that I’d find your lost Pokémon and though it took a while, I made good on that promise.” Abby nodded and briefly smiled, we left the Pokémon Centre in search of one of the hippies... We spent the morning in search of the music, making sure not to stray too far from the area. “Like a needle in a haystack.” commented Abby, I didn’t answer her, I was too busy listening out for music. Eventually, we heard something, it was almost too good to be true. A soothing melody that seemed to refresh our tired bodies. “Are you sure its the genuine article? Nurse Joy said that hippies play to earn a living, so why did this melody start so suddenly?” asked Abby suspicious. “They’ve got to take a break sometime.” I answered. “What if its a trap, anyone could have overheard our conversation and set this up.” accused Abby. “I’ve an idea.” I said, and I released Inferno from his Pokéball, he yawned and lay down but as the music continued to play, he rose up, curious of the music, he rubbed his eyes and seemed totally awakened. “That’s never happened before, unless someone pushes him, Inferno always goes to sleep whenever he wants. Its the real deal Abby.” I smiled. We chased after the melody and ended up in a small forest, the music seemed so close yet we couldn’t find the source, if only this place were closer to the Snorlax, then it’d have woke up by now. “Just where is it?” I asked. “Don’t be so anxious, stay alert.” advised Abby. “Okay, the music fades when we go in this direction and also in that direction.” I muttered to myself, “Then the source should be in the centre and- Whoa!” I yelled as Abby and I plummeted down a hole in the road, it was concealed so we didn’t see it. The music disappeared as soon as we fell in and Abby gave me an ‘I told you so.’ look. “Hey sis, I think we caught something.” said a male voice. “Really?...” asked a female. “Yeah... Ah, its just a couple of kids and... You!” shouted Larry. “Him again?” asked Lorraine. “Yeah but he and that little girl are helpless.” grinned Larry. “Don’t call me a little girl you baby.” threatened Abby calmly, she had an issue about being called that, even though she literally was one, I saw how mature she was and treated her like a lady, a trait I think she respected me for. “Don’t call me a baby! I’m grown up!” complained Lorraine in a way that contradicted herself. “Lorraine, we gotta do the motto...” reminded Larry anxiously. “To protect the world from desperation.” “To unite the evil in every nation.” “To erase the factors of truth and love.” “To extend our reign to the planets above.” “Lorraine.” “Larry.” “Junior Rocket steals at the speed of light.” “Surrender now, cos we’ll win the fight.” “More fools from Team Rocket?” asked Abby. “Uh huh, they stole your Magikarp.” I explained. “And they might steal more than that, they used a Pokéflute to lure us into this trap.” frowned Abby. “What are you talking about?” questioned Lorraine, “We just dug a hole to catch some wild Pokémon and-” “Ssshhhh!” called Larry, “This is better than wild Pokémon, and if they think we’ve been getting smarter, then darn well let them!” “Oh right.” replied Lorraine. “Hand over your Pokémon and we’ll let you out.” threatened Larry. “Idiot.” commented Abby. “Yeah Larry, if we let them out, they’ll just snatch their Pokémon back!” shouted Lorraine. “Oh yeah... So what’s Plan B?” asked Larry. “Our mini Magnemite.” answered Lorraine. A robotic Magnemite hovered over the hole, it wasn’t an actual Magnemite, just a poorly constructed robot. Suddenly its magnets came to life and our Pokéballs started flying off our belts and stuck to the magnets. “No!” I shouted, “I refuse to be beaten by these kids!” “Don’t call us that!” shouted Larry. I made a desperate attempt to climb up but the wall was too slippery and I fell right back down. “I might be able to climb up if you help me.” suggested Abby. She stood on my shoulders and climbed up and threw her last remaining Pokéball. “KARP!!!” “What?” spluttered Larry before the fish slammed itself into his face. “That Magikarp looks familiar.” pondered Lorraine. “Of course, you once tried to steal it from me.” said Abby, calm, collected and menacingly. “You what?... Oh that pathetic Magikarp we made the mistake of stealing.” said Lorraine. “KARP!” Leviathan slammed into her. The Magnemite robot was flying away fast with all our Pokéballs. “Hah, you’ll never catch it up with a Magikarp, I’ve sent it on