Awakening
Chapter 26: Misleading Tactics
Somewhere hidden... "Isn't it better this way, Jessiebelle?" Tornado's yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. The woman offered no response. "I blame you for the girl's death and though you are hardly a replacement, you are at least more obedient." He was but a shadow of who he used to be, corrupted by grief and power for years. Jessiebelle still remained silent, her gaze lost. She didn't make a sound, she couldn't form any words or even thoughts of her own, for she was nothing but am empty shell, a vessel whose soul was so deeply entrapped that it was hardly there at all. He sensed the coming presence before Daala approached. "Did you enjoy the gala?" He inquired with sarcasm.
"Nothing of interest happened." She walked past him, not expecting any comments about her wrinkled dress or messy hair, which had been impeccable when she left earlier.
xoxox xox xoxox
A few days later... The afternoon sun shone over the expanse of the Oak land at Pallet Town. Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Volt had released all their pokemon to play with the others that lived with Gary. The Dragonite Ashimi took from Janebelle was there as well, slowly adapting to a life that didn't require constant servitude. "Who do you think will win?" Ashimi asked the toddler sitting at the sidelines between her and Dorme.
The boy was dressed as a Squirtle, which looked absolutely adorable. He looked at her with big green eyes and tilted his head as if in thought and piped, "squirtle!" He was really getting into character.
"Squirtle, huh?" Ashimi looked back at the battle and nodded. "If you say so," never mind that neither combatant was actually a Squirtle. Dorme was watching the battle with such deep concentration that Ashimi wondered if something was wrong. "Dorme? Are you okay? You look like you have a headache."
"I don't have a headache," Dorme didn't take her eyes off the battle, she didn't even blink. "I'm just concerned. Foxtrot is Johnny's strongest pokemon as far as I know, though Nya has some weird power going on for her. His choice of sending Jolteon out to battle makes sense in that his opponents attacks would be less effective on a pokemon of the same type, but still..."
Ashimi laughed lightly, "you're over-thinking it. Let's just enjoy the match."
"How could you even say that? Johnny must defeat Volt and recruit him to Team Rocket!" Dorme dramatically declared.
"Recruiting him wasn't in the deal, and besides, I defeated Volt once before, so shouldn't that be enough to defend Team Rocket's name or whatever?" Ashimi reminded. "Now that I think about it, you have been inviting Volt to officially join really often lately. Why is that? Do you like him or something?"
Dorme sighed, "brutally honest, aren't you? No, that's not it, I still like Johnny best, I just thought that it would even things out if Volt was around, like a double date," she explained.
"Best?" Ashimi questioned the detail, though her question went unanswered.
The girls focused on the battle once more. Raichu's volt tackle just barely missed Jolteon as she dug to take cover underground. "This battle will be over soon!" Volt confidently declared.
"It looks like I have no choice but to use that..." Jonathan mused aloud. "It's a special power that Jolteon has, a mysterious secret power that I cannot hope to understand."
"You're bluffing!" Volt exclaimed.
Jonathan grinned, "not at all... Jolteon, do it!"
Jolteon looked at her trainer and brother, who sat beside him watching the battle. "Jolt jolt!"
Jonathan looked distressed, "what do you mean you can't do it?!" At least he had begun to better understand Jolteon and Vaporeon.
Jolteon let out a breath while Volt erupted in victorious laughter. She signaled to her brother and a short argument between the electric and water eeveelutions followed. Raichu had to pause and stare, because it sounded like Jolteon was asking her twin to attack her. Finally, Vaporeon attacked with a water gun. The move was unexpected and amused Volt further. "Stop it, Vaporeon! Not only is this cheating, but it's cheating against your own trainer!" Jonathan complained.
The water gun finally ceased and Vaporeon huffed, sounding angry over the argument he apparently lost. Jolteon was clean of all the dirt that previously clung to her. She relaxed her electricity, making her golden fur go from spiky to soft. "Looks like Jolteon's just about ready to give up!" Volt was about to sent Raichu to finish her off, but Jonathan's look of relief made him feel as if there was a trap awaiting.
"I get it now," Jonathan smiled. "Although I'm not sure if I should say it's cheating, since the attack is against my own pokemon. I guess I shouldn't have expected it to work so easily after all the digging. Okay, go for it Jolteon!"
