161: Carrying On!
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As they amble along they look about for things to distract them from actually getting anywhere, and lo and behold, along comes just such an opportunity. Overhead a cute little Pidgey with some kind of tube on it's back is beating it's wings furiously and trying desperately to escape a sleek Fearow which has it in it's sights.
Horrified at this display of nature going about it's standard, every day business, Ash sends Noctowl up to interfere in the food chain. The oddly coloured Pokemon flies up between Pidgey and the Fearow and gives it pause long enough to use Hypnosis.
Eyes glowing spookily, blackness surrounding it's small form, Noctowl reminds us all of the freaky drug-like trips that got it involved with Ash in the first place.
It's Hypnosis Attack sweeps over Fearow and shifts it's perception, causing the image of Noctowl in it's eyes to be replaced with a fearsome Pokemon so powerful it could defeat a Magmar IN THE VERY HEART OF THE VOLCANO ITSELF!
Yes, Charizard roars and breathes flame, terrifying Fearow and sending it fleeing into the wild blue yonder. Noctowl watches it run (well, fly) with great satisfaction, until it hears Pidgey let out a little whine. Turning, Noctowl and the twerps watch as the exhausted Pidgey drops below the tree line. They give chase and find it has fallen down a crevasse to a rocky outcropping below. The crevasse is too steep for the twerps to climb down, so they send Noctowl down to get Pidgey for them. The only problem with this is that Pidgeys (being small mammals) are not exactly on friendly-happy-nice-nice terms with Noctowl's (being eaters of small mammals). When the little Pidgey sees a large (from it's perspective) Noctowl staring down at, it just gets terrified. Noctowl (which is well fed by Brock) has no interest in feasting on Pidgey's entrails though, so it uses Hypnosis again with better intent. The little Pidgey looks up again but this time it doesn't see something that might tear out it's guts, but..... Momma!
Yes happy Momma Pidgey is looking back at it, and with great relief the little Pidgey charges up and nuzzles against it. Noctowl hoists it up onto it's head and flies back up to where the twerps are waiting.
There, Brock sets bandages around it's wings which have taken some damage in it's flight. The tube on it's back indicates that it belongs to someone, as Pokemon tend not to have large plastic tubes on their backs, so the twerps decide to keep heading towards the next city with the Pidgey in the hope of finding it's trainer.
The next city - which isn't Ecruteak City but a delightful looking beachside city that looks like the Japanese equivalent of Miami - is a big place, so the odds of finding the trainer are slim and none. The odds are even further reduced when they note the large number of Pidgey's flying around the city, all of them with plastic tubes hanging from string around their necks.
So of course the first person the kids walk into on the street is the Pidgey's Trainer.
A small boy with a cap and a hairstyle like wings comes charging up at them and accuses them of beating on his Pidgey. Brock quickly explains that they saved the Pidgey from a Fearow and patched up it's wings, and this explanation from a stranger with no evidence to back it up is good enough for Malaki (as he introduces himself to them).
It seems that Malaki is the Grandson of a gentleman who fifty years earlier had a rather bright (and lucrative) idea. Regular Ferry Services to the outlying Islands wasn't possible, so he trained up a large number of Pidgey to carry messages over the ocean as well as within the city.
Malaki is working at learning the family business himself, and one of the Pidgey he's been training with is Ken - the Pidgey that the twerps saved. Obviously he's still got a lot to learn, but it'll be worth it if he can, because such an invaluable service can only bring in money.
And where there is the possibility of money, so will there be Team Rocket!
Yes, in the sewer (where presumably there aren't any Giant Shit-Eating Bulbasaurs) we find Jesse, James and Meowth. Eyeing up the twerps and Malaki through a camera, Jesse is delighted with the idea of the Pidgey Carrier Service. If they could get their hands on the same, they could make a mint.
"All we have to do is steal those Pidgey and we're in business!" laughs James.
"You just never know when something wonderful will come up!" smiles Jesse.
"WOBBUFFET!"
"I said wonderful," complains Jesse, "Not blunderful."
James is enthused with the idea, but not thinking on a similar scale to Jesse. His plan is to run out onto the street and grab Ken, but as Jesse Jesse explains, one Carrier Pidgey would be useless..... but all of them... now that would be something.
The question then, James asks, is, "How do we do that?"
"How should I know?" complains Jesse as James squeals in terror, "I've already had my idea for the day."
At the Pidgey Carrier Service, Malaki has returned Ken to his Grandfather and introduced him to the twerps. Excusing himself to go check on the other Pidgey, Malaki leaves the kids with the still young looking Grandfather, who drops a bombshell on them.
Once he dies, the Pidgey Carrier Service dies with him.
