Kadros looked up, returning his attention to the road. He had been walking all day and not one thing had happened. There hadn't even been any trainers or travelers on the road. In previous days he had seen a lot of Team Rocket members, but they hadn't been a challenge on their own. They had all run off shouting about vengeance. They always did that, and he still didn't see any vengeful task force.
Looking down the road, he found it as empty as it had been all day. The sun was beginning to set, and the street was littered with shadows cast from the trees on the side of the road. Something reflected the light and caught his eye off to the side of the road. When he turned his head, the reflection disappeared. Marking it off as imagination, he began walking again. Kadros stopped again, but this time he stopped because someone was calling his name.
He looked into the trees, expecting the owner of the voice to exit from the woods. The voice called again, turning his attention to the road behind him. Kadros groaned inwardly. It was Samael. Samael had long red hair handing to his shoulder that seemed well taken care of. Kadros's own brown hair wasn't nearly as long, but was messier. Kadros was taller than Samael by about a head and it made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't like looking down on people, even if it was Samael.
"Kadros! Wait up." Kadros sighed and shook his head. Why do I even put up with him? He turned to face the other young man, knowing what he wanted.
"What is it this time, Samael?" Samael was the same age as Kadros, seventeen, but he acted several ages less. He just wouldn't learn that trust was needed to be successful with Pokemon.
"What do you think I want? Let's battle!"
"No." Samael recoiled as if slapped.
"What do you mean, no?" Kadros sighed again and began walking as he answered.
"I mean exactly what I said. I'm not going to battle right now. I've been walking all day, I'm tired, and I'm just not in the mood." Samael quickly fell into step beside him, hoping to goad him into fighting. His taunts and pleadings bounced off Kadros, and though some of the pleadings were refreshing, he still ignored the comments.
Finally, Kadros decided to set up camp for the night. He turned to the redhead to tell him so, and found his words swallowed up as an explosion ripped through the air. Before he could recover, he realized that there was no ground beneath his feet. He landed on his back with a loud thud, which was echoed a moment later. He smelled gas and could feel it filling his lungs. As darkness began taking over, his last thought resounded in his mind: Team Rocket!
Sturdy metal bars accompanied his return to consciousness. As his vision cleared, Kadros found himself in a cell lying next to Samael. Samael wasn't awake yet, so Kadros took the opportunity to inspect the situation they were in without distraction. Outside their cell was a small room. Two steel tables were bolted to the floor, but the room was otherwise unadorned. There were no guards either. He couldn't find any cameras, but the Rockets were particularly good at hiding them.
A small groan signaled Samael's awakening. Kadros looked back at the other trainer. Samael was rubbing his head and looking around, clearing wondering what had happened. Kadros spoke before Samael could ask.
"I think we're in a Team Rocket holding cell. They've taken our Pokemon." Samael had instinctively reached for a pokeball at the mention of Team Rocket, but withdrew his hand at Kadros's statement. He stood up and joined Kadros at the bars.
"What are we going to do? We can't let them get away with stealing our Pokemon!"
"Calm down, Samael. Getting angry won't help us. I'm assuming your Alakazam knows teleport?"
"Of course. Why? It's not going to be of any use if he is still in his pokeball."
"I can get him out." Kadros walked to the back of the cell and sat down. Samael looked at him in disbelief, so Kadros sighed and explained.
"I have a psychic link with my Slowbro, as most psychic-type Pokemon's trainers do. Because of Team Rocket, I've trained him to be able to break out of his pokeball if he needs to. I'll contact him and he'll find your Alakazam."
"Aren't Slowbro really stupid and slow? How's he going to help us?"
"Don't be ignorant. With our psychic link, I've discovered that Slowbro think as fast as an Alakazam, but the messages sent through its body are slower than they should be. Just because his body moves slow doesn't mean he's weak. Now let me concentrate." Kadros closed his eyes and his breathing became shallow. Samael used Kadros's silence to study the room they were in. Several minutes passed, and finally Kadros opened his eyes.
"They'll be here any second now." He had barely finished speaking when the two psychic types appeared outside their cell. Kadros didn't waste any time.
"They'll have noticed these Pokemon are missing. Quick Slowbro, use Fire Blast on the door of this cell!" Samael jumped back as the heat hit the bars.
"Now use Water Gun!" Slowbro's second attack cooled the bars, making them weaker. Samael caught on and called to his Alakazam.
"Alakazam, use Psychic on the door now!" The door burst inward, slamming against the back wall of the cell. Kadros and Samael rushed out as an alarm began to sound overhead. Samael reached his Alakazam and shouted over the alarm.
"Teleport us back to our Pokeballs!" Kadros braced himself and found himself in another room. Two men in white lab coats cried out as they appeared. The alarm still sounded, but now it was a distant peal. On the table in front of them lay their Pokeballs. They grabbed them and then turned to the door to leave. They were unexpectedly forced back as a stream of fire and electricity flew in front of them.