"Go for what?" Volt questioned both curious and confused. Jolteon walked slowly and deliberately towards her opponent, her fur still soft, devoid of its usual static. "Be on your guard, Raichu, I think I know what she's trying to do! Jolteon relaxed her electricity so that if you shock her, her coat will absorb most of the hit, then she'll be close enough to attack you physically even while you're releasing your electricity!" That was the only theory that Volt could come up with. Yet he couldn't send Raichu on a physical attack, since Jolteon also had the option of re-spiking her fur and that would be painful. The Vermilion gym leader watched on in alert.
Jolteon continue her slow walk, then stopped a few feet away from Raichu. She yawned and stretched, then got comfortable on the grass, eyes half closed. "Is she using rest?" Ashimi wondered.
"No, that's not it, don't you see?" Dorme got all excited about what she hoped could turn the battle around.
"See what?" Ashimi blinked in confusion.
"You're such a child," Dorme teased.
"What?" Ashimi questioned, but received no answer.
Jolteon tossed her head back, her wet ears falling limp at the sides of her face. She looked right at Raichu and purred seductively. Volt was quite confused. If she dared to take a nap to try to recover her power, he could send Raichu to give her a rude awakening, but she was still very much awake, purring like a feline. "Raichu..." Volt wasn't sure what to tell his pokemon, he couldn't figure out this mysterious tactic. As if in a trance, Raichu approached Jolteon. "Raichu? What are you doing, soldier?" Despite being cautioned, Raichu continued on his way until he was right in front of Jolteon. Jolteon extended her paws as if to hug him and Raichu seemed ready to return the embrace.
Vaporeon had seen enough, his protectiveness took over and he attempted to interfere. Jonathan held him back by the tail. "Stop it, Vaporeon, you can't attack!" The water eeveelution tried to break free with a water gun, which left his trainer soaking wet. Jolteon went on the attack, biting and scratching Raichu, and Vaporeon finally seemed to calm down.
"Raichu! Defend yourself like a soldier, fight back!" Raichu couldn't quite get a hit in, he was fast and strong, but Jolteon ultimately had the speed advantage even if Raichu had more strength. Being attacked so viciously and continually, Raichu didn't have the opportunity to physically fight back and instead tried to break free of the situation with an electric attack. Jolteon's fur became spiky as it absorbed the static and voltage, then returned it point blank at Raichu, who was thrown back by the force of the hit. "Raichu!" The pokemon fell at Volt's feet and very slowly and painfully got up. "That's it, soldier, you're still in this!" Volt glared over at Jonathan, what kind of a secret power was that?"
"I told you, it's a mysterious secret power that not even I understand," Jonathan replied with the same explanation from before.
"What are you talking about?" Volt argued. "It's attraction, she's just being charming and brainwashing Raichu with her... strange female powers... Okay, I guess your description was pretty accurate," he finally agreed.
"You see, I told you!" Dorme bragged, "I so totally called it."
"You did?" Ashimi shrugged, seeing it as no big deal.
"Squirtle!" The toddler laughed.
"Let's finish this battle, Raichu, attack with everything you have, use-" Volt paused and watched his pokemon. "Raichu? What's wrong, soldier?" Raichu whimpered and ran back to his trainer. "Raichu! This is no time to cry, pull yourself together, soldier!"
"Oh oh... You hurt his feelings," Jonathan voiced. Jolteon shrugged as if claiming it wasn't her fault.
"I consider this cheating..." Volt grumbled in annoyance, as his pokemon continued to cry on his shoulder. "Besides, Vaporeon interfered, it might not have worked as well without that bath."
"I guess you have a point," Jonathan admitted. "Want to rest and start over?"
Raichu shook his head pleadingly and Volt frowned. "Pull yourself together, soldier!" Volt put him on the ground and pushed him forward.
"Stop it, Volt!" Dorme left the sidelines and marched right over to him. "Don't you see the poor dear is hurt? Johnny, I do hope you haven't been going around breaking hearts to teach Jolteon this trickery!" Dorme shouted angrily, then added in an inaudible whisper, "or heads will roll."
"What? No! That's Jolt's own natural talent!" Jonathan argued and Jolteon nodded proudly. "Besides, I only thought it would be a distraction, I didn't realize Raichu was so sensitive."
"Raichu is a soldier, he can take anything!" Volt's argument fell short as he noticed that Raichu had taken refuge in Dorme's arms and she was consoling him, talking to him as if he were a child. "Dorme... You're not helping Raichu toughen up. "
"You're being too hard on the poor dear," Dorme picked up Raichu and set him down next to Jolteon. "Now Jolteon, girls like us who have powerful gifts need to learn to use them wisely and in moderation."
