A/N: AT LAST! Sorry this took so long, but I had a killer day of quizzes to study for, and now I have a new killer test! IN CALC II!
Anyway, here's where the story really kicks up! Hope you enjoy!
Pokémon (C) 1995-2014 Pokémon, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, Creatures
Code Lyoko (C) 2002-2014 MoonScoop, France 3
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Chapter 10: Blasting off to Galactic Battles
(-o-) Prologue – Tour by Night (-o-)
James' POV
I still could not believe what had just happened. No less than an hour ago, I won my third Sinnoh region Gym Badge shortly after Ash had won his, but I actually defeated Maylene's Lucario, while Ash's battle ended in a draw. And yet, here I was, polishing my new badge which was pinned inside of my new badge case. It was almost like a dream, and I almost asked Pikachutwo to use Thunder on me to make sure that I wasn't dreaming.
In the end, I knew this was not a dream, and I could not feel more happy. I was free of my old life in Team Rocket and I was finally in control of my own life and my own destiny. And with great Pokémon friends like Red, Pikachutwo, Cacturne, Golbat, Mr. Mime, and Carnivine, along with great human friends like Jeremy, Aelita, Ash, and his friends, my destiny looked like it was going to be a great one.
Reggie called us when we got to the Pokémon Center, asking if we would like to go on a quick night tour of Veilstone City. After Ash and I dropped our battlers off with Nurse Joy, we accepted his offer. Within a few minutes, he met us at the Pokémon Center, and we all walked off into the night. Pikachutwo had seemed to pick up riding my shoulder from his genetic template, although its rough nature remained, though much less prone to violent outbursts than he had before he met up with Ash or me.
I had to admit, though, this was a nice treat, considering that none of us really stood still long enough to enjoy the beauty of any town we'd been to.
"Maylene gave me all of the details," Reggie said. "It must have been super intense if Ash's battle ended in a draw and if a newbie like James beat Lucario."
"They sure were," Ash said. "The Pokémon totally gave it their all in both battles!"
"Well, you can thank Dawn for that!" Aelita said, turning to the Coordinator. "It was your battle that brought back Maylene's fighting spirit!"
"Well, I'd do anything to see an awesome battle between Ash and Maylene," Dawn grinned sheepishly.
"Don't forget about me!" I said. "I also gave some good words of advice, and I actually beat her Lucario!"
"You don't need to rub it in, James," Jeremy said. "You both fought hard and you should both be proud, but not so proud that you let it go to your head."
"Oh come on," I waved. "I'm not like Ash!"
"Hey, I resent that!" Ash protested.
We all laughed at this, and Dawn piped up. "So, Reggie, where is this thing you wanted to show us?"
"Can't wait, huh?" he said, grinning. "Relax, you'll see soon enough."
After another while, we came to a flight of stairs leading up to a large hill. After we climbed to the top, we could see numerous large stones in holes littering the landscape. All of them were surrounded by rope fences and illuminated by a strange pale blue light from below.
"Since you're all leaving town bright and early tomorrow," Reggie said, "I thought it would do you good to see our city landmarks."
"What landmarks?" Ash asked, looking around. "You mean all these rocks?"
"Those aren't just rocks," Aelita said. "These rocks are meteorites, right Reggie?"
"Exactly right," he nodded.
"Wow!" Jeremy and Ash gasped in surprise. Judah and Pikachu both ran to one to get a closer look.
"They're huge!" Brock noted. "And there are no many!"
"These meteorites are part of what put Veilstone City on the map," Dawn explained as her Piplup ran off towards Pikachu and Judah. "I read about it in a book once when I was in school."
"Our city's been called 'The City Hewn from Rock', and these meteorites are part of it," Reggie added, and led the group to an information billboard which detailed the growth of Veilstone City over the course of many years. "Veilstone City was built around these meteorites since people and Pokémon would come and visit them since ancient times. Now the people of our fair city see them as our guardians, and we build this place to honor them."
"Wow," Jeremy said, "that's pretty cool."
"And just think about all of the people way back when who made this place what it is now," Brock added.
"It does sound amazing," Aelita nodded.
"I just love an awesome mystery!" Dawn said excitedly.
As I gazed at one of the meteorites along with Jeremy and our Pokémon, I felt a slight twinge of fear, and I shuddered. Jeremy noticed, and came up to me.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked. "Is it that cold out here?"
"I'm not cold," I replied, shaking my head. "I've just got this feeling, that's all."
"What is it about?" Aelita asked, seeing my reaction as well.
"It's about the meteorites," I said. "I think I may know someone who knows about them, and doesn't plan on respecting them."
"Like who?" Judah asked, joining us once he saw and heard our conversation.
"Well, who do we know that has been dabbling in ancient Sinnoh history recently?" I asked.
