Story 28:
Bombs Away!
Keji raced down the hall, following closely behind Magneton, who was eagerly showing the way to the core, and the only hope of saving the Power Plant.
"Hurry up Magneton! We need to get to the core ASAP!" He yelled impatiently. Magneton nodded and started to move a bit faster. Keji looked down at his watch. They had an hour. Plenty of time. He hoped.
"Move it scum." Rei said spitefully, casting a quick glance back at the Power Plant.
Elise noted the look and put her hand on Rei's shoulder, "Rei. I know he'll be fine. Keji looks like he's a great trainer, and his Pokémon will surely help him a lot."
Rei nodded, but didn't respond. The Rocket, who was limping badly now, smiled evilly and knowingly, though hid it well from Rei and Elise. This was far from over. It would never be over.
"How far is it to Pewter, Elise?" Rei asked, pushing the Rocket to move faster.
"Twenty minutes."
Rei sighed. Even if they got him to Pewter, there'd be little chance of getting back in time to help Keji, especially after all the legal mumbo-jumbo they'd have to endure.
"Good luck, Keji." She said softly, though Elise heard it, and cast a worried look of her own at the Power Plant, the place she'd called home most of her life, and her father's home. This was very trying on her, but for now, she'd have to have the utmost faith in these two trainers. They seemed to know Team Rocket quite well.
Indeed Keji knew Team Rocket, and he knew they'd blow this Power Plant up to prove a point, a fact that scared him deeply, but he knew he couldn't give up, he had to find the core and disarm the bomb.
Suddenly he skidded to a hault.
"Wait a minute... I don't know how to disarm a bomb!" He yelled aloud, "What the heck am I doing here?!"
Magneton stopped and watched him, "Ton? Magneton ton magnet..."
Keji sighed and realized he didn't understand a word Magneton was saying, but started running again, "I need to try, I suppose..."
"Magneton, ton magnet." Magneton said and pulled ahead of Keji to resume his lead.
"Chuuuuuuuuuuu..."
"What?" Keji stopped and turned around. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and his jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Raiiiiiiiii..."
"Pika! CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
There was at least twenty Pikachu and ten Raichu behind him, all of their cheeks crackling with energy, ready to drop Keji and Magneton.
"RUN!" Keji yelled, as he spun and ran down the hall, avoiding several blasts of electricity from the small electric rodents.
"MAAAAAAAAAGNETON!" Magneton yelled, whirring down the halls as quickly as he could. The Pikachu and Raichu followed closely behind, sending blasts at the duo every few steps, some even shocking Keji or Magneton, but neither stopped, because they knew if they did, they were done for.
"Don't stop!" Rei yelled in a very uncharacteristic tone for her, her patience being tried by the weakened Rocket.
"Have a little sympathy... I am a bit wounded..." the Rocket said, chuckling a bit to himself, "and I hold your boyfriend's life in my hands..."
Rei blushed a bit at him calling Keji her boyfriend, but didn't respond to that... she was more interested in what followed, "What do you mean, in your hands?"
He chuckled a bit, and did not respond.
"Don't let him get to you... we won, and we'll win again as soon as Keji takes care of the bomb." Elise said, frowning at the Rocket.
"You think so?" He chuckled, suddenly he opened his palms and dropped several spherical objects onto the ground. Before Rei could respond, the area was filled with smoke, "This is not over little missy! Mister Fujikiro will find the Power Plant just as dangerous as it was while I was still there! And there's no way he'll be able to disarm that bomb!"
"NO!" She yelled, diving into the smoke to try and stop him, but, of course, missing. He was gone.
"We have to... stop him!" Elise coughed, waving the smoke away, "Keji's in trouble!"
"We need to run to Pewter and get help!" Rei yelled, as she broke out into a full run.
Elise nodded, and without another word burst after her.
Keji yelped again as another blast caught him in the rear. He couldn't keep this up forever, those rodents were faster than he thought.
"And to think..." he said through pants, his voice weak and running out of breath, "I... used to like... Pikachus..."
"Ton!" Magneton slowed down, causing Keji to ram into him, then hefted him into the air and continued down the hall, supporting Keji's weight.
