Chapter 13
Kanto Route 15
1 Epombria, 20 Zenoheld / April 1, 20—
"I have to admit, that was an excellent breakfast, Maya!" Volt exclaimed as the pair walked down Route 15. "I would never have thought that something so delicious could be cooked over a simple campfire."
"Well, you have to have some basic survival skills when you're on a Pokémon journey," Maya replied. "Most of your time will be spent between cities, and unless you want to blow a lot of Pokédollars on food, you'd best learn what's edible in the field and how to make a meal out of what you find.
"But from the look on your face, it seemed like you were prepared to just eat like an Ursaring, weren't you? What kind of food did you put in that duffel bag? Granola bars?"
Right on the money, Volt thought ruefully. Even when we conquered New Vestroia, we didn't really have to … I believe the Earthling term is "rough it."
"Right on the money, wasn't I?" Maya teased. "It's written all over your face!" She chuckled. "Seriously, though, where were you planning on going with that bag full of granola bars?"
But before Volt could answer, a mechanical voice started to call out:
"RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!
"RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!"
Maya stopped walking and reached for a device that was clipped to her belt. The device was less than five inches long and three and a half inches wide. The top half consisted of a rectangular screen in a hexagonal frame. The bottom half was a gray rectangle, which appeared to be its handle by the way that Maya was holding the device.
"It's my dad," Maya said. "You won't mind if I take this, right?"
"No, not at all," Volt said.
"Thanks." She smiled, then pressed a button on the device and brought it to her ear. In a chipper voice, she said, "Hey there, Daddy! How are you?"
Maya paused to hear the voice on the other end.
"Glad to hear it. Hey, do you remember that hunk Volt that I was talking about three days ago? Well, guess what? Now he's traveling with me! You see, yesterday these two guys from Team Rocket came out of nowhere and tried to steal my Pokémon, but then Volt showed up and …"
For the next few minutes, the pair kept walking down Route 15, Volt inattentive to Maya's telephone conversation. When Maya finally hung up and returned the device to its place, she said, "Sorry about that, Volt. My father can be a bit on the overprotective side; he calls me every day to see how I'm doing."
"Is that so? Well, it must be nice to be able to talk to him," Volt said. Bowing his head, he added, "I have no way of getting in contact with my family."
"Well, do you at least know your dad's phone number, by any chance?" Maya asked. "I might be willing to spring a few Pokédollars on a long-distance call."
"So that's a phone?" Volt asked.
"It's called a 'Pokégear,' actually," Maya explained. "It's standard equipment for Johto Trainers, and it has many useful features, including a phone. Since you had to ask about it, I'm guessing they don't have these in Unova?"
"No, they don't," Volt replied. "But wait a sec: I saw someone else with a device called a 'Pokégear', and it looked completely different than that."
"Let me guess: two screens, big as your hand, opens lengthwise?"
"That's right."
"I have an older model of Pokégear," she explained. "The newer models have all the privacy of a fishbowl; everybody knows who you're calling and what they're saying. Apparently that's OK with most Trainers, but I don't think my calls should be anyone's business but mine.
"Anyway, about your dad's phone number…?"
Unless the Pokégear can call across space and time, I doubt that it'll help, Volt thought. But what he actually said was, "I appreciate the offer, but unfortunately, I only had the number on my phone, which got stolen by the same thieves that took my Pokémon."
"Ouch. Sorry to hear that," Maya said sympathetically. "I hope that you're able to get home soon. Where are you going, anyway?"
"I'm heading towards Vermillion City," Volt answered. "Kaiser said that I'd find it if I followed this path."
"And I'm guessing that you don't have a Town Map on you?"
"No," Volt said, "but Kaiser did, and he showed me the route to take."
"And he told you to just keep going straight?" Maya asked.
"Uh…" Volt fumbled. "I remember being told about a very important intersection where I had to turn left instead of go straight."
"Wow, that's vague. Good thing that you found me, or you'd be totally lost!" Maya replied. "Fortunately for you, the Pokégear has a Town Map feature as well." She took her Pokégear from her belt again and pressed a few buttons. A Kanto Town Map soon appeared on the device's screen.
"OK now, pay attention. We're over here on Route 15." She pointed it out, and then traced the image with her finger. "This Route ends at the sea and turns north, becoming Route 14. And up here"—Maya indicated another turn—"the Route turns east again and becomes Route 13 until it reaches the coast. Then it turns north once again, and you're on Route 12."
She then pointed at an intersection of Route 12 and another Route. "This is the 'very important intersection' that you almost forgot about. If you just keep going straight, you'll miss this turn-off. At this intersection, you need to turn west onto Route 11. Otherwise, you'll arrive in Lavender Town, not Vermillion City."
