CHAPTER 4

"What exacally is G.A.T.R.?" Ivan wondered, throwing a Pokѐball into the air and catching it again. "Who are its members, and what do they do?"

"Rai." Raichu shrugged.

"I guess our best guess for right now is that they're the good guys." Ivan concluded. "They better be, at any rate."

He and his Pokémon continued exploring Saffron City. It was nice and all, but the people seemed…tense. Ivan wondered if Team Rocket had something to do with it. Now that he thought about it, there were a lot of people wearing black around…

"Man, I'm overreacting." Ivan muttered to himself.

His Gengar smiled evilly and snickered, but Ivan paid it no attention. He was too busy watching for anyone that was from Team Rocket or G.A.T.R.

"Does that guy over there looks suspicious?" Ivan asked Machop.

All his Pokémon rolled their eyes and began pushing Ivan towards the nearest Pokémon Center.

"Why are we going here?" Ivan asked.

"Slash." Sandslash said. "SANDSLASH!"

"Sorry, I'm just cautious." Ivan muttered. "After what happened last night, I just can't get over how evil they really are."

Their mini argument was cut off by a loud yell of, "SILPH CO.'S UNDER ATTACK!"

Ivan spun around to see a woman in a business suit come tearing around the corner. "Team Rocket!" She yelled. They've got prisoners!"

"Come on guys!" Ivan darted towards the tallest building in the history of ever, practically. There was a guard, but he was fast asleep…typical.

Ivan and his Pokémon carefully crept inside. Silph Co. was huge, and they were on just one floor.

"Ok, I'll call you back out if I need help." Ivan promised, recalling his Pokémon into the Pokѐballs. "But for right now, I think this is a job for one person."

Ivan climbed the stairs onto the second floor. He was about to go around a corner when he heard voices.

"Team Rocket…again. When will they learn? I mean, day after day, evil plot after evil plot…don't they get that we always prevail in the end?"

Ivan recognized the voice of the girl he had met the night before. He held his breath and didn't dare move.

"Remember the last one was nearly a success." Said another voice, this one a bit older and male.

"And it still is a success." Came yet another voice, this one female. "We still can't rid your Lucario of the Death Poison."

"Kaylee, we still won." Came the girl's voice, sharp and angered. "And I will stop at nothing to restore my Lucario to health, Jake."

There was a slight pause.

"Ghost, we've tried everything." Said the male's voice. Ivan figured that that was Jake. "The only thing we can do is constantly keep him in the care of Nurse Joy."

There was yet another pause.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to stop Team Rocket, either you're with me or not." Came Ghost's voice.

There was some murmured agreement and the group of three walked off into a room.

Ivan turned around the corner to see that they had vanished into an elevator, and that elevator was headed for the fifth floor.

"Death Poison…?" Ivan muttered to himself as he searched the second floor for any signs of life. "Was that what the two people in the woods were talking about?"

He was cut off as someone crossed directly into his path.

"Hey!" The man yelled, staggering backwards. He was wearing all black with a giant red R on the front of his shirt. "Intruder!"

"Go, Charizard!" Ivan screamed.

"Oh, so you want to play this game?" The Rocket member sneered. "Go, Muk!"

Instead of the normal purple Muks usually were, this one was dark green. It glared at Ivan and his Charizard.

"FLAMETHROWER!" Ivan commanded.

His Charizard flamethrower-ed the Muk until it was a pile of sludge. The Rocket member recalled his Pokémon with a hiss of annoyance. "I'll be back…" he promised as he ran off.

"I doubt that." Ivan smirked. "Return, Charizard!"

Soon he was darting up the stairs two at a time, determined to meet up with whoever Jake, Ghost and Kaylee were.

Just as Ivan exited the stairwell he ran smack into someone.

"Hey!" Ivan squeaked as he fell back onto his butt.

"You again?"

Ivan looked up into Ghost's shocked and startled face. "What…I told you to…"

"Yeah, I know." Ivan muttered. "But…what's the Death Poison?"

"Nothing." Ghost's features hardened. "Get out of here while you can. It's dangerous."

"Your name is Ghost, right?" Ivan asked.

"It's GhostKing." She glared at him. "Get out."

"But I want to help." Ivan protested. "I have skilled Pokémon! I just challenged and defeated a Rocket member downstairs!"

GhostKing hissed with annoyance, "Fine. But we're not making any breaks for the Pokémon Center, you hear me?"

"Yeah." Ivan said. "So why did Team Rocket take this place over?"

"I don't know." GhostKing glanced around. "It's big, has workers and technology, so I have no freaken' idea."

Ivan caught the sarcasm in her voice but ignored it. "So…what does G.A.T.R. stand for?"

GhostKing shot him a venomous glare. "That's classified."

"Can you tell me what Death Poison is?"

GhostKing's icy blue eyes hardened; she clenched her fists and stopped walking. She stared at the ground for a long time.

"Do you know…" She began. "what it's like…to have a friend betray you?"

Ivan shook his head. "No." He admitted.

"Good." GhostKing hissed. "It's something no one should go through."

"What happened?" Ivan asked before he realized he had said anything.

"Back a while ago…one of my assistants and I were on a mission to find and defeat any Rocket member we saw in the Viridian Forest. There we confronted two members, but one of them acted relieved to see us. 'You're here, Jonathan!' one of them said. I later found out her name was Viva…the one that poisoned my Lucario with the Death Poison.

"I turned to Jonathan and asked, 'what's going on? How do you know her?' and he said to me, 'You're so blind! You can't tell I've been working for Team Rocket this entire time? G.A.T.R. is worse than I originally thought. And how could you think I was actually your friend? You're the most annoying, insignificant, useless person on the face of the planet!'"

