Chapter 37
It had been a little more than forty minutes before Silver could see a Team Rocket helicopter on the horizon, coming from the northeast. It touched down in a wide-open grassy area. Out stepped the renowned Rocket scientist, Anthony Nelson, who was wearing his usual getup: a white lab coat that hung down to his feet, barely making his brown pants visible from underneath. His light purple-colored hair seemed to highlight his rectangular-rimmed glasses that rested on his large nose, which jutted out a few inches from his face.
Silver spotted the short scientist from afar and came walking up to him. He greeted Nelson with kindness in his voice; all contempt from many weeks ago had completely vanished.
"Hi there, Nelson!" Silver said.
"Hello, Silver," responded the scientist.
Silver was about to continue, but he stopped himself when he saw a familiar figure step out of the helicopter after Anthony. It was the scientist's grandson, Art Nelson, the executive who showed such disdain for Silver a little more than half a week ago.
Even though the time had been short since he left, Silver had felt like Team Rocket and all the stress he experienced there was a thing of the past when he was with Chase and Jason.
Art wore his purple suit with the big red "R" sown onto his breast pocket, and he had a darker shade of purple in his hair than Anthony did, due to the fact that he was younger. He stood with one foot in the helicopter's door and looked at his grandfather with an expression that said, "Why are you being so nice to him?"
"Hey, Art!" Silver exclaimed, trying to strike up a conversation.
Art just stared crossly at Silver, then said to Anthony, "Grandfather, hurry. We must get back to headquarters as fast as we can."
"You're right," Nelson replied softly. "Come on, Silver. It's time to get you home."
With that, the short, purple-haired man stepped into the helicopter as Art moved aside to let his grandfather through. When Silver attempted to enter, the young Nelson threw himself in front and shot a glance of contempt over his shoulder, much like the look Anthony gave the redhead back when they were fighting. Art followed his elder, turning a cold shoulder to Silver as he climbed into the aircraft. The only thing Silver could do was shrug and think to himself, "Just when you think you've made amends with one Nelson, another ends up disliking you."
The helicopter took off and was on its way back to headquarters. In a short while, they could see the open hanger door, and Silver felt it had been much longer than a few days since he had last been here. He couldn't help but feel that Jason was right in saying he should stay out of Team Rocket's affairs. "But, what about Dad?" Silver thought as he reflected on his friend's words. He couldn't just abandon Giovanni after how long it took to find him.
Silver was still deep in thought and was staring at the floor when the helicopter touched down. He was oblivious to Anthony walking out of the aircraft, but snapped back into reality when he noticed Art glaring at him from just outside the helicopter's door. The young Trainer said nothing and stood up to leave, but when everyone else had walked away, the Executive got right up in Silver's face and said, "Now, you listen and you listen good. Stay away from my grandfather."
Silver jerked away and replied, "Hey, what's your problem? I haven't done anything!"
"Oh, don't act so innocent with me," Art said sternly. "We both know what kind of delinquent you are."
"What?"
"You humiliated my grandfather in front of everyone and act as if it were nothing!"
"But, I…" Silver's memory was jogged, and he remembered the first time he encountered Anthony in the Mt. Silver base. Silver felt bad for acting the way he did, but he and Nelson had since resolved their issues with each other. "Hey, look. I've talked to your grandfather about it and we've come to an understanding," Silver explained.
Art backed off, but the contempt in his eyes remained as he turned to walk away. Silver took a deep breath, then made his way out of the hanger and into the main hallway.
Just down the hall stood Giovanni with Anthony and a few other Rocket scientists. The boss's face lit up when he saw his son coming.
"Ah, Silver. Come, I'd like to show you something."
The group walked to another hanger. There rested a brand new airship, fitted with high-tech mechanisms.
"Silver," Nelson started, "let me introduce to you my finest work! It's an airship capable of hauling thousands of pounds of cargo! It has a state-of-the-art navigation device, and it has been fully tested!"
Giovanni turned to Silver. "How about we take it for a demonstration flight?"
Back in Fuchsia City, Chase and Jason were sitting outside on the grass, watching Chase's Pokémon play around with Jason's Houndoom and Ampharos.
Charmeleon and Haunter were chasing Houndoom around in a game of tag, and Politoed played patty-cake with Ampharos while Butterfree and Pidgeotto flew around them.
"Well," Jason said as he turned towards Chase, "I never could have guessed that any of this would happen to me."
"Yeah?" Chase responded. "What do you mean?"
"Like, meeting up with you to combat Team Rocket, then meeting Silver and agreeing to help defeat his crazed psychic clone, all the while, you and Silver were chosen by your Power Stones. You know, that kind of stuff."
"Hey, I wouldn't have ever dreamed any of this stuff would happen, either." With that, Chase laid back and looked up at the clear, blue sky. Jason smiled and resumed watching their Pokémon scamper about.
He thought quietly for a bit, and then said, "Say, where do you think you want to go next?"
The younger Trainer sat up and crossed his arms in thought. "You know, I haven't really decided yet."
"There's a cruise that leaves from here and heads to Cinnabar Island this afternoon. Do you want to try and board it?"
"That's a great idea! I could challenge the Gym there. Let's round up the Pokémon and get over to the docks!"
They returned all of their Pokémon and hurried down to the Fuchsia docks, which were south of the Pokémon Center. The boat was just about to shove off when they arrived, but the two friends were able to buy tickets and climb aboard.
As they got on, they noticed that many Trainers had gathered on the large deck, with all of their Pokémon out playing around or resting.
Chase read the little pamphlet of information he grabbed from the ticket booth. It stated the cruise would take a total of two days to reach Cinnabar Island.
