Ember POV.
I stared in stunned silence as the golden ball hit Dragonair. "Celebi damn it," Dragonair said emotionlessly as he vanished into the Pokeball. The human in the green suit, who I recognized as one of the Rocket trainers, smirked as the Hunter Ball's lock clicked, announcing to the room that Dragonair had been captured. Spark let out a wail of anguish, which caused me to wince from the earsplitting volume of the wail. My mind had blanked completely, too shocked by the rapid events to move or even to think. The green suited man (conveniently named Robin Green, although only a few Rocket Pokémon actually knew his name) picked up the Hunter Ball that held Dragonair.
"Looks like the traitor was caught," he said smugly, using his other Pokeball to withdraw his Charizard. I was starting to recover from the shock of seeing Dragonair defeated and captured, and I felt a brief surge of fury. Nothing strong, but definitely there. In the back of my mind, I knew that the actual realization of what happened hadn't completely sunk in. Venomoth was looking similarly surprised, but then again, she had stopped her former trainer from doing the same thing, although she seemed to have forgotten this detail.
"You bastard," I whispered at the human. He completely ignored me, but unlike Dragonair, I didn't have one of the collars that helped humans understand me. Where did he get that thing anyway? I ran towards Green, baring my claws and leaping towards him. The human saw me out of the corner of his eye and swung his fist, striking me in the head. I saw stars flash and landed on my back painfully. "Damn it!" I muttered, slowly crawling back to my feet. Green laughed and dangled the Hunter Ball in front of us.
"Aw, did you want this?" he sneered, tossing the ball backwards to one of the grunts. "You know what to do," he said, pulling out the other Pokeball from his jacket. The grunt hurried from the room and I yelled in frustration, sending a large fireball at Green, knocking the Pokeball from his hand. Venomoth glowed, using a psychic wave to prevent the ball from opening. Green looked somewhat alarmed by this development and fled from the room.
"Mew damn this!" I yelled furiously, running after the Rocket grunt that had been given the Hunter Ball.
"Ember!" Venomoth called after me, but I ignored her, focused on retrieving the main leader of our group. In all honesty, without Dragonair, we were almost helpless to find the Pichu's parents. I knew Spark trusted Dragonair more than me, although he was content to ride on my tail. I growled slightly as I raced up the stairs the grunt had run up, reaching the top in record time. I kicked open the door at the top and looked down the corridor frantically, spotting the grunt as he turned a corner.
"Mew damn it!" I snarled, running after the human, ignoring the beginning of the stitch in my side. I was not used to running much, but time was short. I reached the end of the corridor the grunt had gone, spotting an open door. I ran in, spotting the grunt again as he stood near a strange machine. He gasped as he noticed me, still clutching the Hunter Ball. I bared my claws and growled threateningly. "Give me the ball, NOW!" I snarled, hoping the tone of my voice and obvious threats of violence would get the message across.
"You want it? Too bad," the grunt mocked, placing the ball on a platform and pressing a button. There was a crackle of electricity and the Hunter Ball was sucked into a tube. My eyes narrowed furiously.
"You burn now," I said coldly, sending a massive stream of flames at the human, ignoring his yells of pain. I ran forward and slammed my fist into him, knocking him unconscious. I panted; feeling far more tired than normal, and hastened to examine the machine. It was a Pokeball transportation machine, but I managed to print off a report of where the last transport was to. "Good, he's still in Kanto," I said with a small snarl, leaving the room, still enraged by my failure and the situation altogether.
"The pain is overwhelming, isn't it?" asked a small voice from nearby. I turned to glare at the speaker, a small female Rattata that was peeking out at me from some form of air duct.
"I'm not in the mood!" I snapped. The Rattata nodded knowingly.
"You hormonal or something? Isn't the Charmander mating season in a few weeks?" the Rattata asked and my eyes narrowed in fury.
"You're this close from being roasted alive, rat! What the hell do you want?" I demanded.
"Forgive me, miss. I am a simple Rattata who happened to be in the area of this Rocket facility and decided to sneak in searching for food. Instead I see a Charmander who appears angry about a Pokeball being transported. Care to fill me in?" the Rattata asked kindly. I glared at the Rattata silently.
"No. I'm leaving the base now," I replied coldly. The Rattata sighed.
"This vent leads outside, just break it open," the Rattata said. I nodded, focusing my energy into my fist before slamming it into the grate, the Mega Punch breaking it off. "Nice punch. Follow me, Miss," the Rattata said. I followed cautiously and true to the Rattata's word, found myself outside the base.
"Thanks...er...what's your name?" I asked. The Rattata smiled.
"My name is Greta, what's yours?" she replied.
"Ember," I said. The Rattata sat down, facing me.
"So, Ember, what business did you have in that facility?" she asked.
"It's a long story. A friend and I were trying to help find a Pichu kit's parents that the Rockets captured. We failed the first time and tracked the information here. We were attacked and my friend got captured. I followed, but was too late to stop them from transporting him to a different base," I said bitterly. Greta nodded understandingly.
"Was this a...close, intimate friend?" she asked cautiously. I nearly choked, trying not to laugh.
"Hell no. He's a Dragonair and already has a mate," I said after regaining my composure.
"I understand. I apologize if I insulted you," Greta said humbly. I shook my head.
"I got to meet up with the rest of my group. I hope they got out alright," I said. As if to answer my question, Venomoth and Spark seemed to appear from the side of the building.
"Oh good, you're here. Any luck?" Venomoth asked, while Spark studied the Rattata curiously.
"No. He got transported to the base near Celadon City," I replied, showing her the report I printed. Venomoth sighed slightly.
"It's a complication, but we don't really have much choice, do we?" she said wearily.
"Hi! Me Spark!" Spark said to Greta, who was looking at the Pichu with slight interest.
"You're going to Celadon?" Greta asked and we nodded. "I'm heading in that direction. Mind if I tag along?" she asked.
"I guess not," I replied, not really caring about the Rattata at all. It could just be because of the stressful situation that led us to meet, but I felt somewhat uneasy around her. "Why are you heading to Celadon?" I asked her and she paused for a moment, her yellow eyes flashing in annoyance.
"I'm looking for an old acquaintance. I'm trying to resolve an old conflict," she said, the yellow eyes gleaming almost dangerously, but when I blinked the expression was gone. I yawned, feeling the exhaustion from the earlier events of the past day or so catching up with me. I was probably just imagining things.
"Well, we're turning in for now. I'm beat," I said, stretching. Venomoth and Spark wordlessly agreed. Greta seemed unbothered, her yellow eyes scanning the area for a sleeping area.
"That's fine. After all, I'm possessed...with fatigue," Greta said, giggling to herself for a full minute before sleeping. I gave the Rattata a strange look and shrugged before curling up under a tree. Spark slept next to my tail flame and Venomoth wrapped her wings around her body to sleep. I stared at the sky, lost in thought. It might take a few days to reach Celadon, even if we took a shortcut through Saffron. Then we could work out a plan to save Dragonair.