Chapter 2: The Dire Pursuit
Seeing the Meowth-balloon depart from the city, Ash followed it to the outskirts of the city, as it was easier to bring it down with damaging the city. Not hesitating for a second, Ash immediately ordering Pikachu to bring down the balloon, Pikachu sent out a Thunderbolt, as the balloon fell violently to the ground. Quickly rushing towards them, Ash immediately saw James, as he confronted the confronted him while Pikachu kept an eye on Meowth. Meowth and James were utterly surprised.
- What's the problem twerp, all we did was just sightseeing, and James like the cool air up in the sky! And I like all the pretty city lights!
- Save it Meowth, I already know what's been happening! Now you either tell me the truth right now, or I'll take you straight to Officer Jenny!
Suddenly Ash noticed that Jessie wasn't with them, as he suddenly panned around the area. Not a sign of her, not even in the balloon. Ash then looked at James.
- Listen…whatever happened we have nothing to do with it: We just got here after hearing that there was a Tyrannitar lose somewhere around here!
- And such a valuable Pokemon to be left free would be a crime even for us criminals! So we looked from the air after it all day long!
Pikachu backed away, as Meowth came forth and stood next to James, as Ash was alert, not to get ambushed by Jessie or anyone else.
- Where's Jessie?! Wasn't she with you two, or has she left the city with the helicopter, together, with Misty, Brock and all the others?!
- Hey slow down…first of all we know nothing about your twerps friends or somebody else. Second, Jessie is in trouble and needs our help…
Not knowing if they spoke the truth, Ash hinted to Pikachu to fire off a Thunderbolt next to them, showing that he's serious and doesn't have time to waste.
- Hey watch it with that! I swear on my 9 lives that it's the truth, we're in no position to lie to you, and if we were then we'd be terrible liars without Jessie!
- It's true: First we three were following you home, but after we overheard that a Tyrannitar was seen in Cerulean City we decided to try to capture it. Shortly after we left the airspace around Pewter City we encountered a Scarmory which took down our balloon with Steel Wing. Before we had time to recover from the crash, Jessie was abducted by the Skarmory, which headed in the direction to Cerulean City. It took us a day to repair the balloon, as we then decided to go search for her.
Still uncertain that they were telling the truth Ash convinced them to come peacefully with him to the police and tell the police what happened. While they were being interrogated, it got dark, as Ash left James and Meowth with Officer Jenny for interrogation while he decided to go to the hospital to check up on Brock.
Ash arrived at the hospital, went inside and encountered the Nurse Joy from Cerulean City, which by Ash's request would meet him there to update him on some things.
- Butch and Cassidy are clearly involved, but James and Meowth don't appear to be involved in any of this, even without Jessie. What do you think Nurse Joy?
- I've noticed on the news that there have been reports of people suddenly disappearing, while others have been abducted by what seemed to be members of Team Rocket, asking around for people with any relation to Legendary Pokemon. The latest incident was at Petalburg City, where's the gymleader´s daughter managed to escape Team Rocket, and when Officer Jenny and the police arrived at the scene she disappeared, probably apprehended and abducted as well like everyone else.
Suddenly an alarm went off, as the hospital was being evacuated due to a bomb threat. All hospital personnel were helping everyone evacuate, as the Chansey helped them carry out patients. Suddenly Ash noticed that Nurse Joy was missing. Suspecting that Team Rocket is behind it all, Ash rushed to Brock's room:
He came too late: Brock was gone, and the fire stairs alarm activated just seconds after Ash entered the room. Suddenly something was heard. It was the helicopter.
With no time to waste, Ash took Pikachu up onto his shoulder and ran as fast as he could up the stairs, leading to the helicopter pad on the roof.
He saw the helicopter, ready to depart. Jumping right into the back of the helicopter before it closed, Ash was suddenly caught and got gagged by a hand. Ash then saw Nurse Joy, along with several other people. Brock was among them, still unconscious on the stretcher, guarded by a Team Rocket grunt, removing Brock's pokeballs from his belt and putting them inside a box, then locked it and put it away. The Team Rocket grunt then stood guard, keeping everyone under surveillance.
- Be quiet Ash, there's a Team Rocket member in here up front. He's with Brock, and there are several more in the cockpit as well. Keep yourself concealed alright?
- Hey, didn't I make it clear that no speaking is allowed?! Or do I need to clarify it for you in more brutal methods?! Come here and keep an eye on the stretcher guy!
