Poke-Odyssey 2001 chapter 16 Loving Arms Today, we find our heroes still sailing on a ferry operated by their friend Marron. Cameron had just won an Ocean Badge and now he and his friends are sailing to the next gym located in the Tartar Plains, which is supposed to be known as the coldest place in the Pokemon world. "So what do you think of my new winter wardrobe Ashy-poo?" asked Misty as she showed off a tight pink snow jacket with matching slacks, a cute hat, and white mittens with Seel faces on them. "Very cute Mist", said Ash. "But shouldn't you wait till we get to the Tartar Plains to put those on? It's over 90 degrees out here!" "I just wanted to get a head start the minute we get to this winter wonderland" said Misty. "And besides, I just couldn't wait to see how I look in it! And it looks so cute!" "And it looks like Golduck thinks so too", smiled Ash. "Huh?" gasped Misty as she looked down and saw her Golduck dressed in some of Misty's clothes with eye-shadow and lipstick all over his bill. "Golduck!" growled Misty while fire surrounded her. "How many times have I told you to stay out of my backpack and make-up case?!!" And she started chasing the poor duck all around the ferry's deck. "DUCK!" quacked the nervous Golduck as they zipped passed Ash. "I'm glad some things never change", sighed Ash. On the other side of the ferry, Tracey was looking over the side of the ferry to see if he could watch for any new Pokemon while Cameron and Reiko were sitting in deckchairs. Cameron had his shirt off, because it was so hot and because Reiko had requested it hoping that a dark tan would hide those scars on his chest. She had also given Growlithe a dog biscuit covered with Vileplume's sleep powder so she could spend some quality time with her love without that watchdog getting in their way. Cameron had his Slowking out of his ball and was trying to get him to talk. "Can you say, Cameron?" asked Cameron. "No wait, how about Mamma?" Since Slowie always seemed to think that Cameron was his mother the day he hatched. "Slow!" was all that Slowie said. "Like the foolish person who thinks he can walk through a clear glass wall, why are you wasting your time with such nonsense like making Slowie talk?" asked Reiko. "It is scientifically impossible to make a Pokemon talk." "What about Meowth?" asked Cameron. "He's a talking Pokemon" "If only he weren't", sighed Reiko. "That crude accent of his drove me nuts! But I do know that slow thinking Pokemon like Slowpokes, Slowbros, and maybe even Slowkings do not have the gift of talking." "But I remember hearing Slowie talk two times", protested Cameron. "When he ate all those pies in Garlic Acres, he said, 'I'm full!' And the other day he told me, 'thank you'. I just have this feeling that he can speak if he wants to try!" "Like the Alakazam that can create beautiful psychic designs, you truly have a wondrous imagination my Came-chan", sighed Reiko has she put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. "Thanks, but I really don't think it was my imagination", sighed Cameron looking at his lovely girlfriend then turning his head to his clueless looking Slowking. "Maybe it wasn't, Cameron", said Marron who just approached the couple. "Marron, what are you doing down here?" gasped Cameron. "Shouldn't you be steering?" "Yes", said Reiko. "Like the Dewgong that sails through misty waters without looking and crashes into an iceberg, what if that happens to us?!!" "Relax", smiled Marron. "I've stopped this ferry for a while so I could come down and mingle with my passengers." Then she patted Slowie's crown. "Ah, the mighty Slowking", she smiled. "One of the wisest creatures of the sea." "Slowkings can be wise?!" asked Ash as he and a tired Misty approached them. "I always thought Slowpokes were known as the dopey Pokemon", said Misty who was dragging her Golduck by the bill. "I remember my grandfather telling me about stories of the Slowpokes", said Marron. "If a Shellder clamps onto a Slowpoke's tail, it becomes a Slowbro who relies on its strength and defense. But if a Shellder clamps onto the head of a royal Slowpoke, it becomes a Slowking. And the Shellder usually leaks a special kind of chemical from its shell into the Slowking's brain giving it intelligence." "Maybe we should have a Shellder clamp onto your head Ashy", said Misty slyly. "Maybe we should have one clamp onto your mouth", said Ash. "You mean that Shellder crown Slowie's wearing is giving him the power to learn English?" asked Cameron. "That's been known to happen", said Marron. "But it could take a really long while for a Slowking to actually learn to talk. It could take a year or two, sometimes ten or twenty, or sometimes never." "Wow Slowie", said Cameron. "It would really be neat to have a Pokemon that can talk. Even if it's only a few words at a time." "Slow!" smiled Slowie. "Shrew! Sandshrew! SHRRREEEEWW!" cried Sandy trying his best to cough out some English words, but with no luck. "Aw, don't worry Sandy", smiled Cameron as he picked up his worn out, hoarse, Sandshrew. "I'll