34 The March Of The Exeggutor Squad

After the situation in Dark City, the gang are on the road to Cinnabar Island to get Ashlyn's next gym badge. While on the road they come across a carnival and decide to have some fun!

"A carnival!" Misty said in delight as they watched a group of people dressed up and dancing.

"Wow," Brock said as he gazed on a couple of women that were dressed up, "Look at all those beautiful girls."

"This is awesome!" Flint grinned seeing the festival along with everyone else.

"We managed to land right in the middle of a carnival, this is good for us because we could use a break." Ashlyn smiled.

"This carnival does look a lot like fun, where should we go first?" Misty wondered.

"Let's see...how about-" Ashlyn stopped mid sentence as she spotted both Brock dressed up like a fool doing a strange dance in front of a large crowd.

Misty face-palmed, "What is he doing?"

"I...have no idea." Ashlyn rubbed her temples in embarrassment but it was worse for the Pokémon.

"Raichu rai (I'm so embarrassed)." Tesla covered her eyes.

"Raichu Rai Rai (Thank god Volkner and Flint aren't joining him)." Raichu sighed in relief.

"Let's pretend we don't know him." Ashlyn suggested.

"Good idea." Misty agreed walking away with the rest of the group.

=========================================================

The group had got on some rides having a blast, after that they all got some ice cream to cool down from their excitement. Misty then noticed a woman arguing with a man, she managed to hear her complain about him owing her money before she pushed him into a box before walking away. Concerned Misty went over to him followed by Ashlyn and the others. Ashlyn recognized the man as Melvin, a guy who dreamed of being a magician. However he was having trouble trying to master his tricks. But she didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Are you okay?" Misty helped him up.

The man grabbed her hands looking desperate, "Please be my assistant!"

Misty blinked, "...I'm sorry?"

"Excuse me sir, but why would you need an assistant?" Ashlyn questioned.

"You see I'm a magician who runs a magic show and that woman just now was my assistant who just quit on me. My name is Melvin and this is my Exeggcute." Melvin introduced himself.

Ashlyn scanned the Pokémon.

[Exeggcute, an Egg Pokémon. Although it resembles an egg, it is known to be more closely related to the seed of a plant.]

"Interesting." Ashlyn commented.

"So, will you be my new assistant?" Melvin asked again.

"Of course I will, but just for today." Misty told him.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Ashlyn said.

"I'm with you on that, Ashlyn." Volkner nodded his head in agreement.

"Ra raichu (This is gonna be bad)." Tesla commented.

Levina and Raichu voiced their own worries.

=========================================================

Ashlyn shook her head as she saw poor Misty being forced to wear a leotard adorned with Goldeen fins, she looked completely embarrassed but lucky for her only four people actually showed up to the man's magic show.

"I can't believe he made Misty wear that horrible thing." Ashlyn sighed.

"I can't believe she actually had the nerve to wear it." Volkner said.

"She doesn't look very happy either." Flint observed.

"Ra raichu chu rai (I wouldn't either if I was forced to wear that)." Tesla gave the girl a sympathetic look.

"Rai Rai Chu Rai Raichu (At least none of our trainers would force us to wear something like that)." Raichu said.

"Pika (Poor Misty)." Levina gave her sympathies.

"For my first performance I will juggle my Exeggcute!" Melvin started juggling his Exeggcute Pokémon but there's a problem with the performance.

"This is boring." Volkner deadpanned.

"It really is." Ashlyn agreed.

Melvin then pulled out a wand and a tiny flame came out making the crowd fall back.

"That was pathetic!" They exclaimed.

Ashlyn shook her head, "This is not going well at all."

"No kidding." Flint said.

Melvin tried one more time and his second attempt worked out but Misty told him to be careful but sadly he didn't listen as the flames triggered the sprinkler system soaking everyone in the crowd.

Ashlyn said what everyone was thinking, "Well that could have gone better."

Volkner sighed.

=========================================================

After that disaster they all went outside.

"Well that was a disaster." Brock said.

"I think he needs to work on his magic skills a little bit more." Ashlyn commented.

