Chapter 10a: Fight for the Ruby Jewel Part 1
There was a fierce battle taking place on a grassy field just off the dirt road of Route 402. Aly and Justin had teamed up to face off against another pair of trainers travelling around the area. Squirtle and Torchic were the choices of the protagonists while the opponents had a Sandshrew and Kricketot on their end. Eevee, Mudkip and Vulpix were on the sidelines cheering their fellow Pokémon teammates on.
"Torchic, use your ember attack on Kricketot!" Justin commanded.
"Tor-chic!"Torchic chirped as it released balls of fire right at the big type Pokemon. Kricketot got hit by the attack and was sent backwards right in front of its trainer, unable to battle anymore.
"Sandshrew! Use rollout!" the male opponent trainer called. Sandshrew curled up in a ball and rolled right into Squirtle, knocking the blue turtle Pokemon onto its back.
"Oh no Squirtle!" Aly cried out.
"Torchic, ember attack!" Justin commanded. Torchic focused its attention to Sandshrew and released an ember attack at Sandshrew, which made it cringe in pain. Torchic ran towards Squirtle and flipped it back onto its feet.
"Finish it now Aly!"
"Right! Squirtle, use water gun!" Aly commanded. Squirtle opened its mouth and shot a stream of water at Sandshrew. Sandshrew was hit hard with the attack, which caused it to faint.
"Oh no Sandshrew!" the male trainer called out.
"Kricketot!" The female trainer added. The 2 ran over towards their fallen Pokemon.
"Well, looks like this battle is over," Justin suggested as he, Aly, Torchic and Squirtle began to walk over to the opponents.
"You guys are really strong! That was a great battle! I hope we all get to do it again sometime!" The female trainer exclaimed. They both stood up and extended their hands towards Justin and Aly. Handshakes were exchanged between trainers and Pokemon. The 2 trainers recalled their Pokemon into their Pokeballs and said their goodbyes before heading off.
"That was a great battle Torchic! Your ember is really strong now," Justin complimented his Pokemon.
"Torchic-Tor!" Torchic cried out happily as it strung a big smile.
"Same with you Squirtle! Good job out there!" Aly said to her Pokemon.
"Squirtle-Squirt!" Squirtle said as it put its hands on its hips, trying to show off.
"Anyways, we should get going. Ruby City is just down this road." Justin remarked.
"Ok, sounds good!" Aly said. They both recalled their Pokemon into their Pokeballs with the exception of Eevee and Squirtle. Eevee jumped back onto Justin's shoulder while Squirtle was picked up into Aly's arms. Once finished, the 2 started to walk down Route 402.
"Hey Justin...um, thanks for helping me out in that battle earlier." Aly remarked suddenly as they continued to walk down the path.
"No problem Aly! That's what team members do!" Justin replied exuberantly.
"I know...but it seemed like I only held you back. You did most of the work. If only..."
"Aly, don't worry about it. You're still getting back into the groove. This is good experience for you. Before you know it, when we get to more intense battles, we'll both be helping each other out!"
"Yeah...more intense battles...right. Um Justin, I-"
"We're finally here!" Justin shouted out. They stood right in front of the city's entrance. There was a big billboard sign to the left that read "Welcome to Ruby City!"
"Wow, feels like forever! Now time to find that gym!" Justin exclaimed. Eevee let out a cry of joy as well. Justin petted Eevee on the head and began to march into the city. Aly still stood at the city's entrance.
"...wow, just like that he forgets about me..." Aly murmured. She let out a big sigh and ran down the road to catch up with Justin.
The city was a lot like Amethyst City with extremely tall buildings all over that ranged from company headquarters, shopping stores and living condos/apartments. The one major difference though was the colour. Everything had a red colour scheme to them. Eevee and Squirtle decided to walk on the ground together, looking at other Pokemon merchandise shown by stores. Oddly though, it wasn't as lively as the other places they visited. After 10 minutes of walking and searching through streets and suburbs, they finally came across the Ruby City gym. It was a round dome shaped building that had a dark red rooftop and beige sidewalls. Justin approached the front door only to find a sign tagged onto it.
"The Ruby City gym is closed for today. Will re-open again tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience! – Maggie, Ruby City Gym Leader."
"WHAT! NO WAY!" Justin shouted out in response to what he read. He then dropped to floor and sulked like a big baby.
"Umm, calm down. The gym will open up again tomorrow. Hey, I have an idea! Let's go get our PokeTabs now. Nurse Joy from Amethyst Lake said the company that sells them are located in this city!" Aly exclaimed.
"...All right fine, let's do it." Justin said as he regained his composure. The 2 trainers then walked in the opposite direction and back into the city. After walking down a couple more blocks and passing various shops; Justin and Aly arrived in front of a red building that must have been 40 stories high. There was a golden plated logo on the top of the door that read "PokeTab Corporation".