Giving Ash a small bump, Ash sneaked behind her, as everyone helped conceal Ash until Nurse Joy had arrived at the stretcher. Without a warning, Pikachu jumped up front and hit the grunt with an Iron Tail. With the grunt unconscious, Ash checked up on Brock to see if he was alright. Nurse Joy told him that everything was ok.
Ash then took out the Pokegear he got from Tracey and called Officer Jenny, telling her his position and to tell James to take with him the Pokeballs that Tracey had sent to Nurse Joy, and to follow the helicopter with the balloon. Nurse Joy continued to take care of Brock, now showing signs of recovering quite well from his hit.
-But Ash, if what you say is true then you must stay hidden until help arrives, you can't defeat Team Rocket by yourself! Remain concealed until James arrives!
Suddenly the signal was gone, as the helicopter seemed to descend, as Ash reluctantly kept himself concealed. The helicopter had made a sudden landing.
Finding a safe place to spy on, Ash peaked through a small hole to check what has happening on the outside, as Butch and Cassidy's voices were heard:
- … just informed me that it's time to return to HQ: We got enough people to continue the project. But there's one person that I'd like to find before we leave…
- I know exactly which one you mean Butch: Since we already have the brother, now we all we have to do is wait for her to come to us, right into our hands…
- She made it so difficult for us to capture her brother and some others, that we even managed to lose some captives, including the other kid with his Pikachu!
- That's unfortunately true, but at least we have others that have encountered Lugia and Celebi, that are sufficient to extract information from. Let's continue.
Suddenly a second helicopter landed, as Ash decided to hide outside in case Team Rocket would need to move their victims. Ash told them everyone that help is on the way, and to keep the grunt hidden.
As Ash then looked afar from some bushes he saw that Butch suddenly took out someone from the other helicopter. It was Forrest, guarded by some Team Rocket grunts, as Ash moved closer to them.
Butch confirmed Forrest's identity, as he then was tied up and moved deeply into the second helicopter. Suddenly everyone entered their respective helicopter and took off without a warning. This time Ash had no chance of catching up with them, but just in the nick of time James and Meowth arrived, as they threw down Ash's Pokeballs. Ash grabbed them, and then called forth Charizard and Swellow, and told James to take the balloon and come after him and Charizard, while Swellow would go back to the city and lead the way for the police. Ash then took off, as James and Meowth followed him.
After a long pursuit that lasted two days, they suddenly entered the Johto region. The helicopters had landed close to a river, so they decided camped a bit away from where the helicopters had landed. Nightfall came, as everyone took turns to watch out for dangers or if the helicopter would make an unexpected takeoff again. Ash couldn't sleep even if he wanted to: He was up and ready for anything.
A sudden explosion was heard, as Ash quickly ran off the see what had happened. He saw a Pikachu battle a Scissor, as he then saw Ritchie, fighting against Team Rocket members trying to subdue him. Before Ash could help out, May and Blaziken appeared and managed to fend off Team Rocket, which quickly entered the second helicopter that was a few feet away. It quickly took off, as James and Meowth followed it while Ash noticed that the first helicopter had sneaked away. He then went to Ritchie, as he checked if he's alright, as Ash then went to May to ask what they were doing here in Johto.
Ritchie explained that he had been contacted by May shortly after she succeeded in avoiding being abducted by members of Team Rocket. They managed to capture Max, and offered to exchange him in her place. Accepting the trade, she asked Ritchie to help her find Max and flee with him should it would go bad, but shortly after they arrived at the location and Butch saw Ritchie the Team Rocket members were given orders to capture him and May as well. They managed to flee, but decided to go back and surprise them, create a diversion good enough to keep them occupied while May would go get Max.
With no time to waste, Ash called forth Charizard and told May to stay and wait for Swellow and the police to arrive, but she had already climbed up on Charizard and would go with Ash no matter what. Not in a position to argue with her, Ash then turned to Ritchie and told him to stay behind and wait for help to arrive. As Charizard ascended up, Ash saw a familiar place in the horizon: Purity Canyon.
Not taking any chances, Ash decided to land a bit away from it and walk the rest of the way, knowing that if he gets caught in an air battle then he would be greatly outnumbered. Arriving at the base of Mount Quena, Ash saw a familiar, horrifying sight: Huge structures were built into the rock, and the rivers were clogged with dams that gathered energy for something inside the vast structures. Ash called forth Charizard and told him to go and tell the police of their location. Charizard nodded and quickly flew away, as Ash and May silently searched every structure in search of guards and the abducted.
They then reached a large warehouse which was guarded by several powerful Pokemon. Ash decided that it would be best to make a hard-hitting surprise attack, and after some quick battles the Pokemon were defeated, as Ash told May to use Blaziken to open the warehouse doors. As the doors slowly opened up, Ash couldn't believe what he saw inside: Hundreds of people had been trapped in there.