always understand you even if you can't talk." "Shrew!" said Sandy while slurping his master's face. Cameron smiled for he knew what that meant in Sandshrewese. "Hey guys, come look at this!" called out Tracey as he was leaning over the rail. Everyone gathered around him and saw a school of fish swimming past the boat. They were silver with huge eyes and wide open mouths. "I've gotta get sketches of those Remoraids", said Tracey as he started studying and scribbling every stroke those fishes were making. "Uh oh!" gasped Marron. "Remoraids?" asked Cameron as he aimed his Dex at the passing fish. "REMORAID: the jet Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Remoraid has super accuracy. The water it shoots out can strike even moving prey from more than 300 feet." "Wow!" sighed Misty with her usual starry eyes. "Marron, can we please stay here for a while so we can watch these beautiful Remoraids?" "Are you crazy?!!" said Marron in a panic. "Whenever you see Remoraids in the water, that means we're in Octillery territory! I gotta get back to the helm and steer this ship full speed out of here!" "Why? What's wrong with an Octillery? Whatever that is?" asked Ash. "Grandpa always told me that the Octilleries will get you if you don't watch out!" cried Marron as she raced back to the control room. "What is an Octillery?" asked Ash. "She never answered my question." "Hold on, I'll check my Dex again", said Cameron as he typed up Octillery. An image of a huge orange octopus with huge eyes, a long tube-like snout and eight strong tentacles appeared on the screen. "OCTILLERY: the evolved form of Remoraid", replied Dextra. "Octillery traps enemies with its suction-cupped tentacles then smashes them with its rock-hard head." "Ouch!" said Misty. "I think that's one water Pokemon I would like to avoid." "No wonder why Marron was so scared", said Cameron. "The thought of being trapped in those sticky tentacles just gives me goosebumps." "I do not blame you my love", said Reiko. "And like the Arbok that glares at you with fearful eyes, those Octillery eyes would give me such horrors if I had to look into them." "I've never actually seen a real live Octillery before", said Tracey. "I would sure love to sketch one up close. I wonder how big its eyes are." "Probably as big as those eyes down there", said Ash pointing to the water. "Huh?" gasped everyone as they looked down into the water and saw a huge pair of eyes. "Could it be?" gasped Cameron nervously for the eyes seemed to be looking directly at him. Then suddenly a huge orange tentacle shot out of the water grabbing Cameron. "YIKES!!!" he cried as that clammy suction-cupped arm pinned his arms to his sides. "I knew I should've kept my shirt on!" Then it pulled Cameron down into the sea while everyone watched in horror. "Shrew!" cried Sandy. "CAME-CHAN!!" cried Reiko as she yanked out her katana and was about to dive in until Ash, Misty, and Tracey held her back. "No Reiko!" cried Ash. "You can't go down there!" "Let me go!" shouted Reiko. "That monster has taken my love and I have to get him back!" "Are you serious?!" cried Misty. "You might get taken by that Octillery too!" "Not if I turn it into sushi first!" screamed Reiko. "Like the Mankey that chooses its mate for life, there is no way I'm losing my Came-chan!" "Please think about it Reiko", pleaded Tracey. "How are you going to breathe down there? You'll need something like scuba gear if you want to go after him." "That's right!" gasped Reiko. "But what about poor Came-chan?! He'll drown to death down there! What will we do?!" "MAMMA!" cried Slowie as he dove into the water. "No Slowie!" cried Reiko. "Don't put your life in danger as well! Wait a minute, did you just say Mamma?" "DUCK!" cried Golduck as he dove into the water as well wanting to help out his best Pokepal. "Not you too Golduck!" cried Misty. "Even in your new evolved form, you still give me headaches!" Just then, the boat started to speed off leaving the spot Cameron, Slowie, and Golduck went down. "Why are we leaving?!" cried Reiko in a panic. "Marron must've not realized that Cameron had been taken and she's taking the ferry away from here", said Tracey. "NOOOO!" cried Reiko as she made a flying leap smashing the window of the control room with her foot. Then tackling Marron and tying her up. "What the heck do you think you're doing?!" gasped Marron. "You must turn this ship around!" shouted Reiko. "An Octillery has taken my Came-chan!" "Oh no!" cried Marron as she managed to jump up even though her ankles were tied. "I didn't know. I'll set a course back to the spot. But first, can you untie me please? I would've turned back around if you only asked me." "Oh dear", said Reiko blushing. "Gomen Marron-san", and she cut Marron free from her bonds. * * * * * * Marron may now have been free, but Cameron certainly wasn't. He had his eyes closed and his breath held as this mysterious sea monster was dragging him through the sea wondering if he would ever breathe again, or even be in one piece. Suddenly, Cameron found