AN: Sorry guys, shorter chapters from now on. Since starting back at college, I've noticed how little time I have now compared to summer, to do anything pretty much. Since I'll be at college till 5pm every day and I usually start at 9 in the morning, I'm a bit short for time, honestly. Also, it takes longer than an hour to get to college, so you can see how little time I really have. Anyway, enough about college. From this point onward, the chapters are only going to be around 2000 words, which is something I didn't actually want to do. Due to this, battles will probably take up a whole chapter each time I write one, but it's all good. Anyway, enough about that, on with the chapter.
Disclaimer: Although I own the story itself along with my own OC's, everything about the Pokémon franchise itself belongs to Nintendo. In no way, shape, or form am I writing this story to make money or claim Pokémon as my own. Everything within the Pokémon universe belongs to Nintendo.
Normal POV - Pokémon Centre:
It was going to be a long night. The two trainers knew this quite well. They had only been on their journey for a day and already, things were quite hectic. They didn't expect to already have this many Pokémon upon the start of their journey. Along with that, is the fact that they noticed how closer they already seemed to get. They were honestly glad that they just decided to travel together without anyone else, as they enjoyed their alone time greatly. Even if the two wouldn't admit that to each other.
"Could Leaf Green and Ash Ketchum come to the front desk? Your Pokémon have been healed." Nurse Joy said over the loud speakers, making the two trainers stand quickly. They hurried over to the counter to see the brightly smiling face of Nurse Joy; which calmed their hearts slightly.
"How are the Pokémon doing? Are they all healthy? What about Nidoran?" Ash asked quickly, making Leaf smile lightly. Ash cared about all Pokémon, even if they weren't his own. Leaf knew what Ash was like, he would risk his own life to ensure that his Pokémon were okay.
"Yes, how's Nidoran doing? She looked really hurt when we first saw her." Leaf said worriedly. The smiling face of Nurse Joy did calm her slightly, but Leaf was still scared for the poor Pokémon. It had obviously been attacked by wild Pokémon, to the point of near death even, which was surprising. Pokémon had never been this aggressive towards other Pokémon, even if they weren't domesticated.
"Everything is fine now." They both gave a sigh of relief. "Nidoran was in a bad state but she will be okay now. I'm simply baffled at the state she was brought in. You said that it was wild Pokémon, correct?" Nurse Joy asked the two of them. They were about to say yes, but they didn't realise earlier that it could very well have been a trainer.
"Now that I think about it." Ash started, making the two look towards him. "We don't actually know the full story here. It could very well have been a trainer that damaged her so much. Although that doesn't make much sense, as they probably would have captured Nidoran. I can't think of a wild Pokémon putting another in a state like this." Ash stated, putting a hand on his chin in thought. Leaf nodded silently, also thinking about what could have caused this. What they didn't realise though, was that they were about to find out in a very... Climatic way.
There was a small explosion above them, making Ash rush in front of Leaf, Pokeball's already in hand and Pikachu sitting on his shoulder. Leaf blinked slightly, surprised at the sudden burst of speed he had just shown. She immediately looked up though, upon hearing a small whirring noise and the sound of a man and woman's laughter.
(You all know the Team Rocket theme song, so I'll just skip this.)
"Really?" Ash asked, looking at the two of them like they were crazy. Leaf meanwhile, was holding giggles back. They seemed to give off a slight sense of danger, but the small show they had just done made them seem much less dangerous. "Okay then. What do you want here?" Ash asked, looking at them with a bored expression. Leaf couldn't hold her laughs in as she watched the two Rocket member's bluster and shout at Ash.
"Shut up kid! We've been sent here by someone twice the person that you are. I don't see why though. You seem to be all talk and no skill." The man, James said, making Leaf's eyes narrow lightly. She hated people that dissed Ash and his skill in battle. She also knew how Ash got when people insulted him and his friends.
"Do you even know me?" Ash asked quietly, making Leaf flinch slightly. She remembered when Ash was like this with Gary. It wasn't very pretty. Apparently, these two grunts were either very ballsy or stupid. They seemed completely unbothered about the look on Ash's face and were simply laughing to themselves. "So, you two are some simple grunts huh? You don't seem like much yourselves." Ash said, a small smirk on his face. Leaf sighed quietly, picking up her own Pokeballs. This just had to happen, huh?
"Right, come on out Bulbasaur." Leaf threw her Pokeball up in the air, releasing the small Pokémon. It gave a small cry of its name, before glaring at Jessie and James. Ash gave a small smile before Pikachu immediately ran off his shoulder.
