As is tradition here, lets go over the reviews of the previous chapter.
To both one of the guest and ENDDRAGON369: Indeed they are, and their stories are probably going to be a bit shorter than Bulbasaur. If you wonder the reason, its because the Hidden Village is a concept that simply wishes to be explore even more than the origin stories for both Charmander and Squirtle. But then again, there's also the chance that I'll go a bit overboard like last time. I'll see what to do when the time comes.
nazareno224455: Como mencionado anteriormente, Yellow aparecera en un futuro. Puede que sea en un posible futuro lejano (depende de que tan rapido actualice) pero de que aparece, aparece.
Alex: For the time being, shippings won't be a priority, but I'll keep it in mind.
The guest, who I believe is probably not the same that wrote the other long reviews but it's still welcome nontheless: Glad to see that you enjoyed the arc. It was at first going to be a bit shorter, but the more I thought about the Hidden Village the more I wanted to explore it. I don't mind that you point out the grammar errors. As said before, it helps me improve, also yes, her first name is a reference to her japanese nname, glad you liked that detail.
Well, that's it for now, enjoy.
Chapter 12: Fans and Clubs!
It was a beautiful day on the Kanto region.
The sky was blue, the bird Pokémon were happily flying through the clouds. The water types swam carefree across the many rivers and lakes of the region. Humans and Pokémon were all enjoying the fresh air of the day. Meanwhile, somewhere on the many forest of the region, two capable trainers were currently on their way to Vermillion city.
Their goal?
To conquer the Vermillion Gym and grow stronger to defeat the criminal organization known as team Rocket.
"How long until we get to Vermillion city?" – asked Red.
"Three, maybe four days... I'm not entirely sure." – replied Misty. – "If what my sisters said is true then there's probably a town nearby. We could probably take a breather there."
"Not a bad idea, let's go then!" – shouted Red as he started to run, leaving a worried Misty behind.
"Wait a minute, Red! Don't leave me alone!" – she shouted as she started to chase after the black-haired trainer.
Ever since their staying on Cerulean city both Red and Misty have grown closer together. Misty learned that Red was a pretty talented trainer, but also a bit arrogant because of that. Although, after spending time with someone that could actually battle him as an equal did calmed him down. As for Red, he learned that Misty apparently had a phobia to bug type Pokémon. Apparently, she had some sort of bad experience with a bug type when she was just a baby and ever since then she became unable to stand the mere sight of them without freaking out.
While not as bad as Blue's phobia towards bird Pokémon, Red couldn't help but to draw the comparison between the two of them. With that knowledge in mind, Red made sure to try and not catch bug types while around Misty, or at the very least not have them as members of his team. Not that he minded that much, while he did like certain bug types, he couldn't imagine himself using them for combat. Ash on the other hand, he's more likely to catch a bug type than him, more specifically either a Caterpie or a Weedle, mainly because of an experience he had once when he was younger. Good thing Misty is traveling with him and not Ash.
It was also good that at the very least they had yet to encounter many bug types. Still, they should probably buy tents in case they ever need to sleep in an area in which bug types thrive.
"By the way, do you have a plan to beat the Vermillion city Gym?" – asked Misty.
"Not really. I asked your sisters if they could help me out, but they said that Gym leaders didn't snitch on each other or something. Sakura just told me to take him as serious as I could." – responded Red.
"That's good to hear. For what I know, that Gym leader has a reputation of sending the challenger's Pokémon to the E.R." – said Misty.
Red was rather shocked to hear this. While Sakura warned him about that Gym leader, he never expected him to be that ruthless. He then remembered that she also mentioned that the only other Gym leader more ruthless than him was the Gym leader of Saffron city. With people like that in charge of the Gyms no wonder hardly anyone challenged them all.
"Ash better take this serious, otherwise he's going to be pulverized." – thought Red.
After some more walking, the two trainers found themselves in front of the entrance of a decently large city. Not too big to be compared to Saffron city and not too small compared to some of the smallest cities of the region. One thing was sure, it was bigger than Pallet town.
"Maebashi city, where the greenery thrives and songs are written." – read Misty out loud.
"Greenery?" – asked Red. The two of them then noticed that despite the size of the city, it was covered in trees and flowers. – "Well, guess that explains one part of the name."
"The other part is probably because of the fact that a lot of poets and musicians came from here. I remember hearing about that once." – said Misty.
"Who told you?"
"My sisters. They may not be that interest in Pokémon battles, but they're basically experts when it comes to this kind of things." – said Misty.
The two of then then walked in and marveled at the sight. Beautiful flowers bloomed everywhere they turned. Multiple fountains beautifully designed filled the place as Grass types passed by as they pleased.
Even someone as dense as Red and someone as uninterested in the arts as Misty had to stop every so often to admire the beauty of the place. Misty was sure that her sisters would love to walk these streets and Red knew that his parents would love to take pictures of the whole place. Even Green had to admit that this city was something else. It was as if man and nature co-existed in harmony, something similar to Pallet town to a certain degree, but in a much larger scale.
The two soon grew hungry and decided to go look for a place to eat. That was until they saw the park that was in the middle of the city. It looked too good to ignore, so they decided to buy a few things to have a picnic in the middle under the shade of a massive Zelkova tree. Next to it, was a beautiful pond of clean water were multiple water types could be seen swimming to their hearts content.