"But you don't have any electric powers, do you?" Ashimi interrupted.
Dorme sighed, "how can she be so perceptive for everything else and be so clueless for this?" She asked no one in particular. At least Jolteon seemed to have gotten the message and appeared to be considering it. Dorme gave up on Ashimi and turned her attention back to the two electric pokemon. "Alright you two, shake paws and make friends, go on now." Jolt protested and Dorme looked at Jonathan pointedly.
"She just wants a poke-treat," he explained. "She won't do any tricks like handshakes or rolling over unless you pay her off."
"But I don't want a trick, I want them to be friends!" Dorme pouted. She pointed at Jonathan accusingly, "it's your fault for not teaching your pokemon to be mindful of other's feelings!"
"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Jonathan tried to argue in return.
"Um, guys..." Ashimi pointed at the two electric pokemon. "I don't think they're listening anymore.
Jolteon was pulling on Raichu's ear, who seemed to be a little upset about it, but her actions didn't appear to be malicious. Vaporeon shot a water gun at Raichu and Jolteon scolded him then continued pulling Raichu away by the ear, while Foxtrot went over to calm Vaporeon and see if they could all make peace. "Look at that, they're already friends. See? Everything worked out in the end!" Jonathan smiled.
"Raichu getting his ear mutilated is a sign of friendship?" Volt couldn't quite believe it. "That Jolteon is a piece of work." A lavender ball of fur rolled down the hill at the bottom of which they stood. Nya looked up dizzily, went up the hill again, and rolled down again. "Your Purrloin is pretty peculiar as well..."
"Nya is... Honestly, I don't even know. I was thinking of getting her a full examination at headquarters," Jonathan admitted. "Since we're here and all, I might ask Gary to figure it out."
Volt sighed and watched Raichu run off to play with the three eeveelution siblings. "Deserter..."
"Give him a break, you're probably way too hard on him anyway," Dorme insisted.
"What about discipline!?" Volt countered.
"What about dango?" Ashimi suddenly interjected. Her question seemed to be so random that everyone looked at her. "We were going to eat the dango we got on the way as an afternoon snack, remember?" At the mention of food, Nya stopped playing and teleported, though no one knew to where.
"But the battle's not over!" Volt watched in horror as everyone followed Ashimi to the research lab to get a snack. "Such an undisciplined bunch they are, what a bad influence." He shook his head and remained still... but only for a few seconds. "Wait for me! I want some sweet dango too!"
xoxox xox xoxox
Soon the group settled outside to eat, but their snack time was interrupted when the sky was darkened by the shadow of a machine that could be described as a combination between a hovercraft and a helicopter. The blades were located under the vehicle, creating a strong wind below it. Jonathan stopped and stared at the machine. "That thing is so awesome!"
"The smooth black surface of the hover-copter had a large green T painted on it. "Check out that letter T, this thing isn't from Team Rocket!" Dorme pointed out.
"A T for Tornado?" Ashimi realized.
"We're right below the enemy, evasive actions!" Volt urged.
"Squirtle?" The small boy looked up at the older kids with curiosity.
"No worries, it's all under control," Ashimi smiled reassuringly. No sooner had the words left her mouth, the wind from the machine increased, lifting them into the air.
"If we get caught on those blades, we'll end up in pieces!" Dorme shrieked.
"Clefable, get us down!" Ashimi called out. The pink pokemon did her best to hold the group down with her telekinesis, but the wind was very strong.
"A slicing and dicing tornado machine, cool!" Jonathan cheered despite the obvious danger.
"This is no time to admire the enemy's resources, soldier!" Volt scolded.
"Pichu, Furball, thunder!" Ashimi went on the attack. The Pichu and the Meowth released their electricity together, but it was absorbed and the blade spun faster. Clefable's psychic grip could barely hold them away from the lethal sharp blades above.
"Nya, now would be a good time to teleport us out from under that thing!" Jonathan called upon his Purrloin, but received no answer. "Nya? Where are you?"
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Meanwhile, inside the laboratory... "What a peculiar Purrloin. I was quite surprised when you teleported like that. Here's some more dango to snack on, now sit still while I measure your brain waves." Gary adjusted the oversized helmet on the feline's head. "How strange, there's not a whole lot of brain activity when it comes to actual thought process, but there are signs of psychic power, I'm not sure what to make of it." He typed a few things into a computer that was connected with the helmet. Everything in the lab was very quiet, as the area was sound proof to help him concentrate on the research.
