Traveling the Same Path 102: Team Rocket Attacks
The duo ran to the Pokemon Center, Charmander in Ryan's arms, Ryan running for Charmander's life, Eric struggling to keep up. Ryan usually didn't do to well physically, but when he had to, he could run.
Ryan and Eric, two new Pokemon trainers from Pallet Town, were in a huge emergency. Their rival, Craig, used his Squirtle to exact revenge on Eric. Craig was in a snit because, after Ryan picked Bulbasaur, Eric picked Charmander so Craig would be at Ryan's disadvantage with Squirtle. Squirtle tackled Charmander into a lake and Eric and Charmander nearly drowned. Ryan used his Pidgey and Bulbasaur to blow Squirtle into another time zone, but now, they had to save Charmander, who was going in and out of consciousness.
Ryan banged right into the center and ranged the bell, not noticing that he broke through the glass door.
Nurse Joy ran up and said "What is the matter with you, young man? Can't you see that-"
"Nurse Joy," Ryan interrupted, "no time. My friends Charmander was thrown into a lake by another trainer's Squirtle."
"Oh my," she said, realizing the condition of Charmander, "we need to get it to ER, STAT."
A Chansey came up and put Charmander on stretcher. It then rushed it to the emergency room.
Eric, still tired from the mad dash to the Pokémon Center, asked, "Nurse Joy (huff, puff). Is there ANYTHING that I can do to help?"
Nurse Joy said in an angry voice, "Well you can start by taking better care of your Pokemon."
"What do you mean?" I said.
"You don't battle your Pokémon until it's in this condition and…"
"But…"
"And you don't battle in a place that…"
"But…"
"You don't battle in a place that puts you Pokémon to a disadvantage."
"Listen Nurse, we weren't battling," Ryan explained, "We were ambushed. Some guy we know insulted Eric's Charmander and then used his Squirtle to tackle it into a lake after Charmander assaulted our uh hmm acquaintance (if you can call him that)."
A look of realization came over Nurse Joy's face. She covered her mouth with both hands and said,
"Oh I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I thought that you did this on purpose."
"Apology accepted," Eric said, "Uhh. Feel so… drained. I…"
Suddenly Eric fainted and collapsed on the floor.
"Uhh. He tried to save Charmander and nearly drowned because he forgot he couldn't swim," Ryan explained.
Nurse Joy preformed CPR on Eric. He woke up and said,
"My heroine." Eric then gave Nurse Joy a wet one.
Ryan covered his eyes as he heard a loud smack. Nurse Joy ran behind the desk, wiped Eric's spit off her cheek, and stayed at least 10 feet away from Eric.
Ryan then said, "That was not the best way to handle the situation."
"Let me guess," Eric said to Nurse Joy, "You've never been kissed before. Don't worry I'll tell everyone else that you're untouchable."
Ryan and Eric slept in the Pokémon center. The next day, Eric, Ryan, and Nurse Joy went to the regeneration chamber that Charmander was in and found out that Charmander had escaped. They looked up to see an open window.
Nurse Joy said, "I've got to get rid of that window."
Ryan said, "Dang straight."
Then Ryan and Eric went to search for Charmander.
"Hey, I've got an idea. Bulbasaur, Pidgey, I choose you both."
The hawk and frog came out.
"Bulbasaur, Pidgey, go look for Charmander."
The two Pokemon did so. Soon after…
"Bulba, Bulba, Bulbasaur!"
"What is it Bulbasaur," Eric asked.
"Saur," it pointed to a tree.
Eric saw with horror what had happened. Charmander got into some hunter's trap. Charmander was hanging upside-down with it's tail in the air.
"Char…" Charmander said as the blood was rushing to its head.
Ryan came up and asked, "What is it?"
Ryan saw Charmander and said, "Ohh."
Then Eric jumped and grabbed a low tree branch.
"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, "You're going to break your neck!"