The two of them quickly set things up, placing a blanket beneath the tree while letting their Pokémon out so that they too could enjoy of the fresh air. Misty pulled Starmie, Staryu and a Goldeene while Red let out Poli, Pika and Saur, whom during his training in Cerulean city managed to evolve to his second stage Ivysaur. The grass type was now larger than before, his skin color became a bit blue and where the bulb on his back used to be now resided what seemed to be a pink flower preparing to bloom.
Both Red and Misty then pulled some sandwiches that they had bought alongside a few cans of soda so that they could eat something. They also pulled some food to feed their Pokémon as well. The fresh air, the rejuvenating breeze of summer alongside the nice smell of the flowers around them. Sure, they were just eating a couple of sandwiches that they bought at a store, but the atmosphere was just so right that they could have eat canned food and still have a good time.
Once they were done, the two trainers decided to relax a bit more and allowed their Pokémon to play some more. Misty's Pokémon seemed really excited, probably because of the pond next to them, the aquarium back at Cerulean was nice, but there was something about that body of water that was simply hypnotic to the Pokémon belonging to the water specialist. Goldeen in particular was having a lot of fun swimming there (for more than obvious reasons).
The two trainers simply sat back and relaxed, that was until they suddenly heard someone squeal in excitement.
"By Arceus, just look at those Pokémon!" – someone said.
Both Red and Misty turned to see who was the person that said that. Who they saw, was a man in what seemed to be a black business suit. He looked to be somewhat old, probably around the same age as professor Oak if not a bit older since he also had a cane with him. He white hair, a mustache, a beard and was wearing both a pair of sunglasses and a black fedora.
The man quickly rushed closer to the trainers Pokémon so that he could admired them better while gushing about how cute they all were. Both Red and Misty found his actions and attitude a bit... odd to say the least. Their Pokémon felt similar to their trainer as well as a bit annoyed by the man that just appeared out of nowhere and seemed to not understand the meaning of the words 'personal space'. Pika in particular seemed particularly irritated and was about to shock the man if not for the intervention of Starmie, Staryu and Saur telling him not to do it. Poli didn't seem to care about it and was almost about to encourage him to do it. As for Goldeen, well, she was having way too much fun swimming to care.
"They are amazing! Simply amazing! Just look at them all!" –he screamed.
"Umm, excuse us..." – said Red, getting closer to the man.
"Mmm?" – the man turned to meet the two confused kids. – "Would you two happen to be their trainers?"
"Yeah, and you are?" – asked Misty.
"Oh my, sorry! I must have got carried away." – apologized the man before introducing himself. – "My name is Katsuji Ishizuka, chairman of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub. Please, who do I owe the pleasure of talking to?"
"Well, I'm Red."
"I'm Misty, is... nice to meet you mister... I guess." – said Misty, while muttering the last part. He didn't seem to be a bad person, but, well. You would be a bit wary too if a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere to gush about your Pokémon.
"Well then. Red, Misty, it is my pleasure to welcome you two to our beloved organization!" – exclaimed the man.
"... Wait what?" – asked the trainers.
"Isn't it obvious? From now on you two are now honorary members of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub!" – said the man in excitement to the two new members.
"... Wait what?" – asked the two kids once more.
How did that happen?
"Remind me again why are you here?" – asked Green to his newly gained companion while the two were traversing the woods.
"Oh, come on Green. 'Course I wouldn't miss the opportunity to hang out with a friend." – said A.J.
"And who said we were friends? You just decided to tag along after I beat you and you gave me food." – thought Green.
"Besides, I never met any of the Gym folks, and since ya're challenging them it's the perfect opportunity to finally meet them!" –exclaimed A.J.
"Fine, just don't blame if or when they disappoint you, got it?"
"Meh, if they do, I can always ask ya for a rematch." – said A.J. – "Besides, maybe I can meet some strong folks like ya Green. I heard that so far there are some strong trainers for this year's league."
"Please, aside from me the only ones that seemed to be descent trainers are a guy I know named Red and maybe you." – scoffed Green.
"Ahh, thanks pal. See, this is why we're friends." – said A.J.
"Again, we're not friends, you just decided to stick around like a Remoraid sticks to a Mantine's wing." – thought Green once more. – "I am just stating facts, so far you've been the only guy that has lasted more than a minute in a one-on-one battle against me. And as much as it pains me to say it, Red is no slouch. Now hurry up, I want to beat the Vermillion Gym as soon as possible."
"Got it pal." – said A.J, as the two increased their pace. – "Speaking of the Vermillion Gym though, any strategies to beat it?"
"Well, I know that the Gym leader there specializes in electric type Pokémon. The only type that has an immunity and is strong against them are ground types." – green explained to his companion. – "If I remember correctly, Digglett's cave is right next to Vermillion city and as the name implies, you can find Diglett and Dugtrio there, as well as other ground types. So, once we get there I'll simply try and catch one of them, train them and then use it to beat the Gym."
"Makes sense to me. But, now that I think about it, isn't it a little, don't know, dumb to build an electric Gym right next to a cave filled with Pokémon that are strong against electric types?" – asked A.J.
"I know right? It's like they're just asking to get humiliated. Whoever thought that was a good idea should have gotten fire or something." – said Green as the two kept walking.
After their meeting with Katsuji Ishizuka, the chairman of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub invited both Red and Misty to the Fanclub's headquarters. And by invite them, it would be more accurate to say that he basically dragged the two of them there.
