Chapter Two

The little girl stopped to catch her breath in front of the Pokémon Center. Straightening up, she furrowed her brows and pouted, irritated that her grandfather had scampered off by himself.

"That crazy old man is gonna get himself hurt," she grumbled, stomping her feet in frustration, unaware that someone had walked up beside her.

"Something wrong kid?"

The little girl looked up at the sound of the voice and was met with a pair of concerned silver eyes. Crossing her arms, she huffed and said, "grandpa Kurt is being reckless again…"

Grandpa Kurt, as in the guy who makes specialty pokéballs out of apricorns? Ethan thought as he followed the girl's gaze toward the edge of town. "You mentioned that he was being reckless… what did you mean by that?"

"Well, grandpa Kurt said that there were some mean people at the well and that they were cutting off Slowpoke tails. I told him not to go because it's dangerous, but because he's such a stubborn old man he went anyway!" pouted the girl, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"You're right, that does sound pretty reckless, especially if he's trying to go after those people on his own," Ethan replied. On top of that, if he gets hurt I won't be able to get any specialty balls from him either.

Ethan squatted down so that he was eye level with her and gently patted her on the head.

"Don't you worry, I'll go after your grandpa and make sure he's alright."

"Really?" said the girl in a hopeful tone.

"Sure, we can't let him get hurt now can we? Why don't you head back to your grandpa's house and wait for us there. I'll go talk some sense into him and bring him back," Ethan assured her with a smile.

The little girl did her best to smile despite the worry she was feeling.

"Okay mister, but you gotta promise to bring him back safe," said the determined girl.

"Not to worry, I'll drag him back if I have to," Ethan chuckled, ruffling her hair a little before standing back up. "Now go on, head on home. I'll take care of it from here."

"Okay! Thank you mister—"

"Ethan."

"Right, thank you Ethan!" said the girl as she ran off towards her grandpa's house.

Ethan watched as she hurried back to Kurt's house before turning and heading toward the edge of town where the Slowpoke Well was located. As he walked, he took note that there were several Slowpoke walking around that didn't have tails. While it was known that Slowpoke tail was a delicacy often enjoyed by many, it seemed odd to see so many Slowpoke without their tail. It wasn't long before he reached the well and found Kurt arguing with someone in front of the well.

The individual in question wore a mostly black ensemble with a red 'R' insignia on the front. Attached to her waist was a black, leather whip. Beside her was a purple, snake-like Pokémon with a rattle at the end of its tail. It hissed at the elderly man.

"If you know what's good for you, old man, you'll hightail it out of here before you get hurt," the woman threatened.

"If you think that I'm just going to let you thugs do as you please, you'd better think again!" Kurt shouted angrily. "I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget!"

Poisonous needles shot from Ekans' mouth, landing just inches from where Kurt stood, making him stumble and fall backwards. Kurt gritted his teeth and did his best to sit up, but found it painful to do so. The woman began to laugh, further angering Kurt who still could not get back up.

"What's the matter old man? I thought you were gonna teach me a lesson," she taunted, motioning for Ekans to slither closer.

As Ekans drew near, it was bombarded with a shotgun blast of flames. Hissing angrily, Ekans whipped its head around and glared at whatever dared encroach upon its prey.

"Are you alright, Kurt?" Ethan asked as he stepped up beside the elderly man, Cyndaquil at his heels in a battle ready stance, his back ablaze with crimson fire.

Kurt grunted as he said, "I think so, but my back is out again…"

"Just sit tight then, I'll handle it from here," Ethan replied, shifting his focus to the woman and her Ekans.

The woman arched a brow as Ethan approached with his Cyndaquil.

"Oh, what have we here? I don't know what you're trying to pull here kiddo, but if you get in the way of Team Rocket, you're gonna get your ass kicked. So why don't you run along before I pulverize you…"

"I appreciate your concern, but you should really be worrying about yourself," Ethan shot back.

"Suit yourself, Ekans go get them!" the agent commanded.

Ekans hissed and slithered off—lightning quick—through the grass toward his targets, his tail glowing with a venomous purple light. Cyndaquil ducked under the serpent's tail and leaped backward as Ekans dove at him with his mouth gaping wide. As Ekans lunged again, flames were shot into his face, allowing Cyndaquil to close in and ram his head into the body of the snake, sending him crashing into the ground. The woman looked down at her defeated Ekans, and took a step backward after recalling him.

"Dammit!" she cursed, "lucky punk," she hissed, removing a whip from her belt. "If you think I'm letting you get any closer, you've got another think coming!" she snapped.

"You know, if I didn't have Cyndaquil, I might be intimidated," Ethan replied, crossing his arms while Cyndaquil flared up his back. "Since I'm not a fan of hurting people—too much—I'm going to give you a chance to run before you get your ass kicked again."

The Team Rocket agent gritted her teeth and gripped her whip tighter as Ethan stepped forward. The thought of being burned and having her ensemble and hair ruined by that evil little shrew of his was more than she could handle. Regrettably, she had to retreat. Keeping eye contact with Ethan, she reached for a small black sphere at her belt and threw it onto the ground, creating a smokescreen that covered the area around her, allowing her to escape down the well.

"Well that was weird," Ethan muttered as the smoke cleared.

Behind him, he could hear Kurt grunting as he struggled to get back on his feet. Ethan moved to help him up.

"Thank you young man," Kurt said gratefully, "but you really didn't have to do that, I could have handled it myself."

