Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wordings, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Hideout Exploration
Red and Eevee crept down another hallway, barely avoiding the gaze of another Rocket Grunt.
Why did Red come down here again? Why did he not go back to Leaf and tell her about this place? They could have taken down that Grunt guarding the switch and explored here together. That sounded sensible, didn't it? Oh well, what was done was done. Now all he and Eevee could do was continue manoeuvring through this hideout, hoping they could find a single trace of Lo's kin. It must be mentioned how tempting it was to allow Lo to potentially lead them to its clan, although the risks of Lo getting stolen was far too high (it might be suggested that if Red was captured, then all his Pokémon would have been taken regardless, so what would it have mattered? As per the prior chapter, his common sense was being a bit of a lazy so-and-so.).
More footsteps. Red and Eevee ducked behind a pile of boxes and waited for them to pass. They went away.
"Close one," Red said, laying a comforting hand on Eevee's head. "Don't worry, though, we're going to get out of here safely. This isn't going to be like with Mt. Moon. Besides, Leaf would slaughter me if I let anything happen to you."
Eevee licked his hand, adding a single wag of her tail.
"We're probably going to have to battle at some point, though," Red said, tickling behind her ears. "But I've got my own Pokémon to take Team Rocket on, so you can sit back and not have to worry, okay?"
He peeked around the boxes. "The coast is clear. Okay, let's go, Eevee. There has to be a clue as to where Lo's family is."
Now, if Red were an ancient box that contained a bunch of Mythical Pokémon, where would he be? That was indeed the question, wasn't it? Maybe they were on a lower floor? He did see a staircase that led that direction, so maybe it was worth retracing his steps there?
Remarkably, Red and Eevee did not run into a single Rocket Grunt as they headed back to the staircase, the way ahead of them as clear and free as a winding road through a desert.
After which, they went down another staircase…
…and went back up it as they heard two Grunts talking around a corner.
"We could battle them," Red said. "I mean, I've got lots of Potions and stuff, but let's continue to play it safe for now. Let's just explore this floor, um, I guess basement floor two?"
So they did, fortunately not coming across any Team Rocket members.
What they did come across, however, was something that made Red frown and advance cautiously.
"What in the world are these?" Red whispered.
Eevee would be darned if she knew, choosing to sniff the floor.
And what was on the floor one may ask? Well, a more suitable question would be to ask 'what was the floor?' instead as the things Red and Eevee were staring at were surely fixed to it in such a way that they were indeed the floor.
Arrows.
Yes, you heard that right.
Or, more accurately, you read that right.
Sporadically on the floor were glowing arrows, encompassed by green squares. They shone and they hummed, powered by something Red did not know.
"This looks weird," Red said. "Eevee, don't touch them."
Ah, warnings. They can be so troublesome to the curious and adventurous, and are usually given too late.
Like now.
Eevee's front paws had already touched one of the squares, and by the time Red had said 'don't', sudden momentum from the arrows tugged Eevee forward, sending her spinning away, yelping for help.
"Eevee!" Red yelled, running forward without a second thought, and he too suffered as Eevee had as he was spun around, bouncing off walls and pillars, before coming to a stop in a heap next to the dizzy Normal-type on an arrow-less part of the floor.
"Are you okay, Eevee?" Red asked.
Eevee mewled.
"That was a kind of fun in a pukey, painful kind of way, wasn't it?"
Eevee mewled again.
Red rose gingerly to his feet, a nearby wall assisting him. "That's messed with my head," he groaned. "It even looks like there's a Rocket looking at me… oh… uh oh."
The Rocket Grunt marched towards them. Red swooped down and picked Eevee up in his arms. They both glared at the Rocket, who glared back.
"How the heck did you get by Stu?" she demanded to know. "Did you knock him out or something. Not a single intruder alarm went off."
"I did nothing of the sort," Red snapped. "I'm not like you lot. I just snuck in."
"And were you going to be a little sneak the entire time?"
"That was the plan."
The Rocket Grunt smirked. "Pity it's a stupid plan. You don't think we don't have cameras everywhere? As I said, we don't know how you got by Stu, but it only took us a few minutes to realise that you had. We've been watching you this whole time."
Red's face turned ashen, and he looked around. Yes, there were cameras. How had he not seen them? Maybe it was because the previous times he dealt with Team Rocket there was no way for security cameras to be used. Mt. Moon? Nope. Pokémon Tower? Nope. Route Ten? Nope. Of course, an evil syndicate like them would not spare the cost of cameras in their own hideout.
"You do realise you're not going to see the boss, right?" the Grunt said, carrying on. "We're not going to let you see him. As a matter of fact, I'm stopping you right now."
From her Poké Ball came out a blue, bat-like Pokémon, taller than Red, with purple wings and a mouth so wide it was almost the size of its entire body. It had little ears and little eyes and little feet and not so little fangs in its mighty maw that numbered four.
Golbat, a Poison and Flying-type Pokémon, and the evolved form of Zubat. Once it strikes, it will not stop draining energy from the victim even if it gets too heavy to fly.