The building was nothing spectacular, only being about two stories at most with the words Pokémon Fanclub written in big words next to an image of a Pikachu. Everyone turned to the electric type, who looked even more annoyed than usual. Entering the building, they saw around fifteen to eighteen people, most of them whom were around probably forty to sixty years old.
"May I have your attention everyone!" – said Mr. Ishizuka, as everyone turned towards him, the two trainers and the group of Pokémon (including Goldeen who was on her trainer's arms, for obvious reasons. – "Thank you. Now then, I have the honor to introduce you to our newest members! Everyone, please welcome Red and Misty!"
As soon as he said that, everyone started to applaud the two trainers, who only had one thing to say. – "... Wait what?"
"Oh, my! Just look at those cuties!" – said a woman with glasses.
On cue, everyone rushed in and surrounded the group of Pokémon, almost knocking both Misty and Red to the ground.
"Man, what's their deal?" – asked Red.
"Apologies, but it's just that we all love Pokémon that much. In fact, I believe that you'll never find more obsessed Pokémon lovers anywhere other than this room." –said Mr. Ishizuka.
"I know someone in Pallet Town that would beg to differ." – said Red.
If there was someone that loved Pokémon as much if not more than him, then that was no doubt the Ketchup kid.
"Oh, if that's the case then I would love to meet him!" – said the chairman.
"If he's anything like this bunch then I rather not." – said Misty, however she was force to snap out of her thoughts once she felt that Goldeen was no longer on her arms. – "What the-?!"
"Just look at those scales! They're so smooth!" – said the same woman with glasses as before while carrying Goldeen.
"When did- how-… What?!" – asked Misty.
"This Pokémon are definitely used to people." –commented one of the only two teenagers of the Fanclub.
"Umm, excuse me, are you Poliwhirl's trainer?" – asked a blonde girl of maybe around sixteen to seventeen years old.
"Yeah, Poli and I have been together since he was just a Poliwag. I think I was around six at most." – informed Red.
"One can tell, this are all very well-behaved Pokémon!" – said a man.
"My Pokémon are also very well-behaved you know?" – muttered Misty.
"Thanks, outside of Poli, I haven't had neither Saur nor Pika for that long. But I sure as heck trust them all, they have helped me numerous times in tons of battles, so they are pretty strong as well!" – said Red, causing the entire building to go in silence. Confusing both the trainers and the Pokémon.
"So... your Pokémon battle?" – asked Mr. Ishizuka.
"Well, what else would they do?" – asked Misty.
"How could we love Pokémon if we force them into fights!" –shouted the chairman with such volume that everyone else was forced to cover their ears.
"But we don't force them to battle. We both want to grow stronger together and have fun when we battle other trainers." – explained Misty with the Pokémon all nodding in agreement.
Well, all except Pikachu, he was too busy enjoying a few treats from one of the members to listen to what everyone else was saying.
"Why would they want to do that? If they don't battle then they won't evolve, that way they can stay as little cuties forever." – explained the chairman
"That... that... not even my sisters are like this." – say Misty.
"Sisters?" – asked one of the members.
"Yeah, they're the Cerulean city's three sensational sisters." – said Red.
"Red don't!" – shouted Misty, but it was too late. Everyone in the building seemed to be exited upon hearing that.
"Her sisters are the Cerulean sensational sisters?! I love their show!"
"Me too!"
"Could you get us an autograph" – they all asked.
Misty sighed in frustration before turning to Red. Glaring daggers at the Pallet Twon native. – "Umm, sorry." – he said.
"Not yet you're not." – muttered Misty in a menacing way.
Before Red could think of a proper way to react to his friends treat, someone burst through the main entrance. – "HELLLP!" – the man shouted.
"What is it Ryke?" – asked the chairman.
"It's my Exeggutor! Team Rocket stole him!" – shouted the man.
Everyone in the room stood silent upon hearing his word. Red could see that Misty was practically fuming with anger by just hearing their name. What grabbed his attention more than that thou, was seeing Mr. Ishizuka sighing.
"Oh, dear... Not again." – he said, walking towards a table with a framed picture in it.
Both Misty and Red noticed the sadness in his voice and thankfully for them, the blonde teenager noticed their confusion and filled them in what happened. – "About a month or so, team Rocket cornered him and took away his Abra."
"It has happened to us all at one point ever since they came around half a year ago." – said one of the men.
"And there... isn't anything... that we... can... can..." – before he could finish his sentence, the man started to cry. It would have been a heartbreaking scene if not for the fact that the way he sounded was kind of funny.
Still, neither Misty nor Red laughed in the slightest, nor did their Pokémon (well, except for Pika, by the time he finished eating his snack, he saw a man crying in a goofy way). The two simply stood strong in the middle of the room radiating determination.
"Please, tell us you know about the thieves!" – exclaimed Red with Misty nodding.
"Wait what?! Kid, you can really expect us to believe that you two can take on team Rocket, right?" – asked an older man.
"It may be hard to believe, but the two of us have already had running's with those losers and we came on top! Trust us, we'll get your Pokémon back!" –said Misty.
The men all looked around each other a bit nervous. Team Rocket is an organization that spans its reach across two regions. The police as well as the governments of both Kanto and Johto have done nothing but slow them down at best. How can they expect two kids to be able to do anything against them?
"Are you two sure of this?"
"Positive!" – exclaimed the two of them at the same time.