"Come out Koffing/ Ekans!" James and Jessie cried respectively, throwing their own Pokeballs in the air. Ash and Leaf quickly brought out their Pokedex's, scanning the two Pokémon.
"Ekans, the snake Pokémon. Moving silently and stealthily, it eats the eggs of birds, such as Pidgey and Spearow, whole." The Pokedex stated, making the Ash and Leaf nod silently before turning to Koffing.
"Koffing, the toxic gas Pokémon. Lighter-than-air gases in its body keep it aloft. The gases not only smell, they are also explosive." The two put their Pokedex's away before looking back at the two enemy Pokémon. This was the first time they had actually been in a battle; it was a double battle too!
"You ready for this, Leaf?" Ash asked quietly, sending a small smile her way. She grinned back, turning to her Pokémon. The seemed ready and raring to go, so she decided to start the battle off.
"Use Growl." She stated simply. While the two Rockets were laughing about an attack like that, Ash seemed to trust her. She obviously had a plan in mind so Ash decided to go along with it.
"Use Quick Attack to get close to them." Ash ordered, with Pikachu immediately zooming towards the two.
"Dodge." Jessie and James ordered at the same time, seemingly calm. The two Pokémon were able to easily dodge, surprising Ash. He thought that these two were going to be terrible trainers, although they seemed to actually know what they were doing. "Now use Bite." Jessie ordered. Ekans rushed towards Pikachu, opening its jaw.
"Use Smog, Koffing." James also ordered, with his Pokémon spewing out disgusting smelling gas. They seemed to have trained a lot together and were pretty good in double battles.
"Keep calm Pikachu." Ash whispered, making his Pokémon stop panicking. "Wait for Ekans to appear. Keep your ears open and stay calm. Don't rush after it in the smog." Ash ordered, making his Pokémon nod. The worst thing to do in a situation like this was to get lost in all of the smog. It was already hard enough to see things.
"Use Vine Whip. Swing them around to get rid of some of the smog." Leaf ordered quickly, making Bulbasaur cry its name quietly. It immediately swung its vines around, managing to blow some of the smog away. James cursed quietly, annoyed that his usual strategy was demolished.
"Quick Pikachu, Thundershock into Koffing's craters!" Ash ordered quickly, upon catching sight of the two enemy Pokémon. Pikachu rushed into action, sending the bolts of lightning towards Koffing. It seemed to hover in the air for a moment before falling flat on its face. Ash's eyes were wide, surprised at how quickly the Pokémon fainted. Did Pikachu put too much power into the move? Or were these two actually just bad battlers?
"Bulbasaur throw your vines around Evans neck! Throw it into the wall!" Leaf ordered quickly, making her Pokémon nod. With a small grunt, Bulbasaur put Ekans into a choke-hold with its vines, throwing it against the wall. Ekans seemed to be much stronger than Koffing had though, as it quickly got back up.
"Go Wobbuffet!" Ash looked back at James in shock, as he released another Pokémon. Did they both have more than one Pokémon each? Seeing the enemy Pokémon now though, Ash knew he would have a bit more trouble in defeating them. Even though he didn't know too much about this species of Pokémon, he knew they were defensive and were good with moves like Counter. With this thought in mind, Ash decided to switch out.
"Okay, come back Pikachu. Come on out Larvitar." Ash shouted, throwing his Pokeball forward. The small Pokémon appeared with a happy cry of its name, looking at the enemy Pokémon with narrowed eyes. Leaf and Jessie were still having their Pokémon throw hits at each other; Jessie was obviously the stronger trainer within this duo. Ash looked at the Meowth, watching as it was trying to sneak around to get behind Leaf and himself. It was obvious what the sneaky Pokémon was trying to do, so Ash decided to send out another Pokémon that he knew would be able to keep the Meowth away from them. "Pikachu, keep that Meowth from getting too close." Ash whispered, making Pikachu rush back off his shoulder. With a small 'Pika', Pikachu threw its body into Meowth; Ash knew that Pikachu wouldn't have trouble battling the Pokémon without needing commands.
