Clever Clover walked into the new Ponyland vet clinic. "Good morning,"
Sugarberry greeted him.
"Hi-ho, is Thomas in?" asked Clever Clover.
"Yes, but he's in an appointment. Tabby's available, in examination room
two."
"Yeah, she'll do."
Tabby had just walked into the room. "What do you mean, I'll ‘do'?"
"It's just that you're not a specialist. But there aren't any specialists in Ponyland,
so you'll have to do." Clever Clover explained.
"Whatever," said Tabby. "Just bring your pet... where is your pet?"
"Right here," said Clever Clover as he held up a red and white ball the size of a
large marble.
"Huh? This is a veterinary clinic, not a game store."
"C'mon, I'll show you." Clever Clover walked into the examination room; Tabby
shrugged and followed. In the room, Clever Clover held up the ball, which grew from marble size
to softball size and split open. A sphere of energy flashed out of the ball and to the examination
table where a purple rat appeared.
Tabby's jaw dropped. "How... what is that?" she stammered.
"It's my new Pokémon, Rattata," Clever Clover explained.
"Pok-e-man?" Tabby wondered.
"Yeah, I've been training him for a couple of weeks now; but lately he's been a little
sluggish. I think he might be sick," said Clever Clover.
"What are you training him for?" Tabby asked as she began to examine the
Rattata.
"Fighting, tournaments; what else?" Clever Clover answered.
"You're training him to fight?" Tabby gasped. "As a pet care specialist, I must
protest."
"I didn't know you cared about pets; I thought you were just in the business for the
money."
"You're not gonna bring up Sugarberry's bird again?" moaned Tabby.
"Nah, but you don't have to worry about Rattata. Pokémon fighting isn't lethal.
It's like a sport; just think of him as an athlete in training."
"Hm, whatever; I can't see anything wrong with him. Are you sure he's
sick?"
"Of course! Any decent Pokémon trainer knows when his Pokémon isn't feeling
well!"
"Well, maybe if you could tell me more about Pok-e-mans, I could do
something."
"Maybe this could help," said Clever Clover as he produced a small pocket
computer, his Pokédex. He opened it and handed it to Tabby.
"In the case that your Pokémon is sick or injured you should take it to a Pokémon
Center for treatment," said the computer in a synthesized voice. "If no Pokémon Center is
convenient, numerous medicinal herbs can be found in the wilderness." The Pokédex than began
to display pictures of a number of plants, along with names and descriptions.
"Hmm," Tabby mused, "this looks promising. What did you say was wrong with
him, again?"
"He's sluggish and unmotivated."
Tabby looked over the list on the Pokédex. "Here's something that might work,
and I think I've seen it growing in the Dark Forest."
"Well, let's get going!" said Clever Clover. "Rattata, return." He held up the
Pokéball and the Rattata disappeared in a flash of light.
" ‘Let's'? Who said I'd go with you?"
"You're the doctor; I wouldn't know what to do with the plant once I found it, and
since you've seen it before, you'd have a better idea of where to start looking."
"Oh, all right. I'll go; it'll give me an excuse to get out of the office for a
while."
The two ponies made their way to the Dark Forest after Tabby instructed
Sugarberry to tell Thomas that she was going on a house call.
"I think it was over here in this marshy area," Tabby said.
"Cool," said Clever Clover. "I love a good swamp-hop."
"What are you talking about, Cleve Clove?"
"When you walk through a swamp you have to hop from dry spot to dry spot, so
you're swamp-hopping. And my name is CLEVER CLOVER, Tabitha."
"You're strange, Cleve."
"Tabitha!" Clever Clover scowled.
"Let's just find the plant and get out of here. There are all kinds of scary monsters
around," Tabby said as she began examining the plants near a small pond. Clever Clover started
searching a clump of brush nearby.
A short time later, Tabby screamed in terror. Clever Clover turned to see her
backing away from the pond, quaking with fear.
"What is it, Tab?"
"It... it's terrible! Behind those reeds! A vicious WILD DUCK!"
"A duck?" Clever Clover asked in disbelief. "You are terrified of a duck?"
"You don't know ducks like I do; they're evil! Pure evil!"
"I'm sure this duck's not evil, it's just a sweet little..." said Clever Clover as he
peeked through the reeds at the plain, brown duck (holding a green onion?), "POKÉMON!?
FARFETCH'D! I've never seen a wild Pokémon in Ponyland before! This is so cool! Too bad
Rattata's sick, or else I could fight it and catch it."
"Why would you want to catch that?"
"So I could train it, why else? But it doesn't matter anyway, since Rattata can't
fight. Let's get back to the hunt."
It was well into the afternoon when the ponies found what they were looking for, a
yellow-green fern.
"Okay," said Clever Clover. "Now that we've found it, what do we do?"
"Well, I think you take one of those little curled up fronds that looks like the head
of a fiddle, and feed it to him."
Clever Clover plucked one of the fiddle-heads. "That's it?" he asked.
"According to that pok-e-thingy of yours."
"In that case, I don't know why I brought you along," Clever Clover said as he got
out his Pokéball. "Here you go, Rattata; eat up."
The little Pokémon tentatively nibbled the fern, then gobbled it down. "Rattata!"
the critter squeaked.
"Wow!" said Clever Clover. "That worked quick. You feel like takin' on a
Farfetch'd, little buddy?"
"Rattata!" the Pokémon replied.
"Alright, let's go!"
"You're not going back after that duck, are you?" Tabby whined, but Clever Clover
and Rattata were already on their way. "Hey guys, wait up! Don't leave me here all
alone!"
When they got back to the pond, they found the Farfetch'd right where they had left
it.
"Okay, Rattata, you've got the element of surprise. Go in there quick and tackle
it," Clever Clover instructed his Pokémon. "Now GO!"
The purple rat charged through the reeds, "Rattata!" It jumped on the duck,
knocking it off balance but not taking it down. The Farfetch'd pecked at Rattata, but the little
Pokémon clamped onto the duck's wing with its powerful teeth.
"Keep it away from the shore so it can't use its sandstorm attack," Clever Clover
called to Rattata. "Now use your tail whip to take it out!"
Rattata swung his tail for the Farfetch'd's head, but it blocked it with its onion.
"Try again!" Clever Clover cried. "Keep trying!"
Tabby arrived as the two Pokémon were engaged in their odd fencing match, tail
against onion. "That duck looks pretty evil to me," she said.
"Don't worry; I've got everything under control," Clever Clover reassured her.
"Rattata, bite the onion and finish it off with a tail whip!"
The Rattata followed its trainer's instructions and landed a solid blow with its tail
on the side of Farfetch'd's head.
"Now you're mine," said Clever Clover as he threw a Pokéball at the Farfetch'd,
which disappeared in a flash of light. Rattata jumped to shore before the other Pokémon
disappeared into the ball. "Yes, I've got Farfetch'd!" Clever Clover cried triumphantly.
"Rattata!" squeaked his other Pokémon.
"Okay, you've got it, but why would you want it?" asked Tabby. "And if that
pok-e-duck ever gets sick, you're NOT bringing it to me!"