"Magneton?" Keji shook his head, surprised at the sudden move. It was an akward ride, as Magneton was smaller (though not by much, as Magneton was about four and a half feet tall) than Keji, but he seemed to be able to support him well enough.
"Way to go!" Keji yelled, looking back over his shoulders. Even with Keji's added weight, Magneton seemed to have little trouble supporting him, nor did he have trouble outrunning the Pikachu and Raichu, especially since in such a crowd and in the somewhat narrow hallways they ran through, the rodents were stumbling all over themselves.
"Lose 'em Magneton!" Keji yelled. Magneton nodded a bit (almost dumping Keji in the process), and spun around a corner, and quickly around the next one it came to, and continued taking corners as it came to them, until it was most certain it had lost the electric rats. Unfortunately it succeeded in losing itself in the process.
"Where are we?" Keji asked, climbing off of Magneton when it stopped.
"Magneton, ton magneton magnet..." Magneton said. It was easy to understand from its tone that it didn't know.
"This is great, we wasted..." he checked his watch, "ten minutes getting away from those rats... and now we're lost." he sighed and started down the hall, "I guess we go this way..."
"Ton..." Magneton sighed and followed him.
The duo walked in silence for about twenty minutes. Keji prayed Magneton would eventually remember where they were, and it did seem that Magneton started to take the lead a bit. Keji hoped this meant he knew where the were.
"Where are we, Magneton?" Keji finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Ton, magneton magneton ton ton." It replied, and Keji remembered how futile it was trying to talk to Magneton. He would have brought Oddish out to try and help translate, but he was afraid Weed-Head was too weak, and bringing him out would only endanger him. Keji sighed and hoped Magneton said, "We're almost there, Keji."
What Elise didn't mention was that it was 20 minutes of walking to the outskirts of Pewter, and another 5 to the center, running at full speed.
Rei, for one, was not about to stop for anything or anyone. The town itself seemed but a blur to her as she tore through, getting confused and startled looks (especially from the people she almost ran into.), and she almost missed the Police Station, and would have, had Elise not screamed out with her last ounce of strength before falling to her knees outside the door. It was a good thing Elise did scream, because Rei didn't need to waste her energy pounding on the door to summon a police officer.
Moments after Elise's scream for Rei to stop, a blue haired, well shaped woman in a police uniform stepped out, "What is all the commotion out here all about?!"
Rei frowned, barely able to stay standing, let alone speak, "Office... Jenny...?"
"Yes, do I know you?" She frowned.
"Never... mind..." Rei gasped for air.
"You two look terrible, you should rest..." Jenny said.
"No!" Rei shot back, "Power... Plant... Keji... trouble... help..."
"What?" Jenny shook her head, confused out of her mind.
"Power Plant... Power... Plant..." Rei kept repeating, trying to recover enough breath to say more.
"Something's wrong at the Power Plant?" Jenny asked, scratching her head.
Rei nodded profusely, "Help... go... now..."
"I'll drive you two girls back there... but it's shut down now. The head of it is in town in a meeting this week."
"No... I'm his... daughter..." Elise said softly from her spot on the ground, "The Pokémon were... attacking personnel... "
"What?! Why didn't anyone report this?!"
Elise shrugged and tried to stand.
"Hold on here, I'll go get the Squad Car, we'll be there in the bat of an eye." With that, Jenny rushed back into the station, only to return in a couple moments, driving out of the Police Parking ramp, "Get in, quick!"
Rei and Elise dragged themselves into the backseat of the car, and, before they were even completely in, it sped down the road, sirens blaring, heading towards the power plant.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORB!" The Voltorb began to glow brightly, ready to explode, as Keji's experience with these creatures told him. Worse still, there was several more coming at the from down the hall.
"Cubone! Get rid of it!" Keji yelled, opening his Pokéball.
Cubone popped out, and immediatly charged the thing, only to stop right next to it and face it.
"Cubone?!" Keji yelled, ready to run the other way.