out he could breathe. He opened his eyes and found himself in a cave filled with trapped air. He also found himself trapped in sticky arms and looking into the huge eyes of an Octillery. "I'm human sushi!" thought Cameron nervously as Octillery's huge snout came closer and closer. But instead of devouring him, it was kissing him. Cameron felt the snout sucking on his left cheek like a huge aunt giving you a wet one. "My baby!" said a motherly voice. "I've found you at long last!" "Who's there?" gasped Cameron as he looked around and found no one else. "Why I did!" said the voice again. Cameron realized that this Octillery was speaking to him telepathically through her tentacles. "I thought I lost you forever! But your home in my safe loving arms my baby!" and she started to hug him tighter. "Baby?!" gasped Cameron as he tried to break free but Octillery's grip was too strong. "But how can I be your baby?!" "Don't you remember me my precious?" asked Octillery with huge tears that made Cameron's hair even wetter. "About a year ago, we were having a nice Sunday swim. Until the seabed cracked open and out came a powerful vortex. I grabbed onto a slab of rock, but I was too late to grab you. You got pulled into the black vortex and then the seabed closed up. That was the saddest day of my life!" And she started plopping down more tears making Cameron more wet. "But now you're back so this is the happiest day of my life!" cried Octillery as she continued kissing Cameron almost sucking the skin off of his face. "Please ma'am!" said Cameron who was all wet and slobbery. "I'm sorry that you lost your baby, but I am not him. I'm a human being!" "Oh, you still love to pretend that you're those human things!" laughed Octillery. "I just love your creative imagination!" "But I am a human!" cried Cameron. "Do I look like a Remoraid or an Octillery?!" Octillery just lifted up a nearby rock, took an old photograph and showed it to Cameron. He gasped when he saw what it was. It was the Octillery with a baby Remoraid that had the exact shape of Cameron's head. The nose, mouth, fins that looked like his hairstyle, and the huge eyes that looked like his glasses. "That fish has my face!" gasped Cameron. "See my baby", smiled Octillery. "This picture was taken by a human who was on one of those boat things about a year ago. I snatched this picture from him so we could keep it with us always. And now I'm gonna keep you forever." And she started her kissing power again. Cameron managed to pull his arms free and push away Octillery's snout. "But I can't be a Remoraid!" protested Cameron. "Do Remoraids have arms like these?!" "Oh, you're just starting to evolve", smiled Octillery. "You've grown your first tentacles!" "These are arms with hands and fingers!" shouted Cameron. "Oh, you're just shaken up from that horrible incident", said Octillery. "But I know what always cheers you up!" And she grabbed Cameron's wrists, raised them above his head and used her other tentacles to tickle Cameron's armpits and ribs. "HA HA HA HEE HEE HEE!" laughed Cameron. "NO, STOP, HA HA HA, IT'S TORTURE!!!" "But you always loved being tickled", smiled Octillery as she wiggled those tentacle tips all over his upper torso. "HA HA HA HA!" laughed Cameron while his face turned red. "I'M NOT YOUR BABY!! HA HA!! I'M A HUMAN BOY!! HEE HEE!" "Hush little baby, don't you cry. Mamma's gonna sing you a lullaby", sang Octillery in a beautiful voice as she stopped tickling Cameron and wrapped her arms around him like a blanket and rocked him. "If that lullaby won't sing. Mamma's gonna snag you a Seaking!" "But I'm not, YAWN, your baby", said a sleepy Cameron for Octillery's singing voice was hypnotic. "I'm a hu, human, ZZZZZZ!" said Cameron who was suddenly out like a light. "Sleep well my child", smiled Octillery as she suddenly went to sleep too still holding onto her precious one. * * * * * * Back on the ferry, our heroes were dressed in scuba suits that Marron had given them. They were all looking into Misty's Corsola who was showing them an image of an Octillery sleeping while still holding onto Cameron. "By the look on Cameron's face", said Tracey. "I'd say he's all right for now. He's just asleep." "Thank goodness!" sighed Reiko. "Now let us be like the bedbugs and overpower that sleeping squid so we can rescue my Came-chan!" She was about to dive in until Growlithe grabbed her by the belt. He had found out about that sleeping dog biscuit and was determined not to let her out of his sight this time. "Please Growlithe", pleaded Reiko. "I have to go down there. Your mistress's boy is down there in the clutches of a dangerous Octillery." "Growl?" said Growlithe trying to figure out what to do. "Or you can always go down in the water with her", said Misty winking at Reiko. "Growl!" sneered the water hating Growlithe as he let go of Reiko and turned away from her. "Arigato Misty-chan", smiled Reiko. "My pleasure Reiko", whispered Misty. "We each should take a water Pokemon out for protection", said Misty as she released her Seadra into the