Both Gary and Nya remained completely unaware of the peril taking place right outside. 'Maybe I should get Ashimi and her friends some pizza, or burgers, or pizza burgers, or something later,' Gary mused. 'I'll tell them to deliver it at dinner time.' He wouldn't have been able to catch up on his research if they hadn't offered to take care of his young son for the afternoon. The boy's mother often worked late, which left the toddler in his father's care more often than not, given that his workplace and living area were in the same building, though that usually meant late nights trying to catch up with his research projects.
xoxox xox xoxox
Outside... "Chari, melt those blades!" The Charizard attempted to do so, but the flames were pushed back by the strong wind. "Wartortle, water gun!" Thankfully, the water pokemon managed to put out the flames before they hurt anyone. "Why is it that everything I try to do just makes things worse?" Ashimi grimaced. Clefable let out a sound of complaint, she couldn't hold them back any longer.
"This is our last chance soldiers, all together, on the attack!" Volt tried to rally the troops. Everyone called upon all their pokemon along with him and they all attacked at once. Ashimi's Pichu, Meowth, Zubat, Wartortle and Charizard, since Clefable was busy with defense, Jonathan's Flareon, Jolteon and Vaporeon, Dorme's Oddish, Hitmonlee and Pidgeotto, Volt's Raichu, Elekid, Magneton and two Electrode. The mix of different elements hit the blades above all at once, sparks flew at them, but they finally managed to overload the vehicle's defenses. The blades overheated and broke apart, the metal just barely missing the trainers and pokemon as they fell to the ground, becoming stabbed in the soil.
Long vine whips extended to the ground, with Daala sliding down on one and Jessiebelle on the other. After landing, Daala recalled her Venusaur from the overloading machine above into the safety of her pokeball. The hover-copter exploded, raining sparks and flaming metal all over the place. "There goes the payment I got for retrieving Johnny."
"You bought that with the money you got for my kidnapping?!" Jonathan fumed. He was also embarrassed, as he knew, though he didn't remember, about being carried around unconscious in his underwear until that creepy Machoke girl dressed him later. Looking at Daala in the face was no easy task.
"I got it at a garage sale in Saffron City," Daala kicked one of the metal pieces in frustration. "And it wasn't cheap!"
"I thought it looked familiar," Jonathan realized. "It must have been one of the Pikachu capture machines that was never used. You just repainted it, didn't you?"
"I covered up the ugly red R," Daala admitted.
"Pikachu capture machine? What are you going on about, soldier?" Volt interjected, confused. "And what's that about a red R? Was that thing originally Rocket technology?"
"Never mind the details!" Jonathan tried to drop the subject, though he would have to call his parents about selling that machine, he would have liked to keep it for himself. "So um... is everyone okay?" No one appeared to be too badly hurt, which was a relief. Gary's son even looked like he ended up having fun. "What are you doing here, Jessiebelle?" Jonathan finally asked.
"I must destroy you in the name of Tornado..." Jessiebelle was in a deep trance, her voice sounding like a monotone. She tossed out a pokeball, its red beam revealing a Florges. "Feel the power of my ultra expensive imported pokemon, granddaughter of Giovanni..."
"You sound like a bad commercial! Zubat, I choose you!" Ashimi didn't need to throw the pokeball since all her pokemon were already out anyway. Zubat seemed a bit surprised as he flew over. "C'mon pal, it's about time I sent you out to battle for something other than a training match! Use acrobatics!"
"Florges, petal blizzard..." Jessiebelle ordered. Zubat flew around the projectiles, rapidly approaching his opponent.
"Am I the only one that finds her monotone totally creepy?" Jonathan inquired.
"You're not alone," Dorme agree.
"Not me, I'm a brave soldier!" Volt crossed his arms in a prideful gesture and stood firm. Dorme picked up a feather her Pidgeotto had dropped in the earlier crisis and discreetly stood closer to Volt. While Volt was watching the battle, she tickled the back of his neck with the feather. Volt yelped and jumped in surprise, causing Dorme and Jonathan to burst out in a fit of laughter, while Ashimi was too focused on the battle to even notice. "I'm just... a little ticklish, that's all!" Volt pouted.