Magneton looked about ready to join the battle when Cubone raised his club behind him and executed a beautiful golf swing, hurling the Voltorb at his approaching brethren, just as it exploded, hurling Voltorbs everywhere, with looks of terror and pain on their faces.
"Come on!" Keji yelled, rushing down the hall past before the smoke even cleared. It had been like this for the last half an hour, and time was running out! First it was the Pikachu and Raichu, then a group of Magnemites attacked, then the Pikachu found him again, finally there were these Voltorbs. What next?!
"Ton!" Magneton yelled with an almost pleased voice. Keji burst through the smoke and debris to see a large metal door.
"Is that it?!" He asked, pleased.
"Ton ton ton!" Magneton yelled, bouncing up and down in mid-air.
"Alright! Now we just have to do something about this bomb!" He yelled, bursting through the conveniently unlocked door... and ramming into a five foot tall form. Keji foudn himself staring into two very angry looking eyes.
"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZ!" It screamed, and he was thrown back by a powerful electrical blast, right into the wall.
"BONE!" Cubone yelled, bursting into the room. He found a comfortable spot to get thrown to with yet another burst of electricity, knocking him out cold.
"Magneton?!" Magneton flew into the room and took another blast, throwing it out of the door.
Keji groaned and looked up to see a humanoid Pokémon. It sported yellow fur with black stripes, had two large, powerful arms, and an angry looking face.
"What... I've never seen that before..." he muttered, pulling out his Pokédex.
Electabuzz
An Electrical Pokémon. It has a poor temperment and short temper, and should not be crossed by any but the most experienced Pokémon Trainer.
Most Electabuzz are approximately 3 feet tall.
"Ellllllectabuzz!" It bellowed and charged Keji, swinging its fists. Keji jumped aside, ignoring his aching body, and avoiding a powerful blow.
"WOW! This one's HUGE!" Keji yelled, surprised. Suddenly a glint of metal caught his eye. A large capsule, laying on the ground in the middle of the room, with a digital timer and a blood red "R" on it.
"The bomb!" Keji quickly avoiding another attack, "Scyther, stop this thing!" He yelled, throwing out the Pokéball in midleap.
"Electaaaaaabuzz!" Electabuzz charged at Keji, but the newly formed Scyther blocked its charge with a tackle, throwing it aside.
Keji rushed to the device, checking his watch. Twenty minutes left.
"What now...?" he muttered, over the roars and grunts of the battle in the room.
"Alright, now where is the core, Elise?" Jenny asked as they stepped into the main entry of the Power Plant.
"I don't know if we'll be able to make it... the Pokémon are still on the attack." Elise muttered.
"But we need to help Keji!" Rei shot back tensely.
"We won't be help to anyone if we're dead, Rei." Jenny said, "We need to think. Is there any way to reach him?"
"Yes, there's a phone in the Core, and one of the control rooms is very close to here... we could probably get there without much trouble..."
"How's a phone going to help us?" Rei asked, "We need to be there to help him!"
"If there is a bomb, then Keji will need my help to deactivate it..." Jenny said, turning to Rei and putting her hand on her shoulder, "If he's even in the core. It will also let us know if he's made it."
Rei nodded and sighed. It wasn't the solution she hoped for, but it would have to do, "Ok..." she muttered.
"Good. Elise... lead us to this control room."
Elise nodded and the trio began the short trek to the control room, hoping they met no resistance.
"SCY!" Scyther yelled as another powerful punch from Electabuzz connected to his jaw.
Keji looked up from his examination of the bomb and cringed. Scyther wasn't in peak performance, after the Magnemites and the Voltorbs.
"Scyyyyther!" Scyther slashed wildly twice, and, at first, Keji thought he was reverting back to his old hotheaded tactics, but as the Electabuzz dodged both blows, Scyther swept his foot under the somewhat slower Pokémon, dropping him to the floor.
"Elllllleeeect!" Electabuzz exclaimed as it hit the ground.
Scyther growled and leapt atop the fallen Pokémon, his blades aimed downwards, but was stopped by it, cutting Scyther's attack just short of Electabuzz's face.
Keji wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. Scyther was holding his own, so he could try and disarm this bomb. Suddenly... the phone rang?