Before anyone could say another thing, Mr. Ishizuka got up and looked at the two young trainers with his red watery eyes that were hidden behind his black sunglasses. – "If you two truly wish to go, then I have a request to make you two." – he said in a serious tone.
Everyone in the room grow silent, creating an atmosphere so thick that it could be cut with a butter knife. The two trainers got more serious as the two of them await to listen to what Mr. Ishizuka was about to ask them. Was it to return his Abra safety? For them to remain safe in their mission? For them to make team Rocket pay for what they did? After almost a full minute of silence, chairman Ishizuka finally spoke.
"Can you leave Pikachu with us to cuddle with?" – he asked.
Upon hearing that, the members of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub all became excited with the idea of having a Pikachu to cuddle with while the two trainers were fighting team Rocket. As for said trainers, the two of them fell to the ground, courtesy of the nature of the chairman's request. Did he seriously create such tension just to ask something like that?
"Weir old man..." – thought both Misty and Red at the same time.
After hearing what the members of the Fanclub had to say about team Rocket's movements ever since they arrived to the city, both Red and Misty headed for the forest. They believed that perhaps they had some sort of temporal base of operations where they could, well, operate while they were around. After asking to the members where they could find caverns around, the two trainers headed northwest to explore an area that was apparently well known to the people of the city for having a few caverns.
While heading there, Red could see that Misty was rather nervous. Some may say that such reaction would be natural of anyone that decided to try and take on a criminal organization (especially considering that neither of the two trainers were even twelve), but that was not the reason behind her behavior. No, the reason may as well be a little bit more mundane than that.
Bug types.
According to the members of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub, that specific area of the forest was also well known for having an abundance of bug type Pokémon. While they seemed to be a bit excited about the Caterpie, Kakuna and Pinsir that lived in abundant over there, Misty was petrified. Her phobia towards bug types could make things a bit more difficult, even if it's not as bad as Blue's... what did professor Oak said it was called?
Oh right, ornithophobia (or something along those lines).
Red himself was also a bit worried about some of the Pokémon that lived there. Mainly Pinsir and Beedrill. He already knew that Beedrill could be quite territorial, that in it on itself would be already bad enough, but then there was Pinsir. After checking his Pokedex, not only did Red discovered that they were just as if not more territorial than Beedrill, but they were also naturally stronger and more savage than them. As if things weren't already bad enough, neither of them had Pokémon naturally stronger than bug types.
Saur was a grass type, which was weak to bug types and the secondary typing of both him and Poli; poison and fighting while did gave them resistant to their attack, also worked the same for them. Misty's Pokémon could probably be a bit more efficient on this situation if not for the fact of their trainer's phobia. Right ow, Red was regretting letting Pika back with the Fanclub, he could probably be of help to them.
"Ok, their base of operations should be somewhere close by. Where should we start?" – asked Misty.
"Don't know, this forest may be larger than we first thought, should we-" – Red suddenly stopped, he was about to suggest to split up, but then he remembered her bug type phobia.
"We should what Red?" – she asked.
"... Never mind, it was nothing." – he said, it would probably be best not to leave her by herself while they were there. Then an idea suddenly popped on his head. – "Oh, I know!"
He then pulled out Poli's pokeball and let the water type out. Misty was a bit confused, how was Poli supposed to help them find the Rocket hideout? As if almost reading her mind, Red smirked and gave Poli a command.
"Poli, use double team and send your copies to look for team Rocket!"
The water type nodded and generated around eight clones of his that he sent away to search for the base of the criminal organization while he remained with Misty and Red.
"Remember that training day when Poli use water gun after using double team?" – asked Red. – "Both attacks landed on Staryu and caused double the damage that it would normally cause. I thought that maybe we could try and see if we can use it to search in a wider area."
"Huh, I didn't think about doing something like that. You know Red, you can sometimes think of good ideas." – said Misty.
"Of course, I... wait a minute what is that supposed to mean?" – asked Red, giving the water type specialist an indignant look.
"Nothing, let's just go over there. After all, we can't let Poli do all the work now, can we?" – said Misty while pointing at a direction ignored by the clones.
"... Fine." – mumbled Red, as the three started walking in said direction.
Luckily for the two trainers (more specifically Misty), there were no bug types around where they headed. Unfortunately, there were also no signs of team Rocket around. Returning to their starting point, the two humans and the Pokémon all decided to wait for the clones to arrive and hopefully with knowledge about the whereabouts of the criminal organization's base of operation.
The first one to arrive came ten minutes after the trainers arrived at the starting point. He informed them that there was no Rocket activity where he looked before disappearing. The next one came eight and a half minutes later with the same results. Much or less the same with the next five that came almost at the same time. They all waited for the last one to arrive, but surprisingly for them he had yet to appear. They stood there for about half an hour, wondering what was taking the last clone so long. Another half an hour passed by and by that point the three of them were already pretty restless.
Poli himself was basically fighting the urge not to fall asleep. Waiting around was not his strongest suit, he was quite bored. Just when it seemed that he was finally about to allow himself to be carried to Creselia's realm of dreams, the water type felt something. He didn't understand what was that feeling, but instinctively the water type turned towards where the remaining clone went to. For some reason, a few images appeared in the mind of the tadpole Pokémon. Images of trees, flowers, a ravine, but most importantly; images of Pokémon running from something and the last image he saw. A man wearing a black uniform with a big red 'R' in the center, rushing at him with a bag, before everything faded.