It seems that he has devoted his entire life to the Pidgey Carrier Service, and when he says his entire life he means his ENTIRE life. To begin with he had to train the Pidgey by travelling all the Carrier Routes by blimp with them. He had to spend all of his time with them, you don't go to bed until every Pidgey is back, and if the Pidgey are scared or worried at night then you sit up with them until they all fall asleep.
Malaki's Grandfather missed his own son's wedding and his grandson's birth. And now with airplanes and e-mails, it's just too difficult to compete. So he will be the last person to run the Pidgey Carrier Service.
Malaki is completely unaware of this, the poor little bastard living in a fools paradise as he sweeps up Pidgey-Poop and chats with Speedy, Crashy (aptly named it seems, considering the bandage on it's head) and, of course, Ken. Ash, Misty and Brock watch him dreaming of a future that'll never come, while The Pidgey Express Man (Malaki's Grandfather) takes a call from Nurse Joy on Wayaway Island.
It seems that the Pidgeys dispatched three hours earlier with vital medicines for Nurse Joy still haven't arrived. She has a number of very sick Pokemon waiting for treatment, and Wingy, Dingy, Flingy and Norman should have arrived by now. Pidgey Express Man steps out onto the roof and looks out over the ocean with his binoculars, concerned about the whereabouts of his Pidgeys. Malaki, Ash, Misty and Brock come out to find out what's going on, and after Pidgey Express Man explains, Malaki excitedly decides to take action.
Opening the door of the giant shed on the roof, Malaki shows the twerps the miniature blimp that Pidgey Express Man trains the Pidgeys with.
Resembling a kind of yellow bird/duck thing with pedals, two balloons are attached to it with a basket set in behind to carry the Pidgey in. Malaki intends to use the blimp to follow the path the Pidgeys would have taken to Wayaway Island, in the hopes of finding what has delayed them.
Since this is a vitally important mission with many lives hanging in the balance, Pidgey Express Man agrees to let his very little grandson and three complete strangers go instead of him.
Gee, makes you wonder if it's really the airplanes and e-mail that are the reason the company is losing money.
After Malaki has gotten his ass onto the blimp, the twerps in the basket and lifted them about thirty feet off of the roof, Pidgey Express Man makes a lame attempt to stop them by begging to go instead, but Malaki insists, and Ash even offers assurance by telling Pidgey Express Man not to worry, he's going too!
I hope their insurance is paid up.
Misty sighs and suggests that Ash has opened his mouth a little too wide yet again. The Pidgeys could have gone in any direction at all, so how the hell is Ash going to find them?
Well who do you go to when you're trying to find young boys lost in a big city?
A Drug Dealer of course!
Ash calls out Noctowl and asks it to go search out Wingy, Dingy, Flingy and Norman. He then insists that Malaki - who knows all the travel routes the Pidgeys have been trained to travel - follow Noctowl, who has never been in this city before.
So what has happened to the Pidgeys? Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess it was Team Rocket. Jesse, James and Meowth have stumbled upon a novel way to capture the Pidgeys. Travelling around in their Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon with a giant vacuum bag and hose attachment, they're literally sucking the Pidgeys out of the sky. Tracking them down one by one, they suck the Pidgeys into the sack where they struggle futilely for freedom.
Trouble is, such success never lasts long for Team Rocket, who aren't overly surprised to see the twerps floating through the air not so far from them.
"If they see our balloon there's sure to be trouble," mutters James.
"Then we better get out of here on the double!" notes Jesse.
"Not too worry team-mates," grins Meowth, "I prepared for just dis sort of sitchiachin!"
"Hmm?" ask Jesse and James.
"We're going to disappear," Meowth grins, pulling out a small remote control, "We're going to disappear intah thin air!" He pushes the button and smoke pours out of the sides, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence on Jesse and James' part.
"Help the balloons on fire!" screams Jesse.
"I'm too young to fry!" cries James, as the Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon is surrounded in smoke, making it look like yet another cloud.
The twerps travel along, none the wiser (apparently they didn't notice the giant Meowth-shaped balloon in the otherwise deserted sky earlier) as they try to discover what happened to the Pidgeys. But while their blunt, useless human senses fail to help them, Noctowl and Ken both sense there just might be something off with the tiny free-floating cloud that appears to be moving in a different direction to all the other clouds.
Inside the smokecloud, Meowth is pleased as punch while Jesse and James are choking.
"Da smoke clouds okay tah breath if dose kids get lost in a hurry," Meowth insists as his own eyes start to water, "But dere's a cumulus effect!"
As the twerps sail by the smokecloud, Noctowl and Ken break off and fly above it. Beating their wings roughly while the twerps stare stupidly, they kick up a couple of gust attacks that blow away the smoke and reveal... Team Rocket!
"Prepare for trouble by backing off!" coughs Jesse.
