Part Three: Professor Oak and the Pallet Pokèmon Peril

  They had been sailing for a few hours now. It was a beautiful day to be on the water, and Jon enjoyed the fresh sea air. It sure beat the musty, mothball smell at the orphanage. He took out the map Mrs. Appletree had given him, and tried to figure out where exactly they were. "Man, I wish I knew a thing about navigation. I can't tell where we are at all." Just then, Cueball began to get excited.

  "Cubone! Cubone bone bone, Cuuuu-Boooooone!" He was jumping up and down with glee, much to the discontent of Lucky, whose head the little Pokèmon was on top of. Cueball was pointing with his club, and yelling like crazy.

  "What do you see, Cueball?"

  "Cu-BOOOOOONE!"

  Jon looked to where Cueball was pointing, but couldn't see anything. He stood up to get a better view of the horizon. And that's when he saw it. LAND. At long last, they sighted land. It was a small island with one little town situated on the coast. Hurriedly, he took out his map again and looked for something that resembled what he was seeing. It was Cinnabar Island. They had made it accross the channel.

  "Look, guys! That's Cinnabar Island! We made it! Now all we have to do is sail north of it and we'll be in Pallet Town!"

  Lucky let out a glad howl, he was tired from swimming all day, and wanted to rest.

  "You tired, Lucky? We'll get you into a Pokèmon Center as soon as we hit land. Then we'll go and see Professor Oak. What do you think?"

  Lucky howled his approval, and picked up his pace. He was anxious to get to Pallet, they all were. It had been a long day, and they all knew it was only the first of many.


  They finally reached the coast, and could see Pallet off in the distance. Jon and Cueball climbed down off Lucky. 

  "Well, guys, we're here!" Jon took out the Pokèball he kept Lucky in, and tossed it up into the air. "Lucky, return!" The Lapras zipped into his ball, and it came down into Jon's hand. Putting it into his bag with his other Pokèballs, he and Cueball began to make their way towards the town. "We'll be in town in a little while. Then you guys can get some rest."

  A half an hour later, they walked into town. Jon began to look for the Pokèmon Center, and found it right next to Professor Oak's lab. "Boy, that sure is convenient. We don't have to run all over town to get what we need to do done." Cueball nodded his approval, and they strode through the doors of the Center. 

  "Hello! Welcome to the Pallet Toen Pokèmon Center!" Jon turned around, and saw a nurse, along with a Chansey in nurse's gear. "I'm Nurse Joy. Can I help you?"

  "Yeah, you bet. My Pokèmon could use a little R and R, but Cueball here doesn't like to be in a ball. Can you give them a good once-over?"

  "Alright! We can cater to your Cubone, no problem!"

  "Great. I need to see Professor Oak next door. Could you send someone to get me when the Pokèmon are ready?"

  "Sure thing! We'll take good care of your Pokèmon!"

  "Thanks Nurse Joy." Jon turned to Cueball and knelt down. "I'll be right next door, OK, buddy?"

  "Cubone!" Cueball happily grunted. 

  "OK. See ya in a bit!" Jon turned and walked out of the Center, and made his way to the Lab next door. This place is huge, Jon thought. He noticed a video panel next to the door, and assumed that this must be the doorbell. So, he lifted his finger and pressed the button. After a few seconds, the screen popped to life, and the image of Professor Oak appeared.

  "Can I help you?" The professor said.

  "Um, yes, Professor Oak? My name is Jonathan Leary, from Boulder Town in the south."

  "Oh, Boulder Town! It's been years since I've been down there! Tell me, you wouldn't by any chance know Edith Appletree, would you?"

  "Appletree? Well sure I do! She's in charge of the orphanage where I grew up."

  "Oh my." The Professor suddenly seemed very serious. "Please, come in. Muk will lead you to my lab area."

  "OK, Professor." The doors opened slowly, and just inside, Jon saw an undulating blob of, from what he could tell, motor oil. He didn't know what to make of it untill it crept toward him slowly, and began to grumble. Jon stepped back for a second. He'd never seen a Pokèmon like this before. "You must be Muk." The blob just looked at him oddly, then turned and made it's way into the lab. "Well, I guess I should follow it." He stepped inside, and followed the sludge Pokèmon, though at a distance, down the hall.


   The Muk led Jon into a large laborotory, filled with bubbeling beakers over bunson burners and all sorts of machines, none of which struck him as familiar. On one table was something that looked like a transporter right out of the Star Trek reruns that Lyss was fond of watching back at the orphanage. Next to that was a huge computer with a giant monitor, and further down were scales and rulers. These were obviously for measuring Pokèmon growth, but they were all that Jon could identify for sure. He turned around, and saw a short man in a lab smock, bent over one of the machines. It was Professor Oak, the Pallet Pokèmon Prof.

  "Welcome to my lab, Jon. Believe it or not, I've been expecting you."

  "You have, Professor?"

  "Oh yes. Edith, er, Mrs. Appletree phoned me and told me you'ld be coming. But she only said that your name was Jonathan. I was confused for a second when you rang the front bell, because Jon is such a popular name. But when you mentioned the orphanage, I knew she meant you."

  "Uh, I guess so. What are you doing, Professor?"

  The machine that Professer Oak was working with was about the size of the television that was in the meeting room at the orphanage. It had three depressions in the top, one of which had a Pokèball resting in it. The front had several guages, dials, buttons and other meters.

