CHAPTER 100 – A TROLL CATCH (FIRST PART)
In the previous chapter we see how our heroes spend their days training with their Pokémon at Professor Oak's ranch while one day, two weeks later, Ash receives a call from Lira who invited them to the Bug-Catching Contest in the Johto region, which unlike video games this contest celebrate once a year and only 7 people could participate, 4 of them we already know while Lira's friend would be another as for the other 2 was not known, the bad thing is that Koharu could not come because she had to help her father, but in return, Molly decided to accompany her brother to the contest to be close to him.
...
With Ash.
The day passed quickly and it was already in the afternoon so the girls and I decided it was time to catch a flight to Johto, by the way, Lira called me early and explained us where the contest would be celebrate.
As in video games, the contest would take place in a huge natural park located in the north of Goldenrod City, the capital of Johto, this natural park was dedicated only to look after Bug-type Pokémon that were generally the weakest in the Pokémon world, in this natural park, Bug-Type Pokémon could live their lives in peace.
On the other hand, this contest is celebrate as a way of tourist entertainment, apparently it is even televised so it is likely that the people will see some of our actions, not all, but some of them.
To be honest I didn't care and it's not that Latias was going to transform, so there are no problem.
Having said that, we took the plane and headed straight to Johto.
Surprisingly Molly wasn't afraid to get on the plane, all she asked was to sit next to me, so the order was Molly on the left and Nancy on my right.
...
In Johto.
We had arrived safely and without any incident to the Johto region, ready to participate in the contest the next day, the bad thing is that it was night so we went directly to the Pokémon Center to rest where Lira was waiting for us along with another person we already knew.
"You are already here!" - said Lira cheerfully.
"Yes" – we nodded.
"Did the trip goes well, any problems?" - asked Lira.
"None, it was a very quiet trip" – I denied.
"I'm glad, so let's sit down to dinner but before let's make the introductions, I introduce you to my friend Lisa!" – said Lira.
Lisa was the girl we met just before the events with Molly, with whom I fought and where my Floragato evolved into Meowscarada, in the anime said girl disappeared and was never seen again but since this is the real world and she was a trainer it was obvious that our paths were going to bump into again what I didn't expected on is that it would be so soon.
"Wow, but it's you Ash, Nancy and Verity!" – Lisa said with a smile.
"Do you know each other yet?" - asked Lira in confusion.
"Yes, I traveled to Cinnabar Island about a month ago to see if I could get a fossil, there I met Ash and battle with him" - Lisa explained.
"Exactly and then we went to eat at the Pokémon Center, there we could get to know each other" - I nodded.
"True, but I forgot to give you my phone, thank goodness you are friends of Lira" – said Lisa.
"Well, if you already know each other then better, by the way, this must be your little sister Molly, delighted Molly my name is Lira" – said Lira with a smile.
"This is your sister? it's beautiful, hello Molly my name is Lisa and I'm your brother's friend, it's nice to meet you!" - said Lisa with a smile.
But Molly was very shy so when she saw the two girls looking at her, she hid behind me.
"She seems to be a little shy" - Lira said.
"It's a child, it's normal" – Lisa nodded.
"Sorry but Molly is a little shy at first, but in no time she will talk to you" - I said.
Molly just looked at the girls curiously as she hid behind me.
"Don't worry, it's normal, anyway let's not overwhelm her and go to dinner" - Lira said.
We all nodded and sat down for dinner.
...
The next morning.
We got up early because the contest would start around 13:00 pm and currently it was 12:00 pm, so we quickly got dressed, had breakfast with Lira and Lisa and went directly to the place.
Curiously the natural park was close, but if you wanted to go on foot, it would take at least 3 hours to arrive, it is a short time considering what we have walked in our adventure but we didn't have time so we went by taxi.
My first impression about the natural is that it was like a safari in our world, a gigantic zoo, which apparently could also be visited, so let's say it was a huge Zoo but of Pokémon Bug.
The natural park was outdoors, but to enter you had to go through some lockers as if it were an amusement park so we quickly approached.
"Good morning, can I help you with anything?" – asked the receptionist.
"Yes, look, we have come to participate in the Bug-Catching Contest" – Lira nodded.
"Perfect, can you show me your tickets? We will check them and if everything is ok then you can pass without any problem" – said the receptionist.
This is because more than a year, someone has tried to sneak in with fake tickets so they had to take measures so that this did not happen.
Lira nodded, took the tickets from her small bag and handed them over.
"Well... It's 5 tickets, let me check them..." – said the receptionist.
Then he put the tickets in a kind of printer.
"Excuse me, my little sister and my girlfriend will come in with me" - I said of the tickets.
"Ok, no problem but remember that they can only tell you if they see any Pokémon, but they can't help you" – said the receptionist.
