Powarun: Thanks, I tried to vary things around a tad from the norm, it had been a good while since it was a Leaves and Tony escapade...
Funnily enough, the reason that some chapters take longer than others is because I'm writing them all out as I go. That way, I can better adapt to any negative feedback I get for doing something. So right now, I've written 24 chapters... although I'm thinking that if Tony's only got two buckles, we've still got a loooooooong way to go...
Wallets... I completely forgot about the wallets!! Bugger...

I updated (well, I'm about to, give me some time) the character list, although all I did were fix up some grammatical errors. If I missed any, don't hesitate to tell me.
I've decided that what I'll do is update the list every five chapters, so by the end of the next chapter, any new characters will be included, and I'll try to make sure that all bios are up to date (ie, listing more of Mareep's quirks)

And so, we're moving on to Chapter 24, which if I'm not mistaken I'm posting at least a week quicker than usually... Well, perhaps not, but I think it's close enough...

Minty Thrill
Chapter 24
Nitty Gritty, Little Skitty
(…As if that isn’t the cutest chapter title in the world??) ^_^

“So, the judge finally declared it wasn’t James Bond’s baby. After the court case, Bond was talking to his associates, yeah. So, one of ‘em says, ‘tell me, Bond, you weren’t breaking a sweat in there. How did you know it was not your child?’ And Bond says, ‘Simple, my dear friend. …I always wear… A BONDOM!!”
James looked at Chase and I with anticipation. He had just finished telling us what just might’ve been the longest and most overdetailed James Bond joke in existence.
“Tell me, James.” Chase grumbled, “Where did you hear that crappy excuse for a joke from?”
James frowned, “Well, I liked it.” He huffed, and shifted his balance onto one foot, “And I read it off the back of a cereal box.”
“All that?” I gasped, “From one cereal box?”
“…Well…” James said sheepishly, “Sort of. I changed the details slightly.”
Chase looked at James with a frown.
“OK, so all it said was, ‘Which secret agent has a headspin 24/7.’, but I thought it needed a kick! …And a court case. …And a judge called Four-Fingered Flow.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So, which secret agent DOES have a headspin 24/7?”
James looked at me with a wild grin, “James Bong!!” he blurted.

Chase and Leaves groaned at the joke as though it was tasteless. Just can’t please some people, I guess.
“Well, in any event, that first joke was a bit longer than necessary…” I muttered, “I mean, it’s…” I looked up at the sky, and my jaw dropped with disbelief, “Daytime??”
Chase and James looked up, and were also shocked.

“You’re telling me that that joke took nine hours??” Chase bellowed furiously.
“Hm.” James chuckled, “I suppose I shouldn’t have included the meaning of life in it.” He paused for a moment. “Twice.”

The tense moment and inevitable death of James were cut short, when there was a vibration in my pocket. I tried to ignore it, but it just kept going.
Annoyed, I reached into my pocket, and pulled out Cubone’s Pokéball. I threw it to the ground, and Cubone came out in a bright flash, which seemed to disorient him at this early hour. He held his bone low, and rubbed his eye sleepily.
“Cubone,” I scolded, and waved my finger at him, “How many times have I told you not to shake around in my pocket while I’m busy? It’s rude, and impolite, and…”
My pocket vibrated once again.
“Ack!” I exclaimed, “You’re still doing it! That’s an awfully cheeky trick of you to do…”
Confused, I reached back into my pocket, and my hand landed on the mobile phone.
“Whoops.” I muttered, returning the confused Pokémon. “Sorry Cueball.”

I put the phone to my ear.
“Tony Chambers, I don’t do windows but I’ll do lunch anytime.” I muttered in another random phone answering spurt.
“Chambers!” came the angry reply from the other end.
I groaned, and pulled the phone away from my face. It was Mr. Michaels… I hadn’t talked to him for a while. A very happy while.
“Hello Mr. Michaels.” I said drolly, “How’s the wife and kids been?”
“I’m single, you filthy little sweatsock!!” Michaels snarled.
“And you’re going to remain that way if you refer to your most beloved tenant as an article of sports clothing…”
“Favourite tenant?” Michaels hacked. I felt as though I could smell his bad breath through the phone. “I love you like a toe loves a hangnail!!”
I smiled warmly. “Well Mr. Michaels.” I said with a starry-eyed gaze, “Just as long as you’re the toe I choose to cling to, be it as a hangnail or a sweatsock.”
Michaels went silent for a moment. “I hate it when you do that.” He grunted.
“So whatever do you call for?” I muttered, “Bought a new pair of especially large trousers that you couldn’t wait to tell me about?”
“What? Of course not…” he spat.
“Oh dear…” I sighed, disappointed. “…Couldn’t you tell me about the trousers anyway?”
“There are no trousers!” Michaels snapped.
I gasped. “What did you do with them?”
“I NEVER HAD ANY TROUSERS!” Michaels wailed.
“Ack, Mr. Michaels, I really don’t recommend wandering around without any trousers…”
“Just shut up and let me continue!” he said in an oddly whiny voice.
“Alright…” I grumbled, “The trousers will have to wait then…”
“Anyway,” Michaels said in a voice that indicated that he was proud of himself, “I finally got the Pokémon warp thing.”
“Wha?” I gasped, “You don’t mean…”
“Indeed I do!” he cackled, most likely pleased that he had used a word with as many consecutive E’s as ‘indeed’, “So now you can send me the excess Pokémon and I’ll put ‘em in your room, and the money will roll in!”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Seems he had forgotten about-
“And you better hurry up with that wish-granting Pokémon!” he finished, and hung up.
“Damn…” I groaned, “Now what am I gonna do? Michaels wants Pokémon, and I’ve only got four…”