water. "Good idea Mist", said Ash. "And I got just the heavy artillery we need!" and he released his Blastoise into the water. "Blast!" growled Blastoise as he squirted some water into Ash's face. "Sorry Blastoise", said Ash wiping his face. "When I called you heavy, I didn't mean you were fat." "BLASTOISE!" nodded Blastoise while ducking his head into his shell to check his weight. Tracey released his Marill and Reiko released her Tentacruel. Reiko made Tentacruel hold an extra scuba suit so they could give it to Cameron. Once they had their Pokemon bodyguards in the water. Ash, Misty, Tracey, and Reiko dove in as well. "Wait a minute", said Marron as she took out a Pokeball and leaned over the rail. "You might need this!" And she released a blue fat fish with an antenna on its head with a shining light at the end. "Ooooh, what is that?" asked Misty admiring that dazzling light while Ash took out his Pokedex. "LANTURN: the light Pokemon. The evolved form of Chinchou", replied Dexter. "The light Lanturn emits is so bright that it can illuminate the sea's surface from a depth of over three miles." "Lanturn will be able to shine its light for you", said Marron. "The deeper you go, the darker the sea could become. And Octilleries have very sensitive eyes so Lanturn will be able to fight it back with its light." "Thank you Marron", said Ash. "This will surely help us out a lot." "Well then let's get going!" demanded Reiko as she held onto her Tentacruel. "We have a boyfriend to save!" "Not to mention a Slowking and an unpredictable Golduck!" sighed Misty as they all went under the water out of Marron's, Pikachu's, Sandy's, and Growlithe's sights. "Good luck my friends", said Marron. "Pika!" "Shrew!" "Growl!" whispered the Pokemon. * * * * * * On the bottom of the ocean, we see Team Rocket dressed in scuba suits with Rs on the tanks scooping up the seabed with shovels and pickaxes. They kept digging until they hit their paydirt. "Don't you mean paymud?" asked James. "After all, we are underwater." "Your name will be mud if you don't stop bugging the narrator and help us get this thing out of here!" shouted Jessie while huge angry bubbles came out from the air valve in her mouth. "Sorry Jess", said James as he swam over and helped Jessie and Meowth pull out a huge treasure chest. "That sailor who tipped us today was right!" said Meowth. "We would find a treasure chest down here!" "I can just imagine what it could be!" sighed Jessie with starry eyes. "Jewels, pearls, diamonds, and rubies!" "Or maybe gold coins!" said Meowth. "To make up for all those years I could never learn pay day!" "Or maybe bottlecaps from every type of bottle in the world!" sighed James with bottlecaps in his eyes while Jessie and Meowth looked at him funny. "I've seen people with dollar signs, gold coins, and cent signs in their eyes", said Meowth. "But Jimmy's the first guy I've known to create bottlecap eyeballs." "Never mind that now!" said Jessie. "Meowth, we need you to open that lock with that special picker of yours." "You got it!" smiled Meowth as he stuck out a claw like a jackknife and started jimmying the lock on the chest causing it to open. "Treasure, you're gonna be our pleasure!" said all 3 Rockets together. But when they opened up the lid, they all fell backwards. "Chocolate bars?!!" growled Jessie as she grabbed some bars, squeezed them, and black ooze came out of them. "We came all the way down here for some worthless chocolate bars?!!" "Hey, don't look a gift Ponyta in the Meowth!" smiled Meowth as he removed the air valve from his mouth and stuffed a bar into it. "So how does it taste?" asked James. Meowth replied by gagging, coughing, and spewing out black clouds into the water. "BLEECH!" shouted Meowth. "That was the worst chocolate I ever tasted!" "That rotten sailor!" shouted Jessie. "Not only did he lead us to chocolate, but to bitter chocolate!" "This isn't chocolate", said James as he examined the wrapper of a bar. "This is chewing tobacco! I remember my Daddy loved chewing this particular brand." "Why would he do such a stupid thing?!" hacked Meowth. "I bet this stuff would kill you if it touches your stomach!" "Oh no, you don't eat it", said James. "You chew on it and spit it into a bowl. It's kind of like a man's sport." "Well it ain't no Meowth's sport!" growled Meowth as he spit the rest of the tobacco out hitting an old boot lying far across the mud. "Hey, I guess I am good at this", smiled Meowth. "Clam up for a minute!" said Jessie as she dragged her teammates behind a rock. "Look who's decided to go for a swim?!" Sure enough, they saw our heroes swimming around each riding or holding onto a water Pokemon. * * * * * * Misty was on the back of her Seadra while looking into Corsola's mirror coat. "Has Corsola found anything yet Mist?" asked Ash while sitting on Blastoise's shell. "Not yet", said Misty. "No, wait a minute. I see my Golduck and Slowie swimming into some kind of cave. Maybe that's where Cameron is." "Then let's be like the Mantine that's quick in the water and get to this