Authors Notes: I am finally starting to get back into writing this fic. I took a break for about 10 months before I finally started working again, since then I have redone all of the chapters. Up till 5, then started what I began before with the first five and began remaking 6-8, now finally here is nine.

The Intro:

After meeting the mysterious stranger in the woods, Joseph and the stranger CJ, rushed to a detached tribe to stop a fire from destroying the village. While there, Joseph found a Charmander they Team Rocket had done experiments on. After a fierce battle Riolu and Joseph managed to beat and catch the rogue Pokemon returning him to normal and adding him to his team. Now with five Pokemon under his belt, Joseph is ready to take on Viridian, but not before the Rockets strike with a deadly missile striking the heart of the camp.

Chapter 9 The Rocket's Strike: A Life or Death Choice for Joseph:

Smoke rose from the trees from what seemed to be a recent fire. The forest was spinning as a red headed boy dragged himself off of the riverbank and into dry land. Pain shot through his back and his lung were sore from the excess water they had. He shoulder also stung with each movement and could barely be moved. Since it was not too swollen he must have dislocated it.

The ringing in his ears continued as he struggled to stand. The blast had messed with his senses making him woozy and nauseas. He put press on his arm and bit down on his lip as he popped back into place. Looking around, Riolu was nowhere to be seen as he finally managed to stand. He began to panic before his memory returned.

He remembered talking to Leah and Dillon, they were about to go hunting for Pokemon when someone shouted. The next thing he knew he was being knocked hard and fast into the air. His friends going in separate directions as well. Still briefly dazed his head slammed onto the river bank before he fell in. Riolu was struggling to stay afloat so he quickly recalled him to his Pokeball. His senses were out of control as he struggled to stay afloat. He barely made it to the river bank before he collapsed.

"Come on out Riolu." He said as he dropped the Pokeball he finally realized was in his hand. The loyal blue Fighting Type appeared in a flash of red. The Pokemon quickly exclaimed in concern at his trainer's state. "We have to get back to camp." He said. His Pokemon nodded and climbed up his arm to his shoulder when he offered. The pair quickly set off.


Leah could see nothing but darkness as she finally woke up. She was hurting all over and she didn't think it was just from the blast. She tried to move only to find her hands and feet tied tightly together. A blindfold was also over her eyes. She tried to call for help only to be prevented by the gag in her mouth. Calming down to take in the situation, she felt whatever she was in hit a bump in the road. She grunted as she landed on a bruise.

"Well look who finally awake." A nasally said, "I was wondering how long it would take you to wake up."

She began to struggle as she realize that the man was with team rocket. She quickly stopped as something jabbed into her stomach causing immense pain and taking away her breath.

"I wouldn't try to escape; there is no one around to help you." The man sneered. "Too bad though, we couldn't even find your precious Manaphy, she must have been blown apart."

Leah felt her anger boil as she tried to break free to teach this idiot a lesson. This time instead of being hit, an electrical shock ran through her body causing extreme pain. She cried out even with the gag in her mouth as her body shook with pain. It finally stopped leaving her gasping for breath.

"Save your energy, nothing you do will give you anything other than pain. But don't worry." He said with a sneer "There is no danger of us killing you yet. I want to save that for when my old friend arrives. I want to see the look in his eyes as the life drains from yours."

Tyler, there was no doubt in her mind who this man was. She already knew after talking to Joseph the night of the battle that the person that is before her now, the cruel, evil boy, was not the boy who was his friend. It was somewhat sad to hear how he was before compared to how he was now. How this person had fallen.

"Sir" Another voice said. "We are almost at the compound."

"Excellent Captain, make sure that the prisoner isn't given a chance to escape while transporting her."

"Of Course sir."

"It looks like it is time to plan. I'll leave you to your suffering." She heard the sound of someone walking away and a door closing. She shivered as she had nothing but her regular outfit on. The problem with it was it was designed for summer, not the cold room she was in now. Her joints were sore from the electrical shock she received. With Tyler gone she once again tried to break free only to receive another and longer shock as punishment. She struggled to stay consciousness as she wanted to be awake when they moved her to get some clue of her surroundings.


As he moved through the forest on his way back to camp, his joints started to slowly unstiffen and he was able to move around better. The smoke concerned him but he could tell there was a lot of the fire that was put out. Pieces of cloth and trees were littering the landscape as he finally saw some of the survivors.

"Joseph." Dillon call from up ahead. He friend ran to him and quickly put his arm around him and lead him to where some of the surviving tents were being set up. He saw that the trio's camp site was virtually untouched but the area had been cleared to for the doctors to use.

"How much damage was there?" Joseph asked as he sat down on the log he was using just last night.

"About half of the men were killed in the blast with many more wounded. Most of the supplies: food, water, power rods, and tents were either blown away or destroyed. We also have several missing."

