Recommended music: Since Pokemon released that Gotcha! video I've been listening to a lot of Bump of Chicken. I recommended one of their songs previously but I didn't really listen to a lot of their stuff before now. A lot of it sounds the same, at least to me, but it's still all good music so I guess that's fine.
Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 48: Bad Company.
"These helicopters are really quiet. I always thought you wouldn't be able to hear your own voice. How does that work?" Otari asked but no one answered him.
He looked at Nets who was sitting next to him and whom he expected to know the answer to his question but it seemed like the scientist didn't even realize that his friend said something. Otari glanced at Red who was sitting opposite of them but the boy also didn't say anything, although he acknowledged Otari's gaze by shaking his head to the sides. Nets kept his head in his hands while looking down with a worried expression. His friends knew what was bothering him but it was hard to come up with something that would help in this situation. Red already tried to cheer him up before but that didn't change his attitude at all.
"Is he going to be okay like that?" Mary asked Red by leaning on top of Green's head, since he was sitting between the two of them.
"Could you not do that? You're not as light as you think you are." Green commented, but the girl only gave him a quick look before deciding to ignore him.
"I wonder if we did make the wrong decision by bringing him alone after all. But then again, thinking about him being left behind while all of us got to go on this mission is also… sad." Red responded.
"That doesn't mean anything. I'm not just saying that because I don't want to see him upset. If he stays in this state he's going to become an easy target once we're in the field. You're close to him. Can't you just slap some sense into him?"
"How would slapping him solve anything?" asked Green.
"Ah." Red uttered.
"What?" the other two said at the same time.
"I… I just remembered that time I slapped Tarieli…"
"What?" asked Green.
"Why did you slap her?" added Mary.
"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."
"Was it?" inquired Mary.
"It worked out for us but, now that I think about it, I kinda want to apologize. But since she didn't bring it up after the fact I don't know if I should do it."
"Oh, man. I hoped that you would figure out a solution to the problem at hand, not find other things to worry about." Mary complained.
"Umm. You know that we can hear you, right?" they heard a voice coming from the seats on the opposite side of the helicopter.
The way seats were arranged, one side had Red, Geen as well as Mary and a Team Rocket member whose name the boys weren't familiar with. On the other side besides Nets and Otari were Angie and Tarieli and the words they heard came from the latter. After hearing that, the group realized that Nets also lifted his head a little and was listening to what they were talking about.
"I'm sorry. Not only am I going to be useless. I make everyone else worry about me as well." the scientist said while shaking his head.
"If you feel so bad about it, you should do something instead of just sitting there and pouting." stated Angie.
Mary and Otari looked surprised by the fact the Admin expressed interest in someone's feelings, as did Nets himself. Tarieli and Red took that as a good sign.
"Since Peter was the first one to learn about this mission he felt like that made him the leader of our group but in truth we have three Admins with us." said Red "Peter may have a negative opinion about you and maybe you won't be able to impress him no matter how hard you try. You may have better chances with Angie and Alex since they seem more neutral but I don't think you should care about what any of them say either. You weren't convinced that you would do any good during our field training but you came out alright, didn't you?"
"Yeah. If you have a low opinion of yourself it'll make it easier for others to feel the same. We're not talking about crap like "Believe in yourself and you can do anything". You know yourself and the things you're capable of. If you do all that you can you shouldn't be ashamed of not being able to do more." added Green.
"Especially since there are things that you can do that none of us can. That's why this is an elite strike team. Everyone brings something to the table. If Peter doesn't understand that then F #k him." stated Otari.
"Would you say that to his face though?" Mary asked in a joking tone.
Just thinking about that made the boy drop the pack of chips he was eating. Most of the group started laughing. Even Nets joined in. Otari bent down in order to pick up his snacks. He used that time to hide the smile that expressed how glad he was that he was able to cheer up his friend.
"Is everything alright back there?" the pilot asked the group "Did you look outside?"
"Outside?" Mary wondered what he meant and so she peeked through the window in one of the doors.