cave post haste!" said Reiko while holding onto Tentacruel. "Came-chan needs us!" "Hey, what's that following us?" asked Tracey as he was holding onto Marril's tail with one hand and pointing with his other. "It looks like some kind of water snake", said Ash. "More like two of them. No wait, it looks like just one, but I see two heads! This is confusing!" "That's not confusing!" cried Misty. "THAT'S BYTHON!!!" Sure enough the evil two-headed snake known as Bython was swimming after our heroes. "Quick Seadra!" cried Misty. "Blind it with your smokescreen!" "SEA!" said Seadra as it sprayed a black cloud all over Bython. "Marill, use your bubblebeam while its in the dark!" commanded Tracey as he let go of his mouse. Marill then blew a beam of bubbles at the smoke, but they were all popped by a bunch of poison needles hitting poor Marill and Seadra. "OH NO!" cried both Misty and Tracey as they saw their Pokemon plop unconscious onto the seabed. "BYYYYY!" hissed Bython as it emerged from the smoke looking even more vicious than ever. "Quick Blastoise!" cried Ash. "Use your skull bash attack!" "BLAST!" shouted Blastoise as it sped like a jet at Bython ready to bash it with its skull. But Bython just slyly separated its heads snaring Blastoise by the neck, then suffocated the huge tortoise making it fall unconscious too. "Poor Blastoise!" cried Ash. "It is time to fight poison with poison", scowled Reiko. "Tentacruel, use your wrap attack!" Tentacruel shot out its countless tentacles at Bython, but the twin snake just used its double crunch to yank off all of Tentacruel's tenacles. "CRUEL!" wailed Tentacruel as it plummeted down with the others. "Yes, that snake is cruel!" cried Reiko. "Your tentacles will grow back soon. If we get out of this alive that is." Just as Bython was about to attack our heroes next. A loud, "TURN!" was heard. Lanturn swam right in front of the surprised Bython and turned its light up to 100 watts. "BYYY!" hissed Bython in fear as it started to slowly back away from Lanturn's illuminating personality. "That's right", said Tracey. "Bython's part dark type, so it would hate any kind of light." "That's it Lanty!" laughed Misty. "Glimmer that monster away!" "LANTURN!" smiled the fish as it forced the scared Bython back. Just then, someone spit tobacco at Lanturn's antenna putting out its light and making Bython afraid no longer. "Lan?" gasped Lanturn as it looked at its extinguished light. "Nice shot bigshot", smiled James as he patted Meowth's head. "It's a good thing we Meowth's are expert spitters", said Meowth as he put his air valve back on. "Now put out the rest of that fish's lights with a double crunch!" cackled Jessie. "BYYYY!" hissed Bython as it bit into poor Lanturn making it faint and fall down with the other four defeated Pokemon. "Let's get out of here before we're that snake's next targets!" shouted Ash as he and the others sucked their unconscious Pokemon back into their balls while Misty used her fishing rod to snare Lanturn. Before they were about to swim away, some bazooka blasts were heard and our heroes found themselves snagged in huge fishing nets. "No one humiliates the ninja with a mere net!" said Reiko as she reached for her katana. She tried to cut herself free, but ended up cutting the katana in half instead. "What the..?" gasped Reiko. "How do you like our new ninja proof nets Reiko?" laughed Jessie's voice. "We've had these especially designed just for you", laughed James's voice. "To keep sassy psycho girls like you in line." "Fishing lines that is!" laughed Meowth. Then our netted heroes saw all 3 Rockets swimming around them like a trio of hungry sharks. Jessie: "Prepare for trouble as you can see." James: "And make it double, right here in the sea." Jessie: "To protect the oceans from angelic fish." James: "To dice them up into a delicious dish." Jessie: "To denounce the evils of a sea that's blue." James: "To extend our filth, our algae, and goo." Jessie: "Jessie!" James: "James!" Jessie: "Team Rocket swimming off into the briny deep." James: "About to leave you all in an underwater sleep." Meowth: "Don't we just give you the creeps?!" "That was the lamest motto you losers ever came up with!" shouted Misty. "We'll see how big mouthed you are without your air!" growled Jessie as she was about rip off Misty's air valve. "Wait a minute", said James. "It looks like we've only caught four twerps." "Yeah!" said Meowth. "Where's that brat Fusterman?!" "Why should we tell you?!" growled Ash. "Like the Poliwhirl that loses its mouth once it evolves, we will not open our mouths and tell you where Came-chan is!" shouted Reiko. "Oh, we'll see about that!" laughed Jessie as she, James, and Meowth started laughing while bubbles emerged from the surface popping out sinister laughing. * * * * * * Back in the cave, Cameron woke up and found himself in the tentacles of Octillery. He also discovered that the squid had loosened her grip on him for she was asleep. Cameron slowly slid himself free from the tentacles and stood up. He looked at all the suction