Poke-Odyssey 2001 chapter 10 Acres of Apricorns Our heroes have finally arrived in Garlic Acres. They were all looking around admiring the beautiful green farmland that surrounded them. "You could probably plant a whole crop of beanstalks in this place", said Ash. "Actually, Garlic Acres is really famous for its strong Apricorn trees", said Tracy as he was making a sketch of the entire land. "Apricorns?" asked Misty. Cameron was sitting on a rock cradling his Elekid in his arms while Sandy was making googly faces at the electric baby. "Briii!" cooed Elekid happily. "Like those four colorful PBS baby puppets that say, AGAIN, all the time. Your Elekid sure is cute", smiled Reiko as she tickled Elekid's plug-shaped head. "Just like you Came-chan", and she tickled Cameron's hair as well. "Thanks my radiant one", smiled Cameron. "And I think it's time for his feeding too", And he reached into his backpack and pulled out a box of sparkplugs. Cameron took one of the plugs out and gave it to Elekid who put it in his mouth and started sucking the juice out like a baby bottle. "That is so cute!" sighed Misty. "But no one's cuter than you Togepi." "Toge!" cooed Togepi. "Who would've ever thought that a cute little kid like you was once the tough as nails, military obsessed, Electabuzz that always tried to shock me just for a laugh?" smiled Cameron as Elekid sucked his sparkplug dry. Then Cameron put Elekid on his shoulder and started patting his back. Elekid let out a burp releasing a small little static. "Pika, pi!" smiled Pikachu thinking about how cute those static burps that baby electric-types make were. Then Pikachu started to finish his radish. Suddenly, he let out a loud, BURP, and belched out a huge electric jolt frying Ash like crazy. "Pikachu!" said an embarrassed Pikachu that meant, "Excuse me Ash!" as he saw the toasted Ash on the ground. "You're excused", said Ash smiling then fainted again. Suddenly Elekid jumped out of Cameron's arms and started running off down a hill. "Elekid, where are you going?" asked Cameron as he and the others ran after him. They suddenly came across about 20 sheep all crowded together eating grass. "What are they?" asked Ash. "Those look like Mareep to me", said Tracey while Cameron took out his Dex. "MAREEP: the wool Pokemon", replied Dextra. "If powerful static electricity builds in Mareep's body, it's fleece doubles in volume. Touching it will shock you." "Look Came-chan, there's Elekid!" said Reiko. Cameron looked up from his Dex and found Elekid happily hugging one of the Mareep while it was licking Elekid's cute little face. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right", said Cameron as he was about to approach the flock of Mareep until Tracey stopped him. "No Cameron", said Tracey. "You just can't walk up to a whole flock of Mareep! Look!" Cameron saw all the Mareep shooting out little sparks from their fleece warning him to stay back while Elekid was still hugging his favorite Mareep. "Sandy, can you get Elekid back for me?" asked Cameron for he knew Sandshrews were immune to electric attacks. "Shrew!" smiled Sandy as he ran over to the flock. The Mareep tried to shock him but Sandy was completely unaffected by it. He then pulled Elekid away from the Mareep and was about to return him to their master. Just then, all the Mareep backed away for a different looking sheep suddenly appeared. It was a lot bigger, had huge fat horns, and a long tail with a glowing ball at the end. It looked angrily at the two Pokemon and made out a loud, "FLAAAAA!" Cameron activated his Dex again. "FLAAFFY: the evolved form of Mareep", replied Dextra. "Flaaffy's fluffy fleece, WOW, TRY SAYING THAT FIVE TIMES FAST!!!, easily stores powerful electricity. Its rubbery hide keeps it from being electrocuted." "Quick you guys!" cried Cameron. "You'd better come back here before you get rammed!" "SHREW!" cried Sandy as he picked up Elekid and ran at full speed. But it wasn't fast enough for Flaaffy used a strong headbutt attack to send both of them flying back into Cameron's arms. "Sandy, Elekid, are you guys okay?" he asked worriedly. "Shrew!" moaned Sandy. "Briii!" said Elekid happily for he enjoyed that ride. "What's that Flaaffy doing?" asked Misty as she saw Flaaffy shoot some tiny cotton balls out from its fleece. "It's a cotton spore attack!" cried Tracey. "Everybody run!!!" But it was too late. The cotton got all over our heroes and they grew into giant balls trapping them like huge snowballs with only their heads sticking out. "We've been cottonized!" cried Ash who tried to pull himself free from the ball but couldn't. "I hope no one tries to make Q-Tips out of us!" cried Misty. "Well look what's we've got here bruddah!" called out a loud hillbilly voice. Suddenly, two big fat guys wearing nothing but overalls and caps had appeared in front of our heroes. "It looks like Flaaffy's snagged himself some Mareep rustlers!" said the first hillbilly. "Mareep rustlers?" asked Ash. "But you don't understand sir", said Cameron. "We weren't trying to..." "Shut yer mouth!" said the second hillbilly. "We have ways of dealin' with rustlers like yourselves. Right Cletus?" "You said it Lumpy", said Cletus as he took out a bag. "I got the feathers. Have you got the tar?" "Oops, my bad!" said Lumpy as he started blushing. "I put all the tar on my pancakes this mornin'!" "You didn't mistake the tar for syrup again, did you?" asked Cletus. "I guess so", said Lumpy as he pulled out a jug of maple syrup. "But we can still syrup and feather them." "Well", said Cletus also blushing. "I kind of mistook all the feathers for coconut cream. But we can still coconut cream and syrup them", he said as he showed his brother what was in the bag. "These guys are totally uncouth!" thought Misty as she and the others nervously watched the two guys approach them with coconut cream and syrup. Just then, some more cotton spore got sprinkled all over the brothers trapping them in huge balls like our heroes were. "Nice job Flaaffy honey", said a pretty southern-accented voice. In stepped a pretty teenage girl with shocking red curly hair