a course back to our base!” boasted Larry. Abby had a look of despair on her face. Suddenly a Pokéball dropped in front of the Magnemite and an Onix appeared and flicked it with its tail. It flew back towards the group, crashing down onto the floor. “What the-” spluttered Larry. “OOONNNNNN!!!” screamed the Onix, interrupting him. “Yipes! Run!!!” screamed Lorraine, and the two made tracks. The Onix lowered its tail down the hole for me to climb up. “Whose Onix is this?” I asked. A tall man jumped from a tree branch and into our sight: Scott. “There’s only so much watching a man can do.” he said simply. “Scott, I... Thanks.” I smiled. He gave a small confident smile in return. “Shard, Return.” The huge Onix was recalled into its ball. “Why couldn’t you listen to me?” questioned Abby, “I told you it was a trap.” “I’m afraid that was my fault.” apologised Scott calmly. “You what?” I questioned. He simply produced a strange device and the Pokéflute music started playing. “So it was you.” I said. “I was testing this out, but I noticed those kids and so I hid away to find out what they were up to. Sorry about the misunderstanding but at least I didn’t let them get away with your Pokémon.” explained Scott. “Well, everything’s okay now.” I smiled. “Testing for what?” questioned Abby. “Snorlax.” replied Scott. “The one at the path?” I asked. “Uh huh.” he agreed. “You’re going to capture it? It doesn’t belong to anyone?” I asked a little anxiously. “No, it’d have a notice if it was, its wild and I’m going to catch it.” said Scott. “That’s our mission too.” I added. “Well back off! I made the effort to go all the way down south to find a hippy friend of mine, I paid him to be able to record the song and then I came all the way back here. If you think you’re catching that Snorlax after all the trouble I’ve been through then-” “You want to catch it? Well that’s fine, we just want it out of our way.” I smiled, glad that I wasn’t out to catch it for myself. “Its the truth.” added Abby. “That’s good, I’d hate to have to ward you away.” muttered Scott. With that, he took off as always, but I couldn’t just leave it there, when it awoke, that Snorlax probably wouldn’t be happy, Scott might underestimate it. We returned to the Snorlax, and Scott had just finished playing the tape. We ran towards him and Abby stepped on a twig, the sound caused Scott to turn his attention to us, just as the Snorlax woke up. It roared and swung its arms wildly, just a mere touch sent Scott flying to the floor. “You fool! You distracted me! Shard! Go!” he shouted. “OOONNN!!!” yelled Shard and bound around the Snorlax. “I’m sorry.” apologised Abby. “No time! Release a Pokémon!” I yelled, “Shockwave! Digda! Go!” “Buzz!!!” “Dig g’ lett Dig!” I know two against one could be seen as unfair but Snorlax weren’t to be taken lightly, they were strong despite their appearance. “Armour, Nightmare.” Abby said calmly and dropped two Pokéballs. “RHY!!!” “Hypno...” “Join us Raichi!” shouted Scott. “RAI!!!” yelled the happy Raichu. “Scratch attack Digda! And Shockwave, Leer!” Shockwave stared down the wild Snorlax and Digda burrowed up close and rose up to scratch the Snorlax, he ignored the Electabuzz and the scratching didn’t do much damage and the Snorlax stomped on Digda, I hoped he dug away in time. “Armour, Take Down. Nightmare, Hypnosis.” “Abby?” I questioned. “I know what I’m doing, you might be able to catch a Snorlax if its dozing off for a little while, but not when it chooses to sleep.” she explained. The Snorlax wasn’t in the mood to sleep and flailed its arms wildly, Armour charged up and leaped into the Snorlax, he bounced off and the Snorlax nearly lost its balance. Shard was still entangled around the big oaf but it finally reached his tail and swung him off like some feeble rope. “Rai!” screamed Raichi, shocking the Snorlax, he swung his arm at the mouse and threw him into Scott who was prepared to catch him, the force was high and Scott fell back with his Raichu. “Perhaps you’re right, I may very well need your help.” he said after some difficulty. “Its a tough Snorlax, but it’ll be yours.” I said. “Uh huh, its a regular beast of burden.” commented Scott. I wasn’t too sure about Scott’s description, and got back to the battle. “Thunderpunch!” Shockwave punched into the Snorlax and got his arm stuck, the Snorlax was deliberately using its stomach as a shield, but it didn’t see the shock coming until