"Finish it off Bulbasaur, use Tackle." Leaf ordered, making Bulbasaur rush into Ekans. With a small hiss, Ekans fainted. Jessie cursed, returning her Pokémon before pulling out a final Pokeball. Before she could release her Pokémon however, the sound of sirens immediately reached her ears. With a quick glare at the two, she quickly picked Meowth up by the scruff of its neck. She turned back to Jame's, telling him with her eyes that they had to get out of there. With a quick look at the two other trainer's, the Rocket's immediately left through a door to the back of the Centre, Ash and Leaf hot on their tails. With these two around, there would be a lot of danger for regular trainers, as they seemed to not care about people or Pokémon. They had attacked them without pause in a Pokémon Centre, so they were obviously dangerous.
"Come on, we can't let them get away." Ash huffed, starting to run out of breath. Leaf nodded, starting to speed up. They quickly got outside of the Pokémon Centre, watching as the two rushed over to a Meowth balloon. Upon seeing the two there, the Rocket's immediately narrowed their eyes and started pulling Pokeball's to battle again, before seeing a Growlithe rush out from behind Ash and Leaf.
"This is Officer Jenny. Get out of the balloon and come quietly!" She shouted, running out from the door Ash and Leaf had come from. Upon seeing the police here, the Rocket's decided that their work was done and needed to get away quickly.
"We'll remember this, kids. You're enemies of Team Rocket now. Don't think you won't see us again. Keep defying us, and you'll soon regret it." With that said, the balloon rose in the air and quickly left. Officer Jenny tried to take it down with her Growlithe, but the two Rocket's simply had Wobbuffet take the attacks or throw them back. So, they couldn't do anything and just had to watch as the two managed to get away.
"Damn." Ash muttered, watching the small shape of balloon disappearing. "They're gonna just cause more problems. We'll need to be more careful from now on." Ash said with a small sigh, looking towards Leaf. She had been silent since they left, making Ash worry slightly. She didn't have trouble against them and wasn't particularly scared of people like them, so it scared him slightly to see her so quiet.
"Follow me." Officer Jenny said, pointing towards the door they came out of. With a quick nod, they immediately headed back towards the Pokémon Centre, simply wanting to be able to rest now. They knew though, that they would have to talk to Jenny about what had just happened and they would have to explain things in detail. They were correct earlier. This was going to be a long night.
30 Minutes Later:
After describing everything they could think of; the people, Pokémon and the battle they had, Ash and Leaf were finally able to retire for the night. Sadly, Officer Jenny was unable to do too much, since they were already long gone and there wasn't much information about the two. So, with this is mind, Ash and Leaf they would have to be extremely careful about things from now on. In the meantime however...
"Leaf?" Ash asked quietly, upon sitting down on the bed in their shared room. Thankfully, there were two beds to ensure there would be no... Awkward situations. Leaf was humming quietly; she didn't seem as bothered about things as she did earlier, but Ash knew she was simply hiding it. With this thought in mind, Ash stood quickly and sat down on her bed, next to her. She looked at him curiously, but he could see some slight annoyance in her eyes. "Now, do you wanna tell me what's wrong?" He asked gently. Leaf could be quite scary when she was angry, and Ash really didn't want something like that to actually happen.
"I hate how you can always do that..." Leaf muttered quietly in exasperation, making Ash grin at her. "It's just the things they said. Team Rocket have been watching us. They'll be after us too. That kinda frightens me, honestly." Leaf whispered, making Ash frown lightly. He understood where she was coming from saying that. Some of the things those two Rocket's said was a means for concern. Seeing her starting to tear up slightly, Ash quickly sat down next to her and hugged her close to him. "Thanks Ash." She whispered, smiling gently. He smiled back at her, leaning back against the bed. She fell backwards with him, laying her head on his shoulder. Luckily for the two, they had shared a bed many times before so this wasn't exactly too embarrassing; even though it had been a couple of years since they had done so.
"You okay, Leaf?" Ash asked quietly, but got no response. He looked down at her face to see that she had fallen asleep already. She always seemed to do that, fall asleep almost immediately when they were like this. It made Ash's chest feel much lighter, seeing how relaxed she was around him. He knew now, that he wouldn't actually be sleeping in his own bed tonight. That didn't bother him though.
AN: Right, that's it for this chapter. As I've said in the first AN, chapters may not be released weekly anymore. If college start's to get too much, then I will have to put my stories up for adoption. I really don't want to do anything like that; although college can get really hectic as I start doing more work. I've already had 2 assignments set this first week, so I'll have to ensure that I spend the correct amount of time doing work and writing chapters for the stories. Anyway, no more review responses from now on, sorry guys. It's already took me two days to do this chapter and I need to get chapter 18 done for Betrayal at Its Worst, so I won't be doing responses anymore. Sorry!