Last time on Pokemon: Johto Quest! Emily, Eddy, and Gnasher slayed an evil Hypno that had kidnapped Emily, who obtained her second badge from Goldenrod City Gym Leader Whitney afterwards. But that’s not all. For you see, Gnasher and Juile had also evolved!
After traversing a forest south of Goldenrod City whose trees were tightly packed in a way that allowed them to block out the sun, Emily and Eddy emerged from a green and brown building and found themselves in a tiny town enveloped by trees. To their right was an orange and brown building with a green, single level house on either side, with a small, blue creature smiling yet carefully balancing one foot on the tip of the roof of the one on the left, as well as a similar looking house a little further down with charcoal piles in front. To their left was a signpost that read, “Azalea Town,” and in the distance was a double level house with a large well right next to it.
Upon gazing at the double level house, a wave of memories wash over his mind, including one where he and Andy frolicked in the yard and another where he assisted Andy and her family with decorating their Christmas tree. The inside of his body soon filled up with joy as a tear glided down his cheek.
Emily gestures to the orange and brown building. “Look Eddy! They have a gym here.”
Just as Emily was about to dash towards the building, Eddy quickly grabbed her sleeve and pointed to the double level house.
“What’s so special about that?” Emily asked.
Eddy grinned and jogged to the house. Emily scratched her head and followed shortly after. But Emily soon noticed that the blue creature was about to hit the ground. She rushed to the green house. Just when the creature was about to harshly make contact with the ground, Emily dove, catching it.
Hugging the creature tightly, Emily rose to her feet as Eddy caught up to her. Emily examined the creature more closely. The blue creature was armless with eyes resembling black buttons with small white centers. Sprouting from the sides of its head were purple branches and covering its whole body was a thin, transparent layer of slime.
“Oh my gosh! It’s a Wooper!” Emily exclaimed as she showed the creature to Eddy.
Suddenly, the Wooper caught a whiff of strong, smoky, barbecue scented air and leaped out of Emily’s arms, scuttling in the direction of the scent’s source soon after. Soon, the Wooper arrived at the house with the charcoal piles and slapped its paddle-shaped tail against the door. A somewhat soot covered man opened it.
In his hand was a plate of barbecued meat. He laughed as he placed it in front of the Wooper. “Hello little one. How are you doing?”
The Wooper gave him a dopey smile before digging into its meal. Once it finished, it smiled, for a light bulb went off in its head. It ran over to Emily and Eddy, tugging on Emily’s sock to encourage her to follow. Emily complied and Eddy joined her.
“Well look at you making new friends,” the man said when the trio arrived at the charcoal house.
Emily pointed to the Wooper. “Is this yours?”
“No,” the man said. He then gestured to the Wooper. “But how can you not feed a cute little face like that?”
The Wooper smiled and stuck out its tongue.
“Can I keep it?” Emily asked.
“Well, he seems to be a wild Pokemon, maybe from Union Cave down the road, so... uh.” The man looked down at the Wooper. “What do you think little fella?”
The Wooper strolled towards Emily, a winning smile plastered on his face, and wrapped his tail around her leg, as it was the only method he could use to give hugs. Then, he leapt just high enough to reach Eddy’s hand and use his tail to give him a high five. Eddy happily obliges.
Emily laughed. “Well I guess that seals it!” She retrieved a Poke Ball from her bag before stroking her chin and slipping into deep thought. In her mind, she pictured a Rolodex cycling through several names. Moments later, she grins at the Wooper. “Benny! Like the Wooper from Wooper Space Commander! That’s what I’d like to name you. Do you like that one?”
The Wooper smiled and stuck its tongue out. With that, Emily threw the Poke Ball at him. The ball wiggled three times. Then, it clicked as white sparks flew from it. Emily picked it up, fished a marker from her pocket, wrote “BE” on top of the ball, and placed it on her belt.
“I’ll admit. I’m gonna miss the little guy,” the man said. “But I’m glad he’s got a family now.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of him,” Emily replied. “Right Eddy?”
Eddy smiled and nodded.
The man chuckled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret about Benny. I might’ve taught him a move or two.”
“Really? Which ones?” Emily inquired.
“Let’s see. The first move I taught hi---”
A voice escaped from the house. “Uh Dad. The meat is starting to burn.”
“Be right there kid!” the man replied, slamming the door shut.
Emily scoffed. “Darn it! Well, what do we do now?”
Eddy shrugged and pointed to the gym.
It was sweltering and steamy inside the gym. Puddles and skyscrapers nearly swallowed by moss and flower populated vines were scattered throughout. Some of them stood as straight as soldiers while others leaned. There were even some trees sprouting from them in a way that made them look like they were holding an umbrella. Green and yellow spider-like creatures with tiny horns emerging from their foreheads scuttled about and red and white dragonfly-like creatures with green eyes resembling goggles soared.
Eddy panted and tugged on the wool around his neck as if it were a shirt collar. Emily picked up a nearby leaf with a thick stem and fanned herself from it, partly to distract herself from the fact that she was slightly shivering while her skin prickled from the thought of a spider-like creature crawling on her and partly to prevent her from becoming afflicted by heat stroke.
“Oh no it’s abandoned,” Emily said. “Sorry Eddy. L-Let’s just go to that house.”
Eddy nodded.
They tried to leave. But a Tarzan-like yell abruptly echoed throughout the gym, freezing Eddy and Emily in their tracks. Heading towards them was a purple haired boy. He bounced off the sides of the skyscrapers and swung from tree vine to tree vine swiftly enough to rival the greatest acrobats on the planet. He landed right in front of our heroes moments later. On his back was a worn out yet sturdy bug net. Eddy and Emily exchanged looks. Then they gave him a round of applause.
The boy laughed. “Thank you, thank you. Don’t worry, this gym isn’t aba---”
“How did you do that?” Emily exclaimed as she pointed to him.
“Practice. Lots of practice. The name is Bugsy. I’m the Gym Leader here. Let me guess. You’re Emily and Eddy, right?”
Emily grinned. “Yeah! I got Whitney’s badge and we slayed a Hypno.” Emily then lowered her voice. “T-The last part got pretty gross though.”
“Yeah,” Bugsy replied, “that match was Butterfreaking good. Think it would’ve been better to see it in person than on a five inch phone screen but... Oh well. Speaking of matches, you want a match with me?”
Emily leapt as high into the air as she could. “Yeah! Bring it on jungle boy!”
Bugsy grinned. “Awesome! Meet you on the other side of the gym.”
Emily shivered. “Wait! Do I gotta clim---”
Bugsy took off in the same way he arrived.
Emily glanced up at one of the skyscrapers. She shook and gulped. Then, she sprinted after Busgy, with Eddy following close behind. As she ran through the gym, spider-like creature upon spider-like creature leapt onto Emily, slowly covering her from head to toe. In their view, she smelled absolutely delectable. Emily clenched her teeth, her skin feeling extremely itchy. But still, she continued to run.
“Eddy! Use Thunderbolt!” Emily screamed.
Eddy pointed his arm towards the spider-like creatures and a bolt of blue lightning burst from his hand, causing several of them to screech and fly off of Emily upon impact.
“Alright!” Emily exclaimed. But then she looked at herself closer. There were still a few spider-like creatures clinging to her. “Oh come on!”
She hastily tore them off and tossed them into trees and the open windows of the skyscrapers.