and wearing a white spaghetti- strap shirt and blue jeans with a rope for a belt. She patted Flaaffy's wooly head and approached the two brothers looking very angry. "And just what were you tiny terrors doin'?" she asked. "Aw, Glory-Sue", moaned Cletus. "We was just gonna cream and syrup some Mareep rustlers." "Yeah!" said Lumpy. "Paw would've wanted us too." "I never heard Paw say such a thing in his long life!" scolded Glory-Sue. "Now you two get on home and think about what you've done!" "Thinkin'?" moaned Lumpy. "Not more chores!" moaned Cletus as they pushed their bare smelly feet out from the cotton balls and marched off down the hill. "So tell me strangers", asked Glory-Sue now smiling while twirling her hair with her finger. "Are you all really Mareep rustlers?" "Oh no", said Tracey. "We only came here to find the Garlic Acres gym leader." "So I can win another Ryooku League Badge", continued Cameron. "Well, look no further!" smiled Glory-Sue. "Because you're lookin' at her!" "That Flaaffy is the next gym leader?" asked Ash surprised. "But I thought only humans can..." "She means her, you dummy!" moaned Misty. "Oops!" said Ash as he sunk his mouth down into the cotton. "Sorry about what my brothers were gonna do to you", said Glory-Sue. "They don't really know any better. They're only 3 years old." "Those two big guys are 3 years old?!" gasped Misty. "Yep", said Glory-Sue. "And it seemed like only a year ago when they started gettin' back hair at the age of 2." Cameron became puzzled and wanted to scratch his head but couldn't for his hands were trapped in cotton. "I guess I'd better get you all out of that cotton pickin' mess", smiled Glory-Sue as she released a Pokeball and out popped a duck holding a leek in its wing. "Fetch'd, far, far!" it replied. "Farfetch'd, can you cut these city folk free for me?" asked Glory-Sue. "FAR", smiled Farfecth'd as it used its leek to slash away all the cotton from our heroes making them all free. "Thank you ma'am", said Tracey blushing for Glory-Sue was a pretty southern belle. "My pleasure Mop Top", smiled Glory-Sue as she slyly winked at him. "Mop Top?" gasped Tracey as he ran his fingers through his black puffy hair. "Ooooh! Is a certain watcher gonna start watching something or someone else besides Pokemon?" giggled Misty. "So you're the little sprout who wants to battle lil' ol' me, huh?" asked Glory-Sue as she spun Cameron's hat around like a top. "If that's okay ma'am", said Cameron blushing. "But before you can challenge me, you'll have to help out with some chores first", said Glory-Sue. "Chores?" asked everyone. "Yep", smiled Glory-Sue, "I have to know if you can survive life on the farm first. So you and your team will have to do some down and dirty farm work. And once you've completed the chores we throw at you. Then you can challenge me for a badge. What do you say?" "Gee, I don't know", said Cameron nervously. "I grew up in the city so I don't know much about farming." "I believe you can", said Reiko. "Like the Jynx that somehow gets lost from the polar caps and ends up in the jungle yet still survives. I believe you can handle the burdens of farm life." And she quickly kissed him. "Okay", said Cameron smiling as he rolled up his sleeves. "Hand me a pitchfork and I'll get to farming!" "We'd better do the same things too", said Ash as he rolled up his sleeves as well. Misty and Reiko did the same. But Tracey didn't for he was wearing a tank top that had no sleeves and neither did Sandy, Pikachu or the other Pokemon for they didn't wear shirts or anything else for that matter. * * * * * * Next, we find our heroes doing some chores around a huge farm. Cletus had instructed Ash and Misty to create a mud hole. Ash used his Blastoise to wet the dirt in the pit and Misty did the same with her Poliwag. Soon a dirty mucky mud hole was created. Cletus stuck his finger in the mud and tasted it while Misty made a soft, "EEYEEW!" "That's mighty fine grade A mud", said Cletus with a dirty mouth. "You city slickers did a downright fine job." "You're not gonna make mudpies for dinner are you?" asked Misty. "No", laughed Cletus. "What do you think I am, a hillbilly? That there's a wallowin' hole for our Nidorans." "Nidorans?" asked Ash "SOOOOEEEEY!" shouted Cletus in a loud voice and suddenly a whole herd of male and female Nidorans came stampeding and dived into the mud splashing on everyone. "My new shirt!" whined Misty. "Poliwag, please clean me up!" Poliwag complied and sprayed some water on Misty washing off the mud. Then she saw Togepi splashing around happily with the Nidorans. "No Togepi! I already gave you a bath today!" and she took the muddy egg out while more mud got on her shirt. "I never knew Nidorans like mud baths so much", said Ash. "It's just natural for them", said Cletus. "Nidorans have none of those sweat gland things so they need to wallow around in mud to keep cool." "Well I'm certainly glad that I have sweat glands", sighed Misty. "I wouldn't want to have to wallow around in mud either." "And I'm glad I can sweat too", smiled Cletus as he raised his arms and exposed his hairy armpits while Ash, Misty, Pikachu, and even Togepi covered their noses. Just then, one of the balls on Ash's Pokebelt opened and Muk popped out. "MUK!" it said. "Muk, what are you doing out of your Pokeball?" asked Ash. But Muk only replied by staring at the mud hole, putting its lips in it and started sucking all the mud out leaving the Nidorans high and dry. "Muk, that mud wasn't for you!" scolded Ash. "Haven't I been disgusted enough for today?!" whined Misty. "Oh great!" moaned Cletus. "Do you know how expensive good mud is today? Now what are the Nidorans gonna wallow in?!" "Wait a minute", thought Ash. "I think I have an idea!" and he started whispering something to Muk. "MUK!" said Muk as it plunged itself into the dried up hole completely filling it up. Then all the Nidorans dove into Muk's liquidish skin and started wallowing around happy once again. "Well I'll be a Mankey's uncle", said Cletus while scratching his sweaty head. "A livin' breathin' mud hole!" "And since Nidorans