As everybody were surprised to see Ash and May, suddenly someone rushed to Ash, right into his arms. It was …Bianca. Ash asked if she was alright, and how she got here. She told him that she was alright. She had been kidnapped during the night, and after she was locked away in the warehouse she decided to gather information about everyone inside. She had found out something interesting:
Everyone inside the warehouse that were abducted had two things in common: All had been in contact with legendary Pokemon, and that everyone had meet Ash personally. Suddenly a deep, familiar voice was heard among everyone, as Professor Oak then approached, telling Ash that the situation seems to be extremely dangerous:
Team Rocket had asked everyone that if they cooperate they would not be harmed, but if they refused then brute measures are to be used. They were then asked about their connection to legendary Pokemon and their relation to Ash. Oak told Ash that he was abducted by Butch and Cassidy, and that while captive in the helicopter had overheard them giving out orders to agents all over the world to acquire their targets, when he suddenly overheard that they were pursuing Misty, as they were then ordered to meet up with the second helicopter to exchange Oak before going after her again.
Worried to death about Misty, Ash called out to her in the crowd, but it seemed that she was not among them. Ash felt that something was wrong, something bad had happened to her. Something really bad.
Suddenly the warehouse doors slowly began to open, as Oak quickly pushed Ash and May back into the crowd, keeping them concealed from whoever was about to enter. Butch, with Forrest, entered.
- Alright, everyone listen up! All the Pokemon guards out here are passed out. So either someone has a Pokemon hidden here and tried to escape… or someone from the outside tried to help you escape. Now you all could be silent and take forever to answer, but the boss just told me that he wants an answer immediately, as some Skarmory of ours have detected a large police-force hours away from here. We're about to strengthen our defences, so I'll say it as it is. You got 30 seconds to speak up, or this kid just might get hurt enough to prove that I'm not joking around. The clock is ticking people…
Meanwhile, Cassidy called forth Mightyena and Sableye, as they three went through the crowd in search of any Pokemon. Grabbing hold of May and Pikachu, Ash told everyone to guide them in the opposite direction of the Pokemon, as 15 seconds had gone by. Suddenly Butch twisted Forrest's arm, as Forrest tried not to scream due to the pain he just suffered. Given no choice, Oak came forth:
- I'll talk. A wild Charizard had been aggravated by your Pokemon intruding its territory here, so it battled them. We called out for it to help us but it had already left the area. That's what happened Barf.
- He might be telling the truth, apparently our radar sensors did pick up a large object fly off at high speed, and its shape does appear to be a Charizard. And we haven't found any Pokemon here either.
Believing the fake story, Butch let go of Forrest, as Forrest then rushed to Professor Oak, as Oak then told him to stay back. Cassidy withdrew her Pokemon and left the warehouse to continue to work.
- Alright, now that this mess is taken care of, I want to remind everyone that if you try anything else, then we'll be more than happy to truly test how much pain you can withstand. Here's a preview!
Suddenly, without any warning, Butch landed a mighty kick right at Professor Oak's crotch, as Oak easily fell down to the floor, shivering in shock and pain from the unexpected hit. Everyone got terrified.
- That's for all the times you said my name wrong! Barf?! Who would name their child Barf?! Be glad I held back alot with my kick, otherwise you'd been sobbing a lot more Professor Joke! Hah take that!
Butch then left the warehouse, as the doors were closed and locked, as more Pokemon were guarding the entrance. Ash and May quickly went through the crowd to check up on the Professor.
- I'm so sorry; if I hadn't been captured then this wouldn't have happened to you, said Forrest, as he was holding the Professors hand tightly, as he began to cry. Oak wiped away Forrest's tears.
- It's not you fault Forrest. Bad people do bad things, even when they don't have to. And that fiend is the least of our worries: His boss is far worse than we can imagine, since he's behind all of this.
- Wait until I and Blaziken get our hands on Butch, then we'll really make him barf by what we're gonna do to him! Are you sure you're alright Professor Oak? Can you still help us find the others?
- Don't worry May, I've been through far worse in my younger days. A hit in the crotch is nothing compared to what he might have done if I hadn't come forth and speak up. I'll surely recover. As for the rest, I'm sorry to say that I don't know very much, except that they were after Misty, and that when I and Delia arrived here she was separated from the rest of us when I was locked inside this warehouse.
- My mom's still out there?! I gotta go find her, who knows what they're doing to her, how sacred she must be! If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself! What about Max? Have you seen him?