"I think this is the PokeTab Corporation," Aly remarked.
"Great deduction Sherlock, what gave it away? The fact that the company name is written just above the door?" Justin remarked smirking. Eevee and Squirtle began to laugh with him.
"Shut up." Aly shot back, hitting Justin on the head and then crossing her arms.
"Easy there! It was a joke! Geez!" Justin massaged the back of his head.
"Whatever...let's go inside."
Justin and Aly walked through the front doors and entered the building. It was a very high class setting with marble floor, glass front windows, expensive furniture and a few elevators located on both sides of the lobby. No one was present in the room except for the female receptionist in glasses wearing a black blazer at the front desk. Eevee jumped back onto Justin's shoulder while Squirtle went back into Aly's arms as the 2 trainers walked up to the front reception desk.
"Um excuse me. We're travelling Pokemon trainers and were wondering if we can get some PokeTabs." Justin said to the receptionist.
"Oh...why yes, certainly. Please wait over by those couches." She replied, extending her hand towards the nearby couches.
"Oh...ok. Thanks Ma'am!"
"By the way, were there 2 people outside the door?" The receptionist asked.
"Umm...no? Why?" Aly asked confused.
"I see...no reason. Please, have a seat."
Justin and Aly walked over to the benches and sat down. Eevee and Squirtle both sat on their respective trainer's laps. The receptionist picked up the phone on her desk and dialed some numbers. Aly was talking to Squirtle when she quickly glanced over at the receptionist and moved her attention towards her. She seemed to be a little upset with whoever she was talking to. After 10 minutes of waiting, the elevator bell rang and opened its doors. Out came two men wearing black suits and shades. They walked right up to Justin and Aly.
"You kids will now come with us," one of the men stated.
"We will escort you to our PokeTab manufacturer." The other one added.
"Oh, sounds good. Thanks!" Justin exclaimed. Aly and him got up and followed them to the elevator they came from. As they walked, Aly tugged on Justin's jacket sleeve.
"Justin, I have a bad feeling about this." Aly said softly to Justin.
"Why's that?" He replied back to her.
"I don't know...it just doesn't feel right."
"Aly, you always worry too much. I really don't think there's any suspicious activity going on. Look, we're going to get our PokeTabs now, relax ok?"
"...Maybe you're right..." Justin then raised his hand and patted Aly on the head and smiled. She smiled right back and was able to breathe easy. The elevator doors opened and the group walked into it. One of the men behind Aly pressed a button that would take them to the lower level. The doors closed and the elevator started to descend. Aly looked at Justin with an unsure expression, but quickly shook it off. The elevator bell rang again, signalling they had reached their destination. Justin and Aly stepped out of the elevator and took a look around. It was pretty dark with only a few ceiling lights lit. The room was surrounded by long metal rods, wooden planks and gas fuel barrels around the room.
"Is this the basement?" Justin asked aloud.
"Where's the manufacturer? This isn't what we came here for..." Aly said. Just then, she and Justin both felt something hard and cold wrap around their body. It was a metal bind contraption that clenched around them so hard that they couldn't move their arms.
"Hey, what's the deal?!" Justin shouted. Eevee jumped off of Justin's shoulder and hissed at the 2 men. Squirtle was dropped onto the floor after Aly's arms were trapped and gave them an enraged look. They both began to charge at the 2 shady men. One of them pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. Cages dropped from the ceiling and enclosed the Pokemon, trapping them like their trainers.
"Eevee!" Justin called out.
"Squirtle!" Aly called out as well.
"You kids are coming with us." One of the men said. They both grabbed a hold of Justin, Aly and their Pokemon and walked them towards the middle of the dark room. There was a metal cage that was as high as the room and about 30 feet wide. There were people trapped behind the cage as well, all adults wearing suits that looked shaken up. The 2 men opened the cage door and shoved Justin and Aly onto the ground. Eevee and Squirtle landed hard on the ground, which hurt the Pokemon in the process.
"What's going on here?!" Justin demanded.
"We can't let you kids get in our way..." one of the men replied.
"You're just going to have to wait here with these people while Team Immortal completes our mission!" The other one added. With that, the 2 men went back into the elevator and disappeared.
"We got to stop them!" Justin shouted out, squirming around trying to break free from the metal trap.
"It's no use. We're trapped here. I knew there was something fishy here..." Aly remarked as she started to tear up.
"Here..." a voice came from behind them. Justin looked behind him to see a man working with the trap that held him. He heard a click noise before realizing the trap opened up and he was free. The man then went to Aly and unlocked her.
