Chapter 11: A Poisonous Encounter
Since it was still the middle of the day, I decided to press on to Floaroma Town. Moving through Ragged Pass, I found only Geodude that, since I had Lin, I couldn't catch. Not getting a new pokemon to choose from didn't put a damper on my mood as Franklin and I made our way through the cave, clearing out the rock-types with Razor Leaf and Absorb to keep his health up. Eventually, we made it to the upper section of Route 204, finding some trainers waiting for us. When it was all said and done, we made it to Floaroma with no real trouble. I decided to rest up for the night, checking in at the local PokeCenter. Being a small town with only one Center, the place was packed. I didn't complain though, managing to get a room for myself.
Later that night, I awoke to the sound of a large crowd of people talking. My team was also awake, except for Rebecca who wouldn't be roused from her sleep by a freight train. I recalled everyone and made my way downstairs to see what the commotion was about.
"This is an outrage!" an older man shouted. "Where are the police at a time like this!?"
"I'm sorry sir, we're doing everything we can to bring a peaceful resolution quickly." Nurse Joy responded, clearly flustered from all of the commotion. I entered the reception room for the Center and found it filled to the brim with angry people, trainers and townsfolk alike.. They were all clearly agitated about something.
"I say we trainers go over there and teach these goons a lesson!" one green-haired trainer spoke up. His Sandslash stood next to him, flexing it's spines in agreement.
"That would only cause injuries and more problems!" Nurse Joy protested above the sounds of people cheering.
"What's going on?" I asked the nearest townsfolk, an old woman who seemed fed up with the whole situation.
"It's terrible deary. Those Team Galactic hoodlums have taken the Windworks hostage." she explained. "That place, and the factory, are our only means to get by. Without it, this town won't survive." she looked down at her feet, sighing in defeat. I turned my attention back to the discussion.
"So what if we get a little roughed up, it'll take more than a few Team Rocket wannabe's to beat me!" the green-haired man boasted.
"It's not you I'm worried about!" the nurse shouted. She gestured behind her and I saw a little girl, sitting on a bench and trying to hold back tears. "This girls father is being held hostage at the plant! What do you think would happen if they were to hurt him because you decided to attack!?"
The room fell silent, the green-haired man in particular looking angrily at the floor. They all knew that they couldn't do anything about the situation. A hand raised up and a voice called. "Ahem." That got everyone's attention.
"Look, I'm not from here, and I don't know how things work, but you can't leave the plant to those guys." an older man said. He turned to look at the nurse. "How long until the police arrive?" he asked.
She shook her head. "They would have to come up from Jublife, and I can't get a hold of them right now. It could take until noon tomorrow."
He nodded, then turned to the green-haired trainer. "Besides you and me, how many other strong trainers do we have?" he asked.
The trainer looked around the room, counting hands, including mine. "Seems like we've got about seven, including us." he said.
"Alright." the man said, turning to address the room. "We can't let them hold on to the factory, so let's go take it back from them." there was a cheer, that he waved down. "But, we need to be careful. We can't afford to hurt any hostages they might have. Let's go!" He led the way, moving outside and releasing a Lucario. The other trainers let out their pokemon, while I sent out Rebecca. She lazily looked up at me, still sleepy. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Team Galactic's taken over a nearby factory, we're going with these trainers to free the hostages." I said. The Bibarel nodded lazily, falling into step behind me. About half an hour later, we arrived at the factory, a large square steel building surrounded by windmills. The lights inside the building were still on, silhouettes of people moving back and forth over the windows.
"Alright," the leader of the group said, kneeling. Getting a closer look, I noticed he wore a blue suit with a wide-brimmed blue hat. Normally, that outfit would make him look ridiculous, but somehow he pulled it off. "there's guards posted around the building. Everyone pick a grunt, and take him down on my signal." We spread out, the green-haired trainer and I taking the two grunts at the back of the building. "Now!" a voice cried.
"Rebecca, Water Gun!" I shouted, pointing at the grunt with a Glameow. She stood on her hind legs, letting loose a blast of water with the force of a fire hose, knocking the two targets into the steel wall. Before the other grunt could react, the ground beneath him and his Stunky gave out, sending them crashing into the pit. The Sandslash from earlier dug out of the ground. "Good job Sandslash!" his trainer called.
We rushed into the building, taking the back door. We split up at the first hallway, deciding we'd cover more ground that way. I recalled Rebecca since she was starting to fall asleep and let Lin out for a while. She crushed the Zubats the grunts sent out with large chunks of the wall, letting loose a low level Magnitude against a Stunky. I eventually recalled her as well, letting her rest while I sent out Franklin.
Turning a corner, I found myself in front of some important looking doors. The labeled CONTROL ROOM was emblazoned on them with bold black letters. "The leaders has to be in here. C'mon Franklin." I called, running over. The doors burst open before I could get there, and a woman with a strange white dress walked through. She had red hair that seemed well kept except for a slight cow-lick that stuck up at the top. Under the white dress was a long-sleeve black shirt and white stockings, ending in large white boots. "So, you're one of the brats that're making all that noise." she sneered, grabbing a pokeball from a pocket in the skirt. "I'm Commander Mars, one of the leaders of Team Galactic. Don't think you'll beat me as easily as those no-good grunts!" She tossed the pokeball, revealing a Zubat.