Jeremy, Aelita, and Judah both thought for a moment, and then came to the realization.
"Team Galactic!" we all said in unison.
"Should we tell Ash and the others yet?" Aelita asked.
"Well, I don't see them around here doing anything yet," I said, looking around.
"I did say it was just a feeling," I noted.
"Hey guys!" Ash called us. "We're all heading back to the Pokémon Center! You coming back or what?"
"Yeah, we're on our way," I called back, taking one last look and finding nothing. "Let's go back."
We all headed back, but Pikachutwo turned back and looked up, hearing something from high above us. I looked where he was looking, and saw a small black helicopter making its way to a building in Veilstone City. I wondered about this, but shook it off as I went to join the others.
(-o-)
(-o-) Episode 1 - An Inter-Galactic Adventure (-o-)
Jeremy's POV
Later that night, Reggie left our company and headed back to his home and tend to his and his client's Pokémon. We made it back to the Pokémon Center, and enjoyed a nice meal to cap off the day before we decided to clock out. Ash sat at one of the tables, polishing his new badge, and his old ones as well.
"Great job, Ash!" I said. "Three down, and five more to go!"
"And then it's off to the Sinnoh League!" Aelita cheered.
"And I'll be right behind you, kiddo," James grinned.
"But I didn't win this badge for defeating Maylene fair and square like James did," Ash noted.
"Oh, come on!" Brock waved. "Maylene gave you that badge because she recognized you and your Pokémon's strength and determination!"
"Then that means I've got to keep on training super hard and prove that what Maylene did was the right thing!" Ash said, and then turned to Pikachu. "So buddy, you with me all the way?" Needless to say, Pikachu voiced its approval.
"That's the Ash I came to see!" I said, smiling.
"How about you, Pikachutwo?" James asked. "Can I count on you to help me out?"
Pikachutwo nodded and sparked energetically.
"Let's see where the next Gym is," Brock said and then brought up a Sinnoh map on a big screen.
Nurse Joy then walked up with refreshments for everyone. "From here, Pastoria City looks like a good choice." She pointed to a city not far off from Veilstone City. "There's a resort on the shores of Lake Valor right on the way, so you can take a rest there. I've heard the Gym Leader there is an expert in Water-Type Pokémon as well."
"Water-Types, cool!" Ash grinned. "Next stop, Pastoria City!"
"You'll rock there, won't you?" James asked Pikachutwo, and it nodded fiercely, grinning.
Just then, Brock grabbed Nurse Joy's hands, much to her surprise and none of ours.
"Perhaps you'd like to come along with us," he said with a deep voice. "Then we'll find the thing we've been searching for: a love, our love! Burning with the fire deep within our hearts-ARGH!" Unsurprisingly, his Croagunk popped out of its Poké Ball and jabbed him in the backside with a quick Poison Jab. "Of course, fire burns in other places as well…" he moaned as he collapsed to the ground, with Croagunk dragging him off, chuckling all the way. We all groaned, exasperated at this.
"So, Dawn," Jeremy said, "what's up for your next Contest?"
Dawn looked a bit nervous, but put on a fake smile. "Ash, you'll never guess! We're right in the middle of working on a brand-new combination!"
Piplup furrowed his brow at Dawn, and Aelita, James, Judah, and I could tell that she was still upset about her past two failures, and it was still going to take quite a while to overcome them.
"She's really gotta do something about that confidence of hers," James sighed.
"Yeah, no kidding," Judah said. "Her aura is making me feel kind of weird."
I looked out the window and pointed, my eyes now wide. "Like that kind of weird?"
We looked out the window and noticed that there was a strangle glow from on top of the hill in the center of Veilstone City, where we saw those meteorites. We saw huge pillars of light from the hill, and then Judah's aura sensors started acting up.
"Judah?" I gasped. "What's wrong?"
"I sense a powerful aura coming from the hill," he replied. "I don't know what it is, but it feels like a force of pure power from the dawn of time and space."
After a while of the light pillars illuminating the whole city, they all went out completely.
"Wonder what that was all about," Dawn said, bewildered.
Just then, my video phone rang. I answered the call, and Louise Belpois – my mother – and Franz Hopper – Aelita's father whose true name was Waldo Schaeffer – appeared on the screen.
"Mom! Dr. Schaeffer!" I exclaimed. At the mention of her father's name, I felt Aelita look over my shoulder.
"How are you kids?" Waldo asked.
"We're just fine, Daddy," Aelita smiled. "We're in Veilstone City now! And we just saw two Gym Battles in a row!"
"Was it Ash and James?" my mom asked, and I nodded.
"They've both become really strong," I said, "but James is making tremendous leaps and bounds."
"Is he truly safe?" my mom asked.
"Yes he is, mother," I nodded. "He's saved our necks a few times already."