cup marks on his bare arms and torso along with the Sandslash scars on his chest. "I might as well get some tattoos to cover up this mess", sighed Cameron. "Now I gotta get out of this place before she wakes up!" He tiptoed over to the cave's exit and found that it was surrounded by water. "After that long ride Octillery took me on", thought Cameron. "It might take minutes for me to swim to the surface! I won't be able to last that long. Maybe one of my Pokemon can..." Then he felt his Pokebelt and found that there were no Pokeballs on there. "Oh great!" moaned Cameron. "I forgot. I left all my Pokeballs on the bed of the ferry's cabin! Smooth move Fusterman!" He searched through his pants pockets to find anything that would be useful. But all he pulled out were his Pokedex and the Fast Ball he got from Garlic Acres. "A lot of good these will do me!" sighed Cameron. "Not what do I do?" Suddenly, the water started to bubble while Cameron nervously stepped back. Then he smiled when he saw who emerged. "Slowie and Golduck!" smiled Cameron while whispering. "It's so good to see you guys!" and he hugged the two water Pokemon while they hugged him back. "DUCK!" said Golduck. "Mamma!" said Slowie. "Mamma?" yawned Octillery as she suddenly woke up and found her baby being seized by two Pokemon. "NOOO!" cried Octillery as she grabbed Cameron by the waist and dragged him away. "Don't worry my son!" cried Octillery as she seized Golduck and Slowie. "I won't let these two monsters harm you!" And she started using her constrict power on the two water Pokemon causing Slowie to turn blue and Golduck to turn, wait, he's already blue. Make that very uncomfortable. "No please let them go!" cried Cameron. "They're my friends!" He couldn't really see the pain on the Pokemon's faces. Cameron felt his face and realized that his glasses came off. "Oh no!" cried Octillery as she looked down and saw something that looked like Remoraid eyes. "These heartless beasts have torn out your precious eyes!" She picked up Cameron's glasses and looked at them. Suddenly, she started to see things more clearly for this was a really nearsighted Octillery and she never had a really good look at Cameron. But now that she was holding the glasses in front of her, Octillery realized that she wasn't looking at her long lost baby at all. Just a blond-headed human boy in blue jeans. And without his glasses, Cameron didn't look like he had Remoraid eyes at all. "You're, you're not him?" gasped Octillery as she released Golduck and Slowie causing them to plop down on their heads. She then put the glasses down on the ground. "That's what I've been trying to tell you ma'am", said Cameron quietly. "So you really are just a human!" she sobbed. "I thought I had found my long lost baby at last! But no, I have to face the fact that my son is gone forever!" And she released Cameron's waist, turned her back, and started crying in her Octillery language. Cameron sadly picked up his glasses and slowly approached the sad octopus. "I'm sorry that I brought your hopes up", said Cameron. "But I do think you are a very kind and loving Octillery. I bet your son really loved you a lot." "Please just go!" moaned Octillery as she pushed Cameron away with her tentacle. "Are you sure you don't want...?" asked Cameron, but Octillery interrupted him. "OCTI!!!" shouted Octillery in an angry voice while waving all her arms around. Cameron quickly nodded and backed away while Octillery turned around and sobbed some more. Cameron then approached Golduck and Slowie who were trying to get their breath's back. "Are you guys okay?" asked Cameron. "Slow!" said Slowie for he had landed on his protective crown. "Gol!" said Golduck for he was used to getting his head banged by his mistress. "I know you guys can swim out of here", said Cameron. "But I don't know about me though. You got any ideas?" "Slow!" smiled Slowie as he blew a huge bubble and placed it over Cameron's head like a diving helmet. "Hey, my own little breathing bubble", smiled Cameron. "But are you sure this will last until I get to the surface?" "Slow!" nodded Slowie as he motioned Cameron to follow him as he and Golduck stepped into the water. Cameron turned around and stared sadly at the heartbroken Octillery, then turned back around and got into the water. * * * * * * Cameron was swimming with ease thanks to the air bubble that surrounded his head. "This is kind of nice", smiled Cameron as he admired the beauty of the underwater Pokemon world while Golduck and Slowie swam by his side. "But that doesn't look nice at all!" gasped Cameron as he grabbed Golduck and Slowie and hid behind a rock. They saw Team Rocket laughing at our heroes who were tied up with heavy weights and chains attached to their ankles. "You can torture us all you want! But we'll never tell you where Came-chan is!" shouted Reiko. "Oh, we don't mind if you tell us or not", laughed Jessie. "Because we plan on leaving you here all chained up at the bottom of the sea." "And once those tanks of yours run out of air", continued