Red realized that this time they flew closer to Darkness Gang's base than they did the last time so he quickly joined Mary. Although most of what they could see was the blackness of the night and the forests below, he noticed some spots of light that seemed to grow. Those must have been the outposts that they tried to avoid on their previous mission.
"It seems like our forces already started the diversion." Angie commented after looking through the window on the other side.
"I just hope that no wild Pokemon get caught up in the fighting." Mary said with a sad voice.
"Are we ascending?" Green noticed and asked the pilot.
"Yeah. That's part of the plan, isn't it?"
"What does that mean?" Green turned towards Angie.
"Actually…" Red interrupted with a little hesitation "...it was kinda my plan."
"We have a couple more minutes so we can discuss it now." stated the Admin.
"There's no way to reach this base from another side without being noticed. Even if they deploy most of their forces to other locations they'll still be able to see us landing if we do it too close. And if we're too far then it'll take us too long to reach the base." explained Red.
"They have four watchtowers so if they do it right they can look in pretty much every direction…" interjected Tarieli "...expect directly above them. Is that what you mean?"
The woman wasn't in on the plan but since she visited this place previously she was able to put two and two together.
"That's right. Tarieli, you'll be going with me. The rest of you, unless you have something else in mind, will go with Red." said Angie.
"It's hard to judge if Peter's and Alex's group will reach the ground before us but we should have an element of surprise either way." stated Red.
"Wait, wait, wait." Nets suddenly became worried once again "What do you mean by "going with you" or "going with Red"? Are we using parachutes or some wingsuits? My field training didn't prepare me for something like that."
"We do have both of these things." was the response given by Angie.
Nets started looking around, hoping that someone else would try to help him understand what was going on but the only other person who looked similarly unsure was the eight person. They were one of the people picked by Peter who decided that sixteen people, excluding the pilots, would be enough to accomplish their goals.
"You! Don't you have anything to say?! What's your name?!" Nets raised his voice.
"Me? My name is Carl."
"I don't care!" Nets shouted at the man.
"Calm down already." Mary said to him while sitting back down.
"Why are you so calm?" Otari asked her.
"Well, Green is calm so that probably means that there's nothing to worry about."
"I'm only calm because Red is calm too. It's probably something reckless but if he came up with it… it's going to work." said Green.
"Red, can you explain how we're going to get down, without joking around?" Nets turned to his friend.
"I didn't want to explain it since I thought that once you heard what I want to do you'd get even more scared but if you really need to know then…"
"Umm." the pilot interrupted them "It looks like the other helicopter is falling down. I don't remember hearing anything about that."
"What?! Did someone shoot them down?!" Nets started to panic.
"Doesn't look like it. It looks like they jumped down beforehand."
"It seems that Peter is improvising." Tarieli pointed out.
"Aside from Alex, Roger and Archer, the group probably consists of people who would be afraid to oppose his orders. So the rest didn't have a choice but to follow." Angie analyzed the situation "It's a little soon but we'll have to follow them or we'll lose the element of surprise."
"Do… Do you want me to go with you and have this helicopter crash?" the pilot wasn't sure what to do so he preferred to ask even if the question seemed stupid.
"Of course not. The other helicopter will crash before their group lands but we can't risk this one falling on their heads…" Angie explained "...even though empty they may be."
"You'll find goggles, suction gloves and breathing masks below your seats." Red pointed out.
"What's a "suction glove"?" Mary sounded confused while picking up the items mentioned by the boy.
"They're a neat invention. They'll help you hang onto Gyarados. You won't fall off and once we're on the ground all you need to do is release your hold and they'll unstick."
"Gyarados?" Nets asked, beginning to understand how their way down was to look like.
Tarieli also understood what was going to happen and after seeing Angie stand up from her seat, she did the same.
"Didn't you…"
"Yes." the Admin answered before even hearing the question.
"Did you tell…"
"No."
"Do you think that's a coincidence?"
"Can you just focus?"
"Alright, alright."
Angie opened the door on their side of the helicopter.
"Go, Dragonair."
