Note: Yes, the long-awaited sequel is finally here! [crowd goes wild] And the first chapter is years longer than I planned (small exaggeration there..). I like to think I've written this in a way that people who haven't read I Want To Join Team Rocket will still be able to understand it...Hopefully I'm as good a writer as I think I am *gulp*. Oh and for those of you who HAVE read the first one, be prepared for more battles! Waaay more...

Cave Catastrophe

There was safety in numbers and when you were a teenager who didn't fit in with society, wandering the Johto Region with others like you was a good idea. It worked for Ronnie and Connor, two sixteen year olds who had fled Kanto after a murder...But that was in the past now. They had made a fresh start and were happy to know none of the people they spent their days with knew of the circumstances that had brought the two to the group. Ronnie had long curly blonde hair that she tied up into a ponytail, a mouth that hardly formed a smile and had a fondness for pink clothing: her dress and boots were fuchsia. Contrary to popular belief, Ronnie wasn't as unfeeling as her unsmiling mouth suggested; she was kinder than she appeared. Her best friend Connor new this: he had known her for two and a half years so he should. Connor had black hair that was obviously dyed, as his eyebrows were purple. Unlike Ronnie, Connor's smiles came easily – especially when they were directed at pretty girls.

Connor and Ronnie had been travelling with the other teenagers for about a year now. In the time that they had been with them, people had come and gone. The only teens who remained constant in the group were themselves, the self-appointed leader – Clyde – and silent Bree. Clyde was nineteen and had arms that were covered in tattoos and a face full of piercings. He led the group in whatever direction he felt and occasionally helped teenagers evade the police if necessary. Right now they were in the Union Cave with hopes to get to Route 32 before nightfall. As usual Clyde was at the front, leading the thirteen or so teenagers through the cave. Connor and Ronnie brought up the rear, along with Bree.

According to Clyde, Bree had been wandering the region by herself when he found her and introduced her to his group. She was a small fourteen year old with fiery red hair that, like Connor's, was obviously dyed. She wore a black hooded jumper, light blue skinny jeans and short grey boots that went well with the grey backpack on her back. Bree hardly spoke to anyone and as a result no-one really knew her. She trailed behind everyone, dragging her feet and keeping her eyes fixed on the ground. Ronnie kept stealing glances at the shy girl, making sure she didn't get lost or something of the sort.

Without warning, a sharp cry echoed around the cave walls and everyone stopped in their tracks. Connor and Ronnie were quite a bit behind the rest of the group and so couldn't tell immediately what was going on. When they heard shouts of 'where did they all come from?' and 'the Geodudes are using Magnitude!' they quickly figured it out. Suddenly the ground beneath them was shaking violently, rocks and dirt falling from the roof of the cave. Connor managed to stay on his feet for a while until Ronnie was knocked to the ground and pushed him over as she went down. The sound of the earthquake was all that could be heard, that and several people screaming. As rocks crumbled around her, Ronnie scrambled for Connor and threw her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest with the resolve only to look up when it was all over. He clutched her to his body tightly, scared for both their lives.

The cave around them shook with an unbelievable force and Connor watched in horror as Ronnie's Pokéballs fell out of her bag, though he couldn't do anything about it. Connor tried to watch the balls to see where they rolled but lost sight of them when a large number of rocks collapsed in front of him and he had to drag himself and Ronnie out of the way before they were crushed. More rubble descended from the roof of the cave and Connor found himself crawling on the floor in an attempt to evade it all. It was hard for Connor to manoeuvre them away from the chaos as the force of the earthquake threw him off balance and it didn't help that Ronnie was wrapped around his body, dragging him down. A rather hefty rock dropped right above Connor and struck him on the head, dazing him.

Small hands shook Connor's shoulders roughly. He blinked to get his eyes to focus and when they did, saw Bree staring at him with her green eyes searching his face for any hint of a concussion. He tried to sit up but Bree held him down which was just as well: Connor felt his head pounding at the sharp movement. He wouldn't be trying that in a hurry.

"Do you know who you are?" asked Bree in a soft voice.

"Yeah; I'm Cona– err, Connor." Bree looked at him strangely. Was nearly getting your own name wrong a sign of a concussion or was it just the shock? She didn't know. She was crouched beside him and helped him get to his feet slowly. She was short for her age and he towered over her, making Bree feel shy once again and she reverted back into her shell. She stepped away from Connor nervously, fixing her eyes on her boots.

"Where's Ronnie?" asked Connor, his voice rising a little.