"Uh-oh!" Franklin said. "That Zubat looks strong Nick!" I nodded in agreement. "Come back, I'll let Sora take care of it." I said, recalling Franklin and letting the Staravia out. In the confined corridors, it was all they could do for the flying-types to hover in the air.
"Zubat, use Toxic!" Mars cried. My heart sank as the bat spat out a purple glob of poison. Sora tried to maneuver away, and if we had been battling anywhere else she would have avoided it, but the confined space wouldn't let her move and the attack hit her square in the chest. Immediately I could see the poisons effect start to work. Her wings flapped a little slower and her breathing got more ragged. "Sora, come back!" I called, reaching for her pokeball.
"No!" she snapped. "You'll just get someone else poisoned! I can beat him!" she cried, shooting forward and landing a vicious Wing Attack. The Zubat was knocked back into a wall, clearly on it's last legs. Before Sora could flap away, the Zubat latched onto her shoulder with it's teeth, gnashing on the muscle and feathers. Sora yelped in pain and alarm, slapping the bat away with another Wing Attack before collapsing on the floor. "Sora!" I shouted, rushing over to my fallen pokemon. A flash of red caught my eye and I barely avoided a swipe from a large cat's paw. I backed off as a Purugly stepped between me and Sora. I could tell that Sora was still breathing, but the poison was taking it's toll.
"Get out of the way." I snarled, releasing Mufasa. The little lion roared defiantly at the larger cat, who hissed back in return. They circled each other briefly before Mufasa pounced. Immediately, the Purugly clapped her paws together, releasing a shock-wave in a Fake Out attack. The blow stunned Mufasa enough for Purugly to evade his attack, scratching at his flank. Mufasa growled deep in his throat, launching a Spark attack and hitting the Purugly so hard, traces of electricity moved across it's fur. It's Paralyzed! I realized, smirking and immediately planning around this new advantage.
"Mufasa, charge up for the next attack!" I ordered. The blue cat obeyed, gathering electricity from the air around it, giving off slight blue sparks.
Mars saw what was coming. "Purugly, quick! Get out of the way!" she ordered. The large cat tried to move, but the paralysis was set in, preventing it from getting away.
"End this! Spark!" I called. Mufasa rushed forward, claws outstretched as he let loose a super-charged Spark, zapping the ugly cat so much, it fainted almost immediately.
Mars scoffed, recalling her fallen pokemon. "You little brat, you'll pay for this!" she screeched, reaching for yet another pokemon. Just then, footsteps came from behind me and I turned to see the other trainers, led by the man in blue. "We heard the noise and came running. Is that the leader?" he asked, his Lucario growling next to him.
"Shit." Mars cursed, taking a step back. The doors behind her opened again, and a hunchbacked old man walked out. He had the air of a mad scientist about him, lab coat barely handing onto his shoulders and a large bald spot separating his long gray hair. He peered over his glasses at the collection of trainers before him. "Oh my, we seem to be in quite the pickle, don't we Mars?" he asked, in a surprisingly kind voice.
"Charon." she muttered. "Is everything ready?" He nodded. "Then we have nothing left to do here." she said, throwing down a ball. It exploded, revealing itself to be a smoke grenade instead of the pokeball I thought it was. Coughing, I tried to see through the smoke, but by the time it had cleared, the duo was long gone. I stomped my foot in frustration. "Dammit! We almost had them!" I yelled. I felt a furry hand on my shoulder and looked down to see the blue man's Lucario.
"You need to focus on more important things." it said. I gawked at it for a second, surprised that another pokemon would talk to me, before registering what he was saying. "Sora!" I yelped, rushing over to where the bird pokemon lay. The poison was working its way almost entirely through her system. I ripped my bag open and looked through it frantically, throwing random items out of it.
I reached the bottom of the bag before I realized that I had no Antidotes.
Desperate, I turned to the gathered trainers. "Does anyone have an Antidote? Please, she'll die without it!" The trainers all shook their heads and the green-haired trainer actually chuckled. "Are you new to pokemon kid? They don't die because of a poison status, she'll just faint. Take her to the center and get her healed up." I jumped to my feet and ripped my gloves off, grabbing his shirt with my left hand and shoving my right in his face.
"See this!?" I shouted, waving the Nuzlocke mark in front of him. "I'm a Nuzlocker. If she faints, she's dead!" I shoved him back and turned back to Sora. I grabbed a Potion off the ground next to me and sprayed her with it before gingerly picking her up. "I've got to get her to the Center. I have to." I mumbled, turning and running down the corridor. The trainers parted for me to pass without question. I ran as hard as I could, barely registering what was going on around me. I remember briefly seeing a man in a brown coat. I remember Mufasa running beside me, softly glowing so that I could see where I was going in the dark. After what felt like eternity, I arrived at the Center. I burst through the doors, startling the nurse and the little girl who was waiting with her. I handed Sora over to the nurse. "Please!" I gasped. "Please save her!"
And so ends another chapter, and on a cliffhanger no less! So yeah, bit of a short one this week too, but I promise the next one will be longer. Also, I'm trying to speed up the story a little, since I noticed that at the current pace, this fic would be about 100 chapters long. I don't know about you, but that's to much for me, especially since it's part one in a series of four. So, I'll be editing the story slightly, like that mob attack on the Windworks in order to move the story along a bit faster. And most fights won't be described in detail, just important ones like Gyms and Team Galactic bosses. Until next time, peace =P