Although Angie was used to flying on her Pokemon while standing on its back, the fact that their landing spot was below them meant that she couldn't do that without sacrificing speed, so instead she used one of the suction gloves and grabbed near the Pokemon's head. Tarieli did the same and a second later the three of them were gone.
"We can't let them leave us behind. The thing is though that Gyarados can't fly per se so you need to grab on quickly. Are you ready?"
Green and Mary nodded in confirmation while Otari helped Nets to his feet since the boy was more afraid of what they were going to do, the longer he had to wait for it to begin.
"Go, Gyarados!"
The Pokemon appeared outside of the helicopter and its trainer immediately jumped onto its head and grabbed its horns. Everyone else jumped a fraction of a second later and used the gloves to stick to it. Some tried to grab onto the fins on the Pokemon's back for additional safety but Gyarados began falling too quickly for anyone to get a good hold. The pilot looked back to make sure that all of them were gone and that he could leave but to his surprise there was one person left.
"Do I look crazy to you?" Carl asked him.
The pilot shrugged and started turning the helicopter around.
Meanwhile, Red's group was quickly descending on top of his Gyarados.
"Let's hope these gloves hold as good as we were promised they do. Gyarados, we're going to use Bounce in such a way that we'll speed up and then slow down. We'll have to time it so you'll have a slow landing. Our target is below…"
"Look out!" Red suddenly heard Angie's scream.
Red looked below but it was already too late. He felt something hit him and before he realized it he was separated from his Pokemon. He felt some pain in his arm so his instinct was to look up. He was being held by a Fearow that had a Darkness Gang member riding it. He looked back down and made a quick decision.
"Do what I told you!" he yelled at Gyarados since he was worried that the Pokemon would try to help him and put everyone in danger.
"That was a foolish move." said the person who kidnapped him "Drop him, Fearow."
The bird let go of Red's arm but the boy was quick to use his other one in order to let his Pidgeotto out of its pokeball and grab onto its leg. Even though he took one of the gloves with him in case of an emergency, there wasn't enough space on the bird's body to use it. His only choice was to fly to the ground and hope that he wouldn't lose his grip before then. As soon as the person who attacked him saw that, they began flying at him in order to repeat their actions. Red grabbed onto another pokeball and pointed it at Fearow, making Raichu appear right in front of his opponent.
"Version C!"
Since Raichu had only one move that it was taught to use in so many ways, it immediately knew what to do. The mouse did a spin so that it could bring its Iron Tail on top of Fearow's head, but right after hitting it also used Thunderbolt sent through the tail.
Red quickly returned Raichu to its pokeball, knowing that this combo should give him enough time to get away. To his surprise, the attack was enough to knock out Fearow completely. Its trainer was also affected slightly, but even if he wasn't, he would still be in the same situation. With Fearow unconscious, the two of them began falling towards the ground.
"Damn it. They're horrible people but I can't just let him fall to his death. After him, Pidgeotto!"
The bird strained itself in order to catch up to the falling man but after a few seconds Red was able to grab onto his hand. Unfortunately, the added weight was too much and Pidgeotto's wings gave out and at that point all four of them kept on falling down.
"I have a plan how to deal with this! I'll let you rest!" Red shouted.
Pidgeotto kept on trying to lift them up. Hearing those words made it feel like it failed its trainer and it wasn't too keen on doing that. Instead of trying to fly up, it turned its beak down and hoped to catch the wind by falling. This sudden movement made it hard for its trainer to return it back to its pokeball. Pidgeotto struggled to turn its vertical flight into a horizontal one and, although it began to change direction, this movement also caused them to move faster. At that speed it was hard for Red to tell how far they were from the ground but he noticed some movement around them. As it turned out, the man he was holding onto wasn't the only one that planned to get in his way. Dragonair and Gyarados were long gone but a bunch of Fearow riders appeared around him, which must have meant that they saw him as an easier target than either of the serpents.
"Can you fly at one of them?!" Red shouted since he wasn't sure if Pidgeotto could hear him otherwise with the air rushing past them.
The bird didn't answer but it seemed like it started to adjust its course.