Could it be that he saw the memories of his clone before he faded? If so then, why didn't he saw the memories of the previous clones? Could it be that he needed to be in a certain state of mind for him to be able to do so? Many questions filled the Pokémon's mind, but for the tie being he decided to ignored them. He and Red will try to look for answers later, for now they needed to rescue some Pokémon.
"Poli! Poliwhirl, Poli Po! – said Poli while pointing at the direction that he was facing.
"What is it Poli? Saw something?" – asked Red.
"Whirl! Poli Poli!" – explained the water type.
"You're not making any sense, you know." – said Misty.
Poli facepalmed himself, how can he not make any sense? He was making perfect sense! The water type then started to run towards where he believed team Rocket would be, hoping that the two humans would follow. Which thankfully, was the case.
"Hey Poli, where are you going?!" – shouted Red, as he and Misty started to chase after him.
The two chased the Pokémon through the woods, wondering what was it that he was doing. As the two were running, they ended up passing by a few small Pokémon, some of them that were bug types. Thankfully, Misty didn't seem to notice them, but Red did. And what he saw was that the bug types, as well as the other small Pokémon all looked to be scared and with minor wounds. They also seemed to be a little scared of the two humans and either flinched or run after spotting them.
Red was wondering what could have harmed the group of Pokémon, however he was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Poli slowing down. Both Red and Misty also slowed down and when they saw the water type slowing down the two decided to approach the Pokémon to ask him why he ran off like that. Just as Red was about to ask him, Poli turned around and shot a water gun at his face to try and silence him.
"One can tell, this are all very well-behaved Pokémon, they said." – mocked Misty, remembering what the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub said not that long ago.
"What was-" – yet another water gun stroked his face as Poli signaled the two humans to be quiet. He then told them to approach very carefully and to make as little noise as possible.
Once they got to where Poli was, the water type showed them what he saw. Their eyes grew as wide as a plate, for in front of them just around maybe ten to fifteen meters from where they were, the two saw members of team Rocket. They were taking a few cages with small Pokémon to the inside of a cave in front of them. They also managed to overhear something about the Phantom Pokémon. This was the second time that Red has heard that name. Just what is the Phantom Pokémon anyway?
"Looks like we found their layer." – said Misty, gaining a glare from Poli. – "Fine, you found it, happy?"
Poli nodded before turning his attention to the group of criminals.
The two trainers also turned their attention towards them. The ones in front were only about two and both Misty and Red were currently trying to guess the number that could be inside. The caves in the area weren't that deep and wide, maybe an extra four or five? They weren't entirely sure, the only thing that they knew was that they wouldn't be able to defeat them all by themselves. Even if they were stronger than the average Rocket member (which they were more than confident to be true), they could still be overwhelmed by their numbers if not careful.
Then an idea popped into Red's mind.
Pulling his Pokedex, Red lowered the volume of the machine before pointing it at the group of criminals. After recognizing the individuals, the machine made a subtle beep and displayed a message on screen that Red knew very well. Red then pressed the option of calling for help, after which, another message appeared on screen that read:
Local authorities have been informed.
Please leave the area immediately for your own wellbeing.
"What did you do?" – asked Misty.
"I use the Pokedex to call the local authorities and tell them of where we are. That way, we can have some back up to help us beat these clowns." – he replied.
"I didn't know it could do that. Have you used that function before?" – she asked.
"... I don't want to talk about it." – he said, not wanting to mention his embarrassing first encounter with team Rocket.
"Ok... so, what do we do in the meantime?"
"Well, last time I was in a situation like this, I caught them off-guard and freed the Pokémon while they weren't looking. Maybe we can do something like that." – said Red.
"That sounds fine, but how exactly do we do that?" – asked Misty once again.
"Mmm, well, maybe we can split up and while some of the members go chase off for one of us the other one can take out the remaining members and free the captive Pokémon. But that could be very risky if they manage to catch one of us." – said Red.
"What if the one that distracts them leads them to were the cops are more likely to arrive. That way we can reduce the chance of either one of use getting caught." – suggested Misty.
"Hey, sounds like a good plan to me." – said Red.
"Okay then, I'll distract them while you take care of the remaining Rocket members."
"Wait what? Why me?" – asked Red.
"Well, we don't know if they have bug types inside so... yeah..." – said Misty and without giving Red the time to talk back, she got up, pulled two pokeballs and threw them out as she got out of their hiding spot. – "Wish me luck."
Getting to where the Rocket members were, Misty commanded her Pokémon (both Starmie and Staryu) to attack them with water gun. Starmie shot at the members that were outside of the cave while Staryu shot water at the inside of the cavern in hopes of hitting someone. The two recruits turned toward the water type specialist as a third one came from the cave, all of them were soaking wet and fuming with anger that was directed to Misty and her Pokémon.
"Hey, you loser! The circus called, they want their dumb outfits back!" – shouted Misty before running away from there.
"That little girl is going to pay for messing with us! – said one of the members before chasing after the Cerulean girl.
"You two, stay here! We'll deal with the girl!" – o– ordered the member that came from the cave before he and the last member that was drenched in water also started to chase after Misty.
Red then waited a couple of minutes after the other Rocket members left to try and make his move. Letting out Saur, Red and his Pokémon all started to slowly approach the cave, trying not to be seen. Once he got to the cave's entrance, the Pallet town native took a peek inside to try and see what should be his next course of action. Just as the other member stated, there were only two other recruits inside, who seemed to only had two Pokémon each.