"Sure you are!" Dorme grinned teasingly.
Zubat reached Florges and when he was close enough, Ashimi put the next step of the plan into action. "poison fang!" The attack was a success, poisoning Florges. "That Florges is strong, but we can beat her!"
"Florges, petal dance..." Jessiebelle ordered.
"Zubat, don't stop moving, keep using acrobatics and super sonic!" Ashimi was feeling pretty confident, there was no way that she would be beaten by a pokemon that wasn't even trained by her opponent. Florges got confused and completely panicked. She didn't wait for Jessiebelle's next order and continued throwing petals in every direction. Both her opponent, the trainers and the audience were forced to take cover. "Zubat, fly high and take cover in the sky until she's tired out, I think you might have scared her a bit too much." Ashimi sounded amused. After a few more chaotic moments, Florges began to tire out and her petal dance attack slowed down. "Alright, Zubat, finish her with air slash!" Surrounded by light, Zubat dove. His speed increased as he approached Florges for the finishing blow, and by the time the attack was completed, Golbat had taken Zubat's place. "Evolution and victory! Awesome!"
"Florges, return..." Jessiebelle remained unfazed, as if she wasn't fully aware of the world around her. "Machoke..." She sent out her next pokemon, which turned out to be a familiar one.
Completely ignoring Jessiebelle, the Machoke ran across the designated battle area and trapped Jonathan in a bone crushing hug. "Alice... Can't breathe..."
"I told you not to use that one yet!" Daala scolded.
"Did you get her at the garage sale too?" Dorme asked in annoyance.
"No, I stole her from the Kojiros," Daala shamelessly admitted. "They were at the sale, whining about how unrefined it was. They apparently expected it to be like some kind of art auction for snobs. I'm not sure why they didn't just leave. I didn't feel good about doing business with Rockets so I had to steal something."
Jonathan really needed to talk to his parents about doing business with Daala. He hoped he could remember that even if he blacked out, because it felt like that would happen pretty soon if Alice didn't give him some room to breathe. "A-air..." His face was turning the same color as his hair.
"Hey Daala, when are you going to join in?" Ashimi asked impatiently.
"I don't want to interrupt, battle her first," Daala stood back and watched. "Oh and just so you know, your friend over there is dying."
Everyone looked at Jonathan who was blue in the face. Foxtrot went over to Alice and began an argument, though thankfully she was reasonable enough to let him breathe. She still held him like a plush toy though. "I'm not dead yet..." Jonathan gasped for breath. "The Tornado leader, Janebelle's father, he was the one who brainwashed Jessiebelle, wasn't he?"
"Yes, he blamed Janebelle's death on her and sentenced her to be executed," Daala revealed. A dramatic pause passed and she added, "she was supposed to be executed by Team Rocket after Ashimi's murder, but honestly, being brainwashed stupid as she is there's no way she could accomplish that, especially since she was already stupid to begin with."
"So you decided to help," Ashimi concluded. "Well it won't work!"
"Vileplume..." Jessiebelle sent out another pokemon. "Solar beam..."
"Get ready, Golbat!" Ashimi cautioned. The bat was prepared to dodge at any split-second, but no attack came.
"Solar beam..." Jessiebelle repeated. Vileplume walked up to her instead, speaking in her own language. Though the others couldn't understand her, it looked like she was trying to make Jessiebelle snap out of the hypnotism. "Solar beam..." Jessiebelle repeated again, but all she got was Vileplume's desperate voice in return. "Solar beam..." Jessiebelle continued to echo like a corrupt sound file.
"I can't watch this anymore..." Ashimi walked across the battle area and placed her palm on Jessiebelle's forehead, letting her energy flow into her. Jessiebelle made no attempts to stop her, not reacting at all, as if she didn't notice.
Surrounded by a soft glow, Jessiebelle closed her eyes. Vileplume watched in wonder as her trainer fell to her knees dizzily and finally came to. "What? Where... where am I? Vileplume? Did I fall asleep in the garden?"
"Nope..." Jessiebelle looked up at the voice to find Ashimi, she gasped and stood on shaky legs, staring in shock. "You were brainwashed by Tornado, you're in Pallet Town."
"That man..." Jessiebelle backed away, holding on to Vileplume, the only one of her pokemon that truly cared about her, the pokemon she had since she was a child. "He's after me now, he said such terrible things. He said Janebelle is dead, did he... did he kill her?"