Joseph eyes narrowed as his friend reported several missing. For most of the report his friend was looking right at him but turned away at that piece of news. He quickly looked around for Leah but seeing no sign of her usually easily seen red hair. He was filled with further dread as he saw Manaphy sitting all alone on a stump nearby.

"Who's missing?" He said fiercely looking at his friend, who still refused to look at him.

"Just some of our troops."

"Who!" He all but yelled.

"Leah, she was blown near our campsite. We … We know several men was taken by the Rockets … We believe she was too."

The new took his breath away way more than the bomb did. He could barely breathe as the news sunk in. She was gone, they took her. Tears began to appear in the corner of his eyes at the thought of another friend taken by Team Rocket.

"Ri Ri Riolu Ri" He barely heard through his shock. He briefly felt a weight on his shoulder the Pokemon climbed up to comfort him. He could even hear and understand him like usual. His mid was too clouded up. How much did Team Rocket had to take from him. His Father, Tyler, Samuel, half of his classmates, and now Leah, one by one they seemed to take that which he cared most about, while he had to watch as he died before his eyes. He slammed his eyes shut as the tears began to spill. Memories of Leah and all those he had lost flashing through his mind.

"NO!" He said out loud. "Not again." He said steeling his resolve. "I am not going to sit around and let someone else die."

"What can you do?" A nearby aide said. "You're just some kid. You aren't strong enough to rush in and rescue her, let alone know where they took her."

"I don't care, I have to try." He said as he stood up. He quickly began to look for his pack. He had put it down during the trio's earlier conversation so it should be around here somewhere. He already knew that he had all five of his Pokemon. Riolu, Charmander, Rattatta, Spearow, and Pidgey. He finally found his pack and slung it over his back.

"You can't do this Joseph." Dillon said grabbing his arm to stop him.

"Why can't I?" He shot back.

"IT'S SUICIDE MAN." His friend shouted at him. "Think about your mother, do you think she will be happy knowing you killed yourself on a doomed mission. Think about the attack force, you are one of the best we got. I cared about Leah, but I know she wouldn't want us to kill ourselves in a doomed attempt to find her. She would want us to finish what she got captured for."

"Then maybe you weren't close to her like I was." He replied.

"It doesn't matter. You have a responsibility to the troop. We need to get them back to Pallet before the Rockets decide to strike again. Enough people have died already." The aide said.

"You're right they have." He replied in a flat tone trying not to think about it too much "and I want to make sure the number doesn't increase."

"So you are just going to go in with just five measly Pokemon against what is bound to be an army. You must understand that you really don't stand a chance. We really didn't stand a chance with the whole strike force. Viridian is one of the most defended cities in Kanto. What hope do you have of getting in?"

"A little." He admitted before he smirked. "But that is enough for me."

"Don't do this Joseph. We need you."

"So does she." He replied before finally turning around. "Are you coming or not."

"I can't" He said. "I have to help them get back."

"Then good luck to you." He said as he pulled his arm free. Despite being a year younger than his friend, he was much stronger. He began to walk away from the group.

"So you are just going to leave us." Dillon said running to catch up.

"If you are trying to guilt me it won't work. I am not gonna go back knowing that there is at least something I could have done for her. I did nothing while Tyler was dragged away, while my dad took the blast that killed him, and while Samuel ran off to protect us. Not again!" He said with force. "If there is at least something I can do I will do it, till my last breath."

"But-"

"My mind is made up." He said walking away again. "Good luck to you Dillon." He called as he began to run off, quickly making his way out of sight.


Her arms and legs were chained to the wall as she was lying on the cold floor of her cell. Most of the men captured had been placed in one big cell but she was put in a solitary cell to await her fate. They had removed the blind fold and gag as soon as they had entered the building. Quickly replacing her chains for handcuffs they led them down multiple stories to the cell for prisoners. Year of disuse, lack of care or cleaning, and multiple injured, sick, or dying inmates left the jail a mess. It the pitch black she couldn't see anything, but if what she could smell was anything to go by, that was a good thing. She was pretty positive this cell had never been cleaned and she already knew there wasn't anything in this cell, no toilet or bed.

Her arms ached at the rough treatment the interrogation team had given her. She knew each of the captives were tortured for any information that they might know, but it was obvious she was seen as the leader of the captives and was therefore tortured a lot more. They seemed to find joy in coming to interrogate her in the middle of the night, not leading her back to her cell till she could see the sun outside the window.

The treatment was starting to get to her. With all the torture all her joints ached with a dull pain that never seemed to go away. She was given just enough food and water to survive and it was beginning to show. Already she could begin to see her ribs and her stomach ached. She had heard many horror stories throughout the years of the way Rockets treated their prisoners, they always sounded horrible and most of the time their prisoners were broken before they were rescued, if they got rescued that is. Well she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of breaking her like they wanted. She was going to keep fighting.