Keji frowned. A phone? He looked around wildly. Indeed, there was a phone directly behind him. He spun and rushed to it, picking it up. He didn't care who it was. He was willing to ask a phone salesman for help now.
"Hello?!" Keji practically yelled into the phone.
"This is Officer Jenny of the Pewter Police force. I presume I am talking to Keji?"
"YES!" Keji yelled, relieved, "I need help!"
"I know, you're going to have to listen to me very closely and do everything I tell you!"
Keji nodded profusely, "Ok, shoot!" He was willing to stand on his head and juggle Voltorbs if it would save the plant.
"First, you are going to have to describe the bomb to me..."
"Ok, it's... AAAH!" Keji yelled, his sentence cut off by his scream of surprise as Scyther slammed into the wall beside him.
"THER SCY!" Scyther yelled, leaping on top of Keji, dropping him to the ground just in time to avoid the large bolt of electricity Electabuzz hurled at them.
"Keji...? Hello?!"
"I'M OK!" He yelled, hoping the receiver would pick his voice up.
"BUUUZZ!" Electabuzz raised his arms again, crackling energy flying between them, ready for another attack.
"AGILITY SCYTHER!"
Suddenly, before Electabuzz knew what was going on, Scyther had flung himself into it, throwing it back, and sending its blast of electricity into the ceiling above Keji.
"What is going on down there?!" Jenny yelled into the phone.
Keji grabbed it, "There's an Electabuzz down here!" he looked over at the bomb, "And there's 10 minutes left!"
"Great... what does it look like?"
"It's a metal capsule, about... 3 feet long, round... has a digital clock on it... and the Rocket "R"..."
"Sounds like an R-76 to me... you need to find a removable panel... it should be opposite the clock."
"Ok." Keji said, his voice shakey. He put the phone on the ground and ran to the bomb, casting a quick glance at Scyther and Electabuzz. The electric Pokémon was busy hurling bolts at the rapidly moving Scyther, missing by miles. Keji counted his blessings that Scyther was taking Electabuzz's attention away from him.
He turned back to the bomb and rolled it over. There it was, and it looked screwed on tight.
"Great..." He muttered.
"Ton!" Magneton floated over to him, seemingly out of nowhere, causing him to jump and spin in surprise.
"Magneton!" He said happily, "Get this panel off for me!"
"Magneton ton ton!" Magneton nodded happily, setting two magnets on the panel, and dragging the entire bomb across the floor.
"No! Wait!" Keji yelled, grabbing the bomb and holding it in both hands as Magneton pulled. After a few moments of straining, Keji flew backwards as the panel tore out, flinging Magneton against the wall.
"Thanks bud!" Keji yelled.
"BUZZ!" One blast hit Scyther, flinging him against one of the walls with enough force to shake the room slightly, and another blast flew at Keji.
"NO!" Keji yelled, dropping the bomb and throwing his hands in front of his face.
"MAAAGNETON!" Magneton darted in the path of the blast, taking the electricity, and throwing him into Keji, as they both fell to the ground.
"You... you saved me!"
"T...t.. ton..." Is said weakily.
"Thanks Magneton... I promise to get you healed..." he said softly, opening a Pokéball and sucking Magneton into its depths.
"BUUUUUUUUZZ!" Electabuzz yelled, charging another burst, but a slash from its side, dropped it to the ground in pain.
"Hold it off a bit longer Scyther!" Keji yelled, noting his Pokémon's weak looking condition. He was slightly slumped when he haulted and gave Keji a nod, and panting hard. Keji had to finish this soon. He ran back to the phone.
"After considerable distress, the panel has been removed."
A sigh of relief came over the phone, "Good... we were starting to worry up here!"
"What next?"
"How much time is left?" Jenny asked, sounding tense.
Keji looked at the clock. 5 minutes. "Enough. What next?"
"What colors are in there?"
"Let's see..."
The slumping and weakened form of the Rocket that had escaped Rei and Elise crested a nearby hill, meeting a shadow, dark figure.
"What are you doing here?! Don't you think I can handle this?!" He yelled angrily.