are poison-types", smiled Ash. "They won't get poisoned at all swimming in Muk's muck." "It just won't stop won't it?" groaned Misty as she watched the Nidorans actually touching Muk's eyes and its slobbery mouth. * * * * * * Tracey was busy pitching hay into a barn while thinking about the lovely Glory-Sue. "I wonder what she's like as a gym leader?" he thought with a goofy smile on his face. Then his daydream broke when he heard that girl call out. "Oh no! Not again!" Tracey rushed over to Glory-Sue who was looking over a cabbage patch. "Glory-Sue, what's the matter?" asked Tracey. "It's them pesky Weedles again!" cried Glory-Sue. "They're attackin' my cabbage patch! Farfetch'd, take care of them varmints!" "Far!" said Farfetch'd as it tried to swat away the bugs with its leek, but struck back with their poison sting attacks. "FAR!" cried Farfetch'd as it jumped back into Glory-Sue's arms with tiny needles stuck in its tail feathers. "It's okay Farfetch'd", said Glory-Sue as she plucked the needles out of its feathers. "Normally I'd send some Nidorans out to take care of them Weedles but right now it's time for their mud wallowin'." "Maybe I can help", said Tracey shyly as he released his Venonat and Scizor. "More bugs?" asked Glory-Sue shocked. "Oh no, these bugs are very helpful", smiled Tracey as he sent his two bugs to battle the pesky unwanted bugs. The Weedles started firing their poison needles at Venonat and Scizor, but it didn't affect them one bit. "Okay Venonat, take care of those Weedles with your sleep powder", said Tracey. "NAT!" said Venonat as it shook its hairy body around releasing a blue powder putting all the Weedles to sleep. "Nice job Venonat!" said Tracey. "Now it's your turn Scizor. Blow them away with your swords dance!" "SCIZOR!" said Scizor as it started spinning around like a top creating a huge whirlwind blowing away all the sleeping Weedles. "Nice work you two", smiled Tracey as he called back his proud bugs. "Thank you Mop Top", said Glory-Sue while smiling. "You've saved my cabbages. You really are a knight in shinin' armor." "Actually it was my Pokemon that are the real heroes", said Tracey blushing. "And Scizor is the true knight who wears real armor." "You're sweeter than a sugar cane combined with a chocolate bean", said Glory-Sue as she kissed Tracey on the cheek while all that the watcher could do was silently watch her and nothing else. * * * * * * Cameron's job was to get milk from a milk-tank. "I wonder where a huge tanker of milk can be?" said Cameron as he and Sandy searched around in a field carrying a bucket. They soon came across a huge pink cow sitting on her butt with her large utter sticking out. "What kind of Pokemon is that?" asked Cameron as he took out his Dex. "MILTANK: the milk cow Pokemon", replied Dextra. "This Pokemon's milk is packed with nutrition, making it the ultimate beverage for sick or weary people." "Oh, so that's what they meant when they said to get milk from a Miltank", said Cameron smiling as he approached the cow. "Moooo?" said the Miltank. "Hi Bossy", said Cameron politely. "I've come to get some of your milk if you don't mind." And he grabbed one of Miltank's teats and started squeezing it. "MOOOOO!" shouted Miltank in an angry voice as she punched Cameron in the stomach with her hoof sending him flying into a tree. "Shrew!" cried Sandy as he ran to the aid of his master while Lumpy approached him too. "Hey, what do you think you're doin'?!" demanded Lumpy. "I was just trying to get some milk from that Miltank", explained a confused Cameron. "But she hit me when I tried to squeeze her utter!" "What are you, some kind of pervert?!" asked Lumpy. "That's not how you get milk from a Miltank! Just watch me city boy!" and he approached the annoyed Miltank with the bucket. "Hi Millie!" said Lumpy as he scratched Miltank's chin. "That boy didn't really mean to harass you like that. You know how dumb them city folk can be." "Moo!" said Miltank now happy. "How about givin' us all some your nice tastin' milk?" asked Lumpy as he placed the bucket in front of her. "Moo!" smiled Miltank as she started glowing a bright color and four bottles of milk suddenly popped out of her teats and landed into the bucket. "Thank you Mille", smiled Lumpy as he tipped his cap to her and walked off. "Moo!" smiled Miltank waving her hoof to him. Cameron just sat there amazed. "And that's the proper way to get milk from a Miltank", smiled Lumpy as he took a bottle and drank it up and then gave one to Cameron and one to Sandy. "Thank you", said Cameron as he studied the bottle. Sure enough it was a real glass bottle with real milk inside it. "How is that Miltank able to produce bottles?" he asked. "Does she eat glass along with her hay?" "No one around here really knows", said Lumpy. "We really do need to build a school in these here parts. Anyway, why don't you go into that orchard over there and help that ninja friend of yours pick some apricorns?" "You got it", smiled Cameron as he and Sandy eagerly headed off to the orchard to work with his love. "What exactly are apricorns?" he wondered. * * * * * * When Cameron got to the orchard, he found Reiko ordering her Pokemon to gather apricorns. Hitmontop was spinning around kicking the trees causing the apricorns to fall off while Reiko and her Tentacruel and Kingler were catching them in huge baskets. "Oh, konichiwa Came-chan", said Reiko as she was about to approach him until Growlithe growled her back as usual. "Hi my love", said Cameron. "And hi to you too Growlithe", said Cameron. "My Pokemon and I were just gathering apricorns", smiled Reiko. "And like the gorgeous full moon that is only seen once a month, it looks like these apricorns are in good season as well!" And she threw a white apricorn to Cameron. "So this is an apricorn", said Cameron as he studied the strange looking fruit. It looked like a cross between an apricot and an acorn and it was white. Cameron looked at the apricorn filled baskets and noticed that the apricorns came in seven different colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, pink, black, and