Chapter 12
Rocket Rookies
I wonder who it could be. LOL let's see what they have to say hey guys sorry I haven't updated in a while thanks for hanging in there. i will try and update more frequently. Thanks for reading please R&R. I hope you enjoy!
"Team rocket!" Ash called out taking on a fighting stance. I stared up at the people. Team rocket, they don't look like they work for my father.
"That's right twerp now hand over the Pikachu."
Were three of them a boy with blue hair and a girl with red hair they were dressed in white shirts with red Rs on them and wore high black boots. The strangest part about the clowns was that the third voice belonged to a meowth. I didn't know meowths could talk. They were in some sort of robot that had 4 arms at the end of each mechanical arm was a pincher claw to pick stuff up with.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I called up to them.
"Oh look Jessie there are two more." The blue haired boy, James, said to the red headed girl, Jessie.
"We don't want to have to hurt you two," the girl called down to Lance and me. "So just hand over your Pokémon and you won't get hurt kid." Jessie demanded.
"WHAT!" I called back. "I am NOT a kid! You old hag!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Jessie shrieked.
"Oh no." James said shakily as he backed away from a flaming Jessie. The meowth hiding behind his legs.
"I said you are an old hag! And they always said the hearing was first to go. Would you like me to get you a hearing aid?"
"Why you little brat!" Jessie screamed. Lance put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back a step.
"Relax." He whispered in my ear his voice strong and firm calming even. "You're no good to anyone if you're in a rage. I crossed my arms and mumbled under my breath. Knowing deep down that he was right. Jessie on the other had had smoke coming from her ears and looked as if she was a bomb about to blow.
"Jessie please calm down." James pleaded but he was no match.
"I AM CALM!" she shouted.
"What exactly is your definition of calm?" the meowth asked. Jessie growled and the two boys whined and put up their hands as if to ward off a blow. Instead Jessie took a deep breath and pretended as if she had control.
"I am calm," she growled. "Now let me down there so I can have a woman to woman chat with her."
"Jessie no," James said. "Let's just stick with the plan, its fool proof!" Jessie clenched her teeth and looked at James then at me then back to James.
"Fine," she growled. Her eye twitching as she folded her arms and sulked. Meowth and James sighed in relief.
"Alright on with the plan!" James said happily and he pulled out a small controller. He twiddled with the dials and the large metal arms began to move. I took a step back. I had never seen anything like that before it seemed almost too insane to believe.
"Ash, do something!" Misty yelled to my brother.
"You do something Lance defeated all my Pokémon!"
"Claire defeated all mine." Misty replied.
"Dragonite go." Lance called out as he tossed out a pokeball and looked back at me expectantly.
"Nine tails." I said and in a moment my new beautiful Pokémon stared back at me.
"Well what do we have here?" Jessie said. "It seems the new twerps have some worthwhile Pokémon."
"Nine tails use flame thrower." I demanded struggling to keep my anger from seeping into my voice. Nine tails threw back her head and let lose a blaze of red hot fire from her mouth the stray red embers danced through the air and twirled as they gently fell from the sky in their stunning beauty giving the room a worldly effect, as if standing in a rain of fire. The metal of the robot heated up turning a near red but did not affect the people driving it.
"Dragonite use aqua tail!" lance called out. Then Dragonite did something amazing. Its fist turned to water! Yet somehow it retained shape and then Dragonite punched the hard machine. It swayed and I could see the three inside struggle to maintain their balance but in the end it didn't cause any real damage either.
"It looks like we are going to have to tag team on this one." Lance told me confident we could beat it.
"Tag team?" I asked.
"Work together." He replied the tone in his voice implying isn't it obvious? I nodded.
"Just tell me what to do." I answered trusting he would lead us to victory.
"Dragonite use slam!" Lance ordered and the large dragon flung its body into the machine causing it to sway to and fro. "Now attack." Lance ordered me.
"Fire spin." I commanded. And I felt a burst of heat as nine tails created a cyclone of fire from her mouth. Once again it didn't harm the metal and I looked away disappointed.
