Chapter 95

Early next morning, Aizen and the girls, together with Gary, Ritchie, Brock, and Ash departed Fuschia City for the Kanto Safari Zone.

It was a five-hour journey from the City on foot, but they decided to Rent Bikes for a few days.

The distance was covered by them in under two hours, and they reached the Kanto Safari Zone entrance right before 8 am, which was the opening time of the entrance gate.

The group parked their bikes in the parking lot of the Pokémon Center and then entered the Ranger's Headquarters that was right next to it.

There, they met an old man named Kaiser, who had been in charge of the Kanto Safari Zone for the last 30 years.

"You are not allowed to battle those Pokémon inside the Safari Zone, which is why you must leave all your Pokémon at the Pokémon Center or here. However, you can choose to keep one Pokémon of your choice on you as a precaution. Remember, you can only use it if you are in any danger. In case you are caught breaking this rule and use it to battle a Pokémon to capture it, you will receive Negative Stars on your Profiles." He warned them. "If you choose to leave the rest of your Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, you must ask Nurse Joy to give you a NOC that you must submit here along with the Application..." Kaiser patiently explained the rules to them. "If your application is accepted, you will have to pay an entrance fee, and we will hand you 30 Safari Balls each. And that's the limit of the number of Pokémon you can catch inside the park. You will also be given Fishing Rods to catch Pokémon in the springs and lakes. You can camp inside the Park for a maximum of 96 Hours, and you must return before the time is up or you will be fined. Also, remember that once you catch the Pokémon in the Safari Ball, you can not call it out. All these Safari Balls are programmed to lock right away after a successful catch. After you return here, we will help you transfer the Pokémon to your Pokéballs. And remember, all the rules set by the League Council apply here, which means that you can not capture more than three Pokémon of the same species unless your Occupation and License Rank and Privileges allow you to keep them. Understood?"

"Can I take Blissey and Togepi with me?" Anira cutely asked, and the old man smiled at her and the little egg Pokémon that was sleeping in her arms.

"Only if you promise to not use this little one in a battle."

"Okay!" She happily smiled at being allowed to take two Pokémon inside the park.

Of course, Kaiser easily agreed to it because he knew who she was.

"We understand the rules, Ranger Kaiser." Aizen nodded to him.

All of them then grabbed the Application forms except for Anira, since she was not an Offical Trainer yet.

They went to the Pokémon Center next to leave their Pokémon in the care of Nurse Joy. There, they also decided which Pokémon they would keep on them for protection.

Aizen chose to bring along Rinko with him. Leaf chose to keep Fiona on her. Misty decided to bring along her Gyarados, Nyla, as a precaution against any accident.

Ash and Ritchie chose their Pikachu, Gary decided to go with his Starter, Wartortle, and Brock decided to keep his Fearow on him.

As for Sabrina, only Aizen and the girls knew that the Pokeball she kept on her belonged to her Diancie, Diana.

Nurse Joy handed each of the Trainers their NOCs and then all of them filled out their Application Forms before getting them signed by Nurse Joy and returning to Kaiser's Office.

The entrance fee that they had to pay depended on the time they wanted to stay inside the park for.

All of them chose to avail themselves of the maximum of 96 Hours and paid 5000 Dollars each. Which appeared to be all the savings Ash had on him, and he kept complaining about how hard it was to make money and that the entrance charges should be lower.

Brock patiently explained to him that it was the money the Trainers paid as the Entrance Fee that kept this place running and that if there was no Entrance Fee, a lot of people would rush here and the Pokémon would soon run dry in the park. Besides, all Trainers were entitled to ask for a standard-sized camp if they did not have one on them, and they would not have to pay for it.

Gary also submitted the reference letter his Grandfather had sent him, and he was allowed another additional 30 Safari Balls as well as the right to capture more than three Pokémon of the same species.

It was something that really upset Ash for some reason, even though he knew that Gary would only be keeping very few Pokémon that he captures. The rest were all for the Coral of the Oak Laboratory.

Additionally, each of them was given a Flare Gun, which they could use only in a desperate situation where their life was in danger, and then each of them was handed a Map of the Park.

"You are not allowed to go to the zone that is marked red. That place is called a Dragon Alley, and if you cause trouble there, you will not be allowed to keep any Pokemon you capture in the Park." Kaiser seriously said, and all of them inadvertently turned to look at Ash.

"What?" The boy from Pallet Town was a little nervous when he saw them all looking at him like that.