"Thanks for your help, Maya," Volt said.
"No sweat," she replied, returning the Pokégear to its place. "So, you think that you'll find a way back to Unova from there?"
"That's the plan," Volt said.
"Well, then," Maya said. "If you don't mind, why don't we go together?"
"So you're also headed to Unova?" Volt asked.
"Cool idea, but no," Maya replied. "Vermillion City has way more to it than the seaport. I'm going to challenge the Vermillion Gym!"
"Is that some kind of physical competition?" Volt asked.
There was a brief, awkward pause. "That plane crash must have done quite a number on your memory," Maya said. "Maybe we should head back to Fuchsia City and get you a doctor."
Oh, great, here we go again, Volt sighed internally. "Why?" he asked. "Gyms are places where people work out, right?"
Maya rolled her eyes. "True, but the only Gym in Vermilion is the kind for Pokémon, doofus."
Apparently I should have asked Kaiser a few more questions during that Pokémon lesson a few days ago, Volt thought. "I highly doubt that medical attention is going to help my memory any," he said. Especially since you can't forget something you never knew! "So could you please remind me how these things work?"
Maya sighed. "Alright. Each region has its own Pokémon League tournament. In order to qualify for the tournament, you have to challenge and defeat a certain number of Pokémon Gym Leaders. Defeating a Gym Leader earns you that Gym's Badge. Kanto requires eight Badges to enter its tournament, the Indigo League.
"Two days ago, I tried to challenge the Fuchsia City Gym for the second time. It's a Poison-type Gym, and I thought that having Medicham and a Chansey on my side would help me win. But it was no use; Janine completely wiped the floor with my Pokémon. Janine's the Fuchsia Gym Leader, by the way.
"So right now, I want to train my Pokémon some more and challenge the Vermillion City Gym, then head back to Fuchsia City to have a rematch against her."
"I see. But how would having Medicham and Chansey have been helpful?" Volt asked.
"Medicham is a Fighting- and Psychic-type Pokémon," Maya explained. "Psychic-type moves are super-effective on Poison-types, so in theory, a Medicham with a good Psychic move could easily defeat the Gym's trainers. Which mine did, until it got to Janine's blasted Crobat. Crobat are part Flying-type, which is strong against Fighting-types like Medicham. They're also ridiculously fast and can learn a really annoying move called Confuse Ray.
"Medicham basically defeated itself in record time.
"Chansey, on the other hand, are known for their high special defense, as well as for being excellent healers, which is why I decided to bring her with me for my second challenge. It was a reasonable idea, except for the fact that she's a recent capture and therefore not a good option against a Gym Leader. Especially not a Gym Leader with two Poison Jab-spamming Ariados.
"Argh, I hate those things! Next time I'm gonna teach Chansey Flamethrower or something..." She grumbled to herself in that vein for a moment or two.
"That, uh, sounds pretty tough," Volt said once she'd stopped. "Good luck with your rematch. They do say 'third time's a charm.'"
"Thanks," Maya said, heartened at the acknowledgment.
"By the way, how much longer is this Route?" Volt asked.
"Not very," she replied. "If Team Rocket hadn't gotten in the way yesterday, we'd nearly be done with it by now. Today, though, we're about—whoa!"
Maya was reacting to a battered-looking Pokémon in front of them, which was dragging itself across the route by its front paws. The Pokémon was so dirty and covered in cuts and bruises that it was almost unrecognizable. However, it appeared to be a feline Pokémon with long whiskers and a tail that curled up at the end. What appeared to be a big clump of mud was stuck to its forehead.
When the Pokémon reached the middle of the Route, it collapsed. Maya ran to it and knelt, while Volt pointed Dextra at the prone creature. The Pokédex showed a picture of a smiling feline Pokémon with mostly cream-colored fur; its hind paws and the end of its tail were light brown. Notably, some sort of gold coin was attached to its forehead, between its black ears.
"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon," Dextra announced. "It loves round and shiny things. It wanders the streets on a nightly basis to look for dropped loose change."
"You've been hurt pretty bad, huh, little guy?" Maya said to the Meowth.
The Meowth didn't so much as twitch in reply.
"Hey, Volt?" Maya said warily. "Meowth's unconscious and really needs our help. Do you have any Potions or something?"
Volt was at her side seconds before she'd finished her sentence. He started to rummage through his duffel bag, muttering, "I should have some bottles of water and some Potions in here."
Maya moved aside to let Volt have a closer look at Meowth. He took some bottles of water, a towel, and two Potions out of his bag. After wetting the towel, he began wiping the dirt and grime off of Meowth.