"Don't worry," Eric stated as he jumped to another branch, "I'll be fine."
"Just don't look down," Ryan warned.
Eric finally got to the branch that Charmander was hanging from. He untied it and let Charmander down slowly. Charmander looked very dizzy. Eric looked down and realized how far up he actually was.
"Oh boy," Eric commented.
Eric then jumped down and…
Was caught by Bulbasaur's vines. Eric was set down and he picked up Charmander, who was still dizzy. The two trainers, thirsty for adventure went to the local gym. Unfortunately, a guard in front of the door said,
"Sorry boys. The gym's closed. Now run along and go cry to mommy."
Eric was infuriated and Ryan grabbed his arm just before Eric had a chance to punch the guard in the stomach.
Ryan then said, "Come on Eric it's not that bad."
Eric yelled, "NOT THAT BAD? HE JUST INSULTED US! ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE THAT FROM HIM?"
Ryan just smiled. A few seconds later the guard was screaming.
"What's that smell? Ahh! Dang you kids! I'll get you for this!"
Eric looked at Ryan who said, "I put a stink bomb down his pants."
Eric had an idea as he saw a small fishing pond.
Eric said to Ryan, "Can I borrow 300 dollars?"
Ryan asked, " What for?"
"It's a surprise," Eric thought for a minute, "What's your favorite water Pokémon?"
"Seel, of course."
"Okay then."
Eric took Ryan's money and ran into a store. Just as fast, Eric came out with two fishing rods.
"Here," Eric handed Ryan a fishing rod.
"Cool, but what's it for?" Ryan asked.
"It's a special rod for catching water Pokemon. I also got you this!" Eric held out a box of…
Seel bait.
"Keen beans! Let's go catch some Seels!" Ryan shouted.
An hour later…
"Eric, you caught anything yet?" Ryan shouted across the lake.
"Haven't caught a dang thing!" Eric yelled.
Suddenly, a tug came at Ryan's line.
"All right, I caught something!" Please let it be a Seel. Please let it be a Seel. Ryan pleaded silently.
Ryan raised the line, and, as luck would have it, on the other end was a level 13 Seel.
"Yahoo!" Ryan shouted, "Bulbasaur, I choose you!"
Ryan threw a Pokeball and Bulbasaur came out.
"Bulbasaur!" it cried
"Bulbasaur, tackle!"
Bulbasaur executed his tackle, and hit Seel with one blast. "Seeeeeeeeel!" it cried.
"Go, Pokeball!" He threw a blue-lined Pokeball at Seel.
The ball sucked Seel in.
It wiggled…
And wiggled…
Until finally…
DING!
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I caught Seel!"
"Bulba" Bulbasaur smiled.
"Great job Bulbasaur. Re… On second thought, stay out for a while."
"Bulba?" it asked. It evidently did not think of coming out of its Pokeball.
"You deserve a bit of time to relax outside, not cramped up in that ball"
"Bulbasaur…" it said.
Meanwhile, Eric, by sheer luck, had caught something.
Unfortunately, he had just cast off, and unknowingly snagged his pants. When he started to reel in, he did a 360 midair somersault and landed straight into the water. When he got out, a sea horse like Pokemon squirmed out of his pants.
"What's that?" It was the first Pokemon he had seen that he did not know.
He flipped open his Pokedex.
"Ding! Horsea, a dragon Pokemon. While it executes powerful water attacks, Horsea uses blots of ink to blind its opponents."
"Hmm. I don't have a Pokemon that's strong against water, so, Pokeball, go!" He threw a red lined Pokeball at Horsea.
The ball sucked Horsea in, but Horsea popped back out.
"All right, Pokeball, go! Again!"
The ball once again failed to capture Horsea.
"Third times a charm!" Eric threw the ball again.
It wiggled…
And wiggled…
And wiggled…
And…DING!
"All right! It worked this time!"
"Hey Eric," Ryan said, "you got a water Pokemon?"