Eventually, Eddy and Emily climbed a gigantic, moss covered staircase, stopping dead in their tracks when they reached the top. On the other side of a massive, seemingly bottomless hole covered by an artificial spider web was Bugsy feeding and petting a group of spider-like creatures. Emily stood in silence for a moment. Then, she planted her face inside Eddy’s wool and sighed.
Bugsy redirected his attention to our heroes and laughed. “There you are. Was starting to get a little worried. So, you ready for battle?”
Emily spun around with an enormous grin on her face. “You’re darn right I am!”
“Then allow me to give you an Ariados of my talent!”
Bugsy then playfully slapped a button behind him with a label above it that read, “Cameras.” The button began to glow and the cameras activated, turning to where Emily, Eddy, and Bugsy were standing. Bugsy and Emily took turns gazing at the camera and introducing themselves with great enthusiasm.
Bugsy then turned to Emily. “Before we start, let me get one thing out of the way. No dog-like Pokemon. Last time someone used one, I got hives, I couldn’t breathe, and I was a mess so don’t do it.”
Emily nodded with widened eyes.
“Great! Let’s get started!” Bugsy said with a wink. From his belt, Bugsy grabbed one of the blue-green and white balls with a net-like pattern spread across the top. “Go! Ariados!”
He hurled the ball toward the giant spider web and out came a large, red and black spider-like creature with purple and yellow striped legs and a thick horn sprouting from its forehead.
Emily winced and groaned. “Oh man!”
Bugsy laughed and shook his head. “What do you got against spider-like Pokemon?”
“Too many legs.”
“Oh then you’d hate Octillery.”
“I don’t even know what that is!”
After that, Emily stroked her chin, pondering about who she’d send into battle first. Then, a short memory involving a bug-like creature becoming incapacitated when it flew into a bug zapper back in Iroko Town played out in her mind.
“Alright Eddy! Get in there!” Emily yelled the moment the memory finished playing.
Eddy nodded and hopped onto the web.
Every spider and dragonfly-like creature in the gym gathered around the area with the web, their bodies buzzing with excitement. Bugsy chuckled and waved to the newly formed crowd, who grinned and raised their front limbs in the air.
“Alright Ariados! Use Sludge Bomb!” Bugsy commanded.
“Dodge it Eddy!” Emily ordered.
The Ariados shook its head as it spat tight clumps of purple sludge as Eddy hastily weaved around them like a skilled slalom skier. One of the clumps managed to pound Eddy’s stomach a moment later, exploding on contact and knocking off his feet.
“Use Thunderbolt Eddy!” Emily yelled.
Eddy rolled and leapt, sending a huge bolt of blue lightning hurtling towards the Ariados. The Ariados bounced to the side to avoid its wrath, but the bolt still struck it, causing it to shut its eyes and squirm. Then, the Ariados shook like a wet creature and began panting quietly.
“Nice job Eddy!” Emily exclaimed. “Now use Thunder Wave!”
“Ariados! Scary Face!” said Bugsy.
Eddy spat a small jolt of electricity as the Ariados reared up and fired a massive, glowing red face similar to the rock snake that took Andy from him out its stomach, striking Eddy at near light speed and destroying the jolt. Moments later, blue arrows run down Eddy’s body. His legs were like cinder blocks. Regardless, he bolted towards Emily, shaking. At that moment, all he wanted was for Emily to hold him.
“It’s okay,” Emily whispered. “It’s not a real face.”
He knew Emily was right. But, the face of the rock snake and its echoing roars refused to leave his head. He continued to shake. However, his mouth gradually formed into a grin, remembering the great times of courage, including the time he and Emily outwitted the rock snake outside Mahogany Town.
With that, he let go of Emily and shuffled back to where he was before. When he arrived at the web covered hole however, he unwillingly alternated between grinning and frowning, as if invisible forces were playing tug of war with his mouth. He clenched his fists, fighting to keep his mouth formed into a hard, straight line. He didn’t understand. He heard Emily’s words about the face. He reminisced. But, he still struggled to find out why he couldn’t shake his uneasiness. Then, he began to pant.
Emily looked around, mouth slightly opened. “Uh, Eddy. Are you still---”
Eddy stomped off the web covered hole. He sat down next to Emily, folding his arms soon after. Emily looked at Eddy with a long face. She had no memory of him ever acting this way. Then, she pictured herself sitting at a table with five blurry cards laid out before her. Her fingers slowly glided over the cards before carelessly landing on one of them, causing the image on the card to become clearer.
“Hey Bugsy! Can we hold our Pokemon while they battle?” Emily suddenly asked.
“No. Sorry about that,” Bugsy replied.
Emily snapped her fingers and huffed. “Dang it!” She crouched beside Eddy. “Sorry. I tried.”
Eddy patted her on the back of her leg.
“So, did you want to send you another Pokemon?” Bugsy asked.
Emily sighed. Then, she grabbed Benny’s Poke Ball from her belt and tossed it. “Arlight Benny! Show him what you got!”
Once Benny was out of the ball, he landed on the web covered hole and squealed. Then, he swiftly bounced, his head smacking the web upon completing his descent, and flipped to his feet. The gym began to rumble like an airplane entering turbulence. The spider-like creatures clung to where they were. Eddy jumped onto Emily’s back. She, along with Bugsy, involuntarily performed a dance to stay on their feet.
The web bounced violently. The Ariados grew dizzy and it struggled to hold onto the web. Soon, its grip slipped for just a moment, flinging it with great force towards the ceiling. It smashed into it and spun to the ground. It landed a moment later, back facing the web. Its eyes were replaced by black spirals.
Bugsy froze, his jaw greatly agape. Emily cheered as Eddy returned to sitting next to her with a slight smile.
“Holy crap! That guy is a powerhouse!” Bugsy shouted.
“I know that was so cool!” Emily yelled, her arms flailing up and down. “I can’t believe he knows Earthquake!”
Benny scuttled over to Emily, giving her a hug with his tail before giving Eddy a high five with it moments later, making Eddy’s smile grow just a little more. Then Benny returned to the web, smiling with his tongue sticking out, as Bugsy returned the Ariados to its now greyed out ball.
“Are you ready to battle again?” Emily whispered to Eddy. He squinted as he tilted his hand from side to side. “Okay. Let me know when you are.”
Eddy nodded.
“Well,” said Bugsy, “you and Benny might’ve taken out my Ariados. But remember, those who get cocky must prepare for beefeat.”
Emily laughed.
Bugsy quietly gasped. “Wait! You actually laughed at that?”
“Oh. W-Was I not supposed to?” Emily asked.
“No,” Bugsy replied. “Y-You’re not uh---” He hastily turned from Emily, grinning. Then, he yanked a small notepad from his pocket, flipping to a page with slightly faded writing at the top that read, “Times Someone Actually Laughed at My Bug Puns.” He added the page’s first tally mark. Afterwards, he beamed, eyes closed and nearly ready to burst into tears. He put the notepad away with great care before turning to Emily, chuckling. “Where were we? Oh yeah.”
He took another ball from his belt and hurled it. “Go! Yanma!”
A red and white, dragonfly-like creature with green eyes resembling goggles emerged from the ball, hovering over the web with its wings fluttering a mile a minute. Emily opened her mouth, about to command Benny to use Earthquake once more, but quickly zipped her lips, realizing that Yanma’s flight capabilities would probably render the move useless. She frowned. But it immediately morphed into a smile as a light bulb went off in her head.