"Tell me when we're close!"
A couple seconds later the flying Pokemon gave out a loud shriek, which was the signal for Red to let go of the person he was holding so that they would crash into another opponent. Another one seemed to realize what the boy was planning and began flying at him before he executed his plan. It was about to pierce him with Drill Peck when Pidgeotto shook its trainer off, allowing him to escape but at the same time putting him in a situation where it had to save him. It started flying down but it quickly realized that the other birds were faster than it and would reach its trainer before it could unless it did something. As it struggled to keep up, it felt like a limiter somewhere inside its body broke and it suddenly started catching up. It glanced at its wings which began to glow and grow larger.
"You evolved!" Red shouted, while still falling, seeing that his Pidgeotto became a Pidgeot "If only they weren't ahead… There has to be… Try Tailwind!"
Pidgeot brought its wings close to its body before opening them back again which caused a strong gust of wind to appear and increase its speed, propelling it past the other birds. It flew under Red, allowing him to land on its back. After evolving it became big enough for the boy to ride in the same way that his opponent's rode their Fearows.
"Not the best situation to learn how to fly on you but let's give it a shot. I assume they won't let us land peacefully but…" Red stopped to glance below and judge how high they were "...we're not that far from the ground. I have an idea."
"You talk too much!" one of the opponents stated while flying at Red.
"Fly forward!" Red ordered.
"W-what? Are you crazy?!" the other person asked after realizing that they would crash into each other "Dodge them, Fearow!"
As Red flew past the first opponent, he surveyed his surroundings and counted three others. None of them were close enough to block his path but, once he passed them, each one decided to follow after him. As the boy changed directions and started heading towards a mountain, his opponents began to realize his plan.
"This fool thinks he can trick us into flying into a wall! Who do you take us for?!" one of them shouted.
The other ones backed this person up with battle cries as all of them readied themselves to avoid the mountain while still pursuing their target.
"I'm not going to trick you. I'll force you." Red explained "Don't think that Pidgeot and Gyarados are my only Pokemon capable of aerial battles. Go, Eevee."
"How the hell would an Eevee…"
"Show them Superstar!" Red commanded while thrusting one of his hands towards his foes.
Eevee used Swift to create a star so big that it could ride it across air for some time. It would eventually disappear even if it didn't hit anything but that wasn't important. It drew attention from Red long enough for him to execute the next part of his plan.
"Reverse Vacuum Wave!"
It was only a second or two but Red released Scyther from its pokeball and gave it an order which the bug quickly executed. The air tunnel created by it started pulling their enemies towards it. When they realized what was happening they tried to escape but Red wasn't planning on giving them enough time to do that.
"Redirect it towards the mountain!"
Scyther spun around in air and changed the flow of wind so that everyone trapped in its attack would slam into a rocky wall.
Red used Pidgeot to fly after Eevee in order to catch the Pokemon before the star below it would disappear. Scyther managed to land by itself by jumping off three branches as it was falling down. Red met up with the pokemon a while later and they went to check up on their opponents. It looked like all of them were unconscious.
"They aren't hurt too badly. It'll be weird to just leave them here. We have our targets but I'm still not sure if defeating them will mean our victory if a bunch of people like these ones will still be around. But we don't have time to think about that. I'm worried about Gyarados and the rest."
. . .
"This time I'm fully prepared!" Peter announced while fighting a bunch of Darkness Gang members near the wreck of the helicopter he arrived in.
What he meant by that statement was that he brought a lot more knives with him, most of which were kept in an inventory pad. Part of his battle strategy was to throw them at people's hands before they could use them to bring their Pokemon out of their pokeballs.
More and more people came to the scene of the crash and it became clear that he wouldn't be able to avoid a fight too long. Alex, Archer and Roger were already engaged in some fights, using their Jolteon, Koffing and Magmar. The rest of their group hid behind a part of the building that got destroyed by their helicopter falling on it.
"These guys are insane. We should have gone on the other helicopter. I think I saw it flying away." said one of them.
"But what about the other group?" asked another one.