A battle? Red would gladly oblige. He was a much more powerful Trainer than the boy who wondered Mt. Moon fearfully, than the lad who climbed to the top of the haunted tower of Lavender. And he would not lose. Not when she had told him a very vital piece of information: the Team Rocket leader was there at the hideout.
If anyone was to know where Lo's kin was for certain, then it would be him.
He would find him.
He would battle every single member of Team Rocket if he had to.
o~o~o~o~o
But where were Leaf and Pikachu in all this? They had after all pressed the switch behind the poster and headed the same way as Red and Eevee.
Yes, they were in the hideout too, their path, like Red's, free of the Rockets. Unlike Red, however, they quickly became aware of the cameras watching them.
"They're trying to unnerve us, aren't they?" Leaf said to Pikachu. "They're watching us, so there's no point in sneaking."
Pikachu made what could be interpreted as a rude gesture towards one of the cameras.
"It's just a matter of time until they ambush us, then," Leaf said. "It's Mt. Moon all over again."
Yet, despite thinking this, Leaf could not help but think it was also very different. Yes, this time she had a whole bunch of her Pokémon with her, her friends that had grown stronger with her since Mt. Moon. A trickle of excitement merged with the river of fear as she recalled Looker's words towards her, encouragement of a potential career path. Was it possible… could she… at that moment… was it possible that she could bring down Team…
Leaf shook her head. "Don't be so silly, Leaf," she scolded herself. "Don't get lost in your imagination and end up risking everyone. Just find Red and Eevee. That's it."
Pikachu stared up at her, thinking to himself that maybe Leaf was not that much saner than Red.
"Let's keep going, Pikachu," she said to the mouse. "We should find them sooner or later."
Pikachu heard her. Pikachu ignored her. For who should capture his attention except for a Team Rocket Grunt.
"I remember you from Mt. Moon," the man said. "Because of you kids and those rotten wild Pokémon we got a right telling off from the higher-ups. You got Proton pretty much exiled as well."
Leaf jutted out her chin. "And why should I care about that?"
"Because I'm going to get my revenge." From a Poké Ball emerged a Gloom. "You're going down, kid."
"I don't think so," Leaf replied, calling out Growlithe, who immediately began to chase his tail. "Growlithe, battle time. Let's show this guy what for."
Embers speckled Gloom, and Leaf already knew this Grunt stood no chance against her.
o~o~o~o~o
Archer stood before Giovanni's desk, the man in question drumming his fingers against it, his face impassive.
"Are we cursed?" Giovanni asked suddenly. Archer did very well not to jump.
"I don't understand what you mean, sir."
Giovanni picked up the Silph Scope on his desk and pretended to study it. "Maybe 'cursed' is an exaggeration. A curse would imply something quite horrible. This is more of an annoyance, an itch that will not go, a practical joke fate has chosen to play on me."
"Ah," Archer said, understanding. "Yes, those children seem to show up and interfere with our plans all the time. But don't worry, sir, the Grunts will deal with them. They do not have the advantages afforded to them by Mt. Moon. They're on our ground now."
Giovanni sighed mournfully. "And what if they wind up finding their way towards me? The Grunts would not have done their job through their pure, unfiltered incompetence. Will they get the better over us again?"
"They will not, sir! One of our people has the Lift Key, and they will not give it up. We shall soon round them up."
"But they have already infiltrated our hideout, haven't they? That's more than what the police and the Elite Four have ever done." Giovanni chuckled, humourless, cold. "Maybe if they manage to get to me, I should give them a reward? They would be deserving of it, wouldn't they? Hmm, what to give… perhaps the Silph Scope? We can get more."
"We will stop them, sir," Archer said, slowly. "Even if I have to battle them myself."
Giovanni's lips curled. "In that case, I do hope one of my Executives is actually able to defeat a child."
"Their defeat would be guaranteed, sir."
Giovanni's gaze fell upon his computer as Archer left his office, the screen divided into squares, each square showing a different part of their hideout, barely paying attention as he watched his Rockets dismantled by those irksome children.
With a Pikachu and an Eevee constantly out of their Poké Balls.
Ah, of course, just like the reports.
But it couldn't be, could it? Those two weak Pokémon, their species a dime a dozen to him, could they possibly be…?
He smirked.
o~o~o~o~o
Tears sprang to Leaf's eyes, she clenched her fists, she grinded her teeth. Could Team Rocket sink no lower? Was evilness and vindictiveness instilled into this syndicate even more deeply than she first thought?
She poked a finger through the bars in the cage. The Growlithe licked her finger, its eyes dull, its fur matted, its tail still. Leaf's heart broke as she imagined it was her Growlithe there instead, or any of her Pokémon for that matter. She looked around at the rest of the cages, more depressed, poor, mistreated creatures trapped in these prisons too small for them. Growlithe, Vulpix, Mankey, Bellsprout, Pidgey and all sorts of other Pokémon kept as Game Corner prizes and perhaps for other reasons unknown to her.
There was even one she had never even heard of before, let alone seen. It was a pink and blue Pokémon that looked like a duck made entirely from straight lines, not a single curve anywhere on it.