"No," Lance told me. "You have to use an attack with substance. Fire and water and air don't have a substance and against something like this won't do any harm. Try again." Dragonite took the cue and rammed itself into the monster robot again. "Now." Lance commanded me. My mind suddenly went blank and I struggled to come up with a normal attack. Finally the one that did come to my mind was very basic.
"Nine tails quick attack." Nine tails leaped off the ground at the glass dome where the three people stood in the head, and rammed into it head first. The glass cracked and shattered. Team rockets face lit with shock as the machine began to malfunction and began to explode. And when it did explode they went flying up into the air.
"Looks like team rockets blasting off again!" I heard them call down as they turned into a spec in the sky.
"Nine tails return." I commanded and with a burst of red she was gone. "Good job nine tails." I muttered under my breath as Lance returned his Dragonite.
"You guys did great!" Ash, Misty and Brock said as the ran up to congratulate us. I blushed and looked away but Lance was much calmer about it. He tried to keep his face emotionless but I didn't miss the slight smile tugging at his lips.
"Where they really team rocket members?" I asked Ash. Ash nodded.
"Though I admit they aren't the best of agents." Ash joked and the room was filled with light laughter. When it was over and the room finally went silent Brock said.
"Hey it looks like we all need to stop at the Pokémon center do you guys want to come with us?"
"Yea then we can all go eat." Misty chimed in.
"Food? I'm in!" Ash cried out excitedly.
"Yea it will be a great chance for you two to talk," Misty said indicating Ash and me. "And since I put up with you all the time she can babysit you for a while, while I talk to Lance!" Misty teased. I saw Lance's startled face and he embarrassedly turned away. Misty stared at me amused while I looked around awkwardly.
"I'm just kidding now come on I'm starving." She said as she began to walk to the door.
After a little while our Pokémon were healed and we found a nice little café inside the center. We all sat at a table eating our Pokémon laying around with their own food. I found myself laughing, joking, teasing and just having a good time. When I finally noticed I was surprised. Back home I had never gone out with friends like this. We never 'hung out' I guess you could say. I remembered being shut up in the house I hadn't known what was out there nor did I really care. The only people I really knew where my father maybe a few of his assistants and Ruby. Ruby! I thought urgently. My little sister had been locked up in the house as well. And we still was somewhat a prisoner there.
Our father gone so often I had often compared it to abandonment though I never meant it. Dad might have been gone a lot but he never forgot about us. I still remember that one summer day he spent hours trying to hook up a pool and sprinkler until finally he abandoned the effort and used his own Pokémon to fill the pool and act as a sprinkler. It felt so good to splash that stupid Persian of his. The only reason it didn't kill me was because I dived into the pool and it dared not follow. That afternoon Ruby and I struggled to be in front of the camera to be first in the picture. Our hair wet and matted but our smiles stretched ear to ear and it was good enough for everyone to be happy.
For a slight moment I felt more than a little homesick. And I pondered whether I would go back to those days if I could. Before I knew who my father was what he did, before I knew my mother and my twin brother. Bliss in ignorance I guess. I thought harder about my sister trapped at home. Now even I abandoned her. A sudden urge to race back home and take her by the hand and take her with us overwhelmed me.
"Claire," Lance said snapping me out of my thoughts. My head shot up and I realized they were all looking at me worry creasing their faces. And I knew that wasn't the first time he had called my name. "Claire are you ok?" Lance asked.
"Yea you were completely zoned out you look a little jittery are you feeling alright?" Ash asked fear in his deep brown eyes. I nodded.
"I'm alright I just zoned out that's all. No big deal I do it all the time." they all relaxed and settled back into their seats. The table was silent and we couldn't seem to get back the talkative attitude again.
"So," I said trying to break the silence. "Those people before were team rocket?" they nodded. And gradual talking started up again bringing back the warm welcoming feeling it had recently possessed.
"Anything wrong?" Brock asked me realizing I seemed deep in thought.
"It's nothing, it's just… those team rocket members... they seemed kind of dense I wonder why my father would hire them?" the entire table froze and Ash dropped his fork and it clanged to the ground but no one dared reach for it. I stopped as the three of them stared at me. Lance remained silent and quietly ate his food beside me. I froze noticing what I had said.
"Claire," Ash said, "What did you say our father did?"
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