"I'd like to get rid of this hacking cough," hacks James.
"To
"To unite all peoples within our nation,
"To denounce the evils of truth and love,
"To extend our reach to the stars above,
"Jesse,
"James,
"Team Rocket
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight,
"Meowth.....
The smoke clears all the way to reveal not only Team Rocket and their Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon, but also the Sack-Full-O-Pidgeys they're carrying.
"Next time, I'll no bettah dan to keep my head in da clouds!" sighs Meowth as Jesse and James turn to face each other and share in appreciation of the glory that is them.
"Oh as bad as that was, it taught us all an important lesson," sighs Jesse.
"It may be cloudy but our motto always shines through," sniffs James. "WOBBUFFET!" exclaims Wobbuffet.
"Yes that's right, Wobbuffet, I...." nods Jesse, then twists her head to stare down at the blue blob, "Hey! Who asked for your opinion? You're never right!"
"Wobbuffet!" agrees Wobbuffet happily.
Malaki and Ash, meanwhile, have figured out that missing Pidgeys plus Team Rocket plus giant moving sack with Pidgey noises coming out of it may possibly equal Team Rocket stole the Pidgeys.
And indeed they did, but Jesse isn't giving them up without a fight.
Grabbing a Pokeball, Jesse sends out Arbok to attack...... forgetting one important fact about her Pokemon.
It doesn't fly.
Arbok screams in terror as it plummets towards it's death, saved only by Team Rocket's fast reflexes as they grab it's tail and desperately hold it in place even as they command it to attack.
The hanging Arbok uses it's Poison Sting attack which Noctowl easily dodges, but tiny little injured Ken can't react so quickly and is in serious danger. Noctowl comes to the rescue though as with a glow of it's eyes, Team Rocket, Arbok and Wobbuffet become suspiciously happy (in fact they're only a 'stones' throw away from falling from such a 'high' place).
Arbok shoots it's Poison Sting at nothing as the Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon drifts off in the opposite direction of the twerps, while a very 'happy' Jesse mumbles, "Suddenly I feel less nefarious."
"Looks like Team Rocket's drifting off again," they all grin/mumble.
As Team Rocket suffer the horrors of addiction, Ken and Noctowl fly to the Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon and tear free the sack....
GETCHA MINDS OUTTA DA GUTTA!
....tear free the sack holding the Pidgeys and let them out. Meanwhile the good crac.... Noctowl's Hypnosis Attack.... is wearing off of Team Rocket, as Meowth finally notices that all of Arbok's Poison Stings don't appear to be hurting the twerps.
Arbok shakes it's head as it realises that the twerps aren't where it thought they were. The others also realise and turning they are shocked to see the twerps behind them and all the Pidgey free!
Cranking up the propeller attached to the balloon, they try to escape the angry Pidgeys, but a quick Thundershock from Pikachu puts paid to that idea, and then Noctowl and the Pidgeys tear holes in the balloon, and before you know it, Team Rocket's blasting off again!
Malaki and the twerps continue on with the Pidgeys and deliver the medicines required to help all the sick Pokemon on Wayaway Island. Nurse Joy is ecstatic at this performance and rings up Pidgey Express Man to congratulate him and Malaki for getting vital medicines to her only 5 hours late!
Given that Ken has been returned to Malaki and all the Pidgeys rescued from Team Rocket, you'd think the twerps would be eager to get on towards Ecruteak City yet again. Well, you'd be wrong there, since there's no rapidly approaching Johto League Championship coming up or anything. The twerps stay on an extra day, during which time they see Ken finally deliver it's first message and become a fully fledged Carrier Pidgey.
Malaki is ecstatic, and the twerps can't help but ponder how disappointed he'll be when he finds out that Pidgey Express Man plans to shut the place down.
However, Pidgey Express Man has changed his mind. It seems one solitary isolated incident is more than enough to combat the evidence of years of dropping sales and technologically advanced competition. Pidgey Express Man tells Malaki that - if he trains hard and tries to be professional - one day he will take over the business.
Well well, a happy ending for everyone (but Team Rocket, who don't count apparently). The twerps got to help out a new friend, Malaki got to learn how to be a Pidgey Express Boy, Pidgey Express Man discovered that he can entrust his family's legacy and security in the hands of a small boy with a horrific hairdo.
And best of all, Noctowl got to deal some o' that sweet, sweet cra... uhhh, Hypnosis.
| BEST QUOTES |
 "Not to worry, team mates, I prepared for just dis sort of sichiation!"
 "Woba - fett!"
 "Yes that's right Wobufett, you......HEY who asked you for your opinion? You're never right!"
"We're gonna catch every single one"
 "But how do we do that?"
"How should I know? I've already had my idea for the day!"
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