Chapter 4: Trip to Mars
"Are you sure that this was a good idea?"
"I hope so. If Mars doesn't think so, we could get in some serious trouble."
The two grunts walked through the woods toward the Valley Windworks, dragging poor Lucas behind them. He could feel his pokédex digging into his side through his pocket, as if it were reminding him of the terrible situation he had been dragged into. The two grunts hadn't seemed to notice.
"Can't you drag him for a while?" complained the grunt that was holding Lucas.
"Hey! Stop complaining! We're almost there."
Almost where?
They emerged from the woods just south of a small valley that was dappled with wind turbines. Inside was the wind farm that had been taken over by Team Galactic. They dragged Lucas up to the front door where a Galactic grunt was standing guard.
"We need to see Mars now!" shouted one of the grunts.
"What did you guys do?" asked the guard, leaning over so he could see Lucas behind them.
"We'll explain once we talk to Mars," said the other grunt. "This is urgent!"
"Okay, fine," agreed the guard, stepping out of the way so the grunts could get through. "But I don't like this."
They walked through the door into the Valley Windworks. The guard watched as his comrades dragged Lucas through the door and down the hallway to the back.
"Mars! We need to talk!" called one of the grunts as he entered the back room.
"Did you get that data like you were ordered?" she asked, standing up from her chair.
"Well, no. But we got something else," replied the grunt that was holding Lucas. He pulled Lucas forward with a heave and threw him onto his stomach in front of Mars. She stared at him trembling on the floor.
"How is this kid going to help?" she asked, her voice barley faltering.
"This is professor Rowan's assistant. We're holding him ransom until they willingly give us the data."
Mars paused for a moment, taking in her employee's plan. She seemed impressed. "I'm surprised you came up with that yourselves. Good job," she said. Then she began to laugh an evil, witch-like laugh that echoed throughout all of the Valley Windworks. Lucas felt very, very small and vulnerable, but more so scared.
"Put him in the corner. Then we'll see if someone comes to rescue him. I have to go make some phone calls," Mars commanded, walking to the phone on the other side of the room. The two grunts propped Lucas up against the back wall and left shortly after. Mars sat down and began to punch a number into the phone. Lucas sat there watching her.
"Hello? Galactic headquarters?… Yes, this is Mars. I need to talk to Cyrus immediately… I don't care if he's in a meeting, this is urgent!"
Who's Cyrus? Her boss?
" …Cyrus? This is Mars… No, I don't have the data, but I have something–or someone–else… two of my people went to get the data, and they came back with a kid. They said that they're holding him ransom for the data… I know! I can't believe they came up with that themselves…"
Suddenly, there was shouting coming from down the hall. "Oh, hold on a sec," said Mars, putting Cyrus on hold.
"What do you think you're doing? Let me go! My daughter is still out there…"
Two grunts came into the room. The one that was shouting was a man that they had captured. His hair was flying in all different directions and his glasses were crooked on his face. He glanced over at Lucas in alarm. The sight of another prisoner only induced his panic. They pushed him into the room, holding his arms behind his back.
"We got that scientist you asked for. He was right outside!" said one of the grunts, struggling to keep the man's arms down.
"Good, put him down over there," said Mars, pointing at a chair with a computer on the other side of the room. The two grunts forced the struggling man over to the chair and forced him to sit down. Mars walked over and started to talk to him. Even though she wasn't yelling, her voice had intimidating authority. Lucas watched as the man listened to his new orders, trembling in fear. There was an essence of fear in his eyes.
"Now get to work!" Mars barked. He jumped and turned to the computer, immediately typing away. She walked back to the phone and continued her conversation with Cyrus.
"Are you still there? …Good. Now what should I do with this kid? … Mm-hm… Okay, take the kid to Eterna City in case of emergency. Got it. All right, Bye." She shut off the phone and walked out of the room. Lucas could still feel the pokédex pressed against his side. He knew that he couldn't let them have it, even if it meant he had to sacrifice his freedom. But how long could he keep it a secret?
Willow, you better hurry.
I marched up route 204. It was a bright, sunny route, but I didn't seem to notice. A gray, imaginary cloud loomed over me, fading the real sunshine. Only one thing was on my mind, and it wasn't about to leave.
The whole route was cut in half by the ravaged path, an enormous cavern I had to pass through to get to the upper level of the route. I smashed rocks out of the way, letting out some of my suppressed anger. The pokémon at the upper end of the route were much stronger than the ones on the lower level, so I had my work cut out for me. I eventually reached the end of route 204, and that was when my mood finally changed.
I had just entered Floaroma town. Everywhere I looked, there were thousands of flowers. The air smelled like an explosion of aromas. It brightened up my mood. A little.
I saw two Galactic grunts standing at the very edge of the meadow. They must have felt pretty girly standing in a flower meadow.