“Alright Benny! What else you got?” Emily shouted.
Benny swiftly inhaled.
“Yanma,” said Bugsy, “Dod---”
But Benny blasted a swirl-shaped tube of water right at the Yanma’s face. The attack blinded it, forcing it to perform flips to keep itself airborne. The Yanma soon regained its focus, but its wings fluttered at a slightly slower rate.
Bugsy laughed. “Ah, Water Gun. Nice. Okay, Yanma, use Aerial Ace!”
“Block it with Water Gun Benny!” Emily commanded.
Benny inhaled. But within an instant, the Yanma flew towards him at great speed, its body glowing white, and gripped one of his branches, dragging him through the dirt path leading up to the staircase a moment later. Benny groaned, feeling slightly dizzy. Despite that, he smiled and performed a little flip to escape from the rut left behind by the Yanma. Thanks to his body’s slightly slimy coating, his feet were able to cling to a rocky wall leading back to the web, allowing him to climb it with ease.
Shortly after, Benny was back on the web.
“Alright Yanma! Use Supersonic!” Bugsy ordered.
“Know anything else Benny?” Emily asked.
Benny nodded. Then, as several jagged yellow rings flew from the Yanma’s mouth, Benny yawned and a multitude of orange bubbles hurtled towards the Yanma and destroyed the rings. Within inches of the Yanma’s face, the bubbles popped, causing the Yanma to grow drowsy. Then, the Yanma had no choice but to lay down and drift off.
Emily grinned. “Nice job Benny! Now we get an easy shot!”
But Bugsy fished a light-blue spray bottle from his other pocket, smirking as he held it up. “Oh really?”
Emily gasped. “Wait! You can use items in gym battles?”
“Sure can,” Bugsy replied. “Watch.”
He then sprayed the Yanma, who quickly awakened. Emily retrieved a purple spray bottle from her bag and sprayed Eddy’s wounds with it. Within a matter of seconds, the wounds disappeared. He smiled. Then, he began reflecting on Benny’s recent performance in battle, noting that he smiled, even when taking on foes much larger than himself like the Ariados and the Yanma. A surge of confidence immediately flowed through Eddy’s body as he stood triumphantly and sprinted onto the web, giving Benny a high five soon after.
Emily scratched her head. Then, she gasped. “Wait! Are you ready to battle again?” Eddy grinned and nodded. “Okay Benny, great job out there.” She then returned Benny to his ball. “Alright Eddy! Use Thunderbolt!”
“Yanma! Aerial Ace!” Bugsy yelled.
The Yanma glowed and flew at breakneck speed. But Eddy thrusted his arm at the Yanma and sent a large blue bolt careening towards it. The bolt struck the Yanma, causing it to screech and nearly fall to the ground. The Yanma panted, struggling to keep its wings fluttering. Despite that, it flipped and zigzagged across the web, colliding into Eddy’s stomach and sending him flying into one of the skyscrapers. Eddy grunted. But he landed on his feet and delivered another Thunderbolt to the Yanma. It crashed to the ground with black spirals in its eyes.
Emily cheered as Eddy returned to the web. “Nice aim Eddy!”
“Yeah!” Bugsy said, returning the Yanma to its greyed out ball. “That guy is one heck of a sniper.”
Emily grinned. “Looks like you’re the one whose been beefeated.”
Bugsy laughed. “And you’d be right---” He grabbed the last ball off of his belt and held it up. “If I didn’t have one last Pokemon. Go! Scizor!”
He threw the ball and a tall, red, two legged bug-like creature emerged. Its head was shaped like a bird’s footprint and its large claws resembled boxing gloves. The Scizor grinned with its arms behind its head. The spider-like creatures frowned and screeched. Some of the dragonfly-like creatures however, spun and sighed with delight before fainting.
Emily smiled and pointed to the Scizor. “Hey I know this one! There’s this Good Book of Arceus story about one who has to stop this mill from being taken over by evil Grimer and stuff. It’s my favorite! I’ve read it like thirty times!”
“Good Book of Arceus?” Bugsy wondered. “Sounds like a Sinnoh region thing.”
“Yeah! My mommy is from there. We live in the colonies.”
“Oh I get it now. Okay.” From one of his pockets, he pulled out a tiny water bottle and downed it in a heartbeat. “Alright Scizor, use Bullet Punch!”
“Eddy use Thunder Wave!”
The Scizor took off like a rocket towards Eddy, its wings fluttering rapidly and one of its now glowing claws in fist formation in front of it. Within a split second, Eddy spat a tiny jolt of electricity, which hit, and leapt onto the Scizor’s back. The Scizor peered over its shoulder and scowled, its movements slowed. It zipped around the gym, trying with all its might to shake Eddy. But Eddy clung to it.
“Woah!” said Emily. “Okay, now use Thunderbolt!”
Eddy does so, forcefully placing his hand onto the Scizor’s neck and sending a giant bolt of blue electricity surging down his arm. The bolt zapped it hard enough to make it jitter about, forcing it to lose its concentration and crash into one of the trees. Eddy flew through the air, unwillingly performing somersaults, and landed in a puddle. He leapt to his feet and shook to make himself feel just a little drier.
Upon returning to the web, Eddy noticed that the Scizor still stood, panting and shaking with an even more pronounced scowl. Little sparks slithered down its body. Bugsy pulled out a yellow spray bottle from his pocket and used it on the Scizor, making it feel lighter and forcing the sparks to no longer appear.
“Oh man. Looks like that Scizor is gonna fall any minute,” Emily thought. Then she began speaking aloud. “Okay Eddy! Give it a big Thunderbolt to finish it off!”
“Counter it with U-Turn!” Bugsy commanded.
Within the blink of an eye, the Scizor’s body became bathed in a forest-green glow, dashed into Eddy like it was using its body to perform a left hook, and returned to where it was. The attack threw Eddy into the crowd of creatures, nearly crushing some of them. Eddy sprung to his feet and rolled his shoulders.
“It’s okay Eddy,” Emily shouted, “try---”
But Eddy lunged his arm towards the Scizor and a giant jolt of electricity struck its forehead. In an instant, the Scizor is forced onto its back, its energy drained and black spirals replacing its normal eyes. Emily cheered and performed a little dance as Eddy beamed and put his hands on his hips.
“How does beefeat taste Bugsy?” Emily asked, pointing to Bugsy.
Bugsy shrugged. “Eh. We all gotta lose sometimes.” He returned the Scizor to its ball, walking over to Emily shortly after. Out of his pocket, he pulled a TM labeled, “U-Turn,” a badge shaped like a ladybug, and a stack of Poken. He then handed them to Emily. “For beating me fair and square.”
Emily’s eyes lit up the moment they laid upon the Poken. Then she gasped. “Yay! More money!” She hugged the Poken. “I’m gonna be the richest kid in Johto by the time I get all the badges. Then I can buy all the not Mago Berry pies I want.”
Eddy joined her and peered at the spoils. Eddy grabbed the TM and examined it.
“Oh sorry buddy. You can’t learn that move,” said Bugsy, causing Eddy to nearly drop the TM. Eddy sighed and handed it back to Emily. Then she put everything away. “So if I understand this correctly, this is about your third badge or so. How do you feel?”