"Okay, just stay safe both of you!" she said, sighing.
Before I could respond, the call suddenly cut off, and static filled the screen.
"What just happened?" Aelita asked.
"I don't know," Jeremy shrugged. "The call just dropped, and it now says that there's no signal. No tunnel, no breaking up, just static."
Aelita looked up and gasped. "Like that?" she asked, and she pointed to the television screens in the Pokémon Center. All of them were displaying nothing but static. All of the people were quite agitated, and none more so than Nurse Joy, who frantically darted around the Center.
"Nurse Joy, what's happening?" Brock asked, running up to the counter.
"There's something interfering with our medical equipment!" she remarked, and showed some of the Pokémon that were suffering were not getting any better. "And it's affecting the recovery of the Pokémon!"
I looked over her shoulder, and saw a Chansey attending a suffering Shinx and Munchlax inside now non-functional recovery machines.
"Oh no!" Aelita cried.
"That's terrible!" Dawn gasped.
"Are our Pokémon ok?" James asked.
"I'm afraid their recovery is taking as slow as the others now that our equipment is offline!" she shook her head.
"Oh no," James gasped, his hand over his mouth. Even Pikachutwo looked very worried.
Just then, a voice rang out from behind us, crying out, "Nurse Joy!" We all turned around to see Maylene and her Lucario dash up to the counter.
"Lucario sensed something was wrong," she said, "so we came to see what was happening."
"Judah sensed the same thing!" I exclaimed.
"Even my old Pokégear isn't working!" James said, holding up a cell phone like device.
"You have a Pokégear?" Brock asked, surprised.
"I'll explain later!" James said. "Right now we've got bigger problems!"
"Then we're all in agreement!" Maylene said. "We've got to find out what's going on, and fast!"
We all nodded, and dashed out of the Pokémon Center, with Maylene leading the way. James, Aelita, Judah, and I managed to keep up with her and Lucario the best out of all of us.
"Lucario sense the disturbance is coming from the meteorites in the park," Maylene noted as we ran towards the park.
"Did you call Officer Jenny?" Brock asked.
"The phones are dead," Maylene answered, "so I sent Connally as a messenger."
Just then, Ash pointed up to the sky. "Check out those helicopters! I don't think they were there when we were there a few minutes ago!"
"I think I saw one of them before we left the park!" James noted.
"Then let's check it out!" I said, and we continued on our way.
As we ascended the staircase, we noticed a small explosion take place on top of the hill. When we got to the top, we saw a familiar group of individuals standing around the meteorites and loading them into a crane which was lifting them into a helicopter. There was also a Pokémon next to the group that looked like a pale green version of Croagunk. I knew this to be Saturn's Toxicroak, from what James said, and it was in fact the evolved form of Croagunk.
"It's Team Galactic!" James exclaimed. "They're stealing the meteorites!"
"Team Galactic?" Ash repeated, confused. "Who are they?"
"There's another Team?" Dawn asked, also confused.
"I mentioned them once," James told them. "Remember when I was still in Team Rocket and Jessie and I almost stole the Adamant Orb?"
"That's right!" Ash said. "Back in Eterna City, you said something about a 'fashionably dressed fan of Team Rocket' hiring you to steal it for him."
"I remember that too!" Brock nodded.
"And we met the blue-haired one again in the Solaceon Ruins," Aelita said. "That's what we were doing when you and Kenny were battling. We noticed him sneaking into the ruins, and he stole something from it, and he's also the one who caused the Unown to trap us inside of there."
"Then they're all no good!" Dawn growled.
"What about that Pokémon?" Ash asked.
"That's a Toxicroak that belongs to Saturn," I said, and pointed to the blue-haired man. Ash took out his Pokédex for more info.
"Toxicroak, the Toxic Mouth Pokémon," the machine said, "and the evolved form of Croagunk. The poison produced in its sac is carried through tubes in its arms to its knuckle claws."
"What are you up to?" Ash barked. "Why are you stealing these meteorites and attacking this city?"
"We don't care about your cities or your landmarks," Saturn replied, "but these meteorites must assume their true form! They are absolutely necessary to our plan to build the new world!"
Ash, along with the rest of us, were confused by this. But before any of us could decipher what he meant, a police motorcycle revved up the stairs, and the Veilstone City Officer Jenny jumped into view, exciting Brock and angering Saturn.
"Thanks for the tip-off, Maylene," she said to the Gym Leader.
"My civic duty!" Maylene saluted, and Officer Jenny turned to the villains.
"You stole these meteorites, didn't you?" Jenny barked. "All of the technological interference is your doing!"
"Maybe," Saturn grinned slyly, "or maybe not."
"I'll bet they're responsible for the Pokémon Center breakdown!" Brock said.
"It's not just the Pokémon Center," Jenny stated, "but every piece of technological equipment across Veilstone City!"
