by Tracey West
Ash recognized it as a Nidoking, the evolved form of a male Nidorino. Normally, Nidoking was dark gray. But this one was pink.
And very, very angry.
The Nidoking stomped toward Team Rocket.
“Weezing! Smoke Screen!” James cried, throwing out a Poké Ball. A black cloud with two heads poured out of the ball.
Jessie threw a Poké Ball. “Arbok! Wrap attack!” she yelled. Her Poison-type Pokémon burst on the scene in a flash.
The two Pokémon quickly sprang into action. Weezing belched out a thick cloud of smoke that engulfed the Nidoking. Arbok wrapped its body tightly around the Pokémon. Lickitung joined in, smacking the Nidoking with its long tongue.
“We’ve got you now, Nidoking!” Jessie shouted triumphantly.
“We’ve got to stop them,” Officer Jenny said.
“We’ll help you!” Ash said. He turned to Pikachu. “Give them your Thundershock!”
“Pika!” Pikachu nodded. It closed its eyes, and seconds later lightning bolts of electricity exploded from its tiny body.
The shock coursed through Jessie, James, and Meowth. It knocked out Weezing and Arbok. It sizzled Lickitung.
The shock also hit Nidoking, reviving it. The Pokémon roared and stomped its huge feet. It was angrier than ever.
Team Rocket tried to run. It was no use.
Nidoking grabbed them one by one and hurled them through the air. Ash watched as they disappeared over the horizon.
“Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!” he cried.
The Nidoking wasn’t finished. It turned and looked at Ash and the others. It roared loudly. Its eyes glowed an angry red.
“It still looks mad,” Ash said.
“Team Rocket got it all riled up,” Officer Jenny said. “It’s blinded by rage. We’d better get out of here! Get in the jeep.”
Officer Jenny hopped in behind the steering wheel, and the others quickly followed.
Jenny sped off across the field. The Nidoking chased them with amazing speed. It grew closer each second.
“It’s going to catch us,” Tracey said nervously.
“I’ll fix that!” Misty said. “Go, Starmie.” She threw a Poké Ball, but instead of her powerful star-shaped Pokémon, Psyduck appeared. The confused Pokémon held its head.
Misty cringed. “Not now, Psyduck!”
Tracey threw a Poké Ball. “Maybe Marill can help us!”
The blue Aqua Mouse appeared. It took one look at Nidoking and disappeared back into its ball.
Ash reached for a Poké Ball of his own. But he was too late. Nidoking opened its mouth and a stream of white light shot out.
“Its Hyper Beam!” Officer Jenny said. “If it hits us, we’re doomed!”
Ash braced for the worst. But then something unbelievable happened.
A blue light surrounded the jeep.
Then they all disappeared.
They reappeared again at the other end of the field.
The Nidoking stopped in its tracks, confused.
“Now’s my chance,” Officer Jenny said. “Get out of the jeep.”
The others obeyed. Officer Jenny grabbed a rope and used it like a lasso. She drove up to the Nidoking and threw the rope around it before it could react. Then she drove the jeep in circles around the Pokémon. Soon the Nidoking was safely wrapped in the ropes.
“Amazing,” Tracey remarked. “She stopped Nidoking without hurting it at all.”
“I think it’s amazing that we teleported before Nidoking could hit us with that Hyper Beam,” Misty said. “I know this may sound weird, but I think Togepi did it. I really think Togepi knows some attacks.”
“What makes you say that?” Tracey asked.
“When the Rhyhorn attacked us, Togepi waved its arms,” Misty said. “And I think I saw Togepi wave its arms again when the Nidoking attacked. At least, I think I did.”
Ash laughed. “Togepi’s just a little baby. You can’t do any powerful attacks, can you, Togepi?” He patted Togepi’s pointy head.
Togepi just giggled. “Togi togi!” it said happily.
“Maybe whatever saved us is a secret,” Ash said. “Just like the secret of the pink Pokémon.”
“That’s a secret I hope you’ll keep,” Officer Jenny said.
“We will,” Ash promised.
“I sure could go for some fresh food,” Ash complained. He and the others were once again sailing on Lapras’s back. He’d been living off of the dried food in his backpack for two days.