“Awesome!” Emily declared. “Like I can take out all the rest of the gym leaders easy.”
Bugsy laughed. “Well I wish you good luck.”
Shortly after our heroes exited the gym, they walked towards a nearby Pokemon Center facing the back of the gym. But halfway there, something dawned on Emily.
“Oh I almost forgot,” said Emily. “Did you still wanna go to that house?”
Eddy beamed and nodded. When he and Emily arrived at the house, Eddy smiled as butterflies fluttered about in his stomach. He shuffled to the door and knocked slowly. It opened moments later and a woman stepped into the door frame.
“Oh hello there,” the woman said. “How can I help you?”
Emily pointed to Eddy. “He wanted to come here. This is Eddy and I’m Emily.”
“Oh I think I know you. You’re the girl with the height problem. I may not be as much into battling as I used to be. But I still catch the matches every once in a while.”
“Yeah I just got my third badge!”
“Good to hear.” Emily and Eddy smelled something warm and delectable coming from inside the house. They grinned as their mouths watered. “That’s the smell of the Bluk Berry pie. Would you like some?”
They quickly nodded.
The woman giggled. “Well come in then.”
Once inside the house, Eddy looked around. His home hadn’t changed all that much since he left. The plush chairs still resided by the electric fireplace and the magnets on the fridge hadn’t moved. Eddy smiled and ran towards a basket in the middle of the kitchen table. He feverishly dug through it and yanked a RageCandyBar from the bottom. He devoured it the moment he peeled off its wrapper.
The woman laughed. “Well you sure know your way around.”
Shortly after the pie finished baking, Eddy, Emily, and the woman were sitting at the kitchen table, grins plastered on their faces. Tears began to form in Eddy’s eyes. He may have adored RageCandyBars, but he knew that nothing compared to a taste of home like that.
“I think I just found my new favorite flavored anything!” Emily announced.
The woman chuckled. “Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone to share my pies with. Tom and Ricky are out on their little journeys and my daught--- Uh. She’s not around.”
“Oh. Well I hope she comes back soon,” Emily replied.
The woman sighed, a tiny tear falling down her cheek, for what happened to her daughter was something that she could never come back from.
“Well I certainly miss her,” the woman said. Eddy then gave her a warm hug. “Oh thank you sweetheart.”
Once the trio finished their pie, they all got up from the table. Eddy jogged towards the electric fireplace and turned it on. He tuned a radio on a table next to one of the chairs to one of its many available stations.
“The Serial Radio Drama Program presents Johto Case Notes episode two,” said the announcer on the radio.
The woman smiled and clapped her hands once. “Ooh you smart little thing. How did you know this was my favorite station?”
Eddy smiles. Then, he peered at a picture sitting atop the electric fireplace. It was of Andy in her black ball cap that he’d almost never seen her without. In that picture, she was in front of a lake with him during his days as a Mareep. He slowly walked towards it, grabbing it gently as if he was handling a baby. Then, with a smile, he hugged it.
Emily and the woman soon turned their attention to Eddy. Emily squinted and stroked her chin. But the woman just left her jaw agape, for in her mind, she added up Eddy knowing that the RageCandyBar was at the bottom of the basket, him knowing her favorite radio station, and the fact that he was hugging a photo of her daughter and a pink Mareep. After that, an answer popped into her mind.
“Is that you Ernie?” the woman asked Eddy.
“Ernie?” said Emily. “Bu---”
Eddy nodded.
The woman grinned, bursting into tears. She dashed over to Eddy, giving him a warm, welcoming hug. Eddy smiled. The woman’s hug lasted for quite some time.
“Sorry about that,” the woman said when she finished hugging him. “It’s just been too long for me. There’s also something I’d like to give you. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
The woman ran towards a staircase past the kitchen and quickly traversed it.
“I’m sorry,” said Emily. “I didn’t know you had another name. Do you want me to call you Ernie?” Eddy smiled and shook his head. “Oh okay. Why were you hugging that picture?” Eddy showed her the picture and pointed to Andy. “Who’s that?”
Eddy sighed, a glum sensation spreading throughout his body.
The woman came back with a TM labeled, “Brick Break” and showed it to Eddy. “I think you’ve reached the point where you can actually use this.”
She opened it up and placed it on his head. Eddy chose to forget Tackle and replaced it with Brick Break. He performed a brief little dance. Emily and the woman laughed. Then, Eddy walked over to Emily and gestured towards the stairs. Emily scratched her head for a moment, but went to the stairs with Eddy.
Upstairs, Eddy examined the hall. Then, he spotted it. On the left was a door with a lovingly crafted, hand painted sign that read, “Andy’s space.” He cautiously approached the door, feeling as if a giant, undefeatable creature would wake and attack him if he didn’t. He gently took hold of the door knob and turned it.
From the bed with lightning bolts on the blankets to the desk with the large yellow and cyan colored notebook to the dresser with the wood framed stone holder sitting next to a mirror, nothing had been disturbed. In fact, there was even a thin layer of dust on them. He grinned and was a tad bit jittery. He jogged to the desk, grabbing the notebook and gently blowing the dust away. With the dust gone, a label was now visible. It read, “My Dream.”
When he hopped onto the bed, he prompted Emily to join him. She obliged. Moments later, the two were examining the inside of the notebook, which contained various drawings of Electric type Gym Leaders from all around the world and their Pokemon. There were also diagrams outlining the steps to becoming an Electric type Gym Leader and the best strategies to use with that type. On one of the very last pages were drawings of Andy with her own hypothetical team of Electric types, including Eddy, and what her gym would look like.
Upon gazing at the drawings, Eddy’s body felt like lead and he was about to cry. He couldn’t snatch her from the jaws of the rock snake and because of that, she would never achieve her dream.
“Andy seems cool,” said Emily. Eddy had burst into tears. “I’m sorry. Did I say something bad?” Eddy shook his head. “Is it about Andy?”
Eddy nodded. Then, he performed a round of charades demonstrating Andy’s fate. The room was silent. Emily stared at the floor with a heavy heart. Moments later, she looked up at Eddy and gave him a hug. Various memories of him swooping in to save Emily played out in his mind and soon, he felt like a jumpstarted battery.
He leapt from the bed and fished the Ice Stone from his wool. He went to the wood framed stone holder, carefully removed the glass, and slowly placed the Ice Stone in the empty slot. He stepped back and smiled at the holder in silence. At that moment, a hole in his heart had been filled, realizing that, while Andy may not be able to fulfill her gym leader dream, he had at least fulfilled one of her other dreams. He grabbed the stone holder and showed it to Emily, grinning as he did so.
Emily gasped. “Woah. Look at all those stones! I bet Andy would’ve been really happy. Speaking of that, you seem really happy here. Did you... Want to stay?”
Eddy froze, his mind buzzing. On the one hand, he would like to help her achieve her dream of getting the badges and seeing her father once more. But on the other hand, she was right. Moments went by without one of them speaking or moving. But then, Eddy had an epiphany. From his first encounter with Emily to visiting Arthur’s Arcade to partying in the streets of Goldenrod, he was just as joyful during his time with Emily. With that, he shook his head.
Emily stared at him open mouthed. “Wow. Really?”
Eddy beamed and nodded.
“So, does that mean you still wanna be with me?”
Eddy smiled and winked.
With a wide grin on her face, Emily winked and pointed at Eddy. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what you got!”