"That explains how my call dropped so quickly!" Jeremy said.
"Do you really think that the Sinnoh Special Police aren't aware of all the behind-the-scenes activity that's been going on recently?" Jenny barked again. "Well, you're busted! You're a part of those super-secret criminals… Team Galactic!"
Saturn said and did nothing in response, but gave a small and sly grin. "Guilty as charged."
"Tell me right now what you plan to do with those meteorites!" Officer Jenny demanded.
"That would be a big waste of time," Saturn sighed. "But I will tell you that it's all a part of our plan. Toxicroak, Dark Pulse!"
Instantly, the Poison Mouth Pokémon shot a wave a dark rings from its hands, and it was aimed straight at us.
"Quick, Pikachu," Ash cried, "Thunderbolt!"
"Pikachutwo, Thunder!" James said.
"Piplup, Bubblebeam!" Dawn added.
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Maylene called out, and imitated the attack.
"Judah, Aura Sphere!" I cried.
The Pokémon each shot out their attacks, but instead of deflecting them, the dark waves blew apart, and one headed right at Brock with high speed and power. Before any of us could react, his Croagunk popped out of its Poké Ball, and shot the wave down with its Brick Break.
"Whew," I sighed. "Good going, Croagunk!"
"Thanks a lot, Croagunk," Brock sighed. "You saved me."
As Croagunk got up from its crouch, it walked up to Saturn's Toxicroak, glaring at it intensely.
"What's with the look?" Aelita asked.
"Most Pokémon tend to harbor bad blood towards their evolutionary states," Judah said, "and Croagunk looks to be one of them."
"Surrender now and return the meteorites," Officer Jenny barked, "unless you'd rather want to come kicking and screaming in handcuffs!"
I saw James winced a bit at this, but Saturn scowled.
"Clear the way, now!" Saturn barked, and his team released dozens of Golbat into the open, and they all launched Air Cutter at us, forcing us to duck and dodge.
"Toxicroak, what are you doing!?" Saturn growled upon seeing his Pokémon literally bumping heads with Brock's Croagunk. "Destroy that Croagunk!"
"Quick, Croagunk!" Brock cried out, "use Brick Break!"
Croagunk did so, but Toxicroak dodged easily, and punched Croagunk back.
"Poison Sting!" Brock ordered.
"Use Sludge Bomb!" Saturn barked.
Both attacks hit each other with equal power, and no one was able to get their attack through. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the Golbat charge up a Shadow Ball and aim it right at Ash and Pikachu.
"Ash! Pikachu!" I cried, and pointed. "Behind you!"
Before any of us could do anything, the Golbat was shot down by an electric attack. We turned to the sides, and noticed Reggie with Paul's Electabuzz standing off to the sides.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"It's Reggie and Electabuzz!" Ash noted. "We're fine!"
"But Team Galactic is trying to steal the meteorites!" Aelita cried out to the Breeder.
"And there's too many Golbat for us to get close enough to stop them!" Judah said.
"We need to combine the powers of our Pokémon and stop these crooks!" Paul declared, and then turned to Electabuzz. "Before I send you back to Paul, how about you help us out here?" It nodded, and they prepared for battle.
"First we gotta take care of these Golbat!" Officer Jenny noted.
"Leave it to me!" I cried, and took out two Poké Balls. "Marvin, use Psybeam! Draco, use Dragon Breath!" Marvin, my Kadabra, and Draco, my Shelgon, jumped into action and unleashed their attacks.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out.
"Electabuzz, Thunder! Let's go!" Reggie ordered.
"You use Thunder as well, Pikachutwo!" James cried, and threw out Red's Poké Ball. "Red, come on out and use Flamethrower!"
"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn added.
"Don't forget about me!" Aelita said, and took out two Poké Balls of her own. "Matilda, use Psybeam! Terra, use Razor Leaf!"
All of our Pokémon appeared and joined up to unleash their attacks on the swarm of Golbat. The combined move was super effective, and more than half of the swarm dropped to the ground, unable to go on.
"Lets' get to those choppers!" I said, and we all moved forward. However, Saturn had other plans.
"Allow Toxicroak to use Sludge Bomb!" he barked, and Toxicroak shrugged Croagunk off of its back, and shot its attack at us, forcing us to split up.
It was then that a really amazing thing happened. Electabuzz became surrounded by Golbat, but then Pikachu and Pikachutwo used their Thunderbolt and Thunder to stop them. Both Pikachu asked if Electabuzz was okay, but Electabuzz merely scowled. Two lone Golbat, not quite out, each launched a Shadow Ball right at both clone and original Pikachu, who just noticed them but had no time to react beyond shielding themselves. However, Electabuzz used its Thunder Punch to destroy the Shadow Ball, which saved Pikachu and Pikachutwo. They thanked Electabuzz, who gave a playful smirk in return. Back to back, they launched a powerful combination of Thunderbolt and Thunder, which was enough to knock out the remainder of the Golbat.