white. "Shrew!" said Sandy as he was jumping up and down wanting to taste the apricorn Cameron was holding. "Sure, I guess Glory-Sue won't mind if I feed you one", said Cameron as he gave the white apricorn to Sandy and he munched on it gratefully. "So your little mouse likes the taste of apricorns, huh?" said Glory-Sue's voice. Cameron turned around and found Glory-Sue and Tracey who had just arrived. "Normally when I find a Pokemon trying to steal our apricorns, I have either Farfetch'd or Flaaffy wipe 'em out. Isn't that right darlins?" "FAR!" "FLAAA!" said both Farfetch'd and Flaaffy as they looked mean-eyed at the Sandshrew with white jam on his cheeks. "Shrew?" said Sandy nervously as he hid behind Cameron's legs. "Please Miss. Glory-Sue", pleaded Cameron, "It wasn't Sandy's fault. I was the one who gave him that apricorn." "Well, okay", smiled Glory-Sue. "You and Sandy are off the hook just because you got yourself a mighty handsome man here on your team." And she winked at Tracey while he silently blushed. Cameron smiled for those two did look like a cute couple. "Well enough of this loafin' around", said Glory-Sue. "We still got lots of apricorns to gather! Right youngins?" "Far!" said Farfetch'd as it flew up into the trees and started slashing off some more apriocrns while Flaaffy started headbutting another tree making more apricorns fall off. "My Scizor can help too", said Tracey as he released his metal bug that started snipping off every apricorn extremely fast. "You sure are quite the trainer Mop Top", smiled Glory-Sue. "Thanks", said Tracey blushing. "Back to work my little ones", said Reiko as she commanded Hitmontop to kick more trees while her other two Pokemon got their baskets ready. "I guess I'd better pitch in too", said Cameron as he released his Zubat and Sudowoodo. He ordered Zubat to cut off some of the apricorns with her wing attack while Sudowoodo was knocking down more apricorns with his flail power. Soon Ash and Misty entered the orchard and they joined in the picking party. Ash used his Venusaur to use its vines to gather the really high apricorns and Misty's Starmie was spinning around like a flying saucer knocking off more apricorns. Elekid saw Flaaffy headbutting a tree with ease and wanted to do it too. "Briii!" cooed Elekid as he started to duck his head down and charge at a tree, but got his plug-shaped head stuck into two little holes in the tree instead. "BRIIII!" cried Elekid as he was wiggling around trying to get loose. "Flaaaa!" said Flaaffy as he went over and pulled Elekid out and patted his sore bumpy head. "Briii!" said Elekid feeling a little better. "Flaaaa!" said Flaaffy smiling at the cute little electric baby. * * * * * * An hour later, everyone was staring at a fine display of beautifully colored apricorns all in baskets. "Nice work everybody", said Glory-Sue. "You city folks sure know your way around a farm." "Thank you", said Cameron. "Does this mean I can now challenge you?" "Yep", smiled Glory-Sue. "The matches will begin tomorrow at the crack of dawn. But right now we gotta take these baskets over to the barn." So everyone and their Pokemon gathered up the baskets and started to follow Glory-Sue over to her barn. "What are you going to do with those apricorns now that we've picked them?" asked Ash. "Well, I'm gonna make half of them into pies", smiled Glory-Sue. "While other half'll be going to my Paw so he can make them into special Pokeballs." "You mean apricorns can be made into Pokeballs?" asked Cameron surprised. "Of course", smiled Tracey. "Ryooku is famous for its numerous apricorn trees and some people like to shape them into special Pokeballs and each colored apricorn can be made into a special ball." "That's right Mop Top", smiled Glory-Sue. "White apricorns are used to make Fast Balls. They're great for catchin' really speedy Pokemon. Red apricorns can be made into Level Balls so you can catch a Pokemon that has a really low power level than yours and blue apricorns can be made into Lure Balls so you can catch any kind of water Pokemon." "That would really be cool to own a thousand Lure Balls", sighed Misty imagining herself catching every kind of water Pokemon there is while wearing a crown and a seaweed dress while holding a trident. "Mostly we're gonna be givin' all the yellow apricorns to Paw", said Glory-Sue. "So he can make them into Moon Balls. Those things are used to catch Pokemon that evolve with Moonstones. Sometimes our Nidorans try to run away and these Moon Balls are the things you need to bring them back." * * * * * * Soon everyone had arrived at the huge barn. They all stepped inside and found an old man in overalls and a straw hat. He had a long white beard and to everyone's surprise, he had huge round lips that looked like a duck's bill. "Hey there daughter!" said the old man while smiling. "Give your ol' Psyduck Dad a kiss!" "Paw! Take those horseshoes out of your mouth!" demanded Glory-Sue. "We've got company!" "Oh, all right!" sighed Paw as he yanked two horseshoes out from his mouth and his lips shrunk back down to normal human lips except for no teeth. "And what happened to your false teeth?!" asked Glory-Sue. "Did you lose them again from gamblin'?!" "I lost them in a marble match from the boy on the next farm", sighed Paw. "Can you get them back for me please? I know his mother thinks highly of you." "Okay, but this is the last time!" sighed Glory-Sue. "But in the meantime, how about showin' our new friends here, how you make your special apricorn Pokeballs?" "Is it that time of the year again?" smiled Paw as he saw the baskets of beautiful apricorns. He picked up a white apricorn and started to munch on it. "Paw!" complained Glory-Sue. "You don't have your teeth, remember?" "Oh yeah", said Paw blushing while taking the saliva covered Apricorn out from his mouth. "It looked like you would've had to call that number again if I had swallowed this whole. What was it? 963 or somethin'?" "I think that's 911 sir", said Cameron. "911?!" gasped Paw. "No one can possibly remember a ridiculous set of numbers like that! The very idea!" "Uh, Paw", sighed