Then, they gave each other a tight hug.
With the duo’s confidence growing, how will they fare against the challenges that lie ahead? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!
After traversing a forest south of Goldenrod City whose trees were tightly packed in a way that allowed them to block out the sun, Emily and Eddy emerged from a green and brown building and found themselves in a tiny town enveloped by trees. To their right was an orange and brown building with a green, single level house on either side, with a small, blue creature smiling yet carefully balancing one foot on the tip of the roof of the one on the left, as well as a similar looking house a little further down with charcoal piles in front. To their left was a signpost that read, “Azalea Town,” and in the distance was a double level house with a large well right next to it.
Upon gazing at the double level house, a wave of memories wash over his mind, including one where he and Andy frolicked in the yard and another where he assisted Andy and her family with decorating their Christmas tree. The inside of his body soon filled up with joy as a tear glided down his cheek.
Emily gestures to the orange and brown building. “Look Eddy! They have a gym here.”
Just as Emily was about to dash towards the building, Eddy quickly grabbed her sleeve and pointed to the double level house.
“What’s so special about that?” Emily asked.
Eddy grinned and jogged to the house. Emily scratched her head and followed shortly after. But Emily soon noticed that the blue creature was about to hit the ground. She rushed to the green house. Just when the creature was about to harshly make contact with the ground, Emily dove, catching it.
Hugging the creature tightly, Emily rose to her feet as Eddy caught up to her. Emily examined the creature more closely. The blue creature was armless with eyes resembling black buttons with small white centers. Sprouting from the sides of its head were purple branches and covering its whole body was a thin, transparent layer of slime.
“Oh my gosh! It’s a Wooper!” Emily exclaimed as she showed the creature to Eddy.
Suddenly, the Wooper caught a whiff of strong, smoky, barbecue scented air and leaped out of Emily’s arms, scuttling in the direction of the scent’s source soon after. Soon, the Wooper arrived at the house with the charcoal piles and slapped its paddle-shaped tail against the door. A somewhat soot covered man opened it.
In his hand was a plate of barbecued meat. He laughed as he placed it in front of the Wooper. “Hello little one. How are you doing?”
The Wooper gave him a dopey smile before digging into its meal. Once it finished, it smiled, for a light bulb went off in its head. It ran over to Emily and Eddy, tugging on Emily’s sock to encourage her to follow. Emily complied and Eddy joined her.
“Well look at you making new friends,” the man said when the trio arrived at the charcoal house.
Emily pointed to the Wooper. “Is this yours?”
“No,” the man said. He then gestured to the Wooper. “But how can you not feed a cute little face like that?”
The Wooper smiled and stuck out its tongue.
“Can I keep it?” Emily asked.
“Well, he seems to be a wild Pokemon, maybe from Union Cave down the road, so... uh.” The man looked down at the Wooper. “What do you think little fella?”
The Wooper strolled towards Emily, a winning smile plastered on his face, and wrapped his tail around her leg, as it was the only method he could use to give hugs. Then, he leapt just high enough to reach Eddy’s hand and use his tail to give him a high five. Eddy happily obliges.
Emily laughed. “Well I guess that seals it!” She retrieved a Poke Ball from her bag before stroking her chin and slipping into deep thought. In her mind, she pictured a Rolodex cycling through several names. Moments later, she grins at the Wooper. “Benny! Like the Wooper from Wooper Space Commander! That’s what I’d like to name you. Do you like that one?”
The Wooper smiled and stuck its tongue out. With that, Emily threw the Poke Ball at him. The ball wiggled three times. Then, it clicked as white sparks flew from it. Emily picked it up, fished a marker from her pocket, wrote “BE” on top of the ball, and placed it on her belt.
“I’ll admit. I’m gonna miss the little guy,” the man said. “But I’m glad he’s got a family now.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of him,” Emily replied. “Right Eddy?”
Eddy smiled and nodded.
The man chuckled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret about Benny. I might’ve taught him a move or two.”
“Really? Which ones?” Emily inquired.
“Let’s see. The first move I taught hi---”
A voice escaped from the house. “Uh Dad. The meat is starting to burn.”
“Be right there kid!” the man replied, slamming the door shut.
Emily scoffed. “Darn it! Well, what do we do now?”
Eddy shrugged and pointed to the gym.
It was sweltering and steamy inside the gym. Puddles and skyscrapers nearly swallowed by moss and flower populated vines were scattered throughout. Some of them stood as straight as soldiers while others leaned. There were even some trees sprouting from them in a way that made them look like they were holding an umbrella. Green and yellow spider-like creatures with tiny horns emerging from their foreheads scuttled about and red and white dragonfly-like creatures with green eyes resembling goggles soared.
Eddy panted and tugged on the wool around his neck as if it were a shirt collar. Emily picked up a nearby leaf with a thick stem and fanned herself from it, partly to distract herself from the fact that she was slightly shivering while her skin prickled from the thought of a spider-like creature crawling on her and partly to prevent her from becoming afflicted by heat stroke.
“Oh no it’s abandoned,” Emily said. “Sorry Eddy. L-Let’s just go to that house.”
Eddy nodded.
They tried to leave. But a Tarzan-like yell abruptly echoed throughout the gym, freezing Eddy and Emily in their tracks. Heading towards them was a purple haired boy. He bounced off the sides of the skyscrapers and swung from tree vine to tree vine swiftly enough to rival the greatest acrobats on the planet. He landed right in front of our heroes moments later. On his back was a worn out yet sturdy bug net. Eddy and Emily exchanged looks. Then they gave him a round of applause.
The boy laughed. “Thank you, thank you. Don’t worry, this gym isn’t aba---”
“How did you do that?” Emily exclaimed as she pointed to him.
“Practice. Lots of practice. The name is Bugsy. I’m the Gym Leader here. Let me guess. You’re Emily and Eddy, right?”
Emily grinned. “Yeah! I got Whitney’s badge and we slayed a Hypno.” Emily then lowered her voice. “T-The last part got pretty gross though.”
“Yeah,” Bugsy replied, “that match was Butterfreaking good. Think it would’ve been better to see it in person than on a five inch phone screen but... Oh well. Speaking of matches, you want a match with me?”
Emily leapt as high into the air as she could. “Yeah! Bring it on jungle boy!”
Bugsy grinned. “Awesome! Meet you on the other side of the gym.”
Emily shivered. “Wait! Do I gotta clim---”
Bugsy took off in the same way he arrived.
Emily glanced up at one of the skyscrapers. She shook and gulped. Then, she sprinted after Busgy, with Eddy following close behind. As she ran through the gym, spider-like creature upon spider-like creature leapt onto Emily, slowly covering her from head to toe. In their view, she smelled absolutely delectable. Emily clenched her teeth, her skin feeling extremely itchy. But still, she continued to run.
“Eddy! Use Thunderbolt!” Emily screamed.
Eddy pointed his arm towards the spider-like creatures and a bolt of blue lightning burst from his hand, causing several of them to screech and fly off of Emily upon impact.
“Alright!” Emily exclaimed. But then she looked at herself closer. There were still a few spider-like creatures clinging to her. “Oh come on!”
She hastily tore them off and tossed them into trees and the open windows of the skyscrapers.