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
"That was amazing!" Ash said.
"Did you see the amazing combination the three of them just did?" Dawn gasped.
"I sure did!" Aelita said, excited.
Reggie looked a bit skeptical. "You know, I think Electabuzz was just paying off a debt."
"It sure didn't feel like that to me," Aelita muttered to me, smirking.
"Okay, Pikachu!" Ash said, fist pumping. "Volt Tackle!"
"Electabuzz, use Thunder to charge it up!" Reggie cried.
"Add your own Thunder to that, Pikachutwo!" James shouted.
Pikachu charged at the helicopter, and Pikachutwo struck Pikachu with a Thunder to charge it up further, but when it jumped up, Electabuzz caught him and used its electricity to power up Pikachu's attack and toss him at the helicopters, severing the cables binding two of the meteorites.
"Lucario, use Bone Rush!" Maylene said, and Lucario whipped up a bo staff to destroy the claws that gripped the meteorites.
"Piplup, Whirlpool!" Dawn cried, and the maelstrom caught the meteorites and lowered them safely to the ground. He then landed on top of one and struck a pose.
"There's no choice now," Saturn said. "Retreat, Toxicroak!" He recalled his Pokémon, and him and his men retreated to their helicopter, which joined the others as it took off.
"No ya don't!" Ash cried. "Thunderbolt!"
"Thunder!" James cried.
"Aura Sphere!" Maylene and I cried.
The Pokémon launched their attacks, but the helicopters were now flying too far out of range. We all groaned in disappointment as we saw them fly out of sight.
"Sorry, Officer Jenny," Ash apologized.
"We let Team Galactic get away," Dawn said.
"Well, we did manage to get some of the meteorites back," Officer Jenny said. "For that, I thank you all for your help."
I noticed Croagunk sitting by the sides, rather distraught. Brock comforted him. "You battled hard today, Croagunk. It's okay." Croagunk turned away, and I could tell that it was sad that it was not able to beat Saturn's Toxicroak.
"We haven't seen the last of those criminals, no doubt," Officer Jenny said, looking at the sky. "If only we knew more about Team Galactic's plans…"
(-o-)
James' POV
Before we all headed back to the Pokémon Center, we went with Officer Jenny to find the source of the electrical interference and get rid of it so that the Pokémon Center would become operational again. Jeremy had Judah use his aura to sense powerful electric pulses coming from a large building in the center of the city. But when we got there, it looked like a Zapdos had used a Thunder on it, and then a Moltres had added a Fire Blast.
"What happened here?" Ash asked.
"I've never seen this place before," Reggie noted.
We then took another look at the building, and noticed a large G, barely legible now, on front of it.
"This must have been one of Team Galactic's bases," Officer Jenny assumed. "They must have evacuated the second that we knew of their presence here."
"Then it may not have any clues as to where they're heading off to next," Jeremy said, frowning.
"Still, it may be worth a look," I said, and started to walk up to the door.
"Hold on!" Ash said. "I'm coming with you!"
"Hey, don't leave me out!" Jeremy said, and Aelita and Judah followed as well.
Officer Jenny was about to protest, but when the rest of the gang headed in that direction as well, she shrugged and followed us indoors. We did not find any documents inside, digital or physical, but we did find the machine that caused the interference. It was a large computer system which sent a radio signal to satellite dishes that were mounted on the roof, and they sent the signal that jammed all non-Team Galactic equipment within a 5 kilometer radius of the point of origin, which more than blanketed the entire city.
"It's still running!" Aelita noted.
"A likely way to stop us from tracking them," Officer Jenny assumed.
"But it's keeping the Pokémon Center and all of our phones from working!" I reminded them. "We have to destroy it!"
"No problem!" Ash said. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"You add a Thunder to that, Pikachutwo!" I added.
"And you use Thunder, Electabuzz!" Reggie ordered.
The Electric-Type Pokémon obliged, overloading the machine with 1,000,000 volts of energy, causing the machine to explode, sending metal and dust flying everywhere.
"Mr. Mime, use Reflect!" I cried, and called my Barrier Pokémon out, who threw up a force field to keep us safe.
"That was easy," Ash grinned.
"Almost too easy," I noted to myself. Just then, my Pokégear started ringing. I looked at the caller ID, and was shocked to see a sprite of Jessie.
"James, is that you?" a familiar voice asked.
I instantly stepped out and answered the call. "Jessie? How'd you get my new number?"
"I met the lady from the Day-Care whom you got it from," she said. "I can't believe you didn't tell us that it was that rude twerp's mother who was running the place and who helped you and your Pokémon!"