“Pikachu,” Pikachu agreed.
Tracey peered through his binoculars. “You may be in luck, Ash,” he said, pointing. “Look!”
A cluster of small islands rose out of the distant water. Ash squinted. It looked like they were covered with tall, green trees.
“Those are the Grapefruit Islands,” Tracey said. “All of the islands are supposed to be covered with grapefruit groves.”
Ash licked his lips. “A juicy grapefruit would taste great right now. Lapras, let’s go!”
Lapras picked up speed. In less than an hour, they were on the shore of the first island.
They dismounted onto a small beach. A few yards ahead, Ash saw that Tracey was right. The beach was lined with tall grapefruit trees. Thousands of the round, yellow fruit drooped from the branches.
“They look ripe,” Tracey said.
“And delicious!” added Ash. He reached up and picked one off a branch.
“Stop, thief!” a voice cried.
Ash spun around. A tall woman in a blue work uniform approached them. Her black hair hung down her back in a ponytail. She looked angry.
“A thief?” Ash asked. “We’ll catch him for you!”
The woman grabbed the grapefruit out of Ash’s hand. “You’re the thief! The grapefruit thief.”
“Wait a minute,” Ash protested. “We’re not thieves. Honest. We were traveling in the ocean and found your island. I was just hungry.”
The woman studied Ash and the others. Then she nodded. “I’m sorry. I guess you don’t look like grapefruit thieves,” she said. She held out her hand. “I’m Ruby!”
Ash and his friends introduced themselves.
“Why are you so worried about people stealing the grapefruit?” Ash asked.
“We work hard to grow these grapefruit,” Ruby explained. “It takes months of hard work. And then thieves come in and help themselves. It makes me angry.”
Ash nodded. “I see what you mean.”
Two men in work clothes like Ruby’s ran up.
“Ruby, we’ve got a problem,” one of the men said.
“A thief?” Ruby asked.
“Worse than that,” said the other worker. “Follow us!”
They ran through the grapefruit orchard. They didn’t go far when Ruby stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, no,” she said softly.
A whole grove of trees was destroyed. Branches were snapped in half and strewn on the ground. None of the trees had grapefruit, or even any leaves.
“Who did this?” Ash asked.
“Only one thing could do this much damage,” Ruby said. “A Snorlax!”
“It’s over here!” one of the workers shouted.
Ash and the others followed the worker. Then Ash stopped, amazed.
A massive Pokémon stood in the grapefruit orchard. It was almost as tall as one of the trees. It had a round, fat body. It was mostly black, but its belly, face, and feet were tan. The Pokémon was breaking off tree branches and shoveling the juicy grapefruit into its large mouth.
Ash took out his Pokédex. “Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon,” Dexter said. “Snorlax isn’t satisfied unless it eats at least nine hundred pounds of food per day. Once it is full, it promptly goes to sleep.”
“Stop that Snorlax immediately!” Ruby ordered the workers.
The men ran up to the Pokémon and tried to grab the grapefruit branches out of its hands. But Snorlax punched them with its meaty paws. The men went flying backward.
“They can’t do anything against it!” Misty said.
Ruby frowned. “If we can’t stop it, we need to pick all the grapefruit before Snorlax gets to them.” She took a walkie-talkie off her belt and spoke into it. “We need more hands out here. We’ve got an emergency!”
“We can help, too,” Ash said. “I’ll use my Pokémon.”
Ash threw a Poké Ball. “Bulbasaur, go!” he cried.
A Grass-type Pokémon appeared. Bulbasaur looked like a blue-green dinosaur with a plant bulb on its back.
Ash walked to a group of trees that Snorlax hadn’t touched yet.
“Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!” Ash commanded.
The bulb on Bulbasaur’s back opened up, and two thick, green vines shot out. They reached up into the trees and cleanly picked off two grapefruit.
Misty threw a Poké Ball. A Water-type Pokémon that looked like a starfish appeared.
“Staryu, you can help, too,” Misty said.
Staryu flew through the air like a flying disk. It sliced through the trees, chopping off the grapefruit in its path.
Bulbasaur and Staryu worked and worked. Before long, there was a big pile of grapefruit on the ground.