Jason was the first to take advantage of the opportunity and immediately changed out of his dingy military-oriented clothing, and into a hot-pink shirt with white tropical flower designs on them, blue shorts, and his cowboy hat. The two of them let their teams out again to let them enjoy the cruise. Except, Jason couldn't let some of his Pokémon out; they were much too big to be allowed on the deck by the crew, and so he only released Houndoom and Ampharos, along with a Feraligatr of his. The Pokémon he could not send out were Salamence, Torterra, and his Metagross.
There was a small pool on the deck that Politoed immediately jumped into. As it was submerged, it caught Feraligatr's curiosity. The Big Jaw Pokémon slowly approached the pool's edge and bent over to look into the water. Politoed popped up and playfully squirted Feraligatr in the face with a Water Gun. Infuriated, it opened its humongous jaws and attempted to bite.
"Feraligatr!" Jason exclaimed sternly. "Don't you dare eat Chase's Pokémon!"
Feraligatr, with its eyes fixed on Jason, reeled back and closed its mouth. The Frog Pokémon heaved a sigh of relief. Feraligatr extended a hand of friendship, hoping to apologize for almost making Politoed its lunch. It reluctantly shook hands, accepting the apology.
The two Water-types became good friends after that, and they hung out in the pool together most of the time.
Later, the group was still out on the deck. Chase and Jason had both fallen asleep in the white-colored lounge chairs they were sitting in, and the Pokémon continued to play. Other Trainers would occasionally go up there, but most of them were below deck in the food court.
But then, the drone of engines could be heard. All the Pokémon looked up to see a colossal aircraft emerging from the cover of a cloud.
Charmeleon gingerly approached Chase and poked him in the shoulder. Once he had opened his eyes, Chase saw it and jumped out of his chair to wake Jason.
People started to pour onto the deck and crowded around the railings to watch as the airship inched closer to a group of islands that were up ahead.
"Those are the Seafoam Islands," Jason muttered.
The giant flying structure continued forward, and when it was close enough, strange, cylinder-like objects protruded from its hull. Suddenly, it shot a bomb down at the islands that exploded upon impact.
"What is it doing?" Chase cried.
Jason replied, "Whatever it is, it isn't good."
The airship continued to shower the islands with blasts from its cannons without any sign of letting up.
Inside the airship, Giovanni was seated behind the pilot and copilot, giving orders on what to do next. The cockpit that they were in was bigger than normal, with large glass windows at the front that stretched around to the sides.
Silver stood next to Giovanni's elevated chair, and listened to his father going off on a tangent. He had been talking about his airship's capabilities for quite awhile.
"Yes, it is only a matter of time," said Giovanni.
"Until what?" Silver asked.
"Until I obtain one of the missing components of my plan."
Back on the boat, Chase and Jason had to return their Pokémon to avoid losing them in the crowd. It was starting to get out of hand.
More and more bombs were shot, causing major damage. They blew a hole in the rock wall of one of the islands to reveal a hollow cavern. Chase and Jason could only watch in dismay as the rocks crumbled all around.
A Rocket operator exclaimed, "Sir!"
"What is it?" Giovanni asked.
"We've picked up sounds from deep within the islands' caverns! We've also picked up something on the radar. And it's moving fast!"
Suddenly, a blur of blue color emerged from the hole that was made earlier. Everyone on the boat gasped in astonishment at seeing the legendary Pokémon Articuno appear.
"Yes!" Giovanni exclaimed. "Dispatch a team to weaken that Articuno!"
Four Rockets opened a large sliding door on the side of the airship. They released two Arcanine, a Flareon, and a Ninetails, and ordered them to use Flamethrower.
The Ice-, Flying-type was caught off guard and was hit, weakening it greatly. But, the legendary bird refused to give up, and shot an Ice Beam at its assailants. The Rockets and their Pokémon leaped out of the way just in time, but now, one of the inside walls of the aircraft had a patch of ice on it. Their Pokémon resumed attacking.
From the cruise liner, Chase and Jason couldn't believe their eyes. Some passengers were upset, while others speculated worriedly about what was going on.
"We've got to help!" Chase said to his friend.
"I know, but I'm just not sure how…"
Articuno was hit hard with all four Flamethrowers, and it fluttered weakly high above the ocean waves.
A Rocket aimed the capture device at the Articuno from a turret on the side of the airship, looking through a scope and readying himself for the shot.
"I've got it!" Jason exclaimed. He released Salamence and hopped on its back, then began flying up to the hurt Articuno in an attempt to help. But before he could get there, the Rocket's weapon was shot, and Articuno was caught in some sort of net. The legendary Pokémon went limp, knowing that struggling would only tire it out even more. A powerful rope and pulley system reeled the captured Pokémon into the ship's hull.
Jason commanded Salamence to use a Flamethrower to try and burn the rope, but a Rocket intercepted the attack with his Pidgeot that knew Protect. It was too late, and Team Rocket had captured their target. The airship began to fly off towards the northeast, but Silver ran up to the front window and gazed out at the figure riding on the Salamence.
"Jason?" he murmured as the ship turned.
Jason landed on the deck and returned his Salamence to its Poké Ball, and apologized to Chase that there was nothing he could do.
"At least you tried," the boy sympathized.
"But I feel like I could have helped that Articuno," he replied ruefully.
The crowd dissipated as Team Rocket vanished behind some clouds, not to be seen again.
After a few minutes and when no one was around, Jason nudged Chase and said, "You know, at the sight of Team Rocket, I got to thinking about Silver."
"Yeah?"
"I just hope he hasn't gotten too mixed up with them. I mean, what would his father think if he knew Silver had joined Team Rocket, even if for a short time?"
"Well, if he were anything like my dad, he'd probably be furious. But, let's not get too concerned about it. I'm sure Silver will work everything out."
"I suppose you're right." The two smiled and went on to enjoy the rest of their cruise.
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