- I only saw a glimpse of him: He was taken away from the warehouse when I came in. He put up quite a fight, it took 3 grunts to restrain him. I fear that Max knows something we don't. Something bad.
Spending no more time discussing what to do, Ash quickly got a glimpse of something: The walls were padded with steel pipes, and there was an airshaft at the top of the roof. Ash told Pikachu to jump into his backpack, as Ash started to climb up the wall pipes. May took out Blaziken, ready to get a hold of Ash if he should slip and fall from the walls. Ash reached the airshaft and managed to squeeze through.
However, the situation just got worse: More Pokemon guards were sent to keep an eye on the door. Ash decided to make a diversion, telling Pikachu instructions on what to do. Pikachu climbed down.
Pikachu then went to the Pokemon guards, who immediately saw Pikachu. Pretending to be a Team Rocket Scout, Pikachu told the guards that police scout were spotted up ahead, and that it got direct orders to send them to battle the scouts. The guards, knowing that there was a police force on its way, and that the area was clear of intruders, still hesitated to listen to Pikachu. Pikachu got worried.
Falling for the bait, the guards decided to go off and battle the scouts, as Ash then told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on the door, short-circuiting the lock mechanism. Ash opened the doors and told everyone to flee into the forest and head in Ritchie's direction. Everyone ran off, as Ash and May went to another building. Finding an airshaft, Ash got into it, as May followed him, eager to find Max no matter what.
Peeking behind a small ventilation grid, Ash looked into what seemed to be a laboratory. He saw several scientists, working on large computers, as Ash suddenly heard a familiar outcry. Togepi was there. It was strapped to something, as it then fell asleep. The scientists then started something they called the ´´ Memory Retrieval Program´´ as a large screen suddenly appeared, and started to display something:
Sara was seen through Togepi´s eyes, as it was evident that the scientists now were in Togepi´s mind. They moved forward to get some fresh memories, as now audio was available as well:
´´ Hi Misty, it's Sara! I've come to visit you and see how you've been.´´
´´ Hi Sara, what a nice surprise! Please come in, let me give you a tour here around the gym!
´´ That's alright, I can't stay too long, mother and father are waiting for me to return shortly: Our train for Hoenn departs in about 2 hours, and we have to get to Saffron City in time´´
´´ That's too bad, I was hoping you'd tell me how the kingdom's doing? How's Togepi… oh I mean Togetic. Has it visited you several times, how's it doing in the kingdom´´
Suddenly Togepi teleported right in front of Misty. Misty, believing it was Sara's Togepi, kneeled in front of it and greeted it. Togepi then lunged right into Misty´s arms in joy. Misty then knew it was hers.
´´ Ask it yourself! It went back to being a Togepi. I then knew that my Togepi would probably be ready to take its place. I know you've missed it alot, it's more than right for you two to be together again!
´´ Togepi! I missed you so much! Come on and give me a harder hug! Yeah I love you too, I don't know how I could go on without you honey! Wait until Ash hears about this, he'll be so happy to see you!
´´ I'm glad for the two of you. As for Ash, how's he enjoying the rest of Hoenn? Still eager to get into the Hoenn League?
´´ Thanks you so much Sara, I don't know how I can repay you for bring my baby back to me! I do hear from Ash from time to time, still battling in order to get to the Hoenn League.´´
´´ And how are you managing, now that your sisters are away on a vacation? If you want any help I can send you some guys, that's the least I can do after everything you've do for us´´
´´ Well, it's hard work to run a gym all by yourself for so long… but I manage this by myself, even if I have to break a nail or two. I actually enjoy this job, it's a new challenge for me. But still…
´´ You'd rather continue to travel the world, keep fighting for your dream in becoming a great water-Pokemon trainer right? Do you plan on joining Ash in his journeys once you are done here?
´´ I wish, but since my sisters haven't even told me when they'll be back I really can't plan ahead. Besides, there's a job offer in Shinnoh that I might look into if I'd get free from all this work. But now that Ash is travelling with Brock again I'm sure he'll be alright, especially when it comes to cooking. And even though I didn't get much of a chance to get to know May and Max… I already noticed that May really has taken a liking to Ash, and Max really looks up to him. It was already a challenge with me and Brock looking after him, now that Ash has one extra companion and tries to get used to it…
´´ Misty, just say it. You miss him but you don't know if he wants you back. Well from what you just told me…Ash may be accompanied by great friends… but his best friend stills remains in Kanto…
´´ It's just that I had been with him since his journey…he's been a part of my life for so long that I really can't imagine a life without him…we have had close encounters but managed to survive together´´
- The specimen is showing some emotional patterns, it's trying to use telepathy. Probably with it's surrogate mother or father. Continue to extract information, especially more suppressed ones.