Eventually, Eddy and Emily climbed a gigantic, moss covered staircase, stopping dead in their tracks when they reached the top. On the other side of a massive, seemingly bottomless hole covered by an artificial spider web was Bugsy feeding and petting a group of spider-like creatures. Emily stood in silence for a moment. Then, she planted her face inside Eddy’s wool and sighed.
Bugsy redirected his attention to our heroes and laughed. “There you are. Was starting to get a little worried. So, you ready for battle?”
Emily spun around with an enormous grin on her face. “You’re darn right I am!”
“Then allow me to give you an Ariados of my talent!”
Bugsy then playfully slapped a button behind him with a label above it that read, “Cameras.” The button began to glow and the cameras activated, turning to where Emily, Eddy, and Bugsy were standing. Bugsy and Emily took turns gazing at the camera and introducing themselves with great enthusiasm.
Bugsy then turned to Emily. “Before we start, let me get one thing out of the way. No dog-like Pokemon. Last time someone used one, I got hives, I couldn’t breathe, and I was a mess so don’t do it.”
Emily nodded with widened eyes.
“Great! Let’s get started!” Bugsy said with a wink. From his belt, Bugsy grabbed one of the blue-green and white balls with a net-like pattern spread across the top. “Go! Ariados!”
He hurled the ball toward the giant spider web and out came a large, red and black spider-like creature with purple and yellow striped legs and a thick horn sprouting from its forehead.
Emily winced and groaned. “Oh man!”
Bugsy laughed and shook his head. “What do you got against spider-like Pokemon?”
“Too many legs.”
“Oh then you’d hate Octillery.”
“I don’t even know what that is!”
After that, Emily stroked her chin, pondering about who she’d send into battle first. Then, a short memory involving a bug-like creature becoming incapacitated when it flew into a bug zapper back in Iroko Town played out in her mind.
“Alright Eddy! Get in there!” Emily yelled the moment the memory finished playing.
Eddy nodded and hopped onto the web.
Every spider and dragonfly-like creature in the gym gathered around the area with the web, their bodies buzzing with excitement. Bugsy chuckled and waved to the newly formed crowd, who grinned and raised their front limbs in the air.
“Alright Ariados! Use Sludge Bomb!” Bugsy commanded.
“Dodge it Eddy!” Emily ordered.
The Ariados shook its head as it spat tight clumps of purple sludge as Eddy hastily weaved around them like a skilled slalom skier. One of the clumps managed to pound Eddy’s stomach a moment later, exploding on contact and knocking off his feet.
“Use Thunderbolt Eddy!” Emily yelled.
Eddy rolled and leapt, sending a huge bolt of blue lightning hurtling towards the Ariados. The Ariados bounced to the side to avoid its wrath, but the bolt still struck it, causing it to shut its eyes and squirm. Then, the Ariados shook like a wet creature and began panting quietly.
“Nice job Eddy!” Emily exclaimed. “Now use Thunder Wave!”
“Ariados! Scary Face!” said Bugsy.
Eddy spat a small jolt of electricity as the Ariados reared up and fired a massive, glowing red face similar to the rock snake that took Andy from him out its stomach, striking Eddy at near light speed and destroying the jolt. Moments later, blue arrows run down Eddy’s body. His legs were like cinder blocks. Regardless, he bolted towards Emily, shaking. At that moment, all he wanted was for Emily to hold him.
“It’s okay,” Emily whispered. “It’s not a real face.”
He knew Emily was right. But, the face of the rock snake and its echoing roars refused to leave his head. He continued to shake. However, his mouth gradually formed into a grin, remembering the great times of courage, including the time he and Emily outwitted the rock snake outside Mahogany Town.
With that, he let go of Emily and shuffled back to where he was before. When he arrived at the web covered hole however, he unwillingly alternated between grinning and frowning, as if invisible forces were playing tug of war with his mouth. He clenched his fists, fighting to keep his mouth formed into a hard, straight line. He didn’t understand. He heard Emily’s words about the face. He reminisced. But, he still struggled to find out why he couldn’t shake his uneasiness. Then, he began to pant.
Emily looked around, mouth slightly opened. “Uh, Eddy. Are you still---”
Eddy stomped off the web covered hole. He sat down next to Emily, folding his arms soon after. Emily looked at Eddy with a long face. She had no memory of him ever acting this way. Then, she pictured herself sitting at a table with five blurry cards laid out before her. Her fingers slowly glided over the cards before carelessly landing on one of them, causing the image on the card to become clearer.
“Hey Bugsy! Can we hold our Pokemon while they battle?” Emily suddenly asked.
“No. Sorry about that,” Bugsy replied.
Emily snapped her fingers and huffed. “Dang it!” She crouched beside Eddy. “Sorry. I tried.”
Eddy patted her on the back of her leg.
“So, did you want to send you another Pokemon?” Bugsy asked.
Emily sighed. Then, she grabbed Benny’s Poke Ball from her belt and tossed it. “Arlight Benny! Show him what you got!”
Once Benny was out of the ball, he landed on the web covered hole and squealed. Then, he swiftly bounced, his head smacking the web upon completing his descent, and flipped to his feet. The gym began to rumble like an airplane entering turbulence. The spider-like creatures clung to where they were. Eddy jumped onto Emily’s back. She, along with Bugsy, involuntarily performed a dance to stay on their feet.
The web bounced violently. The Ariados grew dizzy and it struggled to hold onto the web. Soon, its grip slipped for just a moment, flinging it with great force towards the ceiling. It smashed into it and spun to the ground. It landed a moment later, back facing the web. Its eyes were replaced by black spirals.
Bugsy froze, his jaw greatly agape. Emily cheered as Eddy returned to sitting next to her with a slight smile.
“Holy crap! That guy is a powerhouse!” Bugsy shouted.
“I know that was so cool!” Emily yelled, her arms flailing up and down. “I can’t believe he knows Earthquake!”
Benny scuttled over to Emily, giving her a hug with his tail before giving Eddy a high five with it moments later, making Eddy’s smile grow just a little more. Then Benny returned to the web, smiling with his tongue sticking out, as Bugsy returned the Ariados to its now greyed out ball.
“Are you ready to battle again?” Emily whispered to Eddy. He squinted as he tilted his hand from side to side. “Okay. Let me know when you are.”
Eddy nodded.
“Well,” said Bugsy, “you and Benny might’ve taken out my Ariados. But remember, those who get cocky must prepare for beefeat.”
Emily laughed.
Bugsy quietly gasped. “Wait! You actually laughed at that?”
“Oh. W-Was I not supposed to?” Emily asked.
“No,” Bugsy replied. “Y-You’re not uh---” He hastily turned from Emily, grinning. Then, he yanked a small notepad from his pocket, flipping to a page with slightly faded writing at the top that read, “Times Someone Actually Laughed at My Bug Puns.” He added the page’s first tally mark. Afterwards, he beamed, eyes closed and nearly ready to burst into tears. He put the notepad away with great care before turning to Emily, chuckling. “Where were we? Oh yeah.”
He took another ball from his belt and hurled it. “Go! Yanma!”
A red and white, dragonfly-like creature with green eyes resembling goggles emerged from the ball, hovering over the web with its wings fluttering a mile a minute. Emily opened her mouth, about to command Benny to use Earthquake once more, but quickly zipped her lips, realizing that Yanma’s flight capabilities would probably render the move useless. She frowned. But it immediately morphed into a smile as a light bulb went off in her head.
“Alright Benny! What else you got?” Emily shouted.