"Pah. You've failed already!" The figure responded, his cape billowing around him.
"Not yet, pal." He chuckled in response, pulling out his all purpose device, "This is my plan B..."
"Plan... B?" The figure chuckled, "Maybe I've underestimated you..."
"I'm the one that saved you" He smiled, pressing a button, and laughing maniacally.
"Now cut the blue wire next..." Jenny said. Keji could hear she was shaking, worried.
"Alright..." Suddenly everything went black.
"What's that?!" Jenny yelled. Keji could hear Rei and Elise saying things in the background.
"Did you guys do that...? Ha ha ha... funny... now turn them back on..."
"SCY!" Scyther yelled, and a blast of electricity and silence.
"Quick! What wire?!" Keji yelled.
"You can't see! How will you know!?" Jenny yelled back.
"I remember, quickly, there's a ticked off Electabuzz down here with me!"
"Uh... YELLOW!" Jenny yelled quickly.
Keji grabbed a wire. He lied... he didn't remember a thing. He watched the count down... seconds left.
"BUUUUUZZ!" Electabuzz yelled angrily, knowing he was there, but knowing where.
He took his hand out. Maybe it was this wire.
Footsteps coming towards him...
No... the first one.
"Eleeeeectabuuuuuuuuuzz!" It yelled.
Keji ripped the wire out and braced himself, his eyes closed.
He opened his eyes and looked at the clock... perpetually frozen at 1.
"Electa... BUH!" Electabuzz bellowed, but was knocked aside, seconds from bashing Keji with his fists. Scyther was back in the game.
"I DID IT!" Keji yelled. He could hear cheers in the phone.
"Scyther!" Keji yelled, looking around. Suddenly the lights flared on.
"What was that?!" Keji asked into the phone.
"Just over riding some faulty programming..." Elise's voice came over the phone with a certain amount of uncharacteristic pride from the usually meek and mild young lady.
Keji looked over and saw that Electabuzz was pummeling Scyther with blows.
"Scyther, double team!" Keji yelled.
Scyther nodded, and the next punch Electabuzz threw was dodged by Scyther seemingly split in two, and both of the Scythers, flying around Electabuzz, jumping in and out of range, to confuse him.
"ELLLLLLLECTABUZZ!" Electabuzz spun and blasted one of the Scyther's with an electrical bolt, causing it to blink out of existance. He spun to meet the eyes of Scyther.
"SCYTHEEEER!" Scyther yelled, crossing his blades right in the eyes of Electabuzz, reflecting the lights into its eyes, causing a bellow of pain to erupt as Electabuzz's hands reached up to shield itself from the sudden blast.
"GREAT!" Keji yelled, jumping into the air, "Finish it!"
"SCY!" Two slashes across the chest, and a powerful tackle sent Electabuzz tumbling through the room.
"Yeah! Great job! Pokéball, GO!" Keji yelled, throwing a Pokéball at Electabuzz, capturing the Pokémon in its depths.
Keji grabbed the phone, "All quiet here!"
"I just released the Pokémon from the Rocket's control," Elise said happily, "It seems the Rockets needed to use our computer to control them all."
"Excellent! That mean I'll be able to get out of here without any attacks?"
"Well, Rei looks about ready to tackle you..." Elise giggled, with a faint, "hey" from Rei in the background. Keji laughed as well, though he knew his face must have been as red as Rei's.
"The plant is still there, Guido." The cloaked figure said with a strained, angry voice.
"Yes, looks like I pulled a Hunter..." Guido chuckled.
"Watch it!" The figure yelled.
"Or have I?" The other man laughed, pulling out a Pokéball and walking calmly away.
The other figure's brow furrowed, but his face lightened a bit as he recognized it, "I did underestimate you Guido... excellent work..." He laughed.
"I aim to please..." Guido returned with a laugh of his own.
What plan do these diabolical miscreants have in plan!? What evil, terrible, nefarious scheme could they be hatching?! Don't they ever learn? Keji always wins! This was a great victory for Keji... but was it a victory at all...? Hmmmmmmm...
Come see all the action at Keji's Pokémon Gym!