Suddenly Ash felt a strange connection, as he now was linked to Togepi through telepathy. Although he couldn't understand what Togepi was trying to say to him, Ash began to feel it's emotions:
Togepi felt all alone. It was scared and cold, the straps on it's forehead started to hurt and burn. Ash then understood what was happening. Togepi was being tortured in order to gain access to memories. Knowing that he is linked with it, Ash now focused on good thoughts and emotions, hoping that Togepi would sense it. Togepi then got more relaxed, as it released another memory on the screen:
´´ Hi Professor Oak!
´´ Hi Misty, I didn't expect you to come, your Pokemon examinations are scheduled for next week ´´
´´ Yeah I know. I just wanted to come by here and say hi. Miss Ketchum isn't home, is she here with you? ´´
´´ What a lovely thing to do, please come in. Delia is upstairs with Tracey, showing him some new recipes that Ash's Pokemon might adore´´
´´ I'll go upstairs soon and say hi to them. First I'd like you to meet someone who's been away far too long´´
´´ Well, I don't see anyone here, who are you talking about Misty?´´
Togepi then teleported right onto Professor Oak's head, as it suddenly fell, but Oak quickly grabbed it. Amazed to see Togepi again, Misty then explained everything to Professor Oak.
´´ A Pokemon de-evolution? Oh this sounds very interesting. First I'll check if Togepi´s alright and well, then I'll run some preliminary tests. Go up and say hi while I'll work alright?´´
´´ Yeah sure, call for me in you need anything. Oak is going to check you out Togepi. It won't hurt honey, and I'll be back soon alright?´´
Misty then went upstairs, as she saw Delia, writing down recipes and ingredients into the database. Misty sneaked up on her, and joked a little by pulling Delia's ponytail. Delia turned around and saw her.
´´ Well hello dear, didn't expect you so soon. What brings you here? ´´
´´ Hi Miss Ketchum! I decided to come by and leave Togepi here for Professor Oak to examine. Yeah you heard me: My honey has returned home to me, and has gone back to being a Togepi´´
´´ That's wonderful darling, I'm thrilled that you two are together again, I've missed that little cry-baby! I'm sure the Professor will find out that everything's alright with it´´
´´ Yeah I'm sure it's just fine. Where's Tracey, is he nearby? I can't thank him enough for helping me last week with the pool.´´
´´ I sent him out to go get some ingredients for the new recipes I've come up with, he'll be back soon. How has it been dear? ´´
´´ Tough, it took hours before I managed to go through the bills and forward them to my sisters since they have the funds. How's it been here Miss Ketchum? ´´
´´ You know, same old garden to take care of, but brand new flowers to attend to. Pallet Town just is a calm place. But a little adventure here wouldn't hurt either´´
´´ Hope you liked the fishing lures I sent you last week, Ash uses them all the time to try fish out a Pokemon and battle it. Hope you've catched something!´´
´´ Actually I and the Professor were planning on going with Tracey to the lake just outside of the town to try catch something, and to help us relax from our daily routines.´´
´´ That sounds lovely. As much as I'd love to tag along if you'd let me, but I still have a lot to do at the gym: I'm saving all my free time to be able to see Ash's League battles´´
´´ Too bad, you would have loved it Misty. Sorry that you're so burdened, I hope Tracey is enough to help you around, otherwise you should consider hiring some help´´
´´ Don't worry Miss Ketchum it ain´t too hard, it's just time consuming. Tracey's been a great help when he can, and due to some gym investors I just might get some extra help´´
´´ And how's Ash, have you heard anything from him lately. Have you spoken to him recently ?´´
´´ Nothing yet. It's so hard that after so many years we barely spoke frequently with each other, and now I can't wait just to hear his voice again. I'll definitely be in town when he comes home´´
- Sir, it's telepathic energy is increasing, it's still trying to communicate with someone either far away or someone close-by. We'll continue the program and see what happens.
May tried to push Ash forward, hinting that they should do something or continue, but Ash had apparently gotten into a state of trance due to the telepathic connection he has with Togepi.
Ash, feeling worried about Misty, suddenly his thoughts were projected onto Togepi, as Ash's voice and thoughts were heard through the computer speakers. The scientists were startled.
´´ Hey May, I can hear myself in the speakers! Yikes, they can hear my voice in the speakers! Better not think of anything…. I can't let them know that I'm behind them… ah crap… I did not think that…
(Chapter 3 is in progress!)