"You idiot!" Daala interrupted in anger. "Janebelle killed herself and tried to take her would-be fiancé, his family and friends with her. But it failed and only she died. Yet the more I think about it, the more suspicious that sounds." She glared at the Rockets. "Why was it only Janebelle who died?"
"I've been thinking about that too," Ashimi admitted. "We all inhaled the poisonous gas, but we lived. She must have really wanted to die..."
"She wanted the filth," Daala pointed at Jonathan, "then she wanted death... It's better than being allied to the Rockets, but..."
"You're lying!" Jessiebelle shouted. "You're all lying! Janebelle can't be dead... I was frustrated because of all that happened in the past, but I never had any ill wishes for her, I just... I didn't want to... I had a reputation and... the scandal... I had to send her away, I thought it was best for both of us that way. I never wanted her to die!" Jessiebelle cried as she held onto Vileplume.
"It's too late to be sorry!" Everything was falling apart, not that Daala believe the plan could work after the vehicle was destroyed anyway. That machine was her only chance, and even that wasn't enough to overpower them. Daala released her Donphan and Houndoom, she whispered something to them and they went on the attack. Donphan rolled towards the group, sending them running to dodge and calling their pokemon to fight back. "Venusaur, earthquake!" Between Venusaur shaking things up and Donphan rolling, that was enough of a distraction for Houndoom to snatch Gary's young son and bring him back to Daala, holding him upside down by the tail of the Squirtle costume. Daala recalled her Donphan and Venusaur, then released her Rapidash. The sudden change made everyone turn their attention to her and notice the squirming boy she was holding.
"I thought you were watching him!" Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Volt pointed at each other.
"I'll make you a deal, let me leave and you get the boy, swear it on your honor as an aura guardian, Ashimi," Daala offered.
"You know the legends? Fine, I have no choice, I swear..." Ashimi agreed. "But next time you won't escape!"
"Here you go," Daala put the boy down and he toddled over to Ashimi in a hurry. Then she recalled Houndoom and rode off on Rapidash towards the fence at the Oak land's limit. The unicorn majestically jumped over it, then they disappeared down the road leading out of Pallet Town.
"At least it's over," Dorme let out a breath. "What are we going to do with her?" She pointed at Jessiebelle.
"She looked pretty shaken, but she is not to be forgiven after all she did!" Volte replied, though Dorme had asked Jonathan.
Jonathan agreed, "what happened with Janebelle was in part her fault," he replied, still trapped in Alice's arms. "Janebelle was creepy and insane, but she didn't deserve such a sad end."
"But it's a lie!" Jessiebelle cried. "She must have gone back to him, back to Tornado..."
"Who is the man known as Tornado?" Ashimi demanded to know.
"Tatsu..." Jessiebelle whispered in a gasping breath, Tatsu Maki, once a humble psychic with a kind heart, albeit a poor peasant at best, but he wasn't malicious, despite his involvement with Team Rocket. They didn't want him though, they said his powers were weak and his kind heart even weaker. So I guess he got rid of his kindness..."
"Tatsu Maki..." Ashimi repeated. "Tell that to headquarters and don't tell them about Jessiebelle, say she's gone if they ask."
"What? Why?" Dorme was ready to send a message, she stopped and looked at Ashimi in surprise.
"Because we're going to let her go..." Ashimi glared at Jessiebelle, "leave..."
Jessiebelle wasn't sure what to say. She still didn't fully believe Janebelle was dead, but Vileplume was pulling her away. She decided to follow the advice of her loyal companion and headed for the front gates. She hurried down the path and saw a cafe not far away, which used to be managed by Delia in the past. She still owned it, but didn't work there anymore. Jessiebelle headed in that direction to call her driver to pick her up.
"Why did we let her go too?" Dorme asked somewhat annoyed. It was bad enough that Daala had escaped.
"As bait, if Tornado goes after her again, we'll catch him," Ashimi explained. "He might be smart enough not to fall for it, but we might as well give it a try. Tell Comet and he'll know who to recommend for the job."
"Gotcha!" Dorme prepared the message accordingly.
"Now that that's over, how about we battle, Volt? I did say I would battle you after you were done battling Johnny, and the dango was blown away, so we can't just go back to snacking. Clefable, do you want to battle next?" The pink pokemon shook her head and yawned, indicating that she would rather nap. "Aw c'mon, I know you have more endurance than that," Ashimi encouraged. Clefable shrugged, then lifted Volt's two Electrode and smashed them against each other with her telekinesis. The two pokemon were taken by surprise and exploded on impact, falling left and right, fainted. Clefable grinned in satisfaction as if asking if that was enough. "That was a fast victory, well done, Clefable," Ashimi commended.