Glory-Sue. "Can you just make some apricorn balls before you end up swallowing them all?" "Okie dokie darlin'" smiled Paw as he took a pair of tongs and picked up a red apricorn. "Wake up Ponyta", he said as he walked over to a stable. "It's ball makin' time once again!" A horse with a fiery mane approached Paw and looked at the apricorn. Then it started breathing fire on the apricorn turning it into a hot ball. "Should he be doing that?" asked Cameron. "I hear that fruit is dangerously flammable." "Don't worry", smiled Glory-Sue. "Apricorns are one of the toughest fruit in this world which makes them the perfect things to make Pokeballs out of." Paw then put the flaming apricorn on an anvil and started banging it with a hammer until it became the shape of a ball. Then he dunked it into a water bucket to cool it off and brought it out until it looked like a black charred ball. Finally he put it into a small oven. "It takes a whole day for an apricorn Pokeball to get cooked up", said Paw. "This is why I have more than one oven!" and he pointed to seven ovens all waiting to cook up some apricorns. "I'd better get started on some Moon Balls", said Paw as he gathered up some yellow apricorns. "You never know when them tricky Nidorans will escape." "Before you do that Paw", said Glory-Sue. "Can you be a good paw and...", And she started whispering something into her paw's ear. Our heroes were wondering what she was saying. "Sure I can my darlin' daughter", smiled Paw as he gathered some more apricorns, one of each color. "What's your paw going to do?" asked Misty. "You'll find out tomorrow", smiled Glory-Sue. "Right now why don't you all come into the house and my brothers and I will prepare a nice pancake dinner for you?" "Sounds good", said Cameron but then remembered that Cletus and Lumpy sometimes put tar on their pancakes by mistake. "Nyaaah! No one can possibly make that mistake a second time!" smiled Cameron. "And remember Glory-Sue", called out Paw. "I like my pancakes covered with extra tar!" Cameron suddenly turned green. * * * * * * It was now nighttime and our heroes were all sleeping in sleeping bags inside the barn. Tracey was outside sitting on a bail of hay, holding a green apricorn, and watching the star filled sky. "I sure do envy Glory-Sue", He sighed. "Living here on this beautiful farm." "Yep, it's a pretty nice life Mop Top", called out a pretty southern-accented voice. Tracey turned around and found Glory-Sue sitting right next to him. "Oh, good evening Glory-Sue", said Tracey blushing. "I just wanted to see how your farm looked at night. It sure is pretty." "I guess you city folks don't get to see farms much, huh?" smiled Glory-Sue. "Actually I have seen lots of farms on my Pokemon watching journey", said Tracey. "But none as pretty as you, I mean, your farm." Glory-Sue just silently blushed and then saw a sketchbook behind Tracey. She yanked it away from him while Tracey went, "HEY!" "Why these are downright pretty!" smiled Glory-Sue as she looked through Tracey's latest sketches. They were drawings of Glory-Sue's farm. There were sketches of Flaaffy and the Mareep, the Farfetch'd guarding the cabbage patch, and the apricorn orchards. "You've got a lot of talent Tracey", smiled Glory-Sue. "I'm glad I met you today." "Thank you ma'am", said Tracey while blushing. "I'm really glad I met you too." He then saw Glory-Sue turn to the last page and he started to get nervous. To her surprise, the final drawing was a picture of Glory-Sue wearing a fancy dress like the ones those southern ladies wore on Gone with the Wind. "Uh, I hope you like it", said Tracey turning an ultra red. "Because you can have it." "I do! Thank you!" smiled Glory-Sue with stars in her eyes as she leaned over and kissed Tracey on the cheek. Then the two of them sat silently in the moonlight and then they kissed. She then saw the green apricorn in Tracey's hand and looked at the green shirt he was wearing. "Do you like the color green?" she asked. "Yes I do", smiled Tracey. "How did you know?" Glory-Sue just giggled. * * * * * * On the other side of the farm, all of the Mareep were grazing near a wheat field. Little did they know was that they were being stalked by three evil minds. "Just look at those little swabs!" said Meowth. "I believe they're called Mareep", said James. "I've heard they have powerful electric attacks." "This is perfect!" said Jessie evily. "We must capture all of them! Those wooly wonders will be a great use to us!" "But Jessie", whined James. "I hate wearing wool! It makes me itch!" "We're not gonna wear them you twit!" scolded Jessie. "We're gonna use them as a mighty electric army! So no one will be able to stop us! Not even Ketchum's pint sized Pikachu!" "Yeah!" sneered Meowth. "I can't wait to see that twerp's face when he finds out we have a whole electric army while he only has one pipsqueak Pikachu!" "Well then let's catch them all!" said Jessie as she and the others took out a bunch of empty Pokeballs. "Wait!" said James. "We may not have enough balls to catch all those Mareep. We'd better count them to see if we have the right amount." "Good idea", said Jessie as she, James, and Meowth started counting all the Mareep that were scattered everywhere on the grass. "1, 2, 3, yawn!" said James as he started getting sleepy. "Hey stay awake", said Meowth. "This was your idea to count them! Let's see 1, 2, 3, 4, yawn!, 5, 6..." "14, 15, yawn!, Oh drat. I lost count! Yawn!" said Jessie as she suddenly plopped down and fell asleep. Pretty soon all the Rockets fell asleep from counting all those Mareep. (Now who didn't see that coming?!