"I'm right here," said Ronnie. Connor spun around and there she was, standing with her back to him and staring up at the cave wall. As Connor stared, he realised that it wasn't a cave wall at all – it was in fact the pathway they had been walking on. It had become completely blocked off with rocks and rubble. Connor looked around. He, Ronnie and Bree were the only ones on this side. The rest of the group was no where to be seen. Dust was settling all around them. A memory hit Connor suddenly and his heart rate increased.

"Ronnie, your Pokéballs–"

"Got them," she said dully, holding up the three red and white balls. Connor sighed with relief. He had thought for sure they had gotten lost in the earthquake. Ronnie still hadn't looked away from the blockage. Connor moved forward and placed a hand on her shoulder yet she still didn't look at him. She wanted to ask if he thought everyone was okay but she was scared of his answer. The combined force of the Geodudes' Magnitude was unbelievably strong and the evidence of that was standing in their way. It would be a miracle if they had all come away from it unscathed. A couple of the teens had been even smaller than Bree. Ronnie wondered if Clyde was alright and if he was organising everyone on his side. She tried to strain her ears to hear but either the rocks were too thickly piled or no-one was talking on the other side. Ronnie liked to think it was the rocks.

"Couldn't we try to move some of them?" she asked Connor pleadingly. Before she had even finished her question though, he was already shaking his head.

"It would be too dangerous. We might accidentally cause a landslide. Our best bet is to go around," he admitted. He too wanted to attempt to move the rocks and see if everyone had gotten out of the earthquake okay but his logic told him it would be plain stupid. They had just escaped one dangerous situation – why create another?

They hadn't gotten very far in the Union Cave so it wouldn't be too challenging to retrace their steps. Ronnie and Connor began walking but soon realised Bree was still standing around, nervously biting her lip. Her face brightened when Connor told her she had to stick with them. She didn't think they would want her with them now that Clyde was out of the picture and it came as a relief to Bree to find they didn't mind her tagging along.

After running into three dead ends, Ronnie, Connor and Bree could faintly make out the Union Cave's opening and made their way towards it. Beyond that was Route 33, the place they had left not two hours ago. As they walked past a particularly large boulder, a tall girl with dark blue hair tied up stepped out from behind it. She was wearing a long red top, a blue skirt and brown shoes with blue over-the-knee socks on her feet. Pointing unnecessarily in Ronnie's face, she spoke.

"I challenge you to a battle!" she cried loudly. Connor rubbed his ear pointedly. There was no need to shout; they were standing right in front of her. Ronnie looked at Connor for his opinion and he shrugged. Why not? Ronnie thought to her self. They weren't in any rush and the girl looked determined to have a battle. When Ronnie nodded, the girl finally lowered her finger and announced that it would be a four-on-four battle which meant Ronnie had to borrow one of Connor's. He didn't mind and they both knew his Pokémon wouldn't – they knew Ronnie as well as Connor and were friendly with her. The dark blue haired trainer introduced herself as Gwen before releasing her first Pokémon from its ball.

A creature with brown fur, a bushy tail with a cream-colored tip, and big, long ears appeared. An Eevee. Ronnie pulled out her first Pokémon: Connor's Pinsir. It was like any other Pinsir with the exception that it had half of its right horn missing. Neither Connor nor Ronnie knew how it had happened as they had found the Pinsir in that state when they first met him. Gwen smirked when she saw Pinsir's horn, immediately assuming that it was weak. She ordered her Eevee to use Quick Attack and though it hit Pinsir, it didn't make much of an impact. Ronnie told Pinsir to counter with Vital Throw and Pinsir obeyed, hitting the Eevee up into the air before grabbing it and throwing it on to the cave ground. It was knocked out instantly. On the sidelines, the corners of Bree's mouth twitched upwards when she saw Ronnie achieve her first victory against Gwen.

Narrowing her eyes at Ronnie, Gwen recalled Eevee and let out a Flareon. The small hint of a smile vanished from Bree's lips. Pinsir was weak against Fire types. Gwen certainly knew what she was doing. In anticipation of what was to come, Ronnie hastily made Pinsir use Harden to make his defence stronger. She hoped it was enough to withstand whatever Fire type move Gwen was undoubtedly preparing to use.

Connor winced as his Pokémon was hit square in the chest by the Flareon's Ember. Pinsir cried out in pain but stood strong even though he was badly burned. Gwen smiled.

"Again!" Flareon hit Pinsir once more with Ember and the hot flames licked at the other Pokémon's body until he was no longer standing. With an apologetic look towards Connor, Ronnie put Pinsir back in his ball and freed her Sandslash. With its body mostly covered in sharp quills, the large claws on its paws and the long scar running through its right eye, Ronnie's Sandslash looked rather threatening and Gwen found herself backing up a little. It was Ronnie's turn to smirk when she noticed how hesitant Gwen had become upon making eye contact with Scar, her Sandslash.