"I know, thank you very much" – I nodded.
After the machine came a beep.
"Ok, everything perfect, you can enter, as soon as you enter you will find the two remaining contestants and a middle-aged man with white hair and a brown suit, they are waiting for you" – said the receptionist.
We quickly entered and indeed what we first saw was how a huge forest extended tens of kilometers, while in front there were two people and the man who told us the receptionist.
"Excuse me, we are the remaining contestants" – Nancy said as soon as she arrived.
"Are you guys? Ok, perfect, we can start, don't worry about the cameras, ignore them and focus on your goal" – said the man.
"Aren't you going to explain anything to us?" - asked Verity.
"Obviously but we are waiting for them to start broadcasting" – the man nodded.
Just at that moment a reporter with a microphone in her hand approached the man, curiously the reporter was the same as the one we met when Molly happened, how small the world is...
"Mr. Lem, everything is ready so you can start if you want" - said the journalist.
"Perfect, we'll start right now" - Lem said.
Then the reporter turned and saw us, which seemed to surprise her for a moment.
"It's you!" - said the reporter in surprise.
"Yes, we were surprised to see you around here too" - Nancy said.
"Yes, it's a complete coincidence, but it seems that this is going to be exciting with you here, after all the program last time was the most watched of my entire career as a reporter" - said the reporter happily.
"I'm happy for you" - I said.
"I would like to talk more with you but we must start" – said the reporter.
But she didn't leave, rather the cameraman came and focused on her.
"We're live on 3, 2, 1, now!" – said the cameraman.
"Welcome our viewers to a new program, today we have the privilege of being able to televise the famous Bug-Catching Contest in the Johto region, a very popular famous contest that is only held once a year!" – said the journalist.
Then the cameraman focused on Lem who was probably the organizer.
"Very well, we are going to start the 40th Johto Bug-Catching Contest, today we have as contestants 7 people who have been lucky enough to participate today, the rules are simple, the contestants will try to catch the most powerful Bug Type Pokémon they can find, then a jury formed by three totally impartial judges will assess which is the strongest of all and winner will get an award that I will not reveal yet to give it more excitement!" – explained Lem.
There was not much to say, the contest was the same as the video game only that this was televised.
"The contestants will sometimes be recorded by a camera with a built-in Rotom to give viewers a good show so stay and see it, don't miss this wonderful contest!" – said the reporter.
"Now we will award you 5 Bug Ball, an exclusive Pokéball of this contest that helps to catch more easily the Bug Type Pokémon, the time limit will be 3 hours, if by chance they run out of Pokéball they can come here and ask for more, only one Pokémon per participant will be allowed to be catch! do you have any questions?" – explained Lem.
Since nobody said anything, Lem proceeded to distribute the Bug Ball, unlike video games, in real life the Pokéball did not break if you could not catch a Pokémon so I guess he gave us 5 in case there was something unforeseen or something like that.
The Bug Ball, a Pokéball that did not exist in video games or in the Anime itself, the Bug Ball was an orange Pokéball with a black circle in the center and a green spider web surrounding the entire Pokéball, a pretty nice design if you ask me.
"All participants have their Bug Ball so they can start!" – said Lem.
Quickly we all left the place, Nancy and Verity went alone while I was accompanied by Molly, Latias and obviously my beloved Pikachu.
At first we were going a little fast, but when we entered the forest we slowed down.
"Hey brother, what kind of Pokémon do you want to catch?" - asked Molly as we walked.
"Well, I was thinking of a Pokémon like Scyther or Pinsir, they are quite strong Pokémon" - I replied.
"They are beautiful but the ones I like the most are Leavanny, Cutiefly, Ribombee and Vivillon, I wish I could see one of them" - Molly said.
"Don't worry Molly, I'm sure we'll see all of those Pokémon" - I said with a smile as i stroked her head.
Latias also looked on with an envious look so I used my other hand to stroke her head.
After this, we continued walking through the forest, along the way we saw a lot of Bug Pokémon, but most were Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna, Nincada, Joltik, etc.
Joltik was not bad, Galvantula is a good Pokémon, but I'll be honest I find it disgusting and I do not want to have a Pokémon like that in my team, I also want an evolved Pokémon, it is not for anything special, but if I want to participate in the Pokémon League with him, he has to be in its last evolutionary stage or it will be much more difficult to train.
"Brother, how much longer do we have to keep walking to find a strong Pokémon?" – Molly asked somewhat tired.
"Hmm, it may be that the strong Pokémon are further into the forest while the weaker ones are outside" I replied.
Of course this is just a guess, I actually have no idea.
Molly nodded and took me by the hand while Latias somewhat enviously took me by the other hand and we continued walking until at we saw something quite strange, it was about 5 Scyther that seemed to be surrounding a ball of moss.