"Yeah, it's called a Horsea."
"Cool, I heard those were supposed to be good"
"Bulbasaur!" cried Bulbasaur.
"Yeah, let's head back to the center and heal these guys up, OK?" said Eric.
"My mom gave me a pack of Hyper Potions before I left. I used one on Seel. I don't need to heal any of my three up, but I'll go with you."
The two trainers and Bulbasaur headed back to the center. Eric hung out while Charmander, Spearow, and Horsea recharged. Ryan was showing Bulbasaur, Pidgey, and Seel some fighting tricks.
"Pidgey, you've got to get Quick Attack exactly right or you'll never be up to your full level potential. Remember the three basics. 270 loop around, go for a critical spot, and clear out."
The bird nodded.
"Now, Bulbasaur, Pidgey, we're gonna do a 'practice match.' Bulbasaur, you and Pidgey are going to fight each other. Pidgey is going to win this battle because he has type advantage. But Bulbasaur, even though I want you to lose, I also want you to try your best. I want Pidgey to be able to win against a full, thrashing Bulbasaur. Seel, clear out. I don't want you caught in the crossfire. Get it? Got it? Good. Now let the games begin!"
Bulbasaur and Pidgey got into position.
Bulbasaur gave Pidgey a Vine Whip, it responded with a Gust.
Bulbasaur used Tackle.
Pidgey used Gust.
Bulbasaur-Vine Whip.
Pidgey-Quick Attack
Bulbasaur-Leech Seed. Attack missed.
Pidgey finished Bulbasaur off with a last Quick Attack.
"Ding! Pidgey grew to level 14," Ryan's Pokedex said.
"Good job Pidgey," Ryan said. He spotted a Chansey walking by. "Chansey!" Ryan yelled.
"Chansey?" it asked.
"Can you use your SoftBoiled to heal my Bulbasaur?"
"Chansey!" It cried. Chansey took its egg, placed it over Bulbasaur, and the egg started to glow. Bulbasaur woke up, fully healed.
"Wow, so that's what that egg's for. Okay. Thanks Chansey!"
"Chansey!"
"You okay Bulbasaur?"
"Bulba," Bulbasaur said.
Suddenly a flash of light came from a Pokeball and came out a … Charmander!
"Char," it looked very confused, "mander?"
Eric had sent Charmander out.
"It's time," Eric said clearing his throat, "that you gain another level."
"Eric!" Ryan yelled, "What in the blazes are you doing!?"
"Come on!" Eric yelled, "Bring it on!"
Ryan yelled back, "Are you mad!"
Then Ryan knew what Eric wanted him to do. He called forth Bulbasaur.
"All right," Eric said, "Charmander use your scratch attack!"
Charmander started to scratch Bulbasaur on the face.
"Bulbasaur use vine whip!" Ryan cried.
Charmander was hit with the hard vines.
Charmander then used its growl attack.
Bulbasaur leech seeded it.
Charmander accidentally ate the seeds. Vines started to grow and come out of Charmanders mouth, clogging its throat shut.
"NO!!!!" Eric yelled.
Charmander fell to the floor. Eric ran toward Charmander and picked him up.
"Don't you die on me!" Eric yelled, "Don't you leave me!"
Ryan ordered Bulbasaur to use its vine whip to pull out the seeds. Bulbasaur kept on pulling vines out of Charmander's mouth, but it seemed that every one vine Bulbasaur removed from Charmander's mouth, two seemed to take its place. Then the vines started to ignite in flames. Somehow the fire inside of Charmander's belly had erupted and ignited the vines.
"Ding!" Eric's Pokedex had opened, "Charmander grew to level 9 and has learned Ember."
"All right," Eric laughed in joy, "Charmander learned Ember from this near death experience."
Charmander started to dance around, happy that it survived and that it gained a level plus a new attack.
Then Eric rushed Charmander to the front desk of the Pokemon Center and gave him to Nurse Joy, just to be safe.