"Come with us." A grunt said from the door. The light blinded her after spending hours in the darkness. It was time for another useless interrogation session. At least that gave her one thing to do, coming up with sarcastic answers just to annoy them.


Four days later found Joseph at the outskirts of Viridian City clear in the cover of the trees. He had been traveling fast since he left the group no longer having to worry about going slow to hide the large group. As the sun was rising he packed up his stuff preparing for his assault. While resting he had been working with his new Pokémon. Pidgey and Charmander showed promise, but Rattatta and Spearow still had a lot of work to be done with them.

As far as he could tell, there was a makeshift wall surrounding the outer city. While it would be extremely easy to break through it just by himself, but that would meaning dealing with the hundreds of grunts that were behind it. All the trucks and cars going into the city were heavily checked with scanners so he could hide in a delivery truck. Security was tight and he was running out of options.

He began to comb his way around the city trying to find an access point when the ground underneath of him broke. The underbrush he was in gave way and sent him falling into the river below. He began to curse his luck while looking to see if he attracted attention when an idea hit him. Looking up and seeing no guards he quickly swam over to the wall. It went into the water but the river went right into the city.

He quickly breathed in as much air as he could before diving under the water. The wall went about twenty feet down, leaving five feet at the bottom unprotected. Swimming as fast as he could he made his way to the bottom of the river; thankful that Leah had taught him how to hold his breath for long periods of time. He quickly swam under the wall only to see a small cave at the top. There wouldn't be enough space for there to be air so he steeled himself and kept going.

After about twenty feet he knew he was reaching his limit and had to get some air. Salvation came at last when he saw light filtering from above. As fast as he could he made his way to the surface not caring about facing any grunts, just getting some air. He shot through the surface to find himself in a large building that looked like a power plant. To his dismay there several people who immediately saw him and started walking towards him with spears raised. The small hope he had was that they weren't in a rocket uniform.

"Who are you?" One said causing him to almost sigh in relief. All the towns had a certain way of talking, they were very similar and it took a native to be able to identify the difference, and an observant one at that. He had seen enough people from Viridian to recognize their way of talking. This meant they weren't Rockets. Most of them talking like spoiled up punks.

"Depends on who's asking." He said still not wanting to be too sure.

"Someone who could kill you!" The man replied.

"So you would kill an innocent little boy?" He said in amusement as he got out of the water.

"If it meant protecting my family, then yes."

"Based on how you are talking, I take it you are not with the Rockets?"

"You could say that yes." The man smirked. He quickly noticed that he was surrounded on all sides by men with various weapons.

"So why don't we stop fighting since we both want the same thing?" He said holding up his hands to show a lack of weapon.

"And what would that be?" The man said slightly lowering the spear.

"The Rocket's out of this city." He responded.

"And why do you want that." The man said quirking an eyebrow. The weapons were still tightly grasped but lowered.

"For a multitude of reasons. Besides what they did to my town over the years. They recently took one of my friends. I plan to rescue her from their faculties."

"A noble goal my friend." He said in a laugh "But an impossible one. No matter how hard we have tried we can't break through, and because they took all our weapons and Pokemon, we don't have what it takes to fight back."

"Who said anything about a full on assault." Joseph said beginning to smirk. The men suddenly began to look at what they assumed was a delusional young trainer in a new light.

"We're listening."


Dillon Harrison was looking out over the stars as he pondered what had happened. It felt guilty about leaving Joseph to do this on his own, but it was suicide. He wanted to live a little longer, survive this war, and not needlessly throw away his life.

By the time they had been ready to set out two days ago. About half of the men were pronounced dead and a good majority of the survivors were heavily wounded. It would be slow going back to Pallet and would probably take them a lot longer this time around. He began once again to suggest he might go join Joseph, but the aides needed him.

"They say that a good solider knows what his duty is. That he does what needs to be done. That he always follows orders." An aide said from behind him.

"So you're saying that I need to stay here to." He asked feeling depressed.

"They also say." He continued as if he didn't hear him. "That the best soldiers are the ones that make their own path. The ones that do not what is easy or smart, but what is right. The ones that go leaping into the fray and does what needs to be done, without any care about his own mortality."

"So what are you trying to tell? I'm not in the best of moods for riddles." He said growing tired of the aides riddles.

"You need to listen to your heart, not your mind. Those like Joseph and Leah, they know what needs to be done, and they know what they want to do. They follow their hearts and don't think about the consequences. At times that is the wrong way to look at things, in others, it is the best thing you can have."

"Are you trying to tell me to go help them?" He asked.

"I'm trying to tell you to follow your heart, not your brain. That will show you the proper path."