Volt was having a hard time metaphorically picking up his jaw from the ground. "That's cheating! Why is it that no one is playing fair today?"
Ashimi shrugged, "two against one is not fair, but I'm not complaining," she joked.
"Celes... Rodes... You really need to learn not to blow up over everything," Volt sighed. He had nicknamed the pair to better distinguish them, as they were both Electrode, the female was Celes and the male was Rodes. Their names were based on the first and last four letters of their species with an added S in honor of his father, Surge.
"Weren't you in the Indigo League before? Did you make it all the way with just electric types?" Dorme asked curiously.
"No, I had other pokemon with me. My first was Pichu, my father's pokemon is his father," Volt explained.
"That's the same as my Pichu," Ashimi petted her loyal companion.
"He was a Pikachu by the time I went to the Indigo League. Magneton has been with me since those times too, I caught him as a Magnemite. I had other pokemon too, but I've always favored electric types. Even so, I had a balanced team for the league. It was close... But I only made it past the first two of the elite four. After that, my pokemon were so tired they couldn't make it past the third," Volt admitted. "I decided to become a gym leader afterwards, my pokemon knew that would happen sooner or later. I thanked them for their help and let them go. They still visit me at the gym every now and then, but they live as wild pokemon most of the time. I didn't want to keep them if I was going to follow the electric gym tradition and not really battle with them much, that's why I set them free, so they could get stronger on their own."
"Celes and Rodes are still relatively new to the team, I got them after my battle with Ashimi and trained them from Voltorb during the time we spent traveling separately. I already had Elekid when I became a gym leader, though that was after the Indigo League." Volt frowned for a moment without even noticing it. "He was my brother's pokemon. He had two Elekid that he made to battle each other. This Elekid's brother evolved into Electabuzz and Electro said I could have the other one. Then I decided that one day I would help Elekid become strong enough to beat his brother in battle and at the same time, I would defeat my brother too." Volt caught himself and fell silent, he had said too much and yet he didn't really feel like taking it back.
"Then let's do it!" Ashimi encouraged. "Electro probably went back to Viridian City, you should go challenge him!"
"I lost last time, it's not that simple," honestly, Volt didn't quite feel ready.
"Yes it is! You got all the way to the elite four in the Indigo League. Even if you don't have all the pokemon you had at the time, you can train pokemon very well and that proves it!" Ashimi insisted. "If you lose it's because of your own lack of confidence! Be brave and challenge your brother again!"
Volt was still feeling somewhat unsure, but he was not a coward. Ashimi was right, he wouldn't make any progress by avoiding the issue. "I will! I'll go to Viridian City and challenge him right now!"
"I should probably do some training while I'm at headquarters," Dorme mused aloud. "I want to keep getting the attention of the higher ups, maybe try to beat my record at the obstacle course. I'm aiming high after all." She looked at Jonathan, twitching a little at how the Machoke girl was still holding him. She wasn't about to delegate her matters of the heart to anyone, not even her own pokemon, but she knew she couldn't possibly beat a Machoke in hand to hand combat. If anything, she used the scene as a motivation to improve her combat skills. "Johnny, you should probably take a few fast training courses too, or they might sign you up for additional required training if they see you're slacking off."
"Extra training with Thor..." Jonathan shuddered. "Yeah, I think I'll do some training at HQ too."
"I'll catch up with you guys later. I want to walk to Viridian City on my own, like dad did years ago," Ashimi decided.
Gary stepped outside cheerfully, with Nya following him, she had been quite a fascinating research subject. "Everyone, I got you some... pizza... burgers..." His cheerful expression turned to shock when he saw that the ground was cracked, the grass charred, there was debris all over and several very large and sharp looking blades were stabbed into the ground. His eyes searched for his son, who seemed to be perfectly fine, albeit his costume was a bit dirty, which was nothing out of the ordinary for a toddler playing outside.
Ashimi smiled sweetly, "did you mention pizza burgers, uncle Gary?" The researcher could only nod slowly.
To be Continued
Tatsumaki means tornado in Japanese. Next: Chapter 27: Defeat. Happy New Year!