I shook off the severity of the situation, and looked over to Leaves, who was stamping around.
Curiously, I looked over his shoulder. Surely he wasn’t so impatient that he couldn’t wait through a phone call?
I frowned. A few small ants were running back toward their hill, terrified. Leaves stomped around at them, and swept them all away. He cackled as they scattered off in different directions, abandoning their hill. He then began pacing around the tiny anthill triumphantly. Apparently, he had claimed the hill as his own.
“Well Leaves…” I sighed and peered up at Mt. Madran, “I sure hope you’re feeling as confident about the hill ahead of us…”
********************************
Finally, after much inconvenient hassle, we were ready to tackle Mt. Madran. Unfortunately, it seemed going through it was unavoidable, as attempts to walk around through the brush resulted in poison ivy rashes and ambushes from insurance salesman. Additionally, during that course of exploration, Leaves had assaulted a pesky lawyer, so we were now restricted from any further attempts around the mountain, and now whenever a lawyer saw me, they had permission to call me a weenie. It’s tough being Tony sometimes.

“So about how long do you think it’ll take to get through this thing?” Chase asked meekly.
“Well, it’s hard to say…” James grumbled, “I think we have to take that path up to the top, then go inside and get to the bottom from in there.”
“Hang on…” Chase cut in, “Why don’t we just take that spiralling path around to the other side, then climb down?”
“A rocky crag juts out around that side.” James sighed, “It blocks the path in, and it stands between it and the city.”
“Alright!” I shouted, “That’s enough talk! I mean, jeez, at this rate Chase will grow a beard before we get through this thing!”
Chase kicked me in the back, and I fell flat on my face. Leaves was horrified to find that I had landed right on his anthill.

James and Chase groaned, and started walking up the path.
I brushed myself off, and took off after them. I grabbed both their hands, and began to merrily skip.
“We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oooooooooooooooooozzzz!!” I cried.
James looked at me strangely. “The wonderful wizard of ooze?”
“No…” I frowned, “I said oz.”
“No you didn’t!” he snapped, “There were too many o’s there!”
“How dare you accuse me of such things!” I cried, “I was prolonging the note!”
“You couldn’t prolong a note if your life depended on it!” James hissed.
I furrowed my brow. “For that, I’m making you Toto.”

Chase groaned loudly, and stomped ahead. I gulped, and looked at James.
“I guess she wanted to be Toto…” he muttered.
I looked down, and realised that James and I were still holding hands. I wretched mine away from his, and looked around frantically.
“Sure hope nobody saw that…” I gulped.
Suddenly, we heard an annoyed cry from in front of us. We ran ahead, to see Chase looking frustrated at a tall lanky fellow.
“So sorry! So very sorry…” he babbled, then looked over at me. He ran over to me, and shoved a Pokéball into my palm.
“Take it! Take it away! Just take it away from meeeee!” he wailed, and jumped off the edge of the mountain.
Leaves and I looked over the edge, and he was slowly getting up.
“Alright…” he said dizzily, “That wasn’t the smartest way to go about it… But still.” He continued running and screaming off into the distance, this time a tad more carefully.

“What was his problem?” James asked curiously.
“Maybe he doesn’t like mountains…” I muttered, then looked back at the Pokéball I now held.
“…Should I open it?” I asked pensively.
“I don’t know…” James muttered.
“I wouldn’t trust a ball from a freak like that…” Chase warned, “Who knows what’s in there? It could be something real bad…”
“Only one way to find out…” I gulped, and the others cringed.
I shrugged, and put it close to my face.
“IS THERE SOMETHING REAL BAD IN THERE??” I screamed at it. “IF THERE’S SOMETHING REAL BAD IN THERE, SAY…” I paused. “Umm, say better beer makes better boogers!”
I waited for a response.