"Wow, you freed us. Thank you so much!" Justin said gratefully.
"You're welcome." The man replied sincerely. He then walked over to the cages containing Eevee and Squirtle and used the same key free them. The small cages doors opened and the Pokemon stepped out. Eevee jumped towards Justin as he embraced the brown Pokemon in his arms.
"Eevee! I'm glad you're ok." Justin said. "Squirtle! I'm glad you're ok too." Aly said to her blue turtle Pokemon as it jumped into Aly's arms, hugging her. She wiped some of the tears from her eyes after
"Thanks for saving our Pokemon too. By the way, my name is Aly Eatos. And this is Squirtle." Squirtle waved and smiled.
"My name is Justin Riser! And this is Eevee." Justin added.
"Vy!" Eevee cried out.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Seth; I'm an employee here at PokeTab Corporation." Seth explained.
"Seth, what the heck is going on here?" Aly asked.
"Well, it all started yesterday when strange things started happening to this company. It was our annual company stay-over event where workers here stay overnight and have fun in the office. But, strange things started to happen as workers mysteriously went missing in the building. We started with about a full staff, then went down to half, then a quarter, and then a few. Before we knew it, we were all brought to this cell down here. We've all been stuck down here for about a day with no way of getting out."
"That's awful! Sounds like a horror movie..."
"It sure seems like it. We can confirm though that Team Immortal is behind this."
"Not those crooks again! Geez, we got to get out of here and stop whatever they're planning!" Justin exclaimed. "How about that key you unlocked us with? Can't that unlock this cage?"
"Unfortunately, this key only opens the traps they place on us, not the cell door," Seth replied. "If only we can get word to people outside to help us."
"Ee-vee!" Eevee cried out from Justin's arms.
"What's up bud?" Justin asked his partner. Eevee jumped from Justin's arms onto the floor and started digging. It dug a small hole and popped back up to the surface smiling.
"Hey, since when did Eevee learn dig?" Aly asked.
"I don't know...but that's amazing Eevee!" Justin exclaimed.
"Hey, why don't you ask Eevee to dig out onto the streets and look for Officer Jenny to help us?" Seth suggested.
"That's a good idea!" Aly remarked.
"Here, I'll write a note so that way Jenny knows exactly what's going on." Seth got out a pen and notepad from his inside jacket pocket and wrote down a letter. He ripped the paper from the pad, folded it and kneeled towards Eevee.
"Eevee, take this paper, dig out onto the streets and find Officer Jenny, ok?" Seth asked.
"Ee-vy!" Eevee nodded, as it took the paper from Seth with its mouth.
"The station is just down the street to the left from here. Good luck Eevee, we're all counting on you."
"I know you can do it pal," Justin said giving his Pokemon a thumbs up. Eevee nodded and then dug into the ground.
"I hope Eevee comes back soon." Aly said worriedly.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Eevee won't let us down." Justin reassured her. Just then, Squirtle jumped down from Aly's arms and went towards the hole. It looked back at Aly.
"Squirtle? You want to go along with Eevee?" Aly asked.
"Squirtle!" It nodded
"All right, go for it!" With that, Squirtle dove into the hole and followed Eevee.
Further below the PokeNav Corporation basement, there were a series of underground tunnels that led to a secret cave chamber. A group of people wearing brown robes and black capes were excavating the area. Many workers were performing several different functions such as setting up lights stands, controlling digging vehicles or working giant computer machines. The one who seemed to be calling the shots in this expedition was in red robes, a black hooded cape and a red evil looking mask. A scientist in a white lab coat was beside the hooded figure working on his own laptop.
"Master Hades, we're really close to uncovering the Ruby Jewel underneath the ground." The scientist explained.
"Very good Dr. Perron. Keep it going." Hades said back.
"Yes sir." The scientist walked to the workers near the computer panels to give them directions.
"Soon, Team Immortal will have exactly what we need, just a little while longer..." Hades said quietly to himself. "It's a good thing I planned this heist very deceptively by interfering with this company's annual event."
A giant drilling machine was digging away at the ground until the driver felt a bump back, where the drill wouldn't go down any further. The driver backed up from the hole it made and turned off the vehicle.
"Master Hades! I think we found something!"
This grabbed Hades' attention as he looked on and made his way over the site of the discovery. A bunch of grunts followed him. They all looked at the hole and found a sealed metal door.
"This must be where the Ruby Jewel is!" the scientist exclaimed.
"Men, open the sealed door!" Hades commanded.