"That was one heck of a battle," Eric exclaimed.
"Yeah," Ryan said, "I'm sorry about Charmander."
Before Eric could forgive Ryan, two Pokeballs crashed through the skylight above and out came an Ekans and Koffing.
Koffing used its smokescreen attack to shroud their owners in a dark green mist.
"Who are you?" Eric asked coughing from the gas.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," one of the ghastly apparitions said.
"To protect the world from devastation," a female counterpart said.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," the blue haired boy said.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extent our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie."
"James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
A cat jumped down and completed the poem by saying, "Meowth that's right."
Jessie then pulled out a phaser like weapon and pointed it toward Ryan and Eric.
Suddenly Nurse Joy ran out of the Emergency Room and yelled, "What is all this noise? I demand to know what is going on!"
Jessie with Meowth like reflexes shot Nurse Joy with the phaser. It wasn't really lethal. It just made her twitch wildly, scream a lot, and pass out. Ryan and Eric quickly recalled their Pokemon.
"We're here for the Pokemon, brats," Jesse said, "and believe it or not, that includes your duds."
Jesse fired the phaser, but they dodged. Ryan put his Pokeballs in his aerobag and set it to lock as James pulled out a phaser and shot him. Eric, lacking an aerobag to put his Pokeballs in, was not as lucky.
"Meowth, let's swipe dis' kid's stuff before he wakes up," Meowth said, pointing to Ryan.
James holstered his phaser and took Ryan's aerobag. "It's locked," he said.
"Do I hafta do everything myself here?" Meowth retracted a claw and tried to cut Ryan's aerobag open, but got electrocuted in the process.
"I've got a better idea, (*Meowth*) let's leave the kid alone," Meowth said before fainting.
"Oh James, I've managed to snag the Chinese kid's Pokemon," Jesse exclaimed.
"That's great. Now, let's stuff these twerps in the hall closet and take all these others," James said. Both members grinned and proceeded to do so…
Ryan woke up with a headache that rivaled that of a Psyduck's. "What happened?" he asked, as Eric started to wake up.
"Hey!" Eric yelled, "Spearow, Horsea, and Charmander are all gone, and you don't have your…"
At that point, Ryan pulled his three Pokemon.
"I managed to save them before getting shot, hey what's this?" Ryan picked up a small cartridge labeled TM 12.
There was a small slot on the cartridge that looked like a Pokeball would fit in. So, Ryan placed the button on Bulbasaur's Pokeball into the cartridge slot.
"Bulbasaur is unable to learn the contained skill," his Pokedex said.
Ryan tried Pidgey. "Pidgey is unable to learn the contained skill."
He tried Seel, and the Pokedex said, "Seel is compatible with TM 12. Seel learned Water Gun."
"That's a powerful move, and Seel's unable to learn it, how…?"
"Oh, yeah, we talked about these the day you were out with measles. A 'TM' contains a skill, and by placing the Pokeball into the slot, it can learn a skill. This is one time only, unlike an 'HM' which can be learned by any amount of Pokemon."
"Neato. Hold on, we need to get your Pokemon from those thieves."
"Yeah, but how are we gonna do that?"
"First, we need to see what we're up against."
Ryan took out his Pokedex. Eric's was taken.
"Bravo," Ryan said, referring to his Pokedex's nickname, "Give us info on the three Pokemon Team Rocket had.
"Scanning…Koffing, a gas Pokemon. By use of its many pores, it is able to spray poisonous gas.
"Ekans, a snake Pokemon. Moves silently and its poison sting can put many kinds of Pokemon invalid for hours.
"Meowth, a cat Pokemon. Its claws are incredibly sharp and its Fury Swipes attack is deadly."
"Fury Swipes," Ryan said, "Well, we'd better get going, I have a plan…"
Later…
"Heeheehee!" James giggled as he stuffed Pokeball after Pokeball into a big sack. "After this stunt, the Boss will promote us to senior management!"