Meowth. "You'll all be sent to Davy Jones's locker!" "Where Davy's ghost will snap you with his wet sweaty locker towels for all eternity!" laughed James. "You'll never get away with this you rotten Rockets!" shouted Ash while spitting out huge bubbles through his air valve. "Save your breath Ketchum!" laughed Jessie. "Because it's the last you'll ever get to breathe! HA HA HA!" "You know, your countless HA HA HAs are starting to get on my nerves", said a voice. Everyone looked up and saw Cameron with a bubble over his head along with Slowie and Golduck. "Came-chan?!" cried Reiko with stars in her eyes. "Golduck?" gasped Misty with question marks in her eyes. "So the chicken of the sea decided to show himself?" laughed Meowth. "And people call me a bubblehead", said James. "How would you like to have some more waterfun my little devil of the deep blue sea?" cackled Jessie as she released her Bython once again. "BYYYY!" hissed Bython as it started eyeing the delicious looking human and water Pokemon. "Quick Slowie, psychic attack!" said Cameron. Slowie launched a psychic blast at Bython but wasn't affected by it at all. "Cameron, don't you remember?" called out Tracey. "Psychic attacks won't hurt a dark type like Bython!" "Oh yeah, I forgot!" gasped Cameron while scratching his bubble. "What was I thinking?!" "I think the oxygen is starting to leak from your tiny brain", laughed Jessie. "Bython, use poison sting now!" "Quick Golduck!" cried Misty. "Protect them with a reflect shield!" Just as Bython had fired its poison needles, Golduck quickly created a glowing dome around himself, Slowie, and Cameron protecting them. Bython kept firing more needles, but they kept bouncing off Golduck's reflect dome. "You can't hide behind that duckmade dome that easily!" shouted Jessie. "Bython, use your faint attack!" Bython complied by slowly fading out of sight. "Where'd it go?" gasped Cameron as he looked around and found no trace of the snake. But he became shocked when Bython reappeared inside the dome and used its double crunch attack on Golduck and Slowie. "NOOOO!" cried Cameron and all the good guys as they watched the dome fade and the injured water Pokemon fall down onto the seabed right next to the injured Lanturn. "Quick Cameron! Swim away from here now!" cried Ash. But it was too late for Bython had seized Cameron in its coils and was looking at the nervous boy with four scary eyes. "That's it my deadly duo!" cackled Jessie. "Now burst that brat's bubble!" "BYYY!" hissed Bython evily as its fangs moved closer to the bubble while Cameron shut his eyes. "If only Octillery thought I was still her baby!" thought Cameron in fear. Just then, he felt himself get free from Bython's grip. Cameron opened his eyes and found Bython trapped in all eight arms of Octillery unable to move or launch any attacks. "Octillery?" gasped Cameron. "Octi!" said Octillery as she tossed Bython and launched an ice beam freezing the snake into a block of ice. "You came to save me!" gasped Cameron. "But why? I thought you never wanted to see me again?" Octillery just smiled and placed a tentacle on Cameron's shoulder. "Even though you're not really my baby. I did feel some sort of affection for you when I had you in my arms", said Octillery in her telepathic voice. "And I couldn't just let you get killed by that awful monster. I failed to save my own child a long time ago, so I hoped that saving another one would make me feel better. And it did!" "Thank you!" sighed Cameron as he hugged Octillery's head causing her to blush. Team Rocket looked shocked as they saw Cameron and the Octillery hugging each other. "Who ordered the calamari?" asked Meowth. "Who cares!" shouted Jessie. "Look what that stupid squid did to my Bython!" And she pointed to the frozen snake that plopped down right in front of them. "I don't know what Pokemon we should use next", said James. "Bython was the only one who can battle underwater." "We'll just use the old fashioned bazooka attack", said Jessie as she recalled Bython and pulled a bazooka out from nowhere. "Come my loyal merman and mercat!" She said as she swam up to the boy and the squid while James and Meowth swam behind her. She started firing bazooka blasts just missing Cameron and Octillery. "Leave them to me dear", said Octillery as she pushed Cameron away and looked at the Rockets with huge fiery eyes. "I didn't think you could make fiery eyes under water", said James. "What did I just tell you about speaking to the narrator?!" growled Jessie as she whacked James with her long hair. Just then Octillery shot something out of her snout. It was a cannonball made out of bubbles. "SCATTER!" shouted Jessie as the Rockets got out of the way and the bubbleball blasted a huge rock smashing it to pieces. "Fire in the hole!" shouted Meowth. "No, make that water in the hole!" as he and the others swam away while more bubbleballs were being launched at them. "What kind of attack is that?!" gasped Cameron as he took out his Dex. "OCTAZOOKA", replied Dextra. "An Octillery's specialty attack. Although it is never quite accurate, Octazooka attacks can be quite harmful." And sure enough, those Octazooka attacks did look powerful, but they kept missing the Rockets. "If only my eyesight wasn't so bad!" thought Octillery. "Here, maybe these will help", said Cameron as he handed his glasses to Octillery. She put them in front of her eyes and was able to see Team Rocket clearly. She took aim and launched a large Octazooka at the Rockets. * * * * * * Back on the ferry, Marron and the Pokemon were looking down at the sea wondering if their friends would make it back alive. Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion. They turned around and found Team Rocket blasting out of the water and into the sky shouting. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" "Uh oh!" thought Marron. "It seems that Octilleries aren't the only troublemakers in this sea." "Pika", "Shrew", "Growl", said the Pokemon agreeing with her. * * * * * * Cameron then swam over and untied his friends while Octillery snapped their chains free. "Is that beast helping us?" gasped Ash. "Yes she is", smiled Cameron. "But please don't call her a beast. She's a very loving Octillery. A little too loving sometimes, but loving." "But didn't she just kidnap you and drag you down into the dark, cold sea?" demanded Reiko. "It was all just a case of mistaken identity", said Cameron as he explained what had happened with him and his new eight armed friend. "You mean this Octillery actually thought you were her baby?" said Misty trying not to laugh. "Never have I heard of such a strange tale during my days of Pokemon watching", said Tracey. "But it's true", smiled Cameron as Octillery gave him another hug, but not as constricting. Suddenly, the seabed started to crack open from where the Rockets were digging and a huge dark whirlpool had emerged. "What is that?!" gasped Cameron. "It's that vortex again!" cried Octillery in fear. "Don't worry young one. This time I won't let it claim you or your friends!" And she reached for Ash, Misty, Tracey, Reiko, Golduck, Slowie, and Lanturn and tossed them, along with Cameron, far up into the sea out of the vortex's reach. "That Octillery just saved us!" said Tracey. "You were right about her Cameron." "We may be safe", cried Cameron. "But what about her?!" Everyone looked down and saw Octillery holding onto the chain of one of the weights Team Rocket had planted while the vortex was trying its hardest to seize her. "I gotta do something!" cried Cameron. "I know. My Fast Ball!" And he pulled it out and threw it just as the chain snapped and Octillery was about to get lost into the darkness. The Fast Ball was a lot faster and it sucked Octillery into it before the vortex could seize her. Since Cameron already had six Pokemon with him, the ball teleported out of sight. Then the vortex stopped and the seabed closed itself up. "Where did she go?" asked Misty. "Hopefully to Prof. Oak's" said Cameron while crossing his fingers. "Come on guys", said Ash. "I'm starting to grow scales from being down here too long." And he swam back up to the surface while the others followed him. * * * * * * Back on the ferry, our heroes had put on some dry clothes and gave all the Pokemon that were hurt by Bython some revive potion. Then Cameron asked Marron if she had a vidphone. "Right there on the control deck", said Marron. Cameron dialed a number and Prof. Oak's face appeared. But it was all wet and slobbery. "Oh hello Cameron", grumbled the Professor as he tried to wipe himself dry with his sleeve. I take it one of you has caught a new Pokemon." "Yes I did", said Cameron. "Is she okay?" "I'm not too sure about that", moaned the Professor. "This nearsighted Octillery somehow thinks that I'm her long lost husband and she can't keep her tentacles off me!" And Octillery pounced on the Professor and started smooching his cheeks. "Please madam!" begged the Professor trying to break free. "I've told you I am not an Octillery. I'm a human man!" But Octillery just kept kissing him like crazy. Then she stopped when she saw Cameron on the vidphone. She went over and gave the screen a huge kiss. "Octi!" smiled Octillery as she winked an eye at Cameron showing that she was very happy in her new environment. "I'll see you when I get back", said Cameron while smiling. * * * * * * On an island far away, we see Team Rocket waking up recovering from their latest blast off. "I don't think I've ever experienced a more painful blast off", whined James. "I don't ever want to see another octojerk like that again!" shouted Jessie. "I don't think today's a day for wishes coming true", said Meowth as he nervously pointed to three Octilleries who had just surrounded them. They each grabbed a Rocket and started staring at them. "My baby!" cried one Octillery as it started kissing Meowth. "My husband!" cried the second as it started smooching James as well. "My mommy!" cried the third as it started kissing Jessie almost sucking her face off. "Anyone out there know a good sushi chef?!" moaned all three Rockets. TO BE CONTINUED!