The two men in lab coats had summoned a Magmar and an Electabuzz from their Pokeballs.
"You're not going anywhere!" shouted one of them. "Magmar, use Flamethrower again!"
"Electabuzz, use Thunderbolt!" The simultaneous attacks forced Kadros and Samael apart. Both reached for their Pokeballs and summoned their own Pokemon.
"Go Quagsire!" shouted Kadros.
"Go Gengar!" yelled Samael.
"Quagsire, use Earthquake to disorient them!" The ground shook, knocking the Pokemon and their trainers off their feet. Samael threw his own attack in a moment later.
"Gengar, use Night Shade." The dark ray enveloped all four of the opponents, and their cries were mixed with the cackling of the ghostly energy. When the attack subsided, they were unconscious, Pokeballs still in their clenched fists. Kadros and Samael returned their own Pokemon to their belts. They turned to the door and opened it slowly, not wanting to encounter any Team Rocket patrols. Just as their heads entered the hallway, two Rockets came around a corner. Kadros and Samael managed to pull their heads back in time to not be seen.
"This isn't going to work. This is a Rocket base. They're going to be everywhere," said Kadros, shaking his head.
"Hey, I've got an idea." Samael was kneeling next to the unconscious scientists. Kadros smiled. He's certainly acting more mature now. He's thinking faster too. Kadros joined Samael on the ground and helped him remove the lab coats from the unconscious men.
A few minutes later, they found themselves sweating nervously as they walked under the fluorescent hallway lights. Several patrols had passed them, muttering about "escaped kids" and "unconscious scientists." They didn't know how long it would be before they were discovered. Some of the patrols had Pokemon out with them. Arboks, Murkrows, Koffings, and Raticates were commonly seen patrolling with their trainers. Inspired by this, Kadros shared his idea with Samael.
"Samael," he whispered. "Bring out your Crobat. Have it use its Supersonic to find the exit." Samael nodded and summoned his Crobat into the air above them. Kadros heard Samael whispering, but the words themselves were inaudible to anyone but Crobat. Crobat flew off slowly, and they followed it. They soon came to a doorway. Two Rockets were guarding it. One of the Rockets held out his hand, signaling for them to stop.
"Present your identification cards. Only high-level officers are being let out. Two brats are loose in the base somewhere. I don't see how we missed them though. Our patrols are searching everywhere." Kadros and Samael exchanged a glance and rummaged through their pockets, hoping to find something. Kadros found a card, just as Samael was handing his card over to his guard. Kadros quickly gave the Rocket his card. Knowing this wouldn't work, he drew a pokeball and released his Poliwrath.
"This doesn't look like – wha!" The man buckled over as Poliwrath's Dynamic Punch took him by surprise. The other guard seemed to be confused, thinking his unconscious partner was Samael. Kadros looked at the other trainer, who returned the look with a smirk.
"Confuse Ray." Kadros smiled and quickly opened the door. They returned their Pokemon and went through the door. Inside was a large machine. Several panels were lit, and parts of it were rotating. It looked like some sort of engine.
"Look Kadros!" Samael was pointing at a conveyor belt that was running out of the machine into another room. On the conveyor belt were Pokeballs. They passed a scanner and on a larger screen was showed what kind of Pokemon was in the ball. It was then recorded as a brief tally flash on-screen.
Kadros check one of the screens on the main body of the device. The words Stolen Pokemon Storage Transfer were at the top of the screen.
"Samael! There are Pokemon Team Rocket has stolen! We need to stop this machine."
"Yeah, but how do we do that? This thing is enormous, and we don't want to hurt those Pokemon."
"Pokeballs are shockproof. This machine doesn't look to be. You following me?" Kadros pulled out a pokeball and Samael followed suit.
"Yeah, I follow," he said. The Pokemon that emerged were Magneton and Starmie.
"Starmie,"
"Magneton,"
"Thunder!" they cried in unison. The electrical shock hit the machine, causing screens to explode and sparks from the machine to fly. The conveyor belt stopped. Kadros and Samael shielded themselves when the large screen exploded, sending glass across the room. Samael tried to grab some of the Pokeballs, but Kadros stopped him.
"There's no time. There had to have been cameras in here. There will be Team Rocket members in here any second. We'll get the police. We have to get out!" Samael nodded and ran for the door opposite the one they had entered through.
Waiting for them was half a room of Rockets, all armed with machine guns. In front of them were powerful Pokemon. Samael reacted first, pulling out his Alakazam.
"Reflect Alakazam!" Kadros followed his lead, summoning his Starmie.
"Light Screen Starmie!" The two barriers flashed and merged. An instant later, bullets and elemental attacks ricocheted off the wall.
"Those Pokemon are well trained. How are we going to get past this? Samael looked at Kadros, hoping he might have a plan. He didn't though. All his life, he had known what to do. Now he was stuck. This looked like an impossible situation. Kadros felt something on his shoulder. Looking up, he found Samael shaking him.