  "This is my Pokèmon Analysis Device. With it, I can record and compare the strengths of Pokèmon of the same breed."

  "But why would you want to compare two similar Pokèmon?"

  "You see, Jon, despite being of the same species, each Pokèmon grows and develops their abilities in different ways, and at different rates. By studying these variances, I'm hoping to be able to prove that Pokèmon are just as distinct as you or I."

  "Wow. That's pretty wild. So all this stuff is for studying all the different Pokèmon? That's pretty cool, Professor."

  "Oh, I don't know about cool, but it is my livelyhood. I've made it my life's work to
study and document the different Pokèmon in the world."

  "Man, that's gotta be some task. How do you get all your Pokèmon, Professor?"

   Oak walked over to the wall and pressed a button on a remote he had pulled from his lab coat pocket. As the wall came up, Jon saw rack after rack, each loaded with Pokèballs of all different sizes and colors. "These are the Pokèmon that the trainers from here in Pallet send me. The Muk that brought you into the lab belongs to a trainer named Ash, though it seems to have taken a likeing to me since it's been here."

  "So that's what that transporter looking thing is for, huh?"

  "Precisely. Anyway, the trainers send me their Pokèmon so I can study everything about them, their habbits, diet, even their fighting skills."

  "Jeez. And why are there so many different Pokèballs?"

  "There are many types of Pokèballs, Jon. For example, these slightly larger ones are Great Balls. And these green ones here, these are Safari Balls from the Safari Zone in Fuscia City. With the exception of the Safari Balls, each type of ball has different odds of catching and holding Pokèmon, depending on their strength."

  "Woah!" Jon was dumbfounded. He knew that there were many different types of Pokèmon in the world, but this was beyond anything he'd ever dreamed of. Great Balls, Safari Balls. He had alot to learn.

  "And this..." Oak reached into a side cupboard and pulled out a very large Pokèball. "This is the Master Ball. It was developed in Saffron City by the Silph Corporation. It's 100% garunteed to catch any Pokèmon it's thrown at, no matter how strong or large it is. But this is the only other one besides the one Ash has. Silph only made two, before Team Rocket tried to take the company over."

  "Team Rocket? Who are they?"

  "You'll find out, all in good time, my boy. Right now, though, I need your help with a slight problem that Pallet has been experiencing."

  "Uh, a slight problem?"

  "Yes. With all the town trainers out training for the Indigo League Tournement, there's no one left to help me. That's why I was hoping you'ld arrive soon, which you thankfully did."

  "Well, what's the trouble, Professor? I'd be glad to help."

  "Good. It seems that the town's Pokèmon have started disappearing."

  "Disappearing?"

  "Yes. Several days ago, Ash's mother woke up to find her housekeeper, A Mr. Mime, was gone without a trace. She looked all over, even going as far as Viridian City with no luck. After that, more Pokèmon belonging to the townspeople began to vanish. No one knows who is doing this or why, but I'm willing to bet my research that Team Rocket has something to do with it all. There's no other reason that fits. Rocket's activity has been picking up in this area, according to the local news lately."

  "Sounds pretty serious. What can I do about it?"

  "With all the other trainers out of town, I'm betting that Team Rocket thinks they have carte blanch around here. Ash has allowed the use of a few of his Pokèmon to help catch the crooks and return everyone's Pokèmon. And you've been volunteered, in a manner of speaking."

  "Use someone else's Pokèmon? Are you sure that's a good idea, Professor? They might not listen to me."

  "That's why I've developed this device. It's a Pokèmon Behavioral Modifier. It allows the trainer who posesses it to control Pokèmon from other trainers with more success. Ash's Muk and Krabby have responded well to it, so you'll be taking them along with you. And here." Professor Oak went over to his desk, opened the middle drawer, and pulled out a small red box. "This is your Pokèdex, Jon. It will document any Pokèmon you see or capture along the way."

  "Wow. A Pokèdex. I've heard of these. And this one's for me?"

  "Yes, Jon. It also contains information on all the areas that Ash and my grandson, Gary, have visited. They are the only two trainers from Pallet who haven't given up their Pokèmon Quests. The others decided to quit and settle wherever they ended up."

  "Woah." Jon was enthralled by the incredible knowledge and abilities of the old man who stood before him. This was an incredible task, and he hoped he could live up to Professor Oak's high expectations.

  "Alright, you're all set, Jon. Muk? Hop on into your Pokèball!" The Professor held up a ball, and the red beam shot out at Muk, and returned it to the confines of the ball. He then brought out another ball, this one containing Krabby. "Here are Muk and Krabby. Your Pokèdex will bring you up to speed on their attacks and abilities." 

  "Muk and Krabby. Alright. Where do I begin, though, Professor? It's a pretty big world out there."

  "Well, Jon, you might want to try Veridian City first. It's the next town over. Reports on the news are hinting that Team Rocket's activities are fairly heavy there. I'm willing to bet that that's their base of operations. If you hae any problems, don't heasitate to call me."

  "Alright, Professor. Here we go." Jon turned to leave, but turned back quickly. There was one last thing on his mind. "Um, Professor?"

  "Yes, Jon?"

  "Did Mrs. Appletree say anything about my friend, Alyssa, when she called? She was really upset when I left."

  "No, not that I can remember."

  "Oh. Alright. Thanks, Professor Oak. I'll do my best." Jon's heart sank a little. He missed Lyss like there was no tomorrow, and to not hear anything made him rather glum.

  "I know you will, Jon."

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