^_^) And they slept hiding in the wheat field while the Mareep remained safe in the grass. * * * * * * It was dawn and Farfetch'd flew on top of the barn quacking out. "FETCH'D-A-FAR- FAR-FAR!" Which was his signal to wake everyone up on the farm. * * * * * * Soon, everyone was gathered around two long wheat fields. "All right Cameron", said Glory-Sue, "We're gonna be havin' 3 farmin' contests and the best 2 out of 3 will be the winner. Are you sure you can handle me city boy?" "Bring it on!" said Cameron with determination. "Yes, go Glory-Sue!" said Tracey. "Tracey, we're supposed to be rooting for Came-chan", said Reiko sternly. "Hey, you root for your love and I'll root for mine", smiled Tracey. "OOPS!" He said as he covered his mouth. "I knew it!" smiled Misty. "Tracey and Glory-Sue sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S..." "Kiss?" interrupted Ash. "Okay!" and he kissed Misty that got her to stop teasing Tracey. "Thanks Ash!" said Tracey while wiping the sweat off his headband. "The first event will be a wheat cuttin' race", said Glory-Sue. "Whoever's Pokemon clears away their field first will be the winner! Farfetch'd, I choose you!" "Fetch'd, Far, Far!" said Farfetch'd as it flew in front of the wheat while twirling its leek around like a ninja's sword. "Then I'll choose my champion cutter VP!" smiled Cameron as he released his Vileplume. "Vile!" it said. "On yer mark", said Cletus, "Get set, uh, well, uh. Quick Lumpy, what's that two letter word that I have a gosh-awful time rememberin'?" "I think it's proceed!" said Lumpy. "That's right", smiled Cletus. "You know, proceed is awfully long for a two letter word. PROCEED!" Glory-Sue just sighed and told Farfetch'd. "Use your fury cutter now!" "FAR!" said Farfetch'd as it started to charge into its field slashing away at all the wheat. "Quick VP, you can beat them with that cool cut attack of yours!" commanded Cameron. "VILE!" said VP as it spun around clearing away the same amount of wheat Farfetch'd was. The two Pokemon were now neck and neck chopping away at the wheat until they heard a loud. "AAAAAAAH!" The surprised Pokemon stopped as three figures leapt out of the field while rubbing their bottoms. "My new Rocket designer pants, ruined!" whined James as everyone saw the rip on his bottom exposing his Koffing covered shorts. "You think that's bad, they've ruined the only fur I got!" whined Meowth as they saw his bottom that was no longer furry. "At least none of my beautiful clothes were ruined", smiled Jessie. "It looks like I'm the lucky one today!" "But your hair!" said James. "My hair?!" gasped Jessie as she discovered that it had been cut off giving her a boy's haircut. "AUUURGGH!" screamed Jessie. "Whoever owns this backwoods farm is gonna pay for this!" "I do!" said Glory-Sue sternly. "And just what are you revenuers doin' on my farm?!" "Look out", said Cameron. "Those guys are Team Rocket! They're big trouble for all of us!" "You got that right twerp and you're gonna get trouble!" said James. "And for ruining my hair, you're in for more than double!" growled Jessie. Then they started saying their motto while Meowth ended with, "That's right!" "All them funny words they're sayin' are makin' my head hurt!" said Cletus. "I bet they're cotton pickin' Mareep rustlers!" said Lumpy. "Let's break out the tar and feathers", said Cletus. "No, make that the syrup and coconut cream!" "Oh no!" growled Jessie. "You bumpkins have messed with my beauty enough! Go Arbok!" and she released her cobra. "Go Girafarig!" said James but Girafarig's tail just chomped on James's head while Girafarig's head tried to pull James free as usual. "City folks sure are the strangest people", said Glory-Sue. "Arbok, use your glare attack!" shouted Jessie. Just as Cletus and Lumpy were about to approach them, Arbok had used its glare attack paralyzing the two big guys. "No one does that to my baby brothers!" shouted Glory-Sue. "Farfetch'd, slash up that snake!" "FAR!" said Farfetch'd as it zipped around Arbok slashing up every inch of its long scaly body. Arbok tried to fight back but Farfetch'd was too quick to even strike. "Quick Girafarig, come to the aid of your fellow Pokemon!" said James who was now free from that hungry tail. "Use your psybeam attack!" "GIRAF!" said the head as it fired a psychic beam from its horns hitting Farfetch'd completely knocking it out. "Farfetch'd!" cried Glory-Sue. "Now that we've taken out your little duckie!" laughed Meowth. "It's time we take over your little barnyard. Right guys?" "AAARBBBOOOK!" "GIRAF!", "FARIG!" said Arbok and Girafarig as they were about to do some serious attacking until a cloud of blue pollen covered them putting both Pokemon to sleep. "Nice job VP", smiled Cameron congratulating his Vileplume for using its trusty sleep powder. "Thanks Cameron", smiled Glory-Sue. "Now I'll take it for here. Flaaffy! Millie! It's stampeding time!" she yelled in her loudest hillbilly voice. Suddenly, the ground started to shake and a huge dust cloud started to form over the horizon. "Do you think we should start running?" asked James nervously. "What do you think?!" shouted Jessie as she recalled her Arbok while James did the same for his Girafarig. But before they could get away, Flaaffy and Miltank had rushed in and headbutted Jessie and James sending them blasting off once again. "Looks like they missed me!" laughed Meowth who was hiding behind a stump. He was about to walk off proud and unharmed until he got headbutted by Elekid sending him blasting off again too. "Hey Elekid", smiled Cameron as he picked him up. "You now know headbutt?" "Briii!" smiled Elekid for it was Flaaffy who taught him how to use it. "Farfetch'd, are you okay?" asked Glory-Sue who picked up her duck that was missing a few feathers. "Far!" it said in a weak quack while smiling and making a thumb's up. "Well Cameron, since my Farfetch'd is unable to continue cuttin'", said Glory-Sue. "This means your Vileplume wins this round by default." "Thank you", said Cameron. "But I'm sorry about your Farfetch'd though." "That's all right", smiled Glory-Sue. "It has had worser days. But I'm afraid your Pokemon aren't gonna have it so easy in the next two events!" * * * * * * Next, everyone was gathered around a picnic table piled with about 100 pies. "The next event will be a pie eatin' contest", said Glory-Sue. "Whoever's Pokemon cannot eat anymore of my prized apricorn pies loses." "I bet the only Pokemon that could win this contest is a Snorlax", said Ash. "Probably", smiled Glory-Sue. "But I've got the next best thing. Oh Millie!" And in stormed