The Pokémon's breathing was ragged, and it flinched at every touch from Volt. But after a while, Volt managed to clean Meowth off somewhat, including getting the mud off the coin on its head.
I wonder… He wrapped his fingers around the coin and tried to pry it off.
"Hey, don't do that!" Maya said when she saw what Volt was trying to do. "It's actually part of Meowth's head!"
"What?" Volt exclaimed.
"It's weird, but it's true," she said. "Meowth are born with those."
Volt shrugged, let go of the coin, and continued cleaning up Meowth.
When Volt had finished washing the mud and dried blood off of Meowth, the extent of its wounds was apparent. Meowth was covered in tooth marks, claw marks, and multiple bruises. Some of its whiskers were frayed. A formerly bleeding cut on Meowth's head had forced the Pokémon to keep an eye shut.
Volt sprayed some of the wounds with the Potions, but Maya interjected, "This looks like we'll need much more than a few Potions. I hate to say this, but we might have to head back to Fuchsia City."
"Then that's what we'll have to do," Volt said. "How far down the Route are we?"
"About halfway. If we hustle, we might arrive at the city by noon. Let's go!" Maya scooped Meowth up and cradled it in her arms, then ran off towards Fuchsia City, with Volt following close behind her.
Hidden in the trees lining the Route, a Pokémon was watching the two humans with interest.
Were those two humans the Meowth's masters? Impossible; they just now ran across it. So why were they caring so much for it?
Upon seeing the humans run off to the west, the curious Pokémon followed a parallel course, its paws making little sound as it wove through the trees.
After a few minutes of running, Maya felt Meowth fidgeting in her arms. She looked down to see that it was coming to. The Meowth moved its head very slowly in its attempt to get a bead on its surroundings, wincing with every few degrees that its head turned.
"Hey, Volt!" Maya called out. "It looks like Meowth woke up!" She looked back down at Meowth. "Don't worry, little one. We'll get you to Nurse Joy real soon."
Volt then glanced at Meowth, which seemed to be wincing in pain at every attempt to move its limbs. "How much farther to Fuchsia City?" he asked.
"Not much farther now, Volt!" Maya said. "The city gate is just coming into view now!"
"Just hold on there, Meowth," Volt encouraged. "Help will be on the way pretty soon."
A split second before he looked away, Volt thought that he had caught an odd expression on Meowth's face. Was that Pokémon just smirking at me? He shook his head. I must be imagining things; it must have been just another grimace. Good thing that the Pokémon Center won't be much farther now. Hold on, Meowth.
Staying hidden behind the trees, the Pokémon continued observing the human pair. Those two were quite the contrast to the Pokémon's former master.
Unbidden tears came to the Pokémon's eyes as memories of its old master came rushing to the fore:
"Congratulations, you're now part of the team. I'll tell you right now: I have no place for weaklings, so you'd better pull your weight."
"You're hurt? So what? Do I look like Nurse Joy to you? Go find yourself some Sitrus Berries or something!"
"How can you possibly lose against a Water-type? Aren't you supposed to be strong against those?"
"I've had enough of you. Feel free to be someone else's burden. As for me, it's good riddance."
That Meowth was lucky. Had it belonged to the Pokémon's former master, he certainly would have left it to die. The master had no place for a Pokémon that couldn't win in a fight.
Fuchsia City Pokémon Center
After Maya and Volt barged into the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy and her Chansey had hustled to give Meowth some needed attention.
She had told the two Trainers to wait in the reception area, but to the two, the anticipation made each minute unbearably long.
After what seemed like an eternity, a smiling Nurse Joy came into the reception area to meet the anxious Trainers.
"It was a good thing that you cleaned it up and brought it here so quickly," the nurse said. "Even though those cuts and bruises were not too deep, they could have easily gotten infected. We've closed up the wounds and put Meowth on some medicine, so it should be as good as new before long."
Maya sighed.
"That's a relief," Volt said.
"Would you like to see Meowth?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Certainly!" Maya said.
"I surely wouldn't mind," Volt added.
Nurse Joy brought the pair to a room adjacent to where Meowth was recuperating. Through the one-way window between the two rooms, the pair could see that the feline Pokémon certainly seemed to be in much better shape than when it was first brought in. Bandages covered much of the smaller wounds, and stitches closed up the bigger ones. From the rhythm of its breathing, Meowth seemed to be sound asleep.
"Do you have any idea what happened to Meowth?" Nurse Joy said.
"None at all, Nurse Joy," Maya answered. "We were on our way down Route 15 when we saw it dragging itself into the middle of the Route. We just couldn't leave it lying there, right?"
"I get it," the nurse said. "But if that's the case, then I suggest that you keep your eyes open the next time you walk down Route 15," Nurse Joy said. "Those bites and scratches look like they were inflicted by a Raticate."