Aside from that, he also saw various cages of variant sizes all filled with many Pokémon. From Caterpie, Rattata, Pidgey, Sandshrew, Nidorino and Nidorina, he even saw a couple of Graveler as well. But the Pokémon that stood out the most, was one that resembled a brown beetle with a pair of large, grey and pincers on top of its head.
The Pokémon was a Pinsir, and surprising Red, it looked timid and scared. Quite the contrast compared to what the Pokedex said. Then again, he probably be a little scared too if some wierdo took him captive against his will. Getting in closer to the two grunts, who thankfully had their backs turned against the trainer and his Pokémon, Red quickly ordered Saur to use sleep powder on the two criminals.
"Ivysaur!" – complied the grass type, releasing a powder on the two grunts that quickly put them to sleep.
"Alright Saur!" – praised Red to his Pokémon before turning to the pair of unconscious criminals. – "Ok, let's make sure they don't cause any more trouble."
After saying that, Red pulled a rope from his backpack and wrapped it around the Rocket members as tight as possible. He then started to approach the multiple cages to try and free them. However, the moment he approached the cages all the Pokémon grew scared, even more so than before.
"Don't worry guys, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to get you out of that cage." – said Red with Poli and Saur vouching for him.
This seemed to do the trick as most of the Pokémon calmed down. Well, except for Pinsir, he was still as scared as before, with said fear only growing with every step that the human and his Pokémon took. However, the stag beetle Pokémon calmed down a little bit when he saw the human and his Pokémon opening multiple cages and freeing the Pokémon.
"Allright guys, time for all of you to go home." – he said as he and his Pokémon all kept on freeing more Pokémon.
In a matter of minutes, the trio managed to free every single one of trapped Pokémon that were on the cage, with the exception of Pinsir. The lock of its cage was harder to pick than the others for some reason. If Blue was here, she could have already opened the cage in no time, she was by far the best (and kind of only) the only pick-up locker (was that even a real term?) that he knew. She even taught both him and Green how to do it in case of emergencies, however neither of the two could hold a candle to her.
"Why is this stupid lock so hard to unlock?" – asked Red as he kept on trying.
"Hey, where did everyone go?" – they all suddenly heard.
Red and company all turned their heads to the entrance of the cave as one. Could it be that there was an extra person that wasn't at the camp at the time?
Entering to the cave, a woman of around thirty years old and short brown hair came in. She had a confused look on her face, which quickly turned into a snarl once she saw her two teammates tied up and most of the Pokémon freed. She then turned towards the person responsible for this and pulled out a pokeball.
"Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing?!" – she asked releasing a Koffing from her Pokeball.
"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm saving this Pokémon from you!" – he replied, getting into a battle position as well as his two Pokémon. – "And if you think I'm dumb enough to tell you my name then my friend is right, you are clowns!"
"A brat like you should know his place! Koffing use sludge on the runt and his pets! – she shouted.
The poison type nodded and shot a small barrage of purplish sludge balls at the trainer and his Pokémon, who they barely managed to dodge.
"Poli, use double team! Saur, razor leaf now!" –ordered the trainer.
On cue, the water type created three clones and ran towards the opponent. Meanwhile, Saur shot a barrage of his own, the leaves all flew straight at Koffing who managed to dodge it. However, he ended up going to a position in which Poli and the rest of his clones all could take advantage of him.
"Now use ice punch!" – shouted Red.
As one, all of the Poli that were currently surrounding the poison type had their right fist covered in a blue-white light that emanated a cold steam. Koffing tried to move out of the way, but unfortunately for it, the water type didn't give it enough room to run away. All four fists connected with the body of the poison type sending flying backwards.
"Now Saur, tackle!"
"Ivy!" – said the grass type as he started to run at full speed towards the injured poison type, crashing into it and sending it flying back to its trainer's feet.
"What?! Get up you useless purple lump!" – she shouted angrily before a torrent of water crashed into her.
The force of the water was more than enough to send the recruit flying outside the cave alongside her Pokémon. She landed hard on her back before the nearly unconscious Pokémon landed in her stomach with enough force to almost leave her without air. Red didn't want to give her an opportunity to get up, so he ordered Saur to use another move on them.
"Sleep powder again Saur!"
Reaching the recruit and without wasting a single second the grass/poison Pokémon released yet again a powder on his foes. The recruit tried to cover her mouth, but by the time her hand reached her mouth and nose she was already feeling sleepy. Not a second later the two fell into a slumber as the kid congratulated his Pokémon before taking another rope and tying her alongside the other Rocket members, of course after recalling her Pokémon back to its pokeball.
"Hey look! She has some keys with her!" – Red pointed out, taking the keys that were on the recruit.
He then approached the scared Pinsir to try once again to free him with the keys at hand. It took him a couple of tries, but eventually the Pallet town native managed to find the right key of the lock.
"Found it!" – he said, turning the key and opening the cage in which Pinsir resided. – "You're now free to go home."
"Red! Are you still inside?" – he suddenly heard Misty alongside a couple of footsteps as well.
Turning back, he saw Misty coming inside alongside a few police officers. The officers all immediately went to make sure that the criminals were properly tied well before they carefully picked them up to be taken away. Misty wanted to go make sure her friend was ok, but she suddenly froze right on the spot once she saw the Pinsir standing right next to him.
"Huh? What's wrong Misty?" – asked the oblivious Red with his Pokémon all facepalming at the nature of such question.