"We understand, Ranger Kaiser." Brock assuredly nodded and patted Ash's shoulder, as if telling everyone that he will keep an eye on the boy.

"Very well, off you go now!" The old man ushered them away, waving his hand as if they were an annoyance, and the young girls could not help but laugh at his actions.

The guards at the Entrance of the Park checked their permission letters from Kaiser before they were allowed to enter.

Kanto Safari Zone was a very big place, something that they could not fully explore in even a week.

All of them decided to explore the park in groups of two.

Anira tagged along with Sabrina and Leaf. Brock, of course, partnered up with Ash. Ritchie and Gary decided to explore the place together, and Misty excitedly joined Aizen.

Misty was really happy that she got to team up with Aizen, and she dragged him to the north, where the biggest lake in the Park was situated.

Her intentions were clear. She wanted to see if she could find herself some new water Pokémon, and since Aizen did not have any particular Pokémon in mind that he wanted to catch in this place, he readily agreed to go along with her plan.

On their way to the lake, which was a good distance away, they came across a lot of Trainers who were actually using the Pokémon they had on them for protection to battle against the wild Pokémon to secure a successful catch. And both Aizen and Misty were immensely disappointed in them.

Some might be able to get away with it, but those who get caught will regret their decision for a long time. Besides, the Safari Zone adventure was also a test for each Trainer, and they were only depriving themselves of learning something new and interesting about Pokémon.

They were passing through a field when they started coming across some Doduo and Dodrio. Though Doduo were quite docile, the Dodrio were dangerous to come across in the wild. However, as long as the Trainers did not instigate them, they rarely took the initiative to attack.

What took Aizen by surprise was when Misty suddenly stopped at the edge of the field, and then expectantly looked at all the Doduo and Dodrio present in the vicinity.

"You want one?" He curiously asked.

"I watched Ritchie and Gary use them in their Gym Battle. They look like they could come in handy as they are very fast and aggressive." She smiled at him and said.

"True. So, how do you plan on catching one?" He playfully smiled and asked.

"There's only one way you know, throw the Safari Ball at one and hope that the catch would be successful." She grinned and then looked back at the Flying-Type Pokémon that had no wings and could not fly.

"You know, there's another way too."

"What?" She curiously looked at him.

"Why don't you ask them if someone is willing to come along with you?" He teasingly said, but to his dismay, Misty really did it.

"Hey! Doduo, Dodrio! Does anyone of you want to come with me on an adventure and explore the world?! I am looking for a strong Pokémon on my Team." She shouted at the top of her lungs, catching both the Pokémon and Trainers off-guard.

A silence loomed for a few seconds before all the Dodrio started making angry noises.

The Trainers immediately bolted out of the place, cursing the orange-haired banshee, but Misty just kept laughing at what she had just done.

"Are you not scared that the Dodrio will come after you?" He could not help but laugh along with her and asked. "You know, you can be really silly at times. Never mind, you are silly most of the time." He corrected himself and received a punch from the girl on his shoulder.

"You are the one that suggested doing it!" She playfully said. "Besides, with you around, I don't think they would get to harm me." She tightly hugged his arm and brightly smiled at him.

He could not really deny her words and just chuckled. However, to the surprise of both of them, a little Doduo approached them.

"Hey, you really want to come with me?" Misty could not believe her luck and hopefully asked, half expecting the Pokémon to pull something on her.

"Nnnaaaa!!" The Pokémon cutely said, and Misty felt like her heart was melting.

"You have such a beautiful voice!" She gushed over it. "But was that a 'No'?"

"Nnnaaaaa!"

"So, I suppose you want to come with me?" She happily smiled and asked again.

"Nnnaaaa!!" The heads chimed again, and Misty had to restrain the urge to go forward and hug them.

"Okay!" She said and then carefully picked out a Safari Ball from her pouch. She showed the Ball to the Pokémon, and observed its reaction, and only when the Doduo did not show any apprehension did she finally believe that it wanted to come with her.

The rest of the Pokémon stopped doing whatever they were doing and turned their heads in their direction.

Misty calmly stepped forward and then scanned her fingerprint on the Safari Ball before tapping it lightly on one of the heads of Doduo, which initiated the catching mechanism.

Everything went without a hitch and she happily collected the Pokeball when the Ping sounded out.

"This is the best day!" She raised the Pokeball in the air and shouted before planting a kiss on it and storing it away in a separate pouch. "Let's go!" She then hugged his arm again and pulled him with her towards the lake.