Benny swiftly inhaled.
“Yanma,” said Bugsy, “Dod---”
But Benny blasted a swirl-shaped tube of water right at the Yanma’s face. The attack blinded it, forcing it to perform flips to keep itself airborne. The Yanma soon regained its focus, but its wings fluttered at a slightly slower rate.
Bugsy laughed. “Ah, Water Gun. Nice. Okay, Yanma, use Aerial Ace!”
“Block it with Water Gun Benny!” Emily commanded.
Benny inhaled. But within an instant, the Yanma flew towards him at great speed, its body glowing white, and gripped one of his branches, dragging him through the dirt path leading up to the staircase a moment later. Benny groaned, feeling slightly dizzy. Despite that, he smiled and performed a little flip to escape from the rut left behind by the Yanma. Thanks to his body’s slightly slimy coating, his feet were able to cling to a rocky wall leading back to the web, allowing him to climb it with ease.
Shortly after, Benny was back on the web.
“Alright Yanma! Use Supersonic!” Bugsy ordered.
“Know anything else Benny?” Emily asked.
Benny nodded. Then, as several jagged yellow rings flew from the Yanma’s mouth, Benny yawned and a multitude of orange bubbles hurtled towards the Yanma and destroyed the rings. Within inches of the Yanma’s face, the bubbles popped, causing the Yanma to grow drowsy. Then, the Yanma had no choice but to lay down and drift off.
Emily grinned. “Nice job Benny! Now we get an easy shot!”
But Bugsy fished a light-blue spray bottle from his other pocket, smirking as he held it up. “Oh really?”
Emily gasped. “Wait! You can use items in gym battles?”
“Sure can,” Bugsy replied. “Watch.”
He then sprayed the Yanma, who quickly awakened. Emily retrieved a purple spray bottle from her bag and sprayed Eddy’s wounds with it. Within a matter of seconds, the wounds disappeared. He smiled. Then, he began reflecting on Benny’s recent performance in battle, noting that he smiled, even when taking on foes much larger than himself like the Ariados and the Yanma. A surge of confidence immediately flowed through Eddy’s body as he stood triumphantly and sprinted onto the web, giving Benny a high five soon after.
Emily scratched her head. Then, she gasped. “Wait! Are you ready to battle again?” Eddy grinned and nodded. “Okay Benny, great job out there.” She then returned Benny to his ball. “Alright Eddy! Use Thunderbolt!”
“Yanma! Aerial Ace!” Bugsy yelled.
The Yanma glowed and flew at breakneck speed. But Eddy thrusted his arm at the Yanma and sent a large blue bolt careening towards it. The bolt struck the Yanma, causing it to screech and nearly fall to the ground. The Yanma panted, struggling to keep its wings fluttering. Despite that, it flipped and zigzagged across the web, colliding into Eddy’s stomach and sending him flying into one of the skyscrapers. Eddy grunted. But he landed on his feet and delivered another Thunderbolt to the Yanma. It crashed to the ground with black spirals in its eyes.
Emily cheered as Eddy returned to the web. “Nice aim Eddy!”
“Yeah!” Bugsy said, returning the Yanma to its greyed out ball. “That guy is one heck of a sniper.”
Emily grinned. “Looks like you’re the one whose been beefeated.”
Bugsy laughed. “And you’d be right---” He grabbed the last ball off of his belt and held it up. “If I didn’t have one last Pokemon. Go! Scizor!”
He threw the ball and a tall, red, two legged bug-like creature emerged. Its head was shaped like a bird’s footprint and its large claws resembled boxing gloves. The Scizor grinned with its arms behind its head. The spider-like creatures frowned and screeched. Some of the dragonfly-like creatures however, spun and sighed with delight before fainting.
Emily smiled and pointed to the Scizor. “Hey I know this one! There’s this Good Book of Arceus story about one who has to stop this mill from being taken over by evil Grimer and stuff. It’s my favorite! I’ve read it like thirty times!”
“Good Book of Arceus?” Bugsy wondered. “Sounds like a Sinnoh region thing.”
“Yeah! My mommy is from there. We live in the colonies.”
“Oh I get it now. Okay.” From one of his pockets, he pulled out a tiny water bottle and downed it in a heartbeat. “Alright Scizor, use Bullet Punch!”
“Eddy use Thunder Wave!”
The Scizor took off like a rocket towards Eddy, its wings fluttering rapidly and one of its now glowing claws in fist formation in front of it. Within a split second, Eddy spat a tiny jolt of electricity, which hit, and leapt onto the Scizor’s back. The Scizor peered over its shoulder and scowled, its movements slowed. It zipped around the gym, trying with all its might to shake Eddy. But Eddy clung to it.
“Woah!” said Emily. “Okay, now use Thunderbolt!”
Eddy does so, forcefully placing his hand onto the Scizor’s neck and sending a giant bolt of blue electricity surging down his arm. The bolt zapped it hard enough to make it jitter about, forcing it to lose its concentration and crash into one of the trees. Eddy flew through the air, unwillingly performing somersaults, and landed in a puddle. He leapt to his feet and shook to make himself feel just a little drier.
Upon returning to the web, Eddy noticed that the Scizor still stood, panting and shaking with an even more pronounced scowl. Little sparks slithered down its body. Bugsy pulled out a yellow spray bottle from his pocket and used it on the Scizor, making it feel lighter and forcing the sparks to no longer appear.
“Oh man. Looks like that Scizor is gonna fall any minute,” Emily thought. Then she began speaking aloud. “Okay Eddy! Give it a big Thunderbolt to finish it off!”
“Counter it with U-Turn!” Bugsy commanded.
Within the blink of an eye, the Scizor’s body became bathed in a forest-green glow, dashed into Eddy like it was using its body to perform a left hook, and returned to where it was. The attack threw Eddy into the crowd of creatures, nearly crushing some of them. Eddy sprung to his feet and rolled his shoulders.
“It’s okay Eddy,” Emily shouted, “try---”
But Eddy lunged his arm towards the Scizor and a giant jolt of electricity struck its forehead. In an instant, the Scizor is forced onto its back, its energy drained and black spirals replacing its normal eyes. Emily cheered and performed a little dance as Eddy beamed and put his hands on his hips.
“How does beefeat taste Bugsy?” Emily asked, pointing to Bugsy.
Bugsy shrugged. “Eh. We all gotta lose sometimes.” He returned the Scizor to its ball, walking over to Emily shortly after. Out of his pocket, he pulled a TM labeled, “U-Turn,” a badge shaped like a ladybug, and a stack of Poken. He then handed them to Emily. “For beating me fair and square.”
Emily’s eyes lit up the moment they laid upon the Poken. Then she gasped. “Yay! More money!” She hugged the Poken. “I’m gonna be the richest kid in Johto by the time I get all the badges. Then I can buy all the not Mago Berry pies I want.”
Eddy joined her and peered at the spoils. Eddy grabbed the TM and examined it.
“Oh sorry buddy. You can’t learn that move,” said Bugsy, causing Eddy to nearly drop the TM. Eddy sighed and handed it back to Emily. Then she put everything away. “So if I understand this correctly, this is about your third badge or so. How do you feel?”
“Awesome!” Emily declared. “Like I can take out all the rest of the gym leaders easy.”
Bugsy laughed. “Well I wish you good luck.”