As if to answer him, Dragonair, with Angie and Tarieli riding it, flew above their heads and dropped its passengers near the group of fighters.
"How are you faring so far?" Angie asked Alex.
"These ones are nothing." he responded while nodding towards a Tangela and a Venomoth that just got defeated by Archer's Magmar.
"I saw some people riding on Fearows and managed to get past them since it would be inconvenient to fight them mid-air but I'm worried about R… the rest."
"They seemed to do fine." Alex pointed out as Gyarados landed nearby while scaring away a group of Darkness Gang members.
"I thought I was going to die." Nets muttered as he rolled off the Pokemon's back and face planted onto the ground.
"I would eat a little less if… urk… I knew it would be so tur…" Otari got off the serpent carefully but he couldn't even finish his sentence before he started to vomit.
"I imagine they changed the passwords since the last time." Tarieli said after Green and Mary approached her.
"Is Red still not here?" Green asked while looking around.
Even though they were hardened criminals, the presence of Gyarados and the fact that Team Rocket members were talking so casually, left the Darkness Gang members afraid to approach the intruders.
"It's Red. He'll be fine." Peter showed confidence in the boy much to the surprise of the other Admins "We should split and have a couple people clean up this trash while the rest goes to deal with Faust and the rest of their officers."
"I can already tell that you want to be part of the second latter group." said Alex.
"It seems like we can't count on the people Peter brought along so that leaves ten of us excluding Red. We know of five people we have to take down, so I suggest that half of us go inside and five stay here."
"Can that one be even counted?" Peter asked while glancing towards Nets.
"Don't you worry. He's quite capable." Otari stated while wiping saliva from his face.
"Hearing that from you doesn't feel me with much confidence."
"I'll stay here and wait for Red." Roger interrupted.
"Me too." Nets said while coming towards them.
"We'll need at least one Admin to deal with these assholes so…" Alex started, wanting to nominate himself for that role but someone else was faster.
"I'll do it." Angie interjected "Otari and Mary will stay with us. The rest of you go inside."
Alex looked around "So it's Peter, Green, Archer, Tarieli and me. I wouldn't call it a dream team but I think we'll do alright as long as we stay out of each other's way. Let's do it, gang!"
As he said that, he realized that all the people mentioned by them already went inside the building through a hole in the whole created by Archer's Electrode detonating itself.
Don't have much to say about this. While the past two arcs focused on revealing things about characters and developing them, this one is going to be a lot more action-oriented. I'll try not to make the chapters too long and find good cutting off points so that I can bring them to you faster.
My plans for this arc aren't too well defined besides how the enemies will look and behave so there's a lot of improvising. For example, I knew that Pidgeotto would have to evolve soon because of reasons but I didn't plan to do it in this chapter. It just fit. I was debating between that and having Red use another Pokemon which he even alludes to. Maybe I'll be able to do something with that unused plan in the future.
One interesting thing that I didn't realize myself is that way back in chapter 21 there was a scene where Angie also jumped out of a helicopter and I never explained back then how she got down to the ground. I think that her using her Dragonair later on was supposed to be a hint but in this chapter it's finally explained.
I split the cast partly to make it easier to write them but it's still a lot of characters so I guess we'll see how I handle that.
That's all. Till the next time.
Red. Team: Eevee, Gyarados, Pidgeot, Raichu, ?, ?.
At hand but not officially his: Scyther.
At Team Rocket Base: ?.
Badges: 4
Green. Team: Venusaur, Jigglypuff, Nidorina, Hitmonlee, Vulpix, Seadra.
At Team Rocket Base: Jynx.
Badges: 3
Blue. Team: Weepinbell(Bell), Blastoise(Tori), Golbat(Ken), Graveler(Grimm), Ponyta(Dasher), Electabuzz(Buzz).
Badges: 3
Alex. Team: Ditto, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon.
Angie. Team: Dragonair, Sandslash, Seaking.
Peter. Team: Dodrio, Haunter, Gengar.
Blaine. Team: Magmar, ?, ?.