Miltank making out a determined and hungry, "MOOOO!" "Uh, oh", thought Cameron. "I've heard that cows have four stomachs! Which of my Pokemon can I use for this match? Sandy?" "Shrew, shrew!" said Sandy shaking his head no for he even though he loved apricorns, he knew his tiny Sandshrew stomach couldn't possibly digest 100 pies. "How about your Slowking?" suggested Reiko. "He's very big and I have seen him eat a lot at mealtimes. Like the black hole that swallows stars, rocket ships, and even planets, Slowie might be perfect for this event." "Yes, that might work", smiled Cameron as he released his Slowking. "Slowie", said Cameron. "How would you like to eat as many pies as you can?" "Slow!" smiled Slowie as he slowly approached the table and eyed those delicious looking pies. Soon the contest began. Both Slowie and Miltank were chewing, chomping, and even swallowing whole every pie they could get their hands and hooves on while their trainers were cheering them on. Miltank was having an easier time for she always had milk with her to wash it all down. "How are you doing Slowie?" asked Cameron. "SLOW!" said Slowie as he started to now eat slower. "That's good Slowie", smiled Cameron. "This isn't a race so you don't have to hurry. Just keep going until Miltank can't eat another bite." "Slow!" said Slowie as he slowly licked the blue apricorn filling from his lips and reached for another pie. An hour passed and there were only about 18 pies left. Both Slowie and Miltank had stopped eating and they were lying on the ground moaning in pain. Slowie only had a half-a-pie in his hands. "Come on Slowie", said Cameron. "Miltank looks like she can't eat anymore. Just finish off that pie you got there and you'll win!" "Slow!" moaned Slowie as he managed to put the pie into his mouth. Miltank was on the ground with her utter sticking up in the air mooing in pain. "Don't give up now Millie!" pleaded Glory-Sue. "Remember, you've got your heal bell!" "Moo!" moaned Miltank as she started ringing the bell around her neck. Suddenly Miltank got back on her hind feet feeling better again. And she started gathering up the remaining pies gobbling them really quickly like she never had a stomach-ache. "Quick Slowie!" pleaded Cameron. "I know you're really full, but you've gotta eat more pies!" But Slowie just sadly looked at Cameron and said. "I'm full!" and he passed out. "Poor Slowie", cried Cameron as he started rubbing his Slowking's stomach. "Wait a minute?" he gasped. "Did you just say two English words?" "Slowking, is totally tuckered out!" said Lumpy. "Glory-Sue and Millie are the winners!" "YAHOO!" hollered Glory-Sue in a voice so loud that it could crack glass. "MOOOOO!" hollered Miltank as she danced around while ringing her bell. * * * * * * The final event was about to begin. We now find everyone gathered around two tractors that had a power meter and jumper cables attached to each one. "The last event will be the great tie-breaker", said Glory-Sue. "And this will require electric Pokemon. Whoever's Pokemon charges up their tractor first will be final winner. Oh, Flaaffy!" "FLAAA!" said Flaaffy as he galloped up to Glory-Sue. She connected the jumper cables to Flaaffy's horns and connected the other ends to her tractor. "Electric?!" gasped Cameron. "Oh dear. The only electric Pokemon I have is Elekid. And he can only produce tiny sparks!" "You can borrow Pikachu if you'd like", said Ash. "What do you say Pikachu?" "Pika, Pi!" smiled Pikachu happy to give a friend of Ash's a helping paw. "Thanks Ash", smiled Cameron. "And thank you too Pikachu!" But just as Pikachu was about to approach the cables, Elekid had popped out from his ball on Cameron's Pokebelt. "Brii!" cried Elekid as he zipped past Pikachu and connected the cables to his pointy-head. "Sorry Elekid", said Cameron surprised. "But Pikachu has agreed to be the last Pokemon competing for me. But maybe next time though." "BRIIIII!" cried Elekid as he got down on his knees and cried sparkling tears begging Cameron to let him do this for his master. "I'm sorry Elekid", said Cameron. "It's not that I think you're a bad Pokemon, you're kind of a beginner. I just want you to get more experience first before you..." "Pika, Pi, Pika, Pi, Pikachu", Pikachu interrupted Cameron. "What are you saying Pikachu?" he asked. "Pikachu thinks you should give Elekid a chance", said Ash. "After all, he is your Pokemon and he wants to try his hardest for you. That's what all Pokemon want to do for their masters." "Do you really want to compete for me really badly?" Cameron asked Elekid. "Bri!" said Elekid while jumping up and down. "Okay Kiddo", said Cameron. "I'll do it for you." "Okay, can we please start sometime this year?" asked Glory-Sue who was tapping her bare foot getting a little impatient. "Yes", said Cameron. "Elekid and I are ready." "Bri!" said Elekid wishing Flaaffy luck. "FLAAAA!" baaed Flaaffy wishing his opponent luck too. "GO!" said Glory-Sue and the two electric Pokemon charged themselves up. Flaaffy, being a more stronger and experienced Pokemon, was easily sending large amounts of power through his cables and into his tractor. But Elekid, who had very little electricity stored in his young body, could only send tiny sparks through his cables. Everyone looked at the meters on each tractor. Flaaffy's meter was getting higher and higher almost reaching the top, while Elekid's was still on the bottom. "Poor Elekid", thought Cameron. "This loss could be really traumatizing for such a young Pokemon!" As Elekid tried his best to send all the power he had, he noticed something small and fluffy on the ground. "Bri?" said Elekid as he picked it up. It turned out to be a piece of Flaaffy's wool that had fallen off. It was all bright and staticky. Suddenly, Elekid felt a sudden jolt from the wool and gotten a serious power surge. He sent the power soaring through the cables and into the tractor. The meter exploded and the tractor was making loud motor sounds just waiting to tear up a field. Everyone stepped back, including Flaaffy who had quickly unhooked himself. Glory-Sue slowly approached