"It didn't come to me?" I shrugged. "Anyway, have you been trying to call me for a while?"
"Yes, but the lines went dead for some reason," she said.
"What happened, Jimmy?" I heard Meowth ask.
"Team Galactic happened," I said darkly and matter-of-factly.
"What did those bowl-headed fashion freaks want this time?" Jessie groaned.
"Well, they stole a bunch of meteorites from Veilstone City for some project," I said, "and they jammed all of Veilstone City's technology and left the thing on. We blew it up, though, so everything's back to normal. Other than that, I got no clue what's happening." I took a look at Officer Jenny and shuddered. "I can't talk now, Officer Jenny is here, and I need to help these guys. I'll call you later, okay?"
"You got it, Jimmy," Meowth said. "We got our own Pokégear now, and we'll stay in touch."
With that, they hung up and I went back to the group.
"Well, my Pokégear works now," I said. "The Pokémon Center should be working now as well."
"That's good to hear," Reggie said, and then we all left the building. After Officer Jenny left for the Police station and Maylene and Lucario left to head back to the Veilstone Gym, I placed my hand on Reggie's shoulder before he left for home.
"I noticed a picture on your mantle that looked familiar," I said. "I saw that same photo in the Solaceon Town Day-Care Center."
"You've been there?" he asked, surprised.
"I worked there for a month about a week ago," I explained. "That's where I got my Pokégear, in case you were wondering. It was a breeder's mission to another city, and I had o stay in contact with the Day-Care Lady. Speaking of which, when I first met you, I thought you looked familiar. I soon realized that you're the boy from the photo the Day-Care Lady, Audrey, had in her office. Now I see who you are: Audrey is your mother, isn't she?"
Ash and the others were listening in, and they were all surprised at my revelation. Reggie sighed.
"You hit the nail on the head, James," he nodded. "You're absolutely right. My mother is half the reason I became a Breeder in the first place after I retired from long-time training."
"What was the other half?" Ash asked.
"Ash, don't butt into other's business!" Judah chastised.
"It's all right," Reggie said. "I lost a huge battle one day and knew that I still had a way to go."
"Well, I think you're a strong Trainer, Reggie," Ash said.
"So are you, Ash," Reggie said, and looked at Maylene who was heading off to the Gym with her Lucario. "Thanks again for helping Maylene. You've really got her spark back."
I smirked, knowing that Reggie had thanked Ash for helping Maylene for reasons of his own.
(-o-)
(-o-) Episode 2 – The Ex-Rocket's Red Glare (-o-)
Aelita's POV
Just then, a loud sound was heard overhead, and we looked up to see yet another helicopter above our heads, but this one had a bright red R on it instead of the G of Team Galactic.
"That's not Team Galactic!" Reggie said.
"No, it's worse!" I gasped.
"How?" Reggie asked, confused.
"It's Team Rocket!" Ash answered. "James used to work for them until he got fired thanks to me and my friends messing up his plans. But now they're after his Pokémon and they want to do who-knows-what to him!"
"But why are they here?" Brock asked.
"The answer to that is simple, little boy," a voice form above said, and a man jumped out of the helicopter, slowing his descent with a jetpack. As he landed, I noticed that Jeremy and Aelita gasped at this man's appearance. He was in an elite Team Rocket officer's uniform, and had a brushed-back mop of brown hair which had strands dangling over his jaded green eyes.
"We're here observing Team Galactic's actions," he said, "just like you all are doing right now."
"It's you!" Jeremy gasped. "Frank James!"
"Who is that?" Ash asked.
"He's the man who tried to kidnap me when Jeremy, Aelita, and I first met!" Judah exclaimed, getting into a battle stance and growling fiercely, his fists clenched.
"Oh come now," the Rocket officer grinned. "I was just after some data, but I can't resist a little bounty hunting. How about you make it easy and surrender James, his Pokémon, and that Riolu to me and then I won't have to beat you all into a pulp?"
"Like that's gonna happen!" Jeremy growled, getting in front of Judah and James.
"I won't let you hurt James or any of his or our Pokémon!" I said, getting into a battle-ready stance.
"Neither will I!" Reggie said, and Electabuzz growled as well. "You get out of my city right now or I'll make you get out!"
Frank James sighed. "I guess we gotta do this the hard way." He then pulled out three Poké Balls. "Weavile, Shiftry, Houdon, crush these half-pints and the traitor!"
The Sharp Claw Pokémon, Wicked Pokémon, and Dark Pokémon appeared before us and gave a growl.
"Chimchar, I choose you!" Ash cried, and called out Chimchar, who growled at the Team Rocket agent's Pokémon.
"Ambipom, come on out!" Dawn said, and her Long Tail Pokémon appeared, primed for battle.
"Croagunk, let's go!" Brock added, and called out his Toxic Mouth Pokémon partner.