"B-b-b-b-bug t-t-t-t-t-type..." – she said, shaking to her core in fear.
"Pi?" – said the confused bug type, scaring the redhead even further.
"AAAAAHHHH! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" – she shouted, scaring the bug type to the point that it was now cowering in fear behind the Pallet boy.
"I think you scared it Misty." – said Red
"I DON'T CARE, JUST GET RID OF IT NOW!"
"What happened?!" – asked one of the officers, rushing in to the cave.
"Oh, it's nothing officer. My friend was just scared of the Pinsir behind me, and the Pinsir was scared of Misty's screams." – informed Red whil pointing at the trembling bug type behind him.
"Oh, well no wonder it got scared. Considering that it's basically a little kid." – informed the officer and surprising both trainers and their Pokémon.
"He is?" – asked Red with the officer nodding.
"You see the pincers on its head? They seemed rather small for an adult, heck they seem way too small for even some infants. Combine that with its small size its rather obvious that the little guy is a kid." – said the officer.
"Wait, you said that they were too small for an infant?" – asked Misty in dread. If those things were supposed to be small even for an infant, then she doesn't want to see how big were the ones from grown ones.
"Yes, if I remember correctly, Pinsir are known to judge each other by the size of their pincers. Which, I hope I am wrong on this assumption, but perhaps the reason that Pinsir is the only one here despite its population in the forest is because its kin left it for being too weak." – said the officer and shocking both the trainers and their Pokémon.
Red then quickly turned to face Pinsir, whom looked to be saddened even more so than before. – "Is... is that true Pinsir?" – he asked and much to their horror, the bug type nodded.
Upon learning of the truth, everyone grew sad for the stag beetle Pokémon. Even Misty felt bad for it, neither her or Red, not even their Pokémon could believe it. The idea of Pokémon abandoning their own never crossed their mind. Just how often did it happen?
"I should have known, the Pinsir of this area of the forest are known to be proud because they are some of the strongest Pokémon of the forest. Because of that, they hate whenever one of their own shows signs of weakness. Because of that, they sometimes tend to exile the members they believe to be weak." – informed the police officer, making everyone feel even worse than before.
Red then tuned towards the frighten and sadden bug type that now seemed to be on the verge of crying. He couldn't begin to understand how the poor fellow must be feeling. For some reason, the idea of one being excluded for their own because of a reason like that started to feel less alien to him, but why? Then, he finally understood why.
Ash Ketchum.
That kid was without a doubt not only the loneliest kid of Pallet town, but the loneliest person period. Not knowing his father, barely able to spend time with his mother and on top of that, being the outcast of the town. Some kids tended to treat him like the plague and even some of the grown-ups didn't seem to be that much fond of him. Only a handful of people treated him nicely, for example his parents.
He remembered the first time he ever kind of spend time with him for the first time. It was during a winter, probably around a year before Blue arrived. His father saw him all by himself on the road when he was returning home. He apparently was playing by himself and somehow got lost with no knowledge of how to get back home. So, he invited him for dinner until his mother returned from Cerulean because of something he didn't quite remembered.
Back then he didn't talk to him that much (even to this day they're still not close enough to call each other friends), but one thing that caught his attention were his eyes. He didn't know what it was at the time, but something about them felt... odd. Back then he didn't pay that much attention to it because of how hyperactive he was most of the time, but seeing it know in the eyes of this Pinsir... Is this how Ash actually feels?
Truth be told, maybe he could have done a bit more for him back then, but he didn't. Why though? His parents liked him to the point that every now and then they sometimes invited him for lunch and at one point, were the only ones that celebrated his birthday. Looking back, Red now realized that he was rather lucky in comparison.
Well, he's not going to make that mistake a second time.
Pulling an empty pokeball, and extended his arm to the Pokémon. – "Hey Pinsir, do you want to join my team?" – he asked, surprising everyone and terrifying Misty. – "Look, I don't exactly know how you must be feeling, but I can say for sure that it must not be a nice feeling. So, I want to change that. If you join my team, then not only will you be surrounded by new friends, but you'll grow much stronger than the ones that left you behind. Then, you could show them the mistake that they made. What do you say?"
The Pokémon was stunned, was this human really offering to join him in spite of its weakness? It couldn't believe it, turning to the Pokémon that belonged to the boy, the two gave him a comforting smile (well, Saur did at least). The two nodded encouraged it to join them as well. Pinsir then turned to the human in front of it and with watery eyes extended its arm to press the button. Pinsir was then engulfed in a red light before being sucked into the spherical container. The pokeball then shook once, then again and after a third time it made the so well-known DING that signaled that the capture was a success.
"I'll become a Pokémon master just you wait Green!" – shouted an eight-year-old Ash Ketchum to Green Oak.
"What does that even mean?" – he asked.
"I won't tell you because you're a jerk. But it's something better than anything you could do!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm sure that to be that thing you'll need to catch strong Pokémon and I'm sure that if you manage to become a trainer somehow, then you'll catch nothing but weak Pokémon!" –replied the young Oak, with a few boys agreeing with him.
"And what if I do? It doesn't matter if the Pokémon I catch are weak! I'll take care of them and we'll grow stronger together!" – replied Ash.
"You're just living in a fantasy Ketchum." – mocked one of the kids.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'll be a Pokémon master one day, you'll see!" – screamed Ash as he ran away from the group of kids that, outside of Green, all started to laugh at the sudden burst of the young Ketchum.