"A Raticate? Wow, those things can be very nasty," Maya said.
"That Meowth must be quite the fighter, then: after all that, to still have the willpower to get itself where it could be noticed by humans," Volt added.
"That's odd, though: Raticate are not really native to Route 15," Nurse Joy mused. "Then again, a Raticate could have come there from Route 18…"
"Whatever happened, I'm glad to see that Meowth's on the mend," Maya said.
RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!
RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!
"Now? Really?" Maya snarked. Taking her Pokégear in hand, she said "Excuse me," and stepped out into the hallway.
"So, how long will it be until Meowth is fully healed?" Volt asked the nurse once Maya had left.
"We're going to keep an eye on it and give it some more doses of medicine every few hours. It should be able to walk by tonight, but the bigger wounds won't be fully healed until tomorrow night," the nurse answered. "At any rate, it should not be doing any strenuous activity—especially battling—until after tomorrow night."
"Sorry about that," Maya said as she returned to the room. "It was my father again. It seems that my siblings Billy and Crystal have just arrived in town. They would have been two days too late to see me, but now that I'm back in town again, they'd like to meet up. Are you in a hurry to get back on the road, Volt?"
"I can wait until tomorrow," he answered. "Go meet your siblings; I'll meet up with you at the front door tomorrow morning."
"I'm so sorry to just spring this on you; I definitely owe you one. See you tomorrow!" Maya said, bounding out of the room.
That night, Meowth woke up on the hospital bed and smiled mischievously. Everything was going according to plan.
The masters' Raticate certainly knew how to make it hurt, though. Had it tried any harder, Meowth would have had to be hooked up to all sorts of machines. As it was, Meowth was simply placed in a bed so that it could rest.
As stealthily as only a Meowth could be, it got off the bed and slinked towards the reception area.
Perfect; nobody around.
When it got to the reception area, it found a flight of stairs leading to the Trainers' rooms. Staying as silent as possible, Meowth found the room where the bulky one was sleeping.
This is your target: Volt Luster, Mistress had said, a picture of the target in her hand: a human with peach hair, mainly-white clothing, and a lot of muscles.
Somewhere in his possession is a white-and-gold marble, her partner had said. Your job is to get it for us.
What the masters wanted with a marble was beyond Meowth. Perhaps they were planning on giving it to Meowth as a reward for its faithful service? It certainly hoped so; it loved having new things to play with. The thought of having a shiny new plaything made Meowth smile as it crept into the room.
The target did not even so much as twitch when Meowth got onto his bed. Perfect; this human must be a heavy sleeper.
Meowth quickly patted Volt down, and soon discovered its objective: a round object in the breast pocket of the human's clothes.
But the human was not as heavy a sleeper as Meowth thought, as he started to fidget after Meowth patted him down.
The human's eyes started to twitch.
Oh, no!
Volt's eyes opened.
Oh, Arceus!
"Huh?" Volt said. "What's there?"
When Volt got up and turned on a nearby desk lamp, Meowth had made its way to the floor and was seated on its haunches, an attentive look on its face. When it saw Volt looking at it, it smiled and meowed innocently.
"Hey there, Meowth," Volt said. He reached over to scratch the Pokémon behind the ears. "So you couldn't sleep?"
"Meowth," the Pokémon assented. Nothing wrong here, human; get back to sleep!
"So, you wanna share my bed?"
An affirmative "Meowth" was the reply. Sucker. Meowth cuddled close to Volt's breast.
"'Night, Meowth," Volt said as he turned off the light.
"Me-owth," it echoed back.
After what seemed like an eternity, the soft breathing associated with sleep resumed. Finally! Without a moment's hesitation, Meowth used a claw to scratch through the fabric of the human's clothes, then took with its mouth the marble that rolled out. And making just as little sound as when it entered, Meowth crept out from under the covers and left the room.
Outside the doors of the Pokémon Center, the Pokémon that had been observing the two humans was fast asleep. Its sleep was interrupted, though, by what sounded like a Pokémon fidgeting with something.
Upon waking up, the Pokémon looked around for the source of the noise. There was a Meowth outside the Pokémon Center, covered in bandages and batting a white marble between its paws.
That Meowth must have been the same one that the humans had found. What is it doing out here now?
It soon became apparent, however, that the Meowth wasn't merely playing with the marble; it was batting it in a specific direction. The other Pokémon decided to keep a low profile and follow it.
After quite a while, the Meowth had led its plaything to the outskirts of the city, where three humans were waiting. Thanks to the moonlight, the Pokémon could see that the humans were two females and a male. The Meowth walked towards one of the females.
