Inside the Hearthome City Pokémon Center, we find our heroine in the midst of a tense situation...
"Excuse me, but I don't like your tone, young lady," The woman yawned as she gave the antagonistic one a look that said "I don't need this at this time of night".
Pichu, roused from slumber by the noise, looked confused. "Chu?"
Carly, for her part, was debating whether or not to get involved. On one hand, this blonde girl was clearly crazy. On the other hand, if her parents (or brother, for that matter) was here, they would want her to help this receptionist lady.
Summoning up all her courage, Carly called to the girl, "Um, hey!"
The girl locked eyes with her before raising an eyebrow. "You're Shay, right?"
"Yeah, Carly..." Carly was fighting doej the somersaults her stomach was doing.
The blonde shifted uncomfortably, seemingly out of her element, before she began, "You have a Ralts, right?"
"So what if I do?" Panic climbed in Carly's voice unbidden. This whole situation was freaking her out.
"I'll battle you for it." More bite was in the taller girl's voice, but something still seemed off..
Carly shook her head vigorously. If there was one thing certain in the world, it's that she would never give up that last piece of her mother for anything.
"You're making this really hard for me, kid..." Opening her bag, the young woman tossed out a pitch black canine with a red muzzle. The Houndour turned back to its trainer, unsure.
The few trainers around were about to step in, but Carly held up a hand. "I'll deal with this."
Pichu was already facing down its adversary, though it was itself trembling with fear. Both it and Carly knew that she had only one other Pokémon with her, and that was Ralts.
"Ember on Pichu, Houndour."
Pichu jumped out of the way of the blast before Carly stammered out a command to use Thunder Shock.
What followed was a rather odd exchange of very basic attacks as the two Pokémon combatants battled each other into exhaustion.
Eventually, the scuffle was interrupted by the spinning of helicopter rotors. A look of realization crossed the blonde girl's face, and her demeanor changed instantly.
Her command to the coordinator was as sudden as it was swift. "Shay, take that Pichu with you and hide. I'll handle this."
The shocked and confused expression etched itself onto her face, but a serious glare from the blonde left no room for arguments.
She hid, but part of her felt awful about it. After all, it was obvious that there was going to be a battle here, whatever was going on there, and she had seen the other trainers run outside on her way over here.
Taking out Ralts' ball, she wondered to herself, "Should I really be hiding out here?"
For Sam, on the other hand, she had planned this out perfectly, or so she thought..
From the doorway of the copter appeared none other than Arianna, "Attention all Trainers! Your Pokémon are now the property of Team-"
Sam threw out a Golbat from a Poké Ball she had fished from her bag, with the bat already rushing in for a Wing Attack before her boss could finish.
The redheaded woman simply smirked. "Reflect."
A Kadabra stepped out into view, having encased the vehicle in a pink protective shield The Golbat was horrified to see its attack bounce harmlessly away before it got blasted away by a Psychic attack. Sam recalled it immediately.
The Executive looked much more curious than angry at this slight from her underling.
"I assume that's your idea of a 'letter of resignation' , then?"
Sam merely growled at this before sending out another Pokémon: a large purple pokemon with a white stripe along its curled tail.
"Flamethrower." From its tail came a torrent of flames...which was promptly blocked by a Light Screen, the wall of light nullifying the incoming flames completely.
"Are you done?" This was clearly wearing out its welcome to the woman in the white suit. "If you are, I..."
"Stop!"
Everybody froze as the brunette girl that had had the Pichu ran out with a Ralts in her hands.
"So. You've come over to hand over your Pokémon voluntarily, have you?"
Sam grit her teeth. She had told her to go and hide! What did she think she was doing?
"I will if nobody else gets their Pokémon stolen here. Deal?"
A tense moment of silence passed before the older woman's features relaxed. "Deal. I was growing bored of this back and forth, anyway."
Carly walked emotionlessly up to the helicopter, and gave it to the Executive, now standing on the ground with her.
"A smart decision. Now no one else has to get hurt."
"Can I say goodbye, first?"
"Fine." Carly briefly whispered something inaudible to the Pokémon before saying goodbye in a strangely dispassionate way.
What was she planning, Sam wondered…
After giving it back, she stepped back as she watched Team Rocket's helicopter vanish from sight. Sam grabbed the girl by the shoulders, yelling about the stupidity of the choice she made, until she caught the shorter girl whisper...
"3, 2, 1..."
Ralts suddenly was right back by its trainer's side, shocking everyone.
"Ralts," the Pokémon saluted. Sam released her grip and the Pokémon jumped back into its owner's arms.
Back at the Pokémon Center...
"I figured that Ralts wouldn't win a fight against those guys," Carly explained, "so I had it use Flash to distract the pilots and Teleport out of there when they were too far gone to do anything about it." A tinge of guilt washed over her features. "I just hope that those guys are alright..."
Some were impressed, but others did wonder about Team Rocket's fate briefly before the reality that their Pokémon were saved kicked in and they all started celebrating.
Everybody in the Center began to cheer for Carly while she blushed and more or less took it with modesty.
When the cheers died down, the girl realized that one person was missing.
Sam had already left the building in the middle of the celebration, only for a certain someone to catch up to her.
"So, I wanted to say thanks..."
"For what? I nearly stole your Pokémon."
"That's what I don't get? It didn't seem like you actually wanted to, and I kind of heard some of what that Rocket lady said outside..."
"I don't want your Ralts, kid. I would just forget about me if I were you..."
Carly seemed to consider the idea for a moment before shaking it off. "Do you even have any place to go?"
Sam didn't answer. Honestly, she hadn't exactly thought this far ahead.
"You could come with me for now... I'm thinking of whether I want to travel or not..."
She was about to say no, only for her stomach to rather loudly protest.
"I'm guessing you're hungry from all that battling." Carly smiled as she cut off her path. I think we can go pick up Pichu and I have just enough to fit the bill at one of Hearthome's restaurants…
Even with the mood she was in, Sam couldn't help but grin at the mere mention of food.
"Where to?"
It wasn't until the sixth or seventh plate that Carly realized what she'd gotten herself into. She herself had stopped after two, while Sam, as she was called, just kept going. The amount on the bill almost made her hair turn white, and most of it wasn't her food.
She looked at her new friend nervously before mumbling, "I'm kind of wishing you'd just taken my Ralts now, with how much this costs..."
Her bag suddenly hit her in the leg, courtesy of a rather disgruntled Psychic - type.
"Ralts..."
Both broke out laughing as the coordinator paid the bill…
A friendship is often forged from the unlikeliest of places, isn't it? Such is the magic of the world of Pokémon. But, whatever happened to Team Rocket, I wonder...?
In a forest far away, Arianna hikes, beaten and clearly mad at the world, with her pilots following her.
"Stupid girl. Both of them are going on the blacklist."
"How far is the nearest Team Rocket base, Ma'am?" One of the pilots interjected.
She snaps at him, seething, "I don't know! Just keep walking like your jobs depend on it, because they do!"
"You know what, I'm kind of thinking of leaving, too," another pilot whispers to the first, with him taking a look at Arianna in her current state and nodding slowly.
"I wouldn't say that too loudly," another whispered fearfully. "She might hear you..."
"Shut up and keep moving!"
Stay tuned…
TO BE CONTINUED…