As all of that was happening, not that far from there, stood a young Red. He heard everything and was thinking of the words of the lonely boy.
"Grow stronger... together..." – he repeated as he watched the kids going their separate ways.
"Tell me Ash, is this how you would capture Pokémon?" – Red thought to himself while looking at the ball in his palm. – "Guess I'll ask him when I see him." – he muttered before turning.
"What was that for?!" – asked Misty.
"What? It looked lonely, I couldn't leave it be just like that, besides I did promise professor Oak that I would help him with the Pokedex, so it's basically a two for one." – replied Red.
"But did it had to be a bug type?" – she asked.
"Come on Misty, I'm sure it won't be that bad. Now come on, I'm sure I saw a few more cages even deeper inside of the cave. It's very likely that the Pokémon of the Fanclub are there." – he said before he and his Pokémon went in deeper into the cave with Misty sighing.
"Still, did it had to be that Pokémon? I could at least stand a Caterpie... maybe." – said the Cerulean girl before heading for where her friend went alongside the officer.
Just as Red said, there were a few more cages deep inside, all with the Pokémon of the Pokémon Lovers Fanclub. There was Exeggutor, Machop, a Pokémon that resembled a small baby Pikachu that Red didn't recognize and...
"Huh?" – said the two trainers.
"What is it?" – asked the officer.
The two trainers were looking at a cage in which a Pokémon that was rather familiar stood. However, said Pokémon looked... different. The two then turned to each other, knowing that a certain someone could grow a bit disappointing.
"So... who's going to tell him?" – asked Red to his friend.
It took the pair of trainers and the police longer to return to Maebashi city than they expected. It was already dark by the time they arrived and once they did, the group split into two. Most of the police officers went to the precinct to inform the local officer Jenny of the events that happened and to lock the remaining Rocket members while the two trainers and two officers took the stolen Pokémon to the Fanclub to return them to their rightful owners.
Once they arrived, they saw quite the bizarre image of Pika sitting on a small wooden throne and looking at everyone as a king would look at his subjects. Whatever happened while they were gone, they were too tired to care in all honestly. After processing... that, the trainers and police officers presented the stolen Pokémon to the members of the Fanclub, whom were all overjoyed to be returned with their beloved Pokémon.
"I must say, I am impressed." – said the chairman.
"Thanks, it was a tough, but we managed to come out on top." – said Red.
"Tell me, did something that could interest me happened there?" – he asked the two kids.
"Well, I caught a new team member." – said Red, filling the chairman with an abundant of joy. – "It was a Pinsir." – he said, crushing said joy.
"Oh... a Pinsir uh." – said Mr. Ishizuka with obvious disappointment.
"Come on, it's a cute Pinsir, want to see it?"
"NO!" – shouted Misty, catching everyone off guard. – "I mean... it's been a long day, I'm sure that Pinsir must be tire. Just let it rest in its pokebal... for as long as possible."
"O... k" – said Red.
"Yes, yes, fine. Now, about my beloved Abra, did you find him?" – asked the chairman, making the two trainers look at each other with a bit of worry.
"Umm, yeah... we kind of found him... buuuuut..." – said Misty as Red called for a Pokémon to come in closer.
Said Pokémon was a yellow humanoid Pokémon of around 1.5 meters in heigh it had a large mustache and had a spoon on each hand. – "Your little Abra.. Kind of evolved into an Alakazam." – said Red, trying to see how the man would react.
"... my... my little... NOOOOOOOO!" – screamed Mr. Ishizuka before fainting.
"Mr. Director!" – shouted one of the members as they all rushed to his side as Red, Misty, the officers and Alakazam all watched with a large drop of sweat falling down their heads.
"Weird old man." – they all thought.
"The others probably aren't dealing with anything as odd as that man." – said Red to himself as they remained there, watching the group of people loom over the unconscious man.
"I swear on Arceus itself, one day we'll meet again!" – shouted a scientist to the see as a massive figure started to get smaller as it was getting away.
Ash and the gang somehow found themselves on a lighthouse and were currently looking at a man that they helped out scream at the sea.
"So... just to clarify, that was a giant Dragonite, right?" – asked Lyra.
"Yep." – replied her friends as Pikachu and Marill nodded as well.
"Oh... yeah, that makes sense I guess." – she said.
"... Is anyone else hungry?" – asked Ash.
"I can cook something for us to have dinner." – said Brock.
"Great, I'm starving. We should get started, because..." – she said as she turned to the man screaming. – "Yeah, I think he's going to need a minute."
Her friends all nodded before heading to the lighthouse.
A new team member has joined Red. What else does the road has in store for our young heroes?
Only time will tell.
As the journey continues...
Well, I'm back with another chapter, sorry for another delay. November was surprisingly a productive moth for me, I actually wrote around 47,074 words... Although only about 19,177 words were for this story.
It doesn't mean that I'll abandon this story, I just wanted to try something and if you're wondering what was it, then it is a bit of a side project I've been working on, but this story is still my main focus.
On another note, happy Thanksgiving to all of those that celebrate it, how did it go? Hope it went well. Any purchase during black friday? And if so, how many limbs did you lost to buy the new PS series X or whatever? Only one month to go and 2020 will finally be over, lets hope that a message on the sky that reads "OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE" doesn't appear. Well, that's about it for now, hope you guys are safe and healthy.
This is Oan Glalie, signing out.