"Good work, Meowth. You've done well," said one of the females, a tall blonde.
"I knew that you'd be able to snatch 4-I-80 from that big lummox," said the male, who was slightly shorter than the female and had aquamarine hair.
"That's 'Boriates,' Butcher," the female said.
"C'mon, Cass; the name's 'Butch'!" said the male. "And whatever Tauros-head's name is, it's ours now."
The Pokémon hid behind a nearby tree. What exactly was so special about that marble?
"Well, we've got it; let's check out this robot for ourselves," said the other female, another blonde, this one with a hat on her head. "Cassidy?"
"Here goes nothing!" Tossing the marble, the first female—Cassidy—said, "Come on out, Boriates!"
The marble landed on the ground and rolled for a while. When it stopped, nothing happened.
"What?" Cassidy exclaimed. "Why is nothing happening?"
"Perhaps it needs some kind of password to open," Butch said. "He did seem to have some long rigamarole involved when he first sicced that thing on us."
"Let's see if I can remember what it was," Cassidy replied, picking up the marble. "I believe it went something like this:
"Bakumon, brawl!" Cassidy commanded, tossing the marble.
"Yeah, that was it!" Butch said while the marble soared through the air.
"Bakumon, stand!" Cassidy commanded when the marble landed.
The marble rolled for a bit upon landing, but did not open.
"Rise, Chaos Boriates!"
The marble did nothing.
"Are you sure those were the passwords?" the other female said.
The Pokémon, watching the three humans, was perplexed. However, it was clear enough that they had expected some reaction from the marble. Perhaps it was some strange kind of Poké Ball? Whatever the marble's secret was, though, it was clear that it did not belong to those thieves. And for them to have used a fellow Pokémon to steal it was even worse.
Stepping out from behind the tree, it shouted out, "Stop right there!" Of course, since humans do not understand Pokémon speech, it merely sounded like "Shinx shinx shinx!" to them.
"What was that?" Cassidy said, turning towards the source of the noise.
"It looks like some kind of spray-painted Persian," Butch answered.
"I know it's not from around here, but even you should know that's a Shinx, genius," the second female said.
"Perhaps it wants to play with the marble," Cassidy said. Flicking her hands in a "shoo" gesture, she said, "Go away. It's not your plaything!"
"And it's not yours, either!" Shinx replied.
"I don't care how much you want to play with it, the answer's no! Go away!" Cassidy said.
Shinx frowned at her and started glowing white. It zipped between Cassidy's legs with Quick Attack, snatched the marble in its mouth, and got past her again with another Quick Attack. It then turned and ran towards the Pokémon Center.
"Well, what are you two nimrods waiting for? An invitation?" the second female said. "Don't let it get away!"
Mere moments after it started fleeing, Shinx heard the footsteps of the humans; they were catching up quickly.
"You're not gonna get away from us!" Butch cried out. "Go, Houndoom!"
A Houndoom materialized in front of Shinx, causing Shinx to swerve into a nearby alleyway.
"After it, Houndoom!" the male said.
Fortunately for Shinx, its smaller size was to its advantage in the alleyway, as it was able to easily swerve around garbage cans and other obstacles. In contrast, the Houndoom lost ground with every obstacle.
Once Shinx got past the alley, it continued running towards the Pokémon Center, now with a greater lead against the thieving humans and their Pokémon.
In the Pokémon Center's bedroom, Volt woke up again, this time to answer nature's call. After he relieved himself, he rinsed his hands at the sink. When he took a look at the mirror over the sink, he noticed the hole in his pajamas.
He stuck a finger inside the pocket.
There was nothing inside.
When he took a closer look at the hole, he saw that it was too neat to have been made by accident. He then remembered that something had touched him before he woke up the first time.
Dextra had said that Meowth love round and shiny things. Could Meowth have cut that hole?
Volt returned to his bedside and turned on the lamp. Indeed, Meowth was nowhere to be found.
He rushed downstairs to check the room where Meowth was supposed to have been sleeping. When he got there, he saw that the bed was utterly empty.
So that cat did steal Boriates. But how did it know that I had it in my pocket? Volt thought as he returned to the reception area. It was in Maya's hands when we were bringing it back here to Fuchsia City, and I know that the gold on Boriates couldn't have shone through my clothes.
Before Volt could come up with any ideas, though, a creature cloaked in white light entered the Pokémon Center and stopped in front of Volt. When the white light dissipated, Volt saw another feline Pokémon, this one a little smaller than Meowth and faintly glowing. Its front half was covered in cyan fur, except for yellow bands around its front legs. Black fur covered most of the back half. It had an ovoid head with yellow eyes and big humanoid ears sticking out the sides. A yellow star-shaped protrusion was on the tip of its tail.