“Let’s get these to Ruby!” Ash shouted.
But before they could make a move, a stomping sound filled the air.
Snorlax crashed through the trees. It plopped down next to the pile of grapefruit. Then it started shoveling them into its mouth.
“No, Snorlax!” Ash cried. “We picked those for Ruby.” He turned to his friends. “What should we do now?”
“We could beat Snorlax in a Pokémon battle and catch it,” Tracey suggested.
Ash’s face lit up. “All right! Bulbasaur, use your Razor Leaf!”
Green leaves with sharp edges zoomed out of Bulbasaur’s plant bulb. Normally, the leaves would sting an opponent, causing it to faint.
Snorlax didn’t seem concerned. It used a grapefruit to block the leaves. The leaves sliced the grapefruit into neat slices. Snorlax popped the slices into its mouth.
Then Snorlax stood up. It slammed its body into Bulbasaur. Then it sat on the Grass-type Pokémon, nearly crushing it.
“Bulbasaur!” Ash cried.
Snorlax stood up. It stomped off.
“Snorlax used Body Slam,” Tracey pointed out. “It’s really powerful, isn’t it?”
Bulbasaur was dazed but okay. Ash called it back into its Poké Ball.
“Let’s find that Snorlax!” Ash cried. “I’m not ready to give up.”
They followed the path of broken trees. Soon they came to the shore.
Snorlax stood on the beach. Ruby and some of the workers were there. They looked distraught.
“Snorlax has eaten all of the grapefruit on the island!” Ruby moaned.
“Thank goodness this is an island,” Misty said. “Snorlax can’t cross to the other islands and eat the grapefruit there.”
Snorlax grunted. Then it waded out into the water.
Ash watched, speechless. Snorlax was swimming!
Tracey took out his notebook. “Amazing! Snorlax can swim. That explains how it found this island in the first place.”
“We have bigger problems to worry about now,” Ruby said. “I’ll tell the people on the other islands to speed up harvesting there.”
“And we’ll try to catch that Snorlax before it does any more damage,” Ash said.
Ash released Lapras from its Poké Ball. Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Tracey climbed on Lapras’s back and set sail for the next island.
When they got to the shore, Ash was surprised at what he saw.
Snorlax was eating a huge pile of grapefruit. Next to the Snorlax were two angry people and one angry Pokémon.
Team Rocket!
“Stop eating our grapefruit!” Jessie yelled at the Snorlax.
“We worked so hard to steal it,” James moaned.
Ash jumped off of Lapras’s back. “Not you again,” he said. “Listen, why don’t you just go away? We’ve got important things to do here.”
“Buzz off, twerp,” Jessie said. “If this Snorlax is going to steal our grapefruit, then we’re going to steal this Snorlax!”
“You’ll have to catch it first!” Ash said. “Squirtle, I choose you!”
Ash threw a Poké Ball, releasing a Tiny Turtle Pokémon.
“Squirtle, Skull Bash!” Ash commanded.
Squirtle lowered its head and charged toward Snorlax.
It slammed into the Pokémon. The attack had no effect. Squirtle just bounced off of Snorlax’s huge belly.
“How about this Pokémon?” Misty asked. She threw a Poké Ball, and a Water-type Pokémon appeared.
“Whoops!” Misty said. “I didn’t mean to pick Goldeen.”
Snorlax picked up the elegant Water-type Pokémon. It started to put Goldeen in its mouth.
“Goldeen! Return!” Misty yelled quickly. She saved Goldeen just in time.
Meowth laughed. “You and your wimpy Pokémon can’t do anything. We’ll take over from here.”
Jessie threw a Poké Ball. “Lickitung, go!”
The big pink Pokémon with the striped belly appeared. Its large, sticky tongue rolled out of its mouth. Lickitung tried to disable Snorlax with a Supersonic Lick.
Snorlax grabbed Lickitung by the tongue. Then it used the tongue to wipe its mouth.
“You can’t use Lickitung’s mouth as a napkin!” Jessie said angrily. She recalled her Pokémon.
“Your turn, Pikachu!” Ash said.