"YES SIR!" all the grunts there called out. They then released their Pokemon from their Pokeballs. Zubats, Mightyenas, and Drapions came out of the Pokeballs onto the ground. They were then commanded to break the metal door. Moves like Shadow Ball, Cross Poison and Gust were performed right at the ground where the door. After multiple attacks were launched, a big smoke explosion was created. Everyone covered their faces with their arms as the smoke spread throughout the cave. Once the smoke cleared, Hades and his men looked back at the hole in the ground. The metal doors were destroyed thanks to the attacks. A red light emitted from the opening in the ground that shined very brightly.
"You there! Come down with me!' Hades said, pointing at the grunt closest to the opening.
"Sir!" The grunt saluted. They went through the opening of the destroyed door to figure out what they discovered.
In the streets of Ruby City, a small rumbling came from the ground. Out came Eevee, whose head popped out to look around where it was. Eevee was right outside the PokeTab Corporation doors and faced the direction where Seth told it to go. Eevee jumped out of the hole and started running down the street. Just then, Squirtle popped out from the hole and put its hands on its hips, showing off its accomplishment. Squirtle dropped the act quickly to look where Eevee was. After looking left and right, it found Eevee running down the street in front of the PokeTab Corporation.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle cried out as it ran to catch up to Eevee. Eevee looked back to see its friend had come to join the mission. Both Pokemon followed Seth's instructions and eventually found the police station. Eevee and Squirtle ran through the main doors and towards the front desk where Officer Jenny was sitting. They jumped on top of the desk which caused Jenny to jolt.
"Whoa...Can I help you both with anything?" Jenny asked a little confused.
"Squirtle! Squirt, Squirtle!" Squirtle dabbled as it flailed its arms around like a spaz.
"Uhh..." Jenny said, even more confused than before.
Eevee shook its head in disappointment. It raised its right front paw and smacked Squirtle in the back of its head. Squirtle froze up with its eyes wide open, just realizing what it was doing.
"Ee-Eevee!" Eevee mumbled with the note in its mouth. It lowered its head and opened its mouth to give the note to Jenny. She picked it up, opened it and began to read the writing.
"Officer Jenny. My name is Seth Granger, and I work for the PokeTab Corporation down the street. During our annual company stay-over event today, a shady group of people called Team Immortal took over the building and locked all us employees in a giant caged cell. Please help us out!"
"Team Immortal? Don't tell me...This isn't good at all! Ok, I'm on my way!" Jenny exclaimed. She then got up from her chair and ran right out the door. Eevee and Squirtle followed behind her. When they ran outside, in front of them was Jenny in her motorcycle. It had a small passenger buggy on its side.
"Let's go guys! Hop in!" She called out.
Eevee and Squirtle jumped into the passenger buggy and landed on the seat. Jenny stepped on the pedal and the motorcycle zoomed ahead down the street. Within a few minutes, they reached the front of the PokeTab Corporation. Jenny, Eevee and Squirtle jumped off the bike and barged through door. They found the girl receptionist packing up her desk. She caught Officer Jenny in her eye and froze up, realizing the police were onto them. She then started to run away.
"Oh, no you don't!" Jenny shouted as she chased her in the lobby. The receptionist headed straight for the elevator to get away.
"Ee-vee!' Eevee cried out as it released a shadow ball attack aimed right in front of the elevator. A smoke explosion occurred and the receptionist froze in her tracks. This gave Jenny the opportunity to grab a hold of her and pin her against the wall. She handcuffed the troublemaker and pushed her hard against the wall.
"Thanks! Way to think on your feet." Jenny said to Eevee.
"Ee-vee," Eevee said happily with a smile on its face.
"All right! Now tell me where are the workers being held? And what is Team immortal planning?"
"They're being held in the basement level. We, Team Immortal, are implementing the first act of our grand mission! By now, I'm sure Master Hades has already unearthed the jewel and completed the first step!" The grunt explained and laughed maniacally. Just then, 2 other police officers came through the front doors.
"Jenny! You rushed out of the station without giving an explanation. Is everything ok? Do you need help?" One asked.
"Steve! Damon! I'm glad you guys are here, and yes I do! Steve, Team immortal might be in possession of this city's ancient jewel. I need you to get back up. Call squads 1, 2 and 3. Tell them its code red 117. Damon, watch this crook over her and make sure she stays still. I'm going to find the other workers that they imprisoned here." Jenny explained.
"Yes Ma'am!" Both Steve and Damon saluted, where they then performed their assigned duties.
"Squirtle, Squirt!" Squirtle cried out to grab Jenny and Eevee's attention. They both looked over to see the blue turtle Pokemon in the elevator already, signalling them to come over. Jenny and Eevee then ran over into the elevator where Squirtle pressed the B button. The doors closed behind and the elevator began to descend.
"I'm coming guys..." Jenny said to herself." I'll get you all out."
A/N: More of what is going on here will be explained in Part 2. As always, leave feedback if you have something to say.