"Don't leave us out!" Jeremy cried, and called out Marvin and Draco.
"That goes double for me!" I cried, and called out Terra, Mabel, and Matilda.
"Red, I choose you!" James cried, and called out his Charmander.
"What a bunch of weak losers," Frank James taunted. "You may have numbers, but I have power! Houndoom, use Heat Wave! Shiftry, use Razor Leaf! Weavile, use Blizzard!"
All of Frank James' Pokémon attacked us with fierce attacks, but we stood strong.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash cried.
"Pikachutwo, use Thunder!" James added. "And Red, use Flamethrower!"
"Croagunk, use Poison Sting!" Brock shouted.
"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn called out.
"Judah, Aura Sphere!" Jeremy commanded. "Draco, use Flamethrower! Marvin, use Psybeam!"
"Terra, Razor Leaf!" I ordered. "Mabel, Twister! Matilda, Shock Wave!"
All of our Pokémon attacked at once, but only a few got thorough while most either were dodged or missed.
"Houndoom, use Fire Spin to trap that traitor!" Frank ordered, and his Dark Pokémon trapped James in a spiraling vortex of fire before any of us could react.
"Oh no!" I cried, and then was even more shocked when Frank James used a mechanical arm to snatch Judah and Ash's Pikachu, as well as Pikachutwo, right from under our noses and trap all three of them in a translucent cage of energy.
"Pikachu/Judah!" Ash and Jeremy cried, and rushed to save their partner and Pikachutwo. However, Weavile and Shiftry blocked their path.
"I'm through playing games with you brats," Frank James growled. "It's time I show you how dirty Team Rocket really plays."
Suddenly, dozens of Team Rocket grunts dove from the helicopter and landed on the roof. A few stayed up there, but at least a dozen dove down to our level and threw energy lassos, trapping us and all of our Pokémon before we could react. To make matters worse, once they tied us up, the steel cables let out a strong electric current that electrocuted us painfully and caused us to fall to the ground, paralyzed.
"What… the heck… just happened?" Ash asked weakly.
"Since when… is Team Rocket like… this?" Dawn asked, struggling to speak.
"I told you, we're through playing games," Frank James said. "I'll be taking your Pokémon for our collection and this traitor to our leader for his punishment."
Frank James moved towards James, and James' eyes became filled with fear. Tears began to fall from them as he looked on at our situation, horrified. Jeremy and I felt helpless, trapped and shocked, unable to help this poor man evade impending doom or help save Judah or our other Pokémon. However, one Pokémon's eyes were now filled with hatred at the situation, and this feeling was strong enough to roar quite ferociously for his small stature allow him to create a ring of fire to snuff out the fiery cage that James was in.
"Look at Red!" Ash gasped, seeing James' small Charmander ready to do battle with Frank James' Pokémon.
"He put out the fire by using his own fire to create a backfire!" Brock explained.
"Little punk!" the Team Rocket officer growled, but soon found himself on the receiving end of a Flamethrower, courtesy of Red. Suddenly, Red roared and became enveloped in a white glow that took us all by surprise.
"Is it really happening!?" James gasped.
"It is!" I cried. "Red is evolving!"
Red's tail grew longer, his head grew larger and grew out a spike in the back, and its arms grew longer and thicker. As the glow faded, a bold red Pokémon appeared which roared its name triumphantly.
"CHARMELEON!"
"Red has evolved into a Charmeleon!" I gasped in awe.
Red then turned around and unleashed a Metal Claw to all of our bindings, breaking them and freeing us.
"Thanks for that, Red," Jeremy said as we all got up.
Red nodded and looked back at the cage and saw a strange device on the top. Nodding, he aimed a Flamethrower at it, and the device broke, which caused the energy in the cage to dissipate, freeing the three captive Pokémon who all ran back to their Trainers.
"Jeremy!" Judah cried as he ran to my boyfriend. Jeremy quickly took him up in his arms and hugged him tightly. Ash did the same with Pikachu, and James followed suit with Pikachutwo.
"I'd say it's time I stopped playing around as well!" James said. "Red, use Flamethrower! Pikachutwo, use THUNDER!"
"Pikachu, follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Ash added.
"Judah, Aura Sphere!" Jeremy cried. "Marvin, Psychic! Draco, Dragon Breath!"
"Matilda, Psychic!" I cried. "Terra, Leaf Storm! Mabel, Twister!"
All of our Pokémon unleashed their attacks at Frank James' team, as well as their Trainer, and they caused devastating damage, rendering the Pokémon unconscious and the Team Rocket grunts and their leader severely injured. The grunts took off running, but Frank James was not out just yet. Suddenly, police sires could be heard in the distance, and we turned to see Officer Jenny and a few other cars come up to the building. Then some cars blocked the path of the running Rocket grunts, and they were all roped up.