Ronnie started off with Sand Tomb, trapping Gwen's Flareon in a violently raging sandstorm. Gwen tried to get Flareon to use Quick Attack to get out of the storm but it was futile – the storm was too harsh for the Flareon to escape, especially as it had already damaged it a fair deal. Scar was then ordered to use Crush Claw and he jumped into the sandstorm to slash at Flareon with his hard claws. As an added consequence, Flareon's defence was lowered a little and it was hit again by the effects of Sand Tomb. Flareon keeled over and was unconscious.

Irritated that she had lost yet again, Gwen let out her next Pokémon, Vaporeon. Connor frowned; Gwen was only choosing Pokémon that were super affective on Ronnie's. It was a good tactic but hardly fair on Ronnie.

"Come on Vaporeon, do it for the team!" egged Gwen encouragingly. Vaporeon looked back at its trainer and made a mewling sound. While Vaporeon's head was turned, Ronnie sneakily told Scar to attack it with Crush Claw. When Scar slashed Vaporeon's body with his claws, Gwen glared at Ronnie for taking advantage of the situation and yelled angrily for her Vaporeon to retaliate with Water Gun. Scar was blasted with a powerful shot of water that caused him to fall back. When Vaporeon was done, Scar struggled to his feet shakily and looked bravely to Ronnie for the next command. Ronnie figured that the Vaporeon had to be near fainting because of the Crush Claw attack and reasoned that one more should finish it off. She told Scar to attack with it once more and Gwen told her Vaporeon to use Water Gun again. Scar was too slow with his attack and Vaporeon hit him first, striking him with yet another forceful shot of water. When it was over, Scar was knocked out. Bree was disappointed that Gwen had won, though Ronnie herself wasn't too bothered. She and Gwen both had two Pokémon left but unlike Gwen, both of Ronnie's Pokémon were at full health. She could win this battle easily.

As it made sense to use her Gloom, Ronnie decided to. Gloom was resistant to Water moves and Vaporeon was weak against Grass. Connor caught Ronnie's eye and willed her not to do what he thought she was going to do. Sure Gloom was the perfect Pokémon on paper for this battle but there was that one tiny problem of...

"Gloom, let's go," called Ronnie, releasing her Pokémon. Connor groaned and buried his face in his hands. This was not going to end well. Bree was unaware that anything bad was about to happen and watched with great earnest as Ronnie's Gloom got itself into what it thought was a battle pose. Gwen laughed out loud as she saw Gloom doing a handstand instead of the Stun Spore move Ronnie had told Gloom to do. Ronnie's face dropped.

"Gloom, please don't start this now," she begged. Gloom took no notice of her trainer and instead practised her pirouette. Gwen shook her head.

"Now that's cute. Vaporeon, use Quick Attack," said Gwen in an almost bored voice. Vaporeon didn't hesitate and in one hit, Gloom was out for the count. Sighing heavily, Ronnie returned Gloom to her ball. She shouldn't have been so optimistic about Gloom, who hardly ever listened to Ronnie and preferred to do her own thing. No amount of begging, bargaining or bribing could get Gloom to do a word Ronnie told her. Ever. When he was certain that it was all over, Connor opened his eyes just in time to see Ronnie release her last Pokémon.

"Uh, it's about time you brought me out! It's no picnic being cooped up in that tiny ball, believe me. Ooo, are we in a battle? Let's get started then!" the Haunter said cheerfully, using telepathy. Amina was just as much Ronnie's Haunter as she was Connor's as they had been given her together. But that was a lifetime ago. Ronnie told Amina to use Shadow Punch and she obeyed – unlike Gloom – and Vaporeon was knocked out before Gwen could say 'dodge'. Fuming, Gwen released her fourth and last Pokémon: Jolteon.

"This is where it all goes down," said Gwen, trying not to show how worried she was about losing.

"Pfft, you call that a Pokémon?" scoffed Amina. "I've seen scarier light bulbs!"

"Amina..." warned Ronnie. They had talked about unnecessary insults before. Ronnie then told Amina to use Shadow Ball and Amina dutifully hurled a shadowy blob at Jolteon, who was promptly rendered unconscious. Seething that she had lost the battle, Gwen returned her Jolteon to its ball and handed over some money to Ronnie for winning before storming out of the Union Cave. Connor, Ronnie and Bree followed Gwen's lead – minus the storming – but stopped when Ronnie ceased walking suddenly.

"I nearly forgot..." she murmured to herself, pulling out Amina's Pokéball.

"Do you have to?" whined Amina. Ronnie nodded.

"You know it's not safe," she said in a low voice so that Bree couldn't hear. Ronnie quickly returned Amina to her ball before she could complain some more about the small living quarters she was forced into once more.