And in its mouth was a familiar white-and-gold marble.
"Boriates!" Volt cried out.
The Pokémon approached Volt and deposited Boriates at his feet. Volt quickly picked Boriates up.
"Shinx!" the Pokémon cried out.
"Huh?" Volt said.
"Shinx! Shinx shinx!" the Pokémon exclaimed, gesturing towards the Pokémon Center's door with a paw. Volt followed it as it loped back outside.
Outside the door, Volt saw three figures running towards the Pokémon Center. Two were humanoid: a male and a female, by their outlines. The third was a small Pokémon. When they got closer, exactly who they were became clear in the moonlight.
"Team Rocket!" Volt cried out.
"That's our name; don't wear it out," said Cassidy, stopping at the call.
"And double trouble's what we're about," Butch replied, striking a pose beside Cassidy.
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all peoples in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"And Butch, of course!"
"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"
"Surrender to us now, or you'll surely lose the fight!"
"Me-owth!" said the Meowth.
"That's right!" Butch added.
"Hey, you said your lines already!" Cassidy scolded. "Did you really need to add that?"
"For some reason, the motto just didn't sound right without it," Butch said sheepishly.
"Bad Butch!" Cassidy said, slapping him across the face. "We are nothing like those bumbling good-for-nothings; you got that?"
"Yes, Cass," Butch said dejectedly.
"So, I take it that you sent that Meowth to steal Boriates from me?" Volt asked.
"Why, yes!" Cassidy said.
"And did you have anything to do with those scratches it had this morning?" he asked.
"Our plan worked pretty well, huh?" Butch replied. "Twerpy trainers like you are so easy to manipulate. A Pokémon gets so much as a nosebleed, and you're all over the little guy."
Volt was dumbfounded for a moment or two. "You...you soulless fiends!" he exclaimed. "How could you possibly do something like that? Do you have any idea how hurt it was?!"
Shinx snarled. Somehow, these humans were even worse than its old master. He'd been cold and harsh, but nowhere near as ruthless as them.
"You brutalized a Pokémon to within an inch of its life just to get a marble?!" it shouted.
The humans, of course, did not understand what Shinx was saying, but from the disgusted look on its face, it was clear that Shinx agreed with Volt.
"Should we really care?" Cassidy said. "At the end of the day, Pokémon are nothing but tools, anyway. Anything's fair game as long as we get what we want."
"I'm not a tool, and abusing a Pokémon's never fair game!" Shinx protested.
"Yeah, 'shinx-shinx' to you, too, furball," Butch said.
"Meowth, get that marble back!" Cassidy commanded.
"I saved your life, Meowth! Do you really want to live as Team Rocket's disposable tool?" Volt protested.
Ignoring Volt's argument, Meowth charged.
Shinx stepped into the Meowth's path and loosed a bolt of blue lightning towards the Scratch Cat Pokémon. When the Thunder Wave hit, Meowth crumpled up in a heap on the ground.
"Nice timing!" Volt said. "Shinx, could you keep them busy for a few seconds?"
Shinx pawed the ground and nodded. "Shinx!"
"Good!" Volt said, rushing back inside the Pokémon Center.
"Where do you think you're going?" Butch yelled, lunging towards Volt.
The Rocket agents couldn't do anything else, however, as Shinx blinded them with Flash. Shinx then released two more Thunder Waves, one for each Rocket.
Moments later, the still-weakened Rockets saw Volt exit the Pokémon Center. His belt, Poké Balls attached, was over his pajamas.
As Butch slowly returned to his feet, however, Volt was not waiting to fight him. Instead, Volt and the Shinx were running off to the north.
"First the Shinx, now you?" Cassidy whined as the strength slowly returned to her body as well. "Enough with the running already! We're thieves, not athletes!"
"Well, let's see how well they run with an incurable burn!" Butch replied. Lobbing a Poké Ball, he said, "Houndoom, Flamethrower!"
Houndoom appeared in front of Volt and loosed a red-hot Flamethrower. Volt dodged to the left; Shinx, to the right. Then Shinx then loosed a Thunder Wave at the dog Pokémon, hindering its movement.
After about a half-hour of running, Volt and Shinx arrived at the outskirts of the city. Volt stopped running and turned to face the Rockets. Houndoom was not accompanying them; Butch had returned it to its Poké Ball.
Huffing and puffing from the run, Butch said, "What … was with … the midnight … jog?"
"I just wanted to get away from the city," Volt said as he activated the Custom Battle Ability. "You should just give up now, Team Rocket."
"You must think that we're pretty weak," Cassidy said.
"But without your girlfriend to protect you, you're outmatched," Butch continued. "Aggron, come on out!"