GhostKing ground her teeth and clenched a Pokѐball in her right hand. "I trusted him with my life." She hissed. "He was also my only friend."

Ivan couldn't begin to imagine how GhostKing was feeling, but he didn't pry. "So…who's Viva?"

"Apparently she's Jonathan's true friend." GhostKing growled. "And lead scientist. Together, they mainly developed the Death Poison."

"What is-"

"It Burns, Paralyzes, Poisons and puts the Pokémon to Sleep. The condition can't be removed, even after healing." GhostKing said. "and the condition is, at the moment, killing my Lucario."

There was a long pause.

"While I'm telling you this I may as well tell you what G.A.T.R. stands for."

"What does it stand for?" Ivan asked.

"If I tell you, you either have to join us, or I kill you."

"What!"

"It's the rules."

"Ok, then, tell me!"

"Gathering Against Team Rocket. The alligator symbolizes our strength and ferocity." GhostKing said. "It's not that much of a secret name or anything, but it can reveal a lot."

That was the moment an Umbreon stuck its head around a corner up ahead of them and stood deathly still.

"It's all right." GhostKing assured it. "He's a…friend."

The Umbreon's piercing red gaze never left Ivan as it walked to its master. GhostKing scratched it behind its ears. "Did you find anything?"

"Umbreon." The Umbreon said, glancing back at the corner it had turned from. Skittering around the corner came a very small Growlithe.

"Hey…that's the Growlithe I've been seeing in the woods!" Ivan exclaimed.

"What is it, Skeebee?" GhostKing asked.

The Growlithe, apparently named Skeebee, dropped something at her feet. GhostKing picked whatever it was up. "A Pokѐball?"

Skeebee yipped and ran in a circle. GhostKing glanced from Skeebee to the ball and back again. "You…want to fetch?"

Skeebee rolled his eyes and sat there.

"Wait…" GhostKing looked at the Pokѐball closely. "Is this…Jake's?"

Skeebee barked.

"Team Rocket?" GhostKing's eyes got wide. "Where was he last?"

Skeebee yipped again and darted off.

"Ok, Dusk…and Pokémon kid who is stalking me…come on." GhostKing ran after her Growlithe.

"My name's Ivan!" Ivan hissed. He struggled to catch up to GhostKing's fast pace. "So what other Pokémon do you have?"

"A Typhlosion named Ember, an Espeon named Eclipse, a Pidgeot named Stripes, and a Lucario who doesn't want a nickname. You've already met Skeebee and Dusk." GhostKing said as they ran down another hall.

"I've got a Raichu, Sandslash, Kadabra, Gengar, Machop and Charizard." Ivan managed to say. His left side was cramping up and GhostKing didn't look like she was about to stop running, and neither did Skeebee or Dusk.

"Good. We might need them." GhostKing said. They rounded a corner and entered a small room that held two Rocket members.

"Intruders!" One of them shouted. "Go, Grimer!"

"Dusk…Skeebee! Get ready!" GhostKing commanded.

"Skeebee? What kind of a name is-" the Rocket member laughed.

"FIRE BLAST!"

The Grimer didn't have time to react. It fainted from the sheer power of Skeebee's attack. The Rocket member stopped laughing and gaped. "Wh…wh…what?"

"And if you don't get out of here there's more where that came from." GhostKing hissed.

The Rocket recalled his Grimer and sent out a Zubat. Ivan was ready to join in the battle and called out Sandslash.

The second Rocket member revealed his Pokémon—a green Muk—and the battle began.

"Sandslash! Use Slash!" Ivan commanded.

"Skeebee! Flamethrower!"

"Zubat! Supersonic!"

"Muk! Poison Gas!"

All the attacks were shouted at the same time, and the Pokémon charged forward. Ivan's Sandslash slashed at the Zubat, catching it across its wing and sending it into a short spiral towards the ground. It flew back into the air and used its attack, but Sandslash dodged to the side.

Skeebee unleashed a torrent of flames at the Muk, Burning it but not knocking it out. The Muk glared at Skeebee and suddenly a dark green haze floated near him. Skeebee whined and backed up until his back was against the wall.

"SKEEBEE!" GhostKing shouted, raising Skeebee's Pokѐball. "Skeebee! Re-"

"No you don't!" The Rocket member knocked the Pokѐball out of her hand and sent it rolling into a corner.

"YOU-" GhostKing's blue eyes seemed to shoot ice. "Dusk! Finish the Muk off with Night Shade!"

Now it was the Rocket member's turn to be shocked. GhostKing advanced towards him with thoughts of revenge, but he got the message and ran, abandoning his Muk.

Meanwhile Ivan was still coaching his Sandslash. "Use Dig!" He suggested.

His Sandslash dug a hole and vanished into it, leaving the Zubat with its attacks that were useless as long as its opponent was out of sight.

"Now!" Ivan shouted, and Sandslash sprang out of the ground and slashed at the Zubat; sending it crashing to the ground where it didn't get up. The Rocket member hissed in annoyance and recalled his fainted Pokémon. "I'll be back!" He shouted evilly before running after the other Rocket.

"Ha! We got them, didn't we, GhostKing?" Ivan cheered. He turned to GhostKing and his smile vanished. "Uh…GhostKing?"

GhostKing gathered Skeebee in her arms and stood up quickly. Dusk glanced upwards at her, curiosity and fear in his eyes. "Umbreon…?"

"We need to get out of here." GhostKing said. "Now! Skeebee has the Death Poison!"