"Sorry Ashlyn, but I think we can all agree that his so called 'magic skills' are pretty much non-existent." Volkner stated.

"I have agree with Volkner on this one." Misty sighed.

"Hey look, there he is." Ashlyn pointed making them all look in the direction she was pointing to. Sure enough it was Melvin who was getting yelled at again but this time by a another man who seemed to be the manager.

"You're fired! That stunt you pulled was dangerous and it could have hurt everyone in the audience! I'm sorry, but you're done!" the manager walked away from the heartbroken man.

"You okay Melvin?" Ashlyn asked.

Melvin sighed, "Its just...it's always been my dream to become a magician, but after this...maybe I should just give up."

Ashlyn put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Don't give up just yet, we'll help you out."

"You will?"

"Trust me, we know what to do, right?" Ashlyn looked to the others who all had smiles on their faces.

Melvin smiled with tears in his eyes, "Thank you!"

=========================================================

"Evening ladies and gentlemen! I will now perform my first trick for you all today! See this magic box? I will now command 'fire' to come out of it!" Ashlyn raised her hand and sure enough fire came out of the magic box much to the crowd's delight.

"Next I will command 'water!" Fire was then replaced with water making every clap their hands with excitement.

"Wow, Ashlyn is really good." Melvin complimented.

"I get what she's doing," Brock observed, "She's using her Pokémon to get the crowd fired up."

Ashlyn was using Squirtle, Natsu, Bulbasaur, and Espeon to help with her magic routine, she had them all in the same box and luckily they weren't having any problems with each other.

"And now, here's something you'll really like! I will now combine 'psychic' with 'leaf!" Ashlyn announced. The crowd didn't understand until some leaves burst out of the box and they glowed blue moving around the stage and the crowd was loving it even more than they did before.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Flint clapped.

"She combined both Espeon's psychic attack with Bulbasaur's Razor leaf attack." Brock told them.

"That's a good combination." Volkner commented.

"Its soo beautiful." Misty stared starry eyed.

"Simply magnificent!" Melvin stared.

"Look, they're done." Flint said.

That gathered their attention back on Ashlyn and her Pokémon.

Ashlyn bowed to the crowd before picking up the box and going back over to the others, "Well that was fun, you guys can come out now." Squirtle, Natsu, Bulbasaur, and Espeon all got out of the box, "Thanks for your help you guys."

"Charmander (No prob)." Natsu smiled.

"Squirtle Squirt (That was fun)." Squirtle smiled.

"Bulbasaur Bulba (Wasn't that bad)." Bulbasaur admitted.

"Espeon Esp (I wanna do that again)!" Espeon smiled.

Ashlyn chuckled.

Suddenly they heard a rumble. They ran outside and saw a herd of Exeggutor storm through the carnival. When one of the Exeggutor came nearly close to the tent, Natsu used Flamethrower which caused it to move away from the tent and faint. Once the herd of Exeguttor was gone, the gang then went to the center of the town only to see that the carnival had almost been entirely destroyed.

"Oh, no!" Brock gasped.

"I hope no one's hurt." Misty said with a worried tone.

"Look!" Flint pointed.

The Exeggutor were coming right at them.

"Everyone, get out of the way!" Ashlyn shouted.

Volkner grabbed Ashlyn out of the way as did everyone else.

"What's going on with them?" Flint wondered.

"My guess is they must've hypnotized each other and are now going on a rampage!" Brock theorized.

"Well that's just great." Volkner said dryly.

"Hey, are you kids okay?!" the carnival owner appeared.

"We're fine." Ashlyn said.

"Good, don't worry I have a plan to deal with those Exeggutor. I planted a bomb so that when they come back they'll blow up!" he explained.

"Are you crazy?! That's murder!" Misty yelled.

"We'll stop the Exeggutor!" Ashlyn said with determination, "We can still catch up to them if we hurry!" They all ran in the direction where the Exeggutor went off to until they finally found them.

"There they are!" Ashlyn told them.

"But how do we stop them?" Misty asked.

"Exeggutor are Grass/Psychic type Pokémon. Natsu, I choose you!" Ashlyn released her fire type Pokémon.

"Charmander! (Let's go!)" Natsu declared.