He must be here
I headed to route 205, but in the middle, there was a little girl crying and two Galactic grunts standing on a bridge. I walked up to the little girl, and she said that Team Galactic had taken her father into the Valley Windworks. That only made me even angrier than I already was. I promised her that I would save her dad, even though I wasn't totally confident with myself.
I walked up to the two grunts on the bridge, but the only thing they would say is that they are conducting an experiment in Eterna forest, and that no one was allowed to pass. I headed over to the Valley Windworks, a power plant that collected electricity from the many wind turbines on the surrounding hills. It had enough energy to power several surrounding towns. Now Team Galactic had that power, and I had no idea what they were going to do with it. I didn't care; I was going to stop them.
I walked up to the guard in front of the door and demanded entry. He refused, and instead, I had to battle him. I won without any trouble at all. This only made him angry, so he went within Valley Windworks and locked the door from the inside. I tugged at the doorknob, making sure that it was completely bolted. It was. Oops.
I dismally headed back to Floaroma town, making sure to avoid the little girl who was still sitting in the road. When I got to town, I heard a commotion at the meadow to the north. I went up there, and when I arrived, there were the two Galactic grunts that were there earlier. They were threatening an elderly man, trying to steal honey from him so they could attract rare pokémon. Go figure. Team Galactic is always selling rare pokémon for funding.
It reminded me of another old man they were trying to muscle into giving them something…
I yelled at them to stop it, engaging myself in a battle easily won. When the grunts went running, I turned back to the old man. He thanked me and offered me some honey. I bought some, but then I noticed something on the ground. It was a key to the Valley Windworks! Key and honey in hand, I headed back to route 205.
After breaking in, the guard spotted me and freaked out.
"How did you get in here? I thought I locked the door! Where did you get that key?" he yelled. Then he took off before I could answer all his questions, or at least battle him again to make him shut up.
I made my way through the maze-like power plant, hiding from grunts so they wouldn't notice me. I wanted to savor my pokémon's health in case I had to battle for Lucas's freedom. I finally arrived at the back room, and there was Lucas and the girl's father! The man was ferociously working away on the computer, an essence of fear in his eyes. Lucas was sitting in the corner, still tied up. He looked up to me, mouthing my name silently. But standing between them and me was a woman with short red hair, wearing a Team Galactic uniform. This could only mean trouble.
She introduced herself as Mars, one of the three Team Galactic commanders. I demanded their freedom, but instead, she challenged me to a pokémon battle and struck me a bargain.
"If you win, we'll leave. But if I win, you'll leave and never come back. Deal?" I accepted and sent out Fabio.
Her Zubat wasn't much of a problem, I had been fighting those all night. But the real problem was when she sent out her Purugly. It was a ferocious battler, and following a long, grueling battle, each of us was left with only three HP each. I had a choice to make, either give Fabio a potion and miss a turn, or take the risk of attacking, missing, and then fainting. I let the battle rest in fate's hands and attacked. It hit, and I won the battle. She returned her Purugly, and then said,
"Fine! You won, but next time, you won't be so lucky!" she grabbed Lucas and headed out the door.
"Hey!" I protested. "Did you forget our deal?"
"You give us the data, we give you your friend. I know the deal. Fair's fair," she scoffed.
But it was far from fair, not even close. I had won the battle!
"Unless, do you have the data we want?" she asked.
"Well, no. I mean…"
I looked over to Lucas. He looked back at me with those eyes again. It was almost like he was saying – no – pleading me not to tell. If they found out that he had the data anyway, there was a good chance that they would never release him.
"No," I sighed.
"Well, I'll be leaving then," she said, turning around and continuing her way out. I watched helplessly as Lucas was dragged out the back door. I clenched my hands into fists, holding myself back from running after her.
"Go to Eterna city! Eterna city!" Lucas cried, struggling in Mars's grip. But then Mars kicked him with one of her high-heels. His eyes clenched shut in pain, holding back tears. He looked at me with those same, sad eyes, and disappeared behind the door.
I walked over to the man, still ferociously working away, and told him that Team Galactic was gone. Saying that, I reminded myself that along with Team Galactic, Lucas was gone as well. I helped him up from his chair. He thanked me graciously, and said that Team Galactic had him working nonstop, working on getting enough energy to create some great object.
Just then, the little girl from route 205 ran in and gave her dad a big hug. At least some of this story had a happy ending. She thanked me, and then told me about this balloon-like pokémon that appeared in front of the plant every Friday. It would probably help with filling out my pokédex. I said goodbye and left the plant. I ran back to the pokémon center, remembering that Fabio was just barley conscious. Afterwards, I walked back to route 205 slowly, going over the events that had just transpired.
I walked over the bridge now that team evil was gone. I wandered into the tall grass, immediately attacked by a wild pokémon. I fought back, but then I realized that these pokémon were stronger then the ones I had encountered before. I struggled through the route, only stopping to rest in a house that night, restoring my pokémon and myself.