…Nothing.

“All clear.” I said with a smile, when the ball suddenly opened up in a bright flash. I fell backwards, shocked, as the beast took form. It was a… it was a…

*CUT TRANSMISSION*

Hello everyone! My name is George, and I have hair. Many hairs, in fact.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Minty Thrill. Now, I’m afraid that we’re going to have to cut it short, for favour of something better. Buhuhuhuh.
Yes, Minty Thrill… has been cancelled.

But never fear, we at the Jamantri Co. studios know what you people want more of, so we’re willing to provide!

…See? A squirrel. Everyone likes the squirrel. Everyone loves the squirrel.

Or maybe two squirrels. Now I have to ask myself, would two squirrels really turn things around for me, or would that just make it seem like we’re trying to hard, hm?

I suppose that will have to wait for a while later… Buhuhuh…

Umm…aw, crap on crutches! I can’t think of anything. I suppose we’ll have to return to Minty Thrill, unfortunately. I mean, it’s not the best-written thing in the world. For one, what’s with the dramatics? We know what’s in the Pokéball. It said what in the TITLE, dammitall!

Oh well. Never fear, for I shall be back sometime soon! BUHUHUHUHHHHHHHH!!

*RESUME TRANSMISSION*

It was a… it was a…

It was a bit brighter than I would’ve liked for it to have been.
Nonetheless, I grabbed the Pokédex, and pointed it clumsily at the Pokémon.
…A female…Skitty… it said quickly, It is…another RS… Pokémon. …Now that it is your’s… it would be wisest…to use the serum before…things get…out of hand…

I nodded, and scooped the shocked Skitty up into my arm. I then pulled out the Weedle horn, and poked it in her small belly. She growled angrily at me.
“Uh-oh…” I gulped, “Guess I didn’t use enough…”
I injected more into her. She frowned, then continued growling.
“Gaaaah!” I wailed, and continued poking at it, “This ain’t working!!”
I must’ve looked quite despicable stabbing a tiny little feline with the sharp white implement. I certainly didn’t feel like I was making many fans.

After a while, Skitty twisted and turned, and slapped me in the face with her large tail. She scampered further up the path, and I stumbled around dizzily.
“Why didn’t it work?” I muttered to the Pokédex. There was silence, before it came up with its theory.
There was the presence of…statistic recovery… it said as though it thought it were quite smart, The Skitty was using…Heal Bell before the serum…could sink in. …It would be wise to…immobilize it first…
“Very well then!” I smirked, and looked down at Leaves, “Immobilize it!” I roared.
He looked confused.
“Well, I don’t see you coming up with any better plans…” I snapped at him. He Leered back at me, and I felt a shiver down my spine. “Ch-cheater.”
“Lessee…” James advised, “Well, if it could use Heal Bell to recover its status, paralysing it wouldn’t really help. We need to zonk it out! You got any sleep inducing moves?”
“Indeed I do!” I reached into my pocket, and yanked out a packet of sleeping pills. I held it high, and a shiny background appeared behind me, anime-style.

I looked at the back of the box.
“So all we need to do is make the Skitty take a maximum of two with water every six hours to regulate drowsiness!” I said triumphantly.
Leaves leapt up, and whacked me across the back of my head with the brass knux. A large bump developed.

“Owwwwwwwww…” I whined, “Alright…umm…” I snapped my fingers when an idea hit me. Or maybe that was just aftershock from the brass knux. “Klepto!”

“Don’t worry guys!” I said with a smirk, “This one’s in the bag!” I threw Klepto’s Pokéball up to the sky. It soon landed…and rolled off the edge of the mountain.
I cringed every time it fell another foot down.

Jeez, Klepto has really lousy luck…

After the ball finally cracked open, Klepto flew up, annoyed, and awaited instruction.
“Get that Skitty!” I commanded. Klepto promptly flew up after it. There was a moment of awkward silence as I realised that perhaps actually telling Klepto my goal would’ve been productive.

Soon, he flew back down, the struggling Skitty held tightly in his talons.
“Noooooo…” I groaned, “That’s not right! Put that Skitty back where you got it from!”
Klepto flew back up, and I realised what I had done.

“…Oops.”

I released Mareep, and she joined Leaves and I as we ran up the path to try and catch up with Klepto.
Eventually, I was shocked to see Klepto was sprawled on the ground. There was a big bump on his head, and he laid there, kicking once or twice. Skitty looked down at him, then at us. “Yikes… that thing must be tough…”
I looked down at my Pokémon.