"Natsu, use Flamethrower!" Ashlyn commanded.

Natsu threw his respective fire attack on the Exeggutor stopping some of them in their tracks.

"Its working!" Brock said.

Some of the Exeggutor kept on coming despite the fire attack. Some have stopped while the others were still coming. But Natsu was getting more exhausted after each attack he launched.

"It knocked some of them out but not all of them!" Flint said.

"Melvin, that trick you used back at the magic show!" Misty exclaimed.

"Yes, what about it?" he questioned.

"Try using it on the Exeggutor!" she said.

"What?! But-"

"You can do it! I know you can!" Misty told him honestly.

Melvin still had his doubts but he tried it anyway and by some luck the trick actually worked! Together with Natsu they stopped the Exeggutor in their tracks, finally.

Ashlyn breathed a sigh of relief, "We did it..."

She knelt down next to Natsu and petted him on the head to his delight, "You did a great job, Natsu, we're all proud of you too."

"Char!" Natsu said in delight before looking confused. His all body glowed bright and she moved her hand away. The gang looked at Natsu in confusion.

"Natsu's evolving!" Ashlyn said with a smile as Natsu's body got a bit bigger, and the light disappeared, revealing he evolved into Charmeleon.

"Char!"

Natsu is a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon. It has the same gold colored scales and a cream underside from the chest down. It has narrow, blue eyes and a long snout with a slightly hooked tip. On the back of its head is a single horn-like protrusion. It has relatively long arms with three sharp claws. Its short legs have plantigrade feet with three claws and cream-colored soles. The tip of its long, powerful tail has a flame burning on it.

"Natsu, you evolved!" Ashlyn hugged Natsu who hugged her in return, "I'm so proud of you."

Natsu nuzzled into her neck, "Char (Thanks, Ashlyn)."

Ashlyn's phone came out of her pocket and scanned her new evolved Charmeleon.

[Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon and the evolved form of Charmander. Charmeleon knocks down opponents with its tail, then defeats them using razor-sharp claws.]

Misty sighed in relief, "Thank goodness that's over."

"Me too, but I can't help but feel we're forgetting something." Brock brought a finger to his chin.

BOOM!

"Maybe that was it." Vollkner said.

"Well at least nobody got hurt." Flint said.

"That is a good thing." Misty agreed.

"Ashlyn, can I ask a small favor of you?" Melvin asked.

"Depends on what it is." Ashlyn replied.

"I was wondering if you could help my Exeggcute evolve." Melvin requested.

"Oh sure." Ashlyn accepted.

=========================================================

In the end, Melvin and Ashlyn had their Pokémon battle and Exeggcute had finally evolved in Exeggutor which made Melvin very happy.

With the Exeggutor crisis over and no one getting hurt in the process, our heroes head off to continue their journey towards Cinnabar Island where Ashlyn will earn her next gym badge.

=========================================================

Pokémon on hand: Raichu (Tesla)(F), Lucario (M), Pidgeot (F), Bulbasaur (M), Shiny Charmeleon (Natsu)(M), Squirtle (M), Shiny Gyarados (Rory)(M), Boltund (M), Shiny Rapidash (Comet)(M), Shiny Raikou (Thor)(M), Shiny Umbreon (Mani)(M), Espeon (F), Glaceon (F), Leafeon (F), Shiny Sylveon (Parisa)(F), Pikachu (Levina)(F)

Prof. Oak's Lab:

Mienfoo (F), Jolteon (F), Flareon (M), Vaporeon (F), Clefable (F), Sandslash (M), Butterfree (M), Pink Butterfree (Momo)(F), Gengar (M), Rockruff (M), Raboot (M), Braixen (F), Kingler (M), Magnemite (Genderless), Muk (M), Nidorina (M), Nidorino (F), Marowak (F), Cubone (M), Dewgong (M), Persian (F), Horsea (F), Vulpix (F), Eevee (F), Abra (M), Kangaskhan (F), Growlithe (F), Tauros (9), Porygon (Genderless), Shiny Suicune (Azure)(F), Dratini (F), Shiny Entei (Searius)(M), Primeape (M), Scyther (F)