the revved up tractor. "Why this is down right amazin'!!" said Glory-Sue. "This tractor has enough juice to plow the entire country of Ryooku! Your Elekid is somethin' else Cameron!" "You got that right!" smiled Cameron as he proudly picked up his Elekid, but then got totally shocked causing him to fall down. "Bri?" said Elekid realizing he was still holding the wool. He threw it back to Flaaffy and said a happy, "Bri, Bri!" which meant, "Thank you!" "Flaa, Flaaffy!" said Flaaffy saying the same thing as he stuffed the wool back into his fleece. "Hey, that's not fair!" complained Cletus. "Yeah!" growled Lumpy. "That electric kid used some of Flaaffy's wool to charge himself up! He cheated!" "Oh yes, that's right", said Cameron as he got up and hung his head down. "Not really", said Glory-Sue as she took out a Ryooku League rulebook. "There's nothin' in the league rules that forbids this kind of thing. So that means Elekid and Cameron are the winners!" "But, but..." stuttered Cletus and Lumpy. "Maybe you'd like to read the rules yourselves?" smiled Glory-Sue as she showed them the book. The two brothers got scared when they saw all those pages with lots of words and no pictures. "All right, the kid wins!" they said nervously as they ran away in terror. "Gets 'em every time!" smiled Glory-Sue while winking. * * * * * * Everyone was gathered near the barn while Glory-Sue approached Cameron. "For helpin' out with the chores, winnin' two out of three events, and for givin' one of our tractors a very long life span", she said proudly. "I hear by present you with this Harvest Badge. Congratulations Cameron." And she handed Cameron a badge that was in the shape of a haystack. "Thank you ma'am", smiled Cameron as he took the badge and showed his friends. "Look everyone!" he said happily. "I won a Harvest Badge!" Everyone clapped while Reiko gave him a kiss. "Hey Glory-Sue!" called out Paw as he slowly walked out of the barn holding a bag. "I got those special Pokeballs you requested. I stayed up the entire night makin' them. And I got the bags under my eyes to prove it. Wanna see everyone?" and he was about to pull back his crusty bloodshot eyes while Misty just wanted to turn away and throw up. "No Paw", said Glory-Sue as she took the bag from him. "These'll do just fine. Thank you." And she sent Paw back into the barn and approached our heroes. "If a Pokemon trainer ever does beat me", said Glory-Sue. "Not only do I give 'em a badge, I also give 'em and their travelin' friends each an apricorn made Pokeball. Cameron, since you were the winner, you get to reach into the bag and take two. Cameron smiled as he closed his eyes and placed both hands into the bag. He pulled out two Pokeballs. "Well what do you know?", smiled Glory-Sue. "You just got yourself a Fast Ball and a Level Ball!" "Cool!" smiled Cameron as he gazed at the Pokeballs that looked different from normal Pokeballs. "I wonder which Pokemon I'll catch with these?" "Tracey, this ball is just for you since I remember last night you said you liked green things", smiled Glory-Sue as she handed him a green Pokeball. "Thank you", smiled Tracey. "It is a pretty green. What kind of Pokeball is it?" "It's a Friend Ball", smiled Glory-Sue. "The Pokemon you catch with this ball will automatically become your friend. And you are truly wonderful at making friends!" and she winked at him while Tracey silently blushed. Then she approached Ash, Misty, and Reiko. "Okay, now each of you reach into this bag and take a Pokeball for yourselves", said Glory-Sue as she opened the bag and they all reached in to get a ball. Misty had pulled out a beautiful blue ball. "Well what do you know Misty", smiled Glory-Sue. "You just pulled out a Lure Ball." "You mean the one that can catch any kind of water Pokemon?" squealed Misty with delight. "YAY! I hit the jackpot!" "You deserve it Mist", smiled Ash. "And I got me some kind of black Pokeball." "That there's no ordinary black Pokeball", smiled Glory-Sue. "That there's a Heavy Ball. You'll be able to use it to catch a really heavy Pokemon like a Golem or a Snorlax." "Wow!" smiled Ash. "Thank you." "What kind of Pokeball did you get Reiko?" asked Cameron. "I got this pretty pink Pokeball", smiled Reiko as she gazed at its beautiful bright pink color. "Like the Staryu that has a jewel with the seven-colors of the rainbow, this is truly a wondrous sight." "I'm glad you like it Reiko", smiled Glory-Sue. "Cuz' that there's a Love Ball. If the Pokemon you want to catch suddenly falls in love, you'll be able to catch it easily with that ball." "Really?" smiled Reiko. "Wow Reiko", smiled Cameron. "You will be like Cupid who uses the power of love to capture people's hearts and take control of them. Like you did with mine!" "Came-chan!" sighed Reiko as she was about to go over and hug him until Growlithe growled her back once again. "Maybe I should get you to fall in love so I can lock you in this ball!" groaned Reiko as she stared annoyingly at the sneering Growlithe. * * * * * * Soon it was time for our heroes to continue their journey. "Wait Tracey", said Glory-Sue, "I want to give you one last present." And she handed him a delicious smelling pie. "Wow, you baked an apricorn pie for me?" he asked while smiling. "And is it..." "Yes, it's green apricorn pie", smiled Glory-Sue. "Eeeyeew!" whispered Misty at the thought of eating green food. "And look", smiled Tracey. "There's someone's phone number carved on top of the crust!" "Yep", smiled Glory-Sue. "Please call me sometime!" Tracey blushed as he looked up at his smiling southern belle and then gave her a passionate kiss while everyone smiled. Then our heroes left the farm waving goodbye to Paw, Cletus, Lumpy, and a heart covered Glory-Sue. "So my only daughter has finally found true love", smiled Paw. "It looks like we might be havin' a shotgun weddin' pretty soon." "Can we do it without the shotgun Paw?" asked Glory-Sue. "Okay, we'll make it a spitball weddin'" smiled Paw. Glory-Sue just shook her head, sighed, and continued waving goodbye to the new friends and boyfriend she just made. TO BE CONTINUED