“Alright. Leaves, Mareep, take this thing on together!”
They nodded, and ran forward, bumping into each other clumsily along the way. I groaned, when they finally met the Skitty.
The three Pokémon stood there staring at each other, when all of a sudden Skitty faded from view!
Leaves and Mareep looked around, confused, when she suddenly reappeared, and smacked Leaves in the face.
Faint Attack. The Pokédex assisted.
Leaves backed up slightly, and Skitty set her sights on Mareep. She swayed around, then span, and Mareep backed up. She suddenly looked calm and uncaring.
Attract. The Pokédex buzzed.
“Aww, that’s sweet.” I grinned. “And so completely WRONG!” I smacked Mareep across the back of the head, and she waved her paws around frantically.
“I do not approve of my Pokémon having love interests in each other!!”
On an interesting note… Pokédex continued, That attack…should not have worked. …Perhaps you do not know your Mareep as well…as you had thought…
I crammed the device in my pocket nervously. “That’ll be enough outta you…”

Mareep snarled, before shooting a ray of electricity in Skitty’s direction. Skitty hopped aside, and Mareep took another shot. She continued shooting, and Skitty continued dodging.
“Damn,” I said to nobody, “Can’t get the upper hand…”
“Saur!” Leaves shouted to me.
“Oh yeah!” I grumbled, “I sorta forgot about you… Go get Skitty while she’s occupied!”
Leaves charged towards Skitty…and got a shock from Mareep.
“Sauuuuuuuur!” He snarled angrily over his shoulder, “Bulababa!!”

He looked back in Skitty’s direction, only to be tackled to the ground in a ferocious Double-Edge assault. It was easy to tell it was Double-Edge, really. I mean, all I had to do was think of the Edge part. WWE’s Edge’s finisher is a Spear. Spears hurt when thrown at you. Hurting happens to yourself when you use spear, thus being doubled.
I put a finger on my chin. Perhaps there was a much easier way to remember that…

Leaves and Skitty rolled along the ground, and Leaves was flung further down the path. Skitty looked ready to attack him, when all of a sudden Mareep came from behind and shot a mighty electric bolt at Skitty. The tiny cat stumbled around, dizzily. This was my chance.

“Pokéball! Goooooooo…” I began, then remembered that I already owned Skitty.
Hmm… I wonder what WOULD happen if I threw a Pokéball at a Pokémon I already owned…
I curiously flung the ball at Mareep, who looked at me shocked as she was sucked into it.
“Oopsie.” I gulped, then turned back to the Skitty.
I pulled out the Weedle horn, then leapt at the target for extra effect.
“Time to finish this!!” I roared, and thrust the horn down.

Leaves looked at me wide-eyed. I had… missed. I laid there, the horn dug into the ground next to the quickly recuperating Skitty.
“Well, it’s small and hard to hit…”

Skitty stumbled to her feet, and looked furiously at me. She span around, and slapped me with her tail repeatedly.
“Owwwww!” I moaned, then shot up.
“Two can play at that game!!” I snarled, and lifted up my coat. I span around, and smacked Skitty in the face with my own tail. Paint splattered across the ground, and she rolled backwards, then stopped against the cliff wall, dizzy and disoriented.
I smirked, and wrapped my tail around the horn.
“It’s a tail that just won’t fail!” I grinned, and wagged my tail excitedly. …And in the process stabbed myself in the arm.
“Aww Hölle…” I gulped, “That can’t be good.”
I collapsed to the ground weakly, a goofy grin on my face. Leaves groaned, and injected the serum into Skitty himself.
James and Chase only now walked up the path, and looked at me, annoyed.
“Well…” I babbled, “It’s my Skitty… I shall name her…” I suddenly lost energy. “Agwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”

For lack of better things to do, I quickly shook off the effects of the serum, and James helped me up. I returned the Skitty, who was now unfortunately officially named Agwa, to her Pokéball, and hobbled over to Klepto.
“It’s alright my feathered friend, you helped out.” I sighed, “Just too bad she took you out so quick…”
I picked Klepto up, and only then noticed that next to his head was a rather large rock. …The kind that would cause a nasty bump… I looked around, and noticed that there were a lot more of varying sizes lying around.
“Hang on…” I muttered, “So Agwa didn’t knock him out… but these rocks…”

“Look out!!” James suddenly wailed, pointing to the top of the mountain. My eyes widened when I saw the boulder barrage falling towards us, “AVALANCHE!!”

I stared on, horrified, as the boulders tumbled our way…

*END TRANSMISSION*