Shortly after our heroes exited the gym, they walked towards a nearby Pokemon Center facing the back of the gym. But halfway there, something dawned on Emily.
“Oh I almost forgot,” said Emily. “Did you still wanna go to that house?”
Eddy beamed and nodded. When he and Emily arrived at the house, Eddy smiled as butterflies fluttered about in his stomach. He shuffled to the door and knocked slowly. It opened moments later and a woman stepped into the door frame.
“Oh hello there,” the woman said. “How can I help you?”
Emily pointed to Eddy. “He wanted to come here. This is Eddy and I’m Emily.”
“Oh I think I know you. You’re the girl with the height problem. I may not be as much into battling as I used to be. But I still catch the matches every once in a while.”
“Yeah I just got my third badge!”
“Good to hear.” Emily and Eddy smelled something warm and delectable coming from inside the house. They grinned as their mouths watered. “That’s the smell of the Bluk Berry pie. Would you like some?”
They quickly nodded.
The woman giggled. “Well come in then.”
Once inside the house, Eddy looked around. His home hadn’t changed all that much since he left. The plush chairs still resided by the electric fireplace and the magnets on the fridge hadn’t moved. Eddy smiled and ran towards a basket in the middle of the kitchen table. He feverishly dug through it and yanked a RageCandyBar from the bottom. He devoured it the moment he peeled off its wrapper.
The woman laughed. “Well you sure know your way around.”
Shortly after the pie finished baking, Eddy, Emily, and the woman were sitting at the kitchen table, grins plastered on their faces. Tears began to form in Eddy’s eyes. He may have adored RageCandyBars, but he knew that nothing compared to a taste of home like that.
“I think I just found my new favorite flavored anything!” Emily announced.
The woman chuckled. “Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone to share my pies with. Tom and Ricky are out on their little journeys and my daught--- Uh. She’s not around.”
“Oh. Well I hope she comes back soon,” Emily replied.
The woman sighed, a tiny tear falling down her cheek, for what happened to her daughter was something that she could never come back from.
“Well I certainly miss her,” the woman said. Eddy then gave her a warm hug. “Oh thank you sweetheart.”
Once the trio finished their pie, they all got up from the table. Eddy jogged towards the electric fireplace and turned it on. He tuned a radio on a table next to one of the chairs to one of its many available stations.
“The Serial Radio Drama Program presents Johto Case Notes episode two,” said the announcer on the radio.
The woman smiled and clapped her hands once. “Ooh you smart little thing. How did you know this was my favorite station?”
Eddy smiles. Then, he peered at a picture sitting atop the electric fireplace. It was of Andy in her black ball cap that he’d almost never seen her without. In that picture, she was in front of a lake with him during his days as a Mareep. He slowly walked towards it, grabbing it gently as if he was handling a baby. Then, with a smile, he hugged it.
Emily and the woman soon turned their attention to Eddy. Emily squinted and stroked her chin. But the woman just left her jaw agape, for in her mind, she added up Eddy knowing that the RageCandyBar was at the bottom of the basket, him knowing her favorite radio station, and the fact that he was hugging a photo of her daughter and a pink Mareep. After that, an answer popped into her mind.
“Is that you Ernie?” the woman asked Eddy.
“Ernie?” said Emily. “Bu---”
Eddy nodded.
The woman grinned, bursting into tears. She dashed over to Eddy, giving him a warm, welcoming hug. Eddy smiled. The woman’s hug lasted for quite some time.
“Sorry about that,” the woman said when she finished hugging him. “It’s just been too long for me. There’s also something I’d like to give you. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
The woman ran towards a staircase past the kitchen and quickly traversed it.
“I’m sorry,” said Emily. “I didn’t know you had another name. Do you want me to call you Ernie?” Eddy smiled and shook his head. “Oh okay. Why were you hugging that picture?” Eddy showed her the picture and pointed to Andy. “Who’s that?”
Eddy sighed, a glum sensation spreading throughout his body.
The woman came back with a TM labeled, “Brick Break” and showed it to Eddy. “I think you’ve reached the point where you can actually use this.”
She opened it up and placed it on his head. Eddy chose to forget Tackle and replaced it with Brick Break. He performed a brief little dance. Emily and the woman laughed. Then, Eddy walked over to Emily and gestured towards the stairs. Emily scratched her head for a moment, but went to the stairs with Eddy.
Upstairs, Eddy examined the hall. Then, he spotted it. On the left was a door with a lovingly crafted, hand painted sign that read, “Andy’s space.” He cautiously approached the door, feeling as if a giant, undefeatable creature would wake and attack him if he didn’t. He gently took hold of the door knob and turned it.
From the bed with lightning bolts on the blankets to the desk with the large yellow and cyan colored notebook to the dresser with the wood framed stone holder sitting next to a mirror, nothing had been disturbed. In fact, there was even a thin layer of dust on them. He grinned and was a tad bit jittery. He jogged to the desk, grabbing the notebook and gently blowing the dust away. With the dust gone, a label was now visible. It read, “My Dream.”
When he hopped onto the bed, he prompted Emily to join him. She obliged. Moments later, the two were examining the inside of the notebook, which contained various drawings of Electric type Gym Leaders from all around the world and their Pokemon. There were also diagrams outlining the steps to becoming an Electric type Gym Leader and the best strategies to use with that type. On one of the very last pages were drawings of Andy with her own hypothetical team of Electric types, including Eddy, and what her gym would look like.
Upon gazing at the drawings, Eddy’s body felt like lead and he was about to cry. He couldn’t snatch her from the jaws of the rock snake and because of that, she would never achieve her dream.
“Andy seems cool,” said Emily. Eddy had burst into tears. “I’m sorry. Did I say something bad?” Eddy shook his head. “Is it about Andy?”
Eddy nodded. Then, he performed a round of charades demonstrating Andy’s fate. The room was silent. Emily stared at the floor with a heavy heart. Moments later, she looked up at Eddy and gave him a hug. Various memories of him swooping in to save Emily played out in his mind and soon, he felt like a jumpstarted battery.
He leapt from the bed and fished the Ice Stone from his wool. He went to the wood framed stone holder, carefully removed the glass, and slowly placed the Ice Stone in the empty slot. He stepped back and smiled at the holder in silence. At that moment, a hole in his heart had been filled, realizing that, while Andy may not be able to fulfill her gym leader dream, he had at least fulfilled one of her other dreams. He grabbed the stone holder and showed it to Emily, grinning as he did so.
Emily gasped. “Woah. Look at all those stones! I bet Andy would’ve been really happy. Speaking of that, you seem really happy here. Did you... Want to stay?”
Eddy froze, his mind buzzing. On the one hand, he would like to help her achieve her dream of getting the badges and seeing her father once more. But on the other hand, she was right. Moments went by without one of them speaking or moving. But then, Eddy had an epiphany. From his first encounter with Emily to visiting Arthur’s Arcade to partying in the streets of Goldenrod, he was just as joyful during his time with Emily. With that, he shook his head.
Emily stared at him open mouthed. “Wow. Really?”
Eddy beamed and nodded.
“So, does that mean you still wanna be with me?”
Eddy smiled and winked.
With a wide grin on her face, Emily winked and pointed at Eddy. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what you got!”
Then, they gave each other a tight hug.
With the duo’s confidence growing, how will they fare against the challenges that lie ahead? Find out next time on Pokemon: Johto Quest!