"Make sure they don't get away!" Jenny barked as she dismounted her motorcycle. She then noticed us all, and was now very surprised. "What's going on here?"
"Team Rocket showed up to take some of Team Galactic's data," Jeremy explained. "We found and disabled the source of the electrical interference, but they showed up to steal our Pokémon and the data that Team Galactic left behind."
"All right, one evil team is enough for one night!" Officer Jenny said, glaring at Frank James. "You're under arrest for Pokémon poaching, and assault and battery! Surrender now or we will use force!"
"Nice try, Officer," he grinned evilly, pointing to the roof, "but my work is done here."
We all looked to the roof, and saw the rest of the grunts rope up to the helicopter with a case, presumably of the data they had just extracted from the now-defunct Team Galactic base.
"Darn it," James hissed. "We let them get what they wanted."
"We couldn't have done anything about it all tied up," I noted.
"We'll leave you to clean up the mess!" Frank James taunted, activating his jetpack after recalling his Pokémon. We tried to attack him, but his pack was too fast and the helicopter put out a protective force field to stop any of our attacks. Before long, the helicopter flew away.
"Sorry we let the bad guys get away again," Ash apologized.
"It's all right," she waved. "The grid's back online, and we have you to thank for it."
"Don't forget about James and Red!" Reggie said, and pointed to the ex-Team Rocket agent.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for him," Judah added, "I'd be off to Team Rocket HQ and the grid would still be down!"
"And Red evolved into Charmeleon just in time to save the day!" Dawn added, looking it up in her Pokédex.
"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon," the machine spoke, "and the evolved form of Charmander. Charmeleon mercilessly destroys its foes using its sharp claws. If it encounters a strong foe, it turns aggressive. In this excited state, the flame at the tip of its tail flares with a bluish white color."
"Well, I guess I should thank you, James," Officer Jenny said, saluting the man.
"Please, I just did what I had to do," James waved, blushing, but then looked back up at the night sky, his face now cold. "Besides, I have a personal score to settle with them…"
Ash and the rest of us nodded, and we all looked into the sky, wondering what Team Rocket and Team Galactic were planning and what those plans would spell for us and the entire world.
(-o-)
James' POV
The Pokémon Center was fully operational before we all got back, so we left all of our Pokémon with Nurse Joy for the night. The next morning, we were clean, fed, and ready to hit the road. Before we left the Pokémon Center, Reggie, Maylene, and Lucario showed up to see us off.
"Reggie told me about what happened last night," the Gym Leader said. "I hope you're all okay."
"We're just fine," I said.
"All the best for a safe trip!" Maylene said. "Lucario and I'll be watching your next Contest, Dawn!"
"Thanks," Dawn smiled. "You two take care as well!"
"Paul said that he was heading off to Pastoria City as well," Reggie said to Ash and I, "so make sure you two get your fourth badge there like he will!"
"I'll do better than that!" Ash said. "I'll get mine before he does!"
"That goes double for me!" I said, pumping my fist.
"Ash sure is confident," Jeremy noted, "and you're getting a bit of that too, James."
"That's just the kind of guy Ash is," I said. "I guess he's starting to rub off on me." I then turned back to the Veilstone City crew, and grinned. "Take good care of yourselves, you two!" I said, chuckling.
Everyone was confused by this, except for Jeremy and Aelita, who both grinned in response.
"You think we'll meet up with Team Galactic again?" she asked.
"Someday we will," I said, as I stared into the dawning sky. "But for now, our journey continues and adventure awaits!"
Jeremy nodded, and we headed off to Pastoria City, the site of Ash's and my fourth Sinnoh Gym Battle, and the adventures that would come both before and after then. With Team Galactic coming out from the shadows, our adventure was about to become more than we could have ever imagined. But with our Pokémon and human friends together, I knew that we would be ready for anything.
Slowing down from our group and looking back at Reggie and Maylene, I reached into my pocket and pulled out another thing that Audrey had given me on that fateful day: a Trainer's pocket Bible which contained Psalms, Proverbs, and the entire New Testament. Flipping to a random page, I came across a familiar verse that my grandmother told to me a long time ago:
"The LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the ways of the wicked will perish." – Psalm 1:6
"Well, I sure know what's going to happen to Paul now," I said to myself as I quickened my pace to keep up with the others, ready for a new adventure.
A/N: Okay! Team Galactic has shown up, Team Rocket is now a real threat, James has a Charmeleon and a pocket Bible, and Paul had better watch out the next time he meets Ash and the others after that event in Chapter 6! Please be patient with the next update, and I will get working on it as soon as possible!
Also, please check out EchindaPower's AAML: Diamond and Pearl Version! Without that, this chapter would probably have not gotten done as quick as it had been!
-JeremyX signing off!