"I can hear the Boss now, 'Jesse, James, you two are the greatest, smartest, strongest, and more importantly, most attractive new recruits Team Rocket had'" Jesse said, grinning.
"Giovanni would never let youse morons inta the upper coicle, of which, I am an exclusive member. Now, SWIPE EVERY LAST POKEBALL YOU IDIOTS GET YOUR HANDS ON!!!!!"
"Aye aye, sir!" the duo said, obviously afraid of the cat Pokemon.
Meanwhile, Koffing and Ekans were just staying on guard duty. Koffing turned to his nearby vent nonchalantly. Suddenly, a blue flash screeched across the paneling.
"Fing?" the gas Pokemon asked.
Ekans ignored him for a bit, turning to the vent on his side, when an orange flash screeched across his paneling.
'Ekans, Ekans!" the snake cried.
While their masters were busy snatching a wall full of Pokeballs, Ekans and Koffing made an agreement to attack when the flashes returned. And the flashes did come back, in opposite sides.
Ekans pounced on both panels and Koffing blew a Smokescreen. In the darkness, while Team Rocket was coughing their lungs out, Eric jumped out of his side in a blue flash and landed with the grace of a gazelle, and Ryan jumped out in an orange flash and fell flat on his face with the grace of a confused cow and got right back up.
"Cough, cough, who's there?" asked Jessie.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," Ryan said.
"To protect the world from thieving crooks," Eric said.
"To place our names in history books."
"To denounce the evils that you uphold."
"To make things right for the brave and bold."
"Eric."
"Ryan."
"Team Master blasting off left and right."
"We know that you will lose the fight."
"That's right," they both said, with Bulbasaur jumping from behind them.
"Bulbasaur," it said.
Jessie and James were infuriated, and so was Meowth.
"You copycats," Meowth said. "We worked so hard to swipe that motto, and you hadda swipe it."
"You can't claim ownership on something you stole. And that reminds me, you have my friend's Pokemon. Hand 'em over."
Jessie stuck out her tongue at Ryan and said, "No way you little bad attitude, Bulbasaur loving, oddly dressing (Referring to Ryan's orange jumpsuit, knee-high buckled boots, and rhinestone studded gloves), unattractive, In-duh-vidual moronic tree-hugger."
Ryan's eyes seemed to catch on fire, "All right you little witch, no one insults Ryan Catcatch like that and gets away with it, especially such an ugly little @&%$# like yourself. You leave me with two choices. The hard way, and…um…and, uh…er, the, uh, other way that's…um…harder. But either way, back off, 'cause I'm gonna hurt you, man."
"RRRRRRRRRR! Ekans, Koffing attack that ignorant kid!" Jessie yelled.
"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"
"Bulba!" it cried. The whips stopped Ekans and Koffing just short.
"Pidgey, Seel! I choose you!"
"Pidgey!" the bird cried
"Seel, Seel!" the seal Pokemon cried.
"Pidgey, Gust attack, Seel, Headbutt
The two obeyed, joining Bulbasaur with their attacks.
"Koffing, tackle it!" James cried.
"Ekans, Poison Sting!" Jessie cried.
"Everyone, fall back!" Ryan yelled. His Pokemon swiftly jumped back.
"Seel, Water Gun. Pidgey, Gust. Bulbasaur, Leech Seed!" Ryan yelled.
The Water Gun and Gust made their mark, and The Leech Seed seemed to have missed, but the vines spread out and grabbed Koffing, Ekans, Meowth, Jessie, and James. They slumped, their energy drained.
"Hah! Weak as kittens, Especially that Meowth!" Ryan punned. "Bulbasaur, give it another Leech Seed, Pidgey, give it a Quick Attack after the seed is planted, and Seel, Water Gun to the extreme!"
Meanwhile…
Okay, Eric thought as he searched through the sack, Is Charmander in this one? No. Is this Spearow? No. Hey, it's Horsea! Or maybe it isn't. Dang, how do trainers tell which Pokeball holds which Pokemon?