"Pokémon, brawl!" Volt said, tossing his Safari Ball. When the Poké Ball landed, Volt commanded, "Rise, Subterra Clayf!"
In the space between the two Trainers, Aggron and Rhyhorn faced off in the moonlight, each one awaiting its Trainer's order.
"Clayf, Rock Tomb!" Volt ordered.
The Rhyhorn reared up onto its hind legs, and its front paws glowed white. With all its strength, it stomped onto the ground. A bunch of rocks rose to surround Aggron and closed in on it.
"That's nothing to Aggron!" Butch said. "Aggron, Mega Punch!"
Shards of rock flew past Volt as Aggron toppled the Rock Tomb with a mighty punch. The glow around its fist started to wane as Aggron stepped out from the formerly-enclosing Rock Tomb.
"Impossible!" Volt exclaimed. "Magnitude, Clayf!"
Clayf reared onto its hind legs again, then slammed its front legs onto the ground with as much force as it could muster. The immediate area started to crack and buckle, and the wave of force traveled towards Aggron. The Iron Armor Pokémon swayed as the ground under it kept shifting, but once the shaking dissipated, it was still standing.
"Is that weak knockoff all you've got?" Butch taunted. "Aggron, let's show them what a real earth-shaking move looks like! Earthquake!"
At its Trainer's command, the Pokémon jumped into the air. A giant BANG could be heard when it landed, and the ground shook as if an actual earthquake had gone off. Clayf tried to keep its balance in the shifting earth, but it eventually succumbed to the super-effective attack, landing on its belly.
"Aggron, finish it off with Water Pulse!" Butch commanded.
A glowing blue energy ball formed between Aggron's horns. Aggron then launched the ball onto the ground. A giant wave burst from the sphere and washed over Clayf, slamming it onto a nearby tree. When the wave dissipated, the Rhyhorn collapsed onto the ground, legs splayed in all directions.
"And that's what real power looks like!" Butch said. "Now, be reasonable, Bolt—"
"The name's 'Volt,'" Volt interrupted.
"Whatever," Butch said. "Don't you think that it's time you surrender? You're clearly outmuscled, outnumbered, and outmatched."
"I suggest that you do your math again," Volt said.
"Why should I? Unless you got another Pokémon, all you have left is that Charmander." At Volt's dumbfounded expression, Butch explained, "Don't think that we weren't paying attention when your girlfriend's Medicham had us upside-down yesterday!
"Besides, even with type advantage, Charmander's nothing against Aggron."
"One, she's not my girlfriend," Volt replied, Boriates' marble now in hand. "Two, who said anything about using a Pokémon?"
"Well, don't think that you're going to be able to sic that robot on us again!" Cassidy said. Tossing a Poké Ball, she commanded, "Meowth, use Quick Attack on Volt!"
"Don't do it, Meowth!" Volt urged as the Pokémon came out of the Poké Ball. "Remember your stitches!"
Unfortunately for Meowth, it once again paid no heed to Volt. A white light shone around Meowth as it prepared to do its Quick Attack, but a few steps in, a searing pain from its stitched-up wounds stopped it in its tracks.
"I warned you," Volt said, shaking his head. He then lobbed Boriates' marble over the Rockets' heads. "Bakugan, brawl!"
Boriates landed a good distance behind the Rockets. Volt commanded, "Bakugan, stand!"
The Rockets turned to see what was going on with the marble. They stood amazed as it opened up into a miniature humanoid figure with prominent golden horns.
"Rise, Haos Boriates!"
The up-close sight of Boriates' transformation from inch-high humanoid to sixty-foot-tall robot rendered the Rockets utterly speechless. The robot was so tall, they could not see its head from their position at its feet.
"Craning your necks like that can't possibly be good for you," Volt commented. He then said loudly to the Bakugan, "Boriates, let them have a good look at your face."
The Bakugan's movement made the earth rumble. Aggron, Meowth, and the Rockets attempted to run away, but Boriates' massive hand soon grabbed them and brought them up to its eye level.
"H-h-hey there, big guy," Cassidy said numbly. "N-nice weather we're having, huh?"
"N-now d-d-don't do anything hasty!" Butch pleaded.
"Oh, we won't—not yet, anyway," Volt shouted up at the Rockets. "Now listen up. You're going to return Meowth to its Poké Ball, and then hand it over to me."
"And why are we going to do that?" Cassidy retorted. "We're the thieves here, Lackluster!"
"Hmm...perhaps Boriates is holding on to you too tightly," Volt mused. "Boriates, would you please give them some breathing room?"
Its gears ground audibly as it opened its fist. Almost immediately, Cassidy screamed, "Stop! Stop!"