"Yeah… your granddaughter said you were stubborn like that. Good thing I came before you over-exerted yourself," Ethan said as he helped Kurt walk.

As Kurt and Ethan made it back to town, they were greeted by Kurt's granddaughter who ran to meet them, clinging to Kurt as soon as she was within reach.

"Grandpa Kurt, you're okay!" Kurt's granddaughter exclaimed happily.

"Yes, I'm alright Maizie, and it's all thanks to this young man right here," Kurt said as he patted her on the head.

Maizie looked over at Ethan and smiled up at him. "Thank you Ethan!" she chirped, relieved that her grandfather was brought back safely.

Ethan smiled back and then turned to Kurt and said, "I thought Team Rocket had disbanded years ago…"

Kurt grunted and shook his head, crossing his arms as he slowly sat down on the couch.

"I didn't want to believe that they had resurfaced, but as soon as I saw one of their agents snooping around our town I had no choice but to accept that they had returned. I had hoped to be able to drive them away, but it seems in my old age I'm not as sturdy as I used to be," Kurt grumbled.

Ethan mulled over Kurt's words as he recalled the battle he had earlier with the Team Rocket agent. From what he could remember, they never travelled alone unless they were a high ranking agent. Judging by how quickly she fled down the well, it was safe for Ethan to assume that there were more of them inside, meaning he'd be outnumbered. Ethan frowned. There wasn't much he'd be able to do by himself. As he tried to find a solution, his new gear alerted him of a few challengers within the vicinity.

Ethan pulled up the screen and saw that there was a battle taking place just outside. A grin formed on Ethan's face. He had found his solution. Standing up, he darted outside to get a glimpse of the action. One trainer, having bright red hair commanding a Sneasel, faced off against a blue-haired female trainer, battling alongside a Tyrogue. Tyrogue traded blows with Sneasel, the latter of whom had the advantage as he was forcing the Fighting-type to go on the defensive.

As Tyrogue swung his leg for a counter blow, Sneasel ducked under it and slashed upward into Tyrogue's chin, sending the little martial artist flying backward, landing out cold on the ground in front of his trainer. A screen appeared, and points were awarded to the victor. The redhead returned his Sneasel and looked at the screen. He saw that he had twenty points while the individual in first place had forty.

"Looks like she's moving fast…" the redhead mumbled while looking at a photo of the lavender-haired frontrunner.

"That was a hell of a battle you two had. It kinda made me wanna jump in."

The redhead frowned, and turned his head to look at Ethan. His gear beeped, signifying that Ethan was also among the competitors. Pulling up the screen, he could see that Ethan hadn't battled anyone yet.

"If you had, you wouldn't have fared any better than this weakling," the redhead replied bluntly.

"Wanna run that by me again asshole?" the bluenette growled back, her eyebrow twitching as she clenched her fists.

The redhead simply turned around and began walking toward the Pokémon center. Frustrated, the bluenette called after him.

"Hey, don't just ignore me you jerk!" she shouted angrily as the center doors closed.

With a huff, she turned to look at Ethan and raised a brow. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Whoa, take it easy! I'm not here to pick a fight," Ethan replied while holding up his hands.

The girl seemed skeptical for a moment, but after careful consideration, she deemed that Ethan wasn't going to pose a problem. She sighed in relief.

"I'm Ethan, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Ethan, I'm Kris. Sorry for snapping at you. That battle sorta rattled me. That Silver guy's a real piece of work…"

"Silver? Oh, you mean the guy you battled. Gotcha," Ethan responded. "Yeah, he seemed a bit snobbish. Despite that, it looks like he trained his Sneasel well enough if it mopped the floor with your Tyrogue…"

"Don't remind me," Kris muttered through gritted teeth. "Because of that jerk, I lost ten points! I swear, the next time we battle I'm going to beat him to a pulp… after I get Tyrogue fixed up that is."

"I'll come with you then. There was something I wanted to ask you anyway," Ethan offered, walking with her to the center.

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the lobby, waiting for Kris's Tyrogue to be taken care of. Seated on the other side of the room, also waiting for his Pokémon, was Silver. Kris bristled at the sight of him and looked away with a huff.

Maybe my idea isn't gonna work. I thought I might be able to take on Team Rocket with these two helping out, but they don't seem to get along very well.

"Ethan, hellooooooo! Earth to Ethan!"

"Huh?"

"Geez, are you deaf or something? I've been trying to get your attention, but it looked like you spaced out for a bit."

"Sorry about that, I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment," Ethan apologized.

"That's right, you said you had something you wanted to ask me didn't you?" Kris reminded him.

Ethan nodded and his voice dropped to a whisper as he explained to Kris what was going on at Slowpoke Well.

"Team Rocket!?" Kris shouted, clapping her hands over her mouth after realizing she was a little too loud. "Are you sure it was them? I thought they disbanded years ago."

Ethan shook his head. "That's what I thought too, until I saw it for myself."

"So let me see if I have this straight… you want me to help you drive Team Rocket out of town?"

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"You must be out of your mind if you think—" Kris paused, frowning as she saw Silver standing in front of them. "Can we help you?"

"Surprisingly, maybe. But that's only if what I've heard is true," Silver said, his gaze shifting to Ethan as he addressed him. "You said Team Rocket was here right?"

Ethan smirked and stood up. "Yeah, I did. What's it to you?"

"Let's just say I've got some unfinished business with those fools…"