Then suddenly, he had a brilliant idea, I'll use my psychic powers to see which Pokeballs are mine.
Eric put his fingers to his head and concentrated…
And concentrated…
And concentrated…
And got a splitting headache, but still concentrated,
And finally…
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Eric found, at the bottom of the sack, three Pokeballs, each with a miniscule picture of a Charmander, a Spearow, and a Horsea.
"Finally," he said. Then, he passed out.
Meanwhile…
Team Rocket had really sunk low. They were prone, on the floor, Leech Seeded to the point where they couldn't stand up. And all the time, they were being pecked at, poked by Seel's horn, whipped, Gusted, tackled, and Water Gunned.
Finally, Ryan said, "All right, it's time to take out the trash."
"Huh?" Team Rocket responded.
"Alright, you guys, brace yourselves, this is the big one. On three, Bulbasaur, Tackle, Pidgey, Quick Attack, and Seel, Headbutt. On three."
Bulbasaur paced at the ground like a bull in a bullfight.
"One…"
Pidgey gained some altitude.
"Two…"
Seel lowered its head.
"THREE!"
The solid force of the combined attack of the three Pokemon sent Team Rocket through the wall of the Center and sent them through the sky.
"Hey!" Ryan called. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off!"
As he said this, they disappeared in the sky.
"Eric, you okay?" Ryan asked his prone friend.
Eric groaned. "What happened?" he asked.
"Only… The coolest and most absolutely fantastic battle EVER! I wish I had it on tape.
"You do," said Nurse Joy. "Your entire battle took place in sight of a surveillance camera. I can give you a copy of the tape right now."
"Really? Excellent," said Ryan.
"Just one thing I ask of you."
"What?" Ryan asked.
Nurse Joy grabbed him by the ear, "Leave the Center, stop, rewind, leave Viridian City tomorrow. Together, you and your friend, in three days, totally destroyed a fern, an ER bed table, a glass door, greatly disgusted me, and now, the entire back wall. Young man, the next time I see you, don't destroy anything, and make it in at least three months."
"Okay, okay, jeez. We'll leave after tonight." Lord, this is the thanks I get for saving the Pokeballs.
"Oh, and one more thing, Ryan. I'd like to thank you for saving our Pokeballs from those robbers."
"Er, You're welcome," Ryan said, "but there's one question. What types of Pokemon are in those Pokeballs?"
"That's something I think you'll find very funny. Because every one of these Pokeballs are…empty."
Ryan and Eric fell over backwards in a sign of frustration.
"Great," Ryan said. "My first epic battle, and it's to keep an idiot team of Pokemon robbers from stealing a room full of empty Pokeballs. Great."
"Well," Eric said, "You did save my Pokemon."
"That is good," Ryan said, "But I wonder whatever happened to Team Rocket…"
Meanwhile, a balloon resembling Meowth's head floated out a nearby forest.
"Meowth," a highly bruised and foliage covered Meowth said, "I told ya I'd take care of everything. Nice balloon, eh?"
"That kid," Jessie said, "is no ordinary trainer. And those aren't ordinary Pokemon."
"Maybe he's got some magic touch or something. Maybe he can turn a Pokemon chump into a Pokemon champ," James offered.
"Whatever 'dis kids got, we're gonna get it. Along with any and all Pokemon he might happen 'ta catch," Meowth declared.
"Yes, we'll give special attention to that kid," Jessie said. "He'll be our little pet project. And we're gonna get him and his Pokemon."
"Oh, and one more thing," Meowth said.
"What?" both humans asked.
"I happened 'ta hear that Ryan kid say sometin' 'ta the gist a 'Team Rocket's blasting off.' Seein' how youse like poetry so much, I thought ya might wanna use it."
"Excellent, at least we have a retreat call," James said.
"An one day," They all said, "we'll get that kid."