it charged its whole body with electricity. It madly flailed again and knocked Shockwave away, it leapt into the air for a Body Slam and Shockwave barely rolled out of the way, it picked itself up and was about to bring its foot down on him like a really big sumo wrestler, but it then lost its balance. Digda raised the earth underneath the Snorlax and it fell to the floor, Digda emerged beside me. “Good work.” I commented. “Diglett!” “Armour, Stomp.” ordered Abby. It leaped up high and slammed its feet on the fallen Snorlax’s stomach, and sunk inside, he popped out soon enough, undamaged, but he appeared to hurt the Snorlax’s stomach at last. Abby then ordered her Hypno to head butt it as it rose up again, it rammed its stomach and the Snorlax surprisingly fell back a little. There was so much stomach hitting it could take before its belly’s defense was reduced to nothing. “Scott! Its vulnerable, finish it up!” I yelled. “Shard! Slam attack!” shouted Scott. “OOONNN!!!” it wailed and flung itself at the Snorlax who was starting to grow tired and exhausted. “Thunder Wave!” he ordered his Raichu. “Rai-Chaaaa!!!” squealed the mouse, swinging its tail at the Snorlax and sending it into an electrified spin. It collapsed on the floor surrounded by electrifying paralysis. “Go!” cheered Scott, throwing a Pokéball forward. It hit the Snorlax and dragged the big lug inside, the ball shook an awful lot, but eventually it clicked and remained still. Scott picked up the ball, threw it up a little and caught it in one hand with style. “You’ll make a fine addition to the team, Bob.” “Eh?...” questioned Abby, while I remembered the beast of burden comment, B.O.B: Bob, it made sense. “Thanks ‘Capture, you’re not bad, you’ve done a good job with that Electabuzz.” commented Scott nicely. “Scott, do me a favour, don’t call me ‘Capture.” I said firmly. “Whyever not?” questioned Abby. “Then what do I call you? I never did get your name.” questioned Scott. “Its Tetsubo, and this is Abby, and you? Scott Addison?” I questioned. “Scott alone is fine.” he replied. “Hey!” shouted Claus, he was followed by Cassie and Cletus, “That’s Our Snorlax!!!” “Bob, let’s give you a trial run.” said Scott releasing the giant Pokémon. “Ch’arbok!!!” screamed Snakebite. “Dra!!!” shouted Queendra. “MUK!!!” roared Chemical. “Shockwave, I-” “No Tetsubo, I can handle this.” interrupted Scott. “Snorlax...” yawned Bob. “Bob, use your Tackle!” Snakebite was beaten by the brute strength of the Snorlax, in mid-tackle, he yanked the tail of the Arbok and flung it into its trainer. “Head Butt!” The Seadra charged forward but Bob brought his head down, Queendra bounced onto the floor, and then back up into the air, where she was picked up and thrown into Cassie. “Body Slam!” He squashed Chemical totally, the Muk oozed out from the barely visible gaps and ran back to its trainer. “Finish it off with Mega Punch!” shouted Scott happily. “Snor-Lax!” The Elites and their Pokémon went flying. “Talk about underestimation, dat thing’s like a bulldozer!” shouted Cletus. “I think I preferred it when it was dozing off.” added Cassie. “Looks like we’ll be resting soon... in the hospital!” finished Claus. Once again, the Elites flew out of sight. “So Scott, what now?” I asked. “I’m headed to the Delft Town Gym, the Gym Leader intrigues me and I’m looking to test one of my Pokémon out against a certain Pokémon type.” he explained. “Well, we’re headed there too. Scott, I admit that I wasn’t very polite towards you in the past and-” “Neither was I.” he interrupted, though meant to be a polite comment. “Yeah and I think that maybe we should start over, get off to a better start and-” “I couldn’t agree more.” he interrupted again. “Yeah and... Well that’s it and I can’t believe you’re agreeing with me.” I said. “Well I had a lot of time alone to think, and I thought that perhaps I should cut you some slack.” said Scott wearing one of his usual smirks. “So what’s your story?” I asked. “Stick with me long enough, and maybe you’ll find out.” he said mysteriously, and he turned away and started walking down the path ahead of us. It’d been a long day but at least things worked out, the Snorlax was out of our way and into the hands of a good trainer, there was still a lot to Scott that I didn’t know, but now I had to chance to find out... End of Chapter 29B Back to Chapter 29A Next Chapter Back to Story List #21 - #40 Back to the Pokézone