"Boriates, stop," Volt commanded.
The robot's movement stopped.
"All right, all right!" Cassidy said. "Meowth, return!" Cassidy then tossed Meowth's Poké Ball down towards Volt, who quickly caught it.
"Good. I'll make sure that it has a good home, far from you," Volt said.
"So you'll let us down now, right?" Butch pleaded.
"No," Volt said flatly.
"What?!" the two Rockets shouted.
"You're 'Team Rocket,' right? Then I say it's time for launch. Boriates?"
Boriates wound up like a baseball player preparing to pitch, then threw Aggron and the Rockets high into the air.
"Argh! Stupid Shinx and stupid giant robots ruining our plans!" Cassidy groused as she sailed southwards.
"'Bakugan, brawl; Bakugan, stand; rise, Haos Bore…eye…yay…tees,'" Butch muttered to himself.
"What are you doing?" Cassidy said.
"Practicing for the next time we get that thing," he answered. "It looks like my password theory was right after all."
"You know what else it looks like?" asked Cassidy wryly.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" the pair wailed.
Aggron added its cry to the humans' wailing.
Fuchsia City Pokémon Center
2 Epombria, 20 Zenoheld / April 2, 20—
"Morning, Volt!" Maya said as she arrived at the Pokémon Center's front door.
"Good morning, Maya," Volt replied. "How were your siblings?"
"Oh, Billy and Crystal were fine. They just haven't seen me in a long time, so we spent most of the day catching up with each other. We even spent some time on the Route 19 beach. How about you?"
"Well, I figured out what happened to Meowth," Volt answered. "It was abused by Team Rocket as part of a plan to get at Boriates."
"That's horrible!" Maya said.
"Fortunately, I was able to rescue it," Volt continued. "Nurse Joy says she'll start training it to be something other than a thief so that it can find a new home."
"Good for Meowth," Maya replied. "But now you're making me curious. This must be, like, the fourth time that I've heard the name 'Boriates.' But I don't even have a face to associate to it! So tell me, what is it? If Team Rocket's going to keep pestering my traveling partner about this 'Boriates' thing, I believe that I have the right to know what it is!"
"It's part of a secret project that my father worked on," Volt said. "Besides, it can be very dangerous, and it certainly cannot be used in a big city like this. But with my luck, perhaps you will see it in action, whether I like it or not," Volt answered.
"Oh, all right," Maya said with a pout.
"Well, how about this to make up for it? We've got a new addition to the team." Volt then took a Poké Ball from his belt. "Rise, Haos Lars Lion!"
Shinx emerged from the Poké Ball.
"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Maya asked. "It doesn't look like anything native to Kanto."
"Let's see what Dextra has to say," Volt answered.
"'Dextra'? Is that a Pokédex?" Maya asked as Volt brought Dextra out of a pocket.
"Yes, it is. Got it from one of Professor Oak's assistants," Volt said.
"Awesome!" Maya exclaimed.
"Shinx, the Flash Pokémon," Dextra said. "Shinx is native to southwestern Sinnoh. The extension and contraction of its muscles generates electricity. Its fur glows when it's in trouble."
"Wow, Sinnoh! That's a different region altogether, Volt, far to the north of Kanto," Maya said. "But then how'd it get all the way down here? Pokémon don't just wander out of their home regions like that."
"However it got here, I couldn't have fought off Team Rocket without it," Volt said, petting Lars Lion's head. "And now it will be joining us on our journey.
"But first, I need a favor from you."
"What is it?" Maya asked.
"Team Rocket's Pokémon are much stronger than mine," Volt conceded. "If I'm going to meet them again, I have to be able to go toe-to-toe against them in battle." I can't keep relying on Boriates all the time, Volt added internally. "Could you help me train?"
"No problem," Maya said. "But in order for me to do that, I need to know what levels your Pokémon are at."
It's a good thing that I asked Nurse Joy about "levels" after that debacle with Tracey three days ago, Volt thought.
"Apollonir—my Charmander," Volt added as he noted Maya's confused face, "is Level 10, and Clayf—my Rhyhorn—is Level 20. I have no idea about Lars Lion, since I just caught it yesterday," Volt replied.
"Good enough," Maya replied. "Its level is most likely in the twenties, since that would be on par with the Pokémon around here. Of course, we can ask Nurse Joy to evaluate it when she returns to the desk.
"Either way, let's get breakfast, then we'll hit the road. We'll train on Route 15."
A/N: Regarding the different Pokégears: Maya's Pokégear is the Gen II version. Tracey's Pokégear, however, is the Gen IV version seen in HeartGold and SoulSilver.
The next few chapters will take a slight detour from the main story, as we focus on events on Vestal after Volt's disappearance.