"Wake up, man! I can't do this without you! Look at our Pokemon. It's taking everything they've got to hold up that barrier. They're not giving up. Why are you?" Kadros looked at Alakazam and Starmie. Samael was right. They were barely holding onto maintaining the barrier between the Rockets and their Pokemon. He shook himself hard, snapping himself back to reality. An idea popped into his head.
"We have to stop those guns first. They're more deadly than the Pokemon attacks. How fast is your Sneasel?"
"Fast enough. Go Sneasel! Use Quick Attack in combination with Fury Swipes. Disable those guns!" As soon as the dark Pokemon was out of its pokeball, it was gone in a flash. Cries of surprise and irritation followed, and the bullets stopped coming.
"Now we need to take the trainers and their Pokemon alike out. I can handle that. Go, Lugia!" The large flying Pokemon barely fit in the barrier around them.
"You have a Lugia?"
"I'll explain later. Gaah!" A large flame had licked past Kadros. The barrier was failing. He needed to move fast.
"Lugia, use Aeroblast. Clear the room!" The massive attack was launched just as the barrier dropped, signaling their Pokemon's energy was gone. The Aeroblast ripped through the ranks of Team Rocket. It forced the units of Pokemon and henchmen to fly all over the room. When the smoke and dust cleared, no one was standing save the two boys and their Pokemon. The path was now clear to the outer door.
They returned their Pokemon to their balls and bolted out the door. Once out, they could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance. The police were on their way. Looking behind them, they found the building they had exited was in flames.
"Those electrical attacks we used must have done more damage than we thought. Those Pokeballs may be shockproof, but I doubt their fireproof," said Samael. Kadros nodded.
"And we can't just let the people in there burn to death, even if they are Team Rocket. Listen Samael, go to the police and tell them we need the fire teams. I'm pretty sure a strong one is stationed nearby. Inform the police what happened along the way. I'll try to hold off the flames."
"Your water Pokemon are too tired. You won't be able to do anything."
"Not all of them. Go, Feraligatr! Get moving Samael. We need those fire teams." Samael took off running, and Kadros turned back to the fire.
"Alright, Feraligatr. Remember the time we saved that town from the volcano? I want a repeat. Hydro Pump!" The water Pokemon shot at the flames and managed to calm them down a little. As soon as Feraligatr stopped pumping the water, the flames shot back up, maiking their hopes of an easy fire-quenching disappear.
"Hydro Pump again, Feraligatr! Keep it going this time. We have to hold here until we get backup."
Several minutes passed, and Kadros could see that Feraligatr was beginning to flag. The flames and the heat were getting to both of them. Suddenly, Kadros heard a sound like that of crushing cement and steel. He looked up to see part of the building break off and fall toward him and his Pokemon. Neither of them would have the time to move. They could only watch as it plummeted toward them.
"Meganium, Vine Whip!" Suddenly, Kadros felt something pull taut around his waist, and he was hauled backward. He watched as the chunk of debris fell right before his eyes, crushing the ground where he and Feraligatr had just stood. Images blurred past his eyes, and he couldn't focus on any of them. For the second time in twenty-four hours, he blacked out.
When he woke up, he found himself wrapped in a blanket. Looking around, he saw police officers leading Rocket operatives into police vans. The fire was gone, and those Pokemon with sensitive noses were searching for survivors and Pokeballs in the rubble. He sat up, and instantly wished he hadn't. Kadros's head rang like he had hit a gong with it.
"When you blacked out, you hit your head pretty hard." Kadros looked up to see Samael standing over him. "Your Feraligatr didn't last much longer." At the mention of Feraligatr, Kadros tried to get up, concern clear on his face. Samael pushed him back down.
"He's fine. Our Pokemon are being seen to by the staff from the Pokemon Center. We did it, Kadros. We stopped Team Rocket." Kadros nodded, but didn't say anything. Samael clapped him on the shoulder and told him to get some rest. Kadros quickly fell back into a dreamless sleep.
When he woke once more, he learned that it had had taken Samael and him all night to escape the base. It was now almost noon. Their Pokemon had been returned to full health. The police had captured many high Rocket Executives while they tried to escape the burning building.
"Thank you, Samael. We couldn't have done that without you. You gave me the trust I needed so I could trust in you. And then you saved me in that fire."
"I didn't do anything. You were the one in charge. I wouldn't have known what to do."
"But you did know what to do many of the times we needed your help. You've matured a lot, Samael. Today you showed more trust in your Pokemon than you ever have before." Samael smiled at the compliment. The two of them turned and began walking down the road again. They walked in silence for a distance before Samael spoke again.
"So, Kadros, you were going to tell me why you have a Lugia?" Kadros chuckled.
"Well, you don't forget things easily. Alright, so I was traveling in Johto…"