Pikachu raced up to Snorlax. It exploded with a Thunderbolt attack aimed right at Snorlax.
But Snorlax was so big, the attack didn’t have any effect. The giant Pokémon kept right on eating grapefruit.
Ash was stunned. “Even Pikachu’s Thunderbolt isn’t working,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any way to stop Snorlax!”
Tracey looked up from his notebook. “I think I know a way,” he said. “Snorlax stops eating when it falls asleep. What if we put it to sleep?”
“Great idea!” Ash said. “But how?”
“Leave it to us!” James said. He took a watch on a chain from his pocket. He stepped in front of Snorlax and waved the watch back and forth.
“You are getting very sleepy,” James said in a deep voice. “You’re getting sleepier and sleepier. On the count of three, you’ll fall asleep. One, two, three.”
Snorlax kept on eating grapefruit. But James snored away.
Meowth shook James. “You put yourself to sleep, you nitwit!” it said.
“Let me handle this,” Jessie said. “I’ll sing it to sleep.
Rockabye Snorlax, eating grapefruit, when you are sleeping, you look so cute,” Jessie sang.
James and Meowth joined in. Their singing was loud and off key.
Snorlax didn’t like the song. It growled angrily.
Then it picked up a paw and batted Team Rocket like a tennis racket hitting a ball.
“Looks like we’re blasting off again!” Team Rocket cried as they soared away through the air.
Snorlax stomped off in search of more grapefruit.
Ash shook his head. “Those guys never learn,” he said.
“Maybe,” Misty said. “But singing Snorlax to sleep isn’t such a bad idea. I know one Pokémon whose song can put anyone to sleep!”
“Jigglypuff!” Tracey said.
Ash thought. “We know Jigglypuff has been following Team Rocket around since we came to the Orange Islands,” he said. “Maybe it’s around here somewhere.”
Misty frowned. “Jigglypuff always shows up when we don’t want it to. And now we really need it!”
The sound of a motor boat interrupted them. It was Ruby. She rode up to the shore and jumped out.
“Things are bad,” she said. “Our radar shows that Snorlax is eating most of the grapefruit on this island. When it’s done, it’ll head for the third island. We’ll have no grapefruit at all if we can’t stop it!”
“That is bad,” Ash agreed.
<
br /> “To make matters worse, half of my workers are out of commission,” Ruby said. “My foreman found them asleep. They all had pictures drawn on their faces with marker pens.”
Misty and Ash exchanged glances. They knew that Jigglypuff got angry when people fell asleep during its song. In its anger, it drew on the faces of its sleeping audience with marker pens.
“Maybe Jigglypuff is here when we need it,” Ash said.
“Then we need to lure it to Snorlax,” Misty said. “I think I know how.”
Misty got some supplies from Ruby. Then they walked to the opposite shore of the island. Snorlax would be there soon.
Ash helped Misty set up a small stage made out of wood planks near the beach. They hung Ruby’s walkie-talkie on a pole so that it looked like a microphone. And they left some colored markers next to the stage.
They needed bait for Snorlax, too. Tracey and Pikachu picked some grapefruit from a nearby tree. They piled it high.
When they were done, they gathered behind a low bush.
“Now we just have to watch,” Ash said. “Watch and wait.”
Snorlax was the first to arrive. It sat down next to the pile of grapefruit and began to eat.
“Come on, Jigglypuff,” Misty whispered. “We need you.”
Suddenly, Ash saw a tiny pink Pokémon hop onto the beach.
Jigglypuff!
Jigglypuff hopped along. Then it saw the stage and stopped.
Jigglypuff’s large blue eyes lit up.
“Jiggly!” the Pokémon said happily. It hopped onto the stage. It picked up the makeshift microphone.
And it started to sing.
“Jigglypuff, jigglypuff.” Its lullaby floated through the air.
Snorlax stopped eating. It yawned.
The lullaby was working.
The lullaby was working on Ash, too. But he had to fight it.
“Quick, Pikachu!” he said. “Thundershock!”
“Pika!” Pikachu was sleepy, but it was able to aim an electric blast at Snorlax.
This time, the blast worked. Snorlax slumped down, weakened.
Pikachu fell back, fast asleep.