Porygon, a Normal-type Pokémon. Recently created, this new species consists entirely of programming code. It is capable of moving freely in cyberspace.
Recently created. Another artificial Pokémon like Ditto… like… like… it. But it was still a living being, still suffering as much as the others. She ran a finger long its beak, mechanical, yes, but still with the warmth of a 'real' Pokémon.
"You poor things," she whispered. "This is horrid."
Pikachu growled, red cheeks shining yellow, eyes burning with the flash of a lightning storm.
"We'll get you out of here," Leaf promised. "We'll make sure you're all taken to safety."
"Are you sure about that?"
Leaf did not jump. She and Pikachu swivelled around. The Rocket Grunt recoiled and took an instinctive step back. "Er…" he tried to say.
Pikachu leapt forward, voltaic power running through him, from tail to cheeks.
"You want to battle?" Leaf asked.
A nod.
"Okay, let's send these toerags packing together." Leaf smiled at the Grunt, the smile a predator gave to its prey before devouring it. "Funny, I've spent so much time with grandpa's Pikachu that this feels quite natural." She cracked her knuckles. "I still don't like battling much, but I'll do this any day of the week if it means bringing scum like you to ruin, Mr. Grunt. I'm going to make all of you pay for your crimes."
o~o~o~o~o
"Looks like we need to find a way to activate the lift," Red said. "The big boss is going to be somewhere we can't access going up and down the stairs. I guess we can defeat more Grunts and hope that leads to something. What do you say, Eevee?"
Eevee mewled, missing Leaf.
Red and Eevee turned around a corner and came to a door. Well, not exactly a door per se, more an opening that led into a room where a door should have been. A lone Grunt sat at a table, clenching a Poké Ball tightly.
"I had a feeling you were coming," he said without looking up at Red. "I wanted to trust my allies enough to believe you would not get far at all. I should've known better." The chair legs scraped against the floor as he stood abruptly. "It all comes down to me. You're a bump in the road for our glory that I'm going to flatten."
His Grimer seemed to share its Trainer's convictions, although that may have been because it did not know any better. It leered at Red and Eevee, oozing on the white floor of the hideout.
"I've already beaten some of the Rockets here already," Red said. "What makes you think it's going to go differently for you?"
"Because I am different," the Grunt spat. He pulled out a key from his pocket. "I was entrusted with this Lift Key, you see. I won't betray that trust."
"Lift Key?" Red mumbled. Wait, that had to be it, didn't it? Its name very, very, very, very, very, very subtly implied it was the item needed to activate the lift. Fine, if the Grunt wanted to fight, then Red would oblige. This would be a Gym Battle to him, and the Lift Key would be the Badge.
But who would he use? He had been using everyone except Lo so far, and the other three had pulled their weight remarkably considering they were Pikachu-less. It would have to be between Charmeleon and Beedrill; Clefairy would not fare too well against Grimer.
It was a pity none of his present team had any anti-Poison-type moves on them… wait a minute. They did! Technically.
"Eevee," Red said at the corner of his mouth. "Do you want to work with me to take this guy down? You're powerful enough and got the moves to take Grimer out no problem."
Eevee cocked her head to the side, befuddled.
"You can do it," Red said. "Leaf's trained you well, and you've got those awesome moves from Evan. Come on, let's do this!"
Red's confidence and enthusiasm infected Eevee, who barked and hopped forward, hackles raised.
Grimer's Sludge hit and sizzled on the floor, never even close to touching a single hair on Eevee's head.
"Pound!" The Grunt ordered.
"Quick Attack!" came the counter.
Grimer's arm missed Eevee, who barrelled herself into the Poison-type's body, cringing at the smell and the texture of the thing she charged into.
"Okay, I'm getting a feel for how you fight, Eevee," Red said to himself. "Not too differently from Pikachu." With a flourish, he declared: "It's over! End it with a Glitzy Glow!"
A call for a Poison Gas died on the Grunt's tongue as Eevee's special attack engulfed Grimer, the damage overwhelming it, survival an impossibility. The Light Screen side effect cloaked Eevee in its golden radiance, but it was not needed as Eevee easily dispatched the Grunt's second Pokémon, a Venonat, with a single Sizzly Slide.
"What… what kind of Eevee is that?" the Grunt asked, his hands trembling. "And just who the heck are you, kid?"
"Me?" Red said. "I'm just a kid who wants to travel around, make friends with people and Pokémon, and battle at the Kanto League. That's really all I am."
"Then, why do you ruin our plans?"
"Wrong place at the wrong time at first, and I guess my conscience now." Red held out his hand. "I want that Lift Key, please."
The Grunt's face went pale as he took a quick glance towards where a camera was pointing right at him. He did not give Red the key.
"Seriously?" Red said. "We won fair and square. What, are you worried about what your boss will do to you? He must be a really tough and scary guy." He pondered the situation for a moment. "Hey, if you give me the key, then it won't matter to you, will it? If your boss is so powerful, then he'll sweep the floor with me anyway, won't he? You'll be in the clear, or at least you'll have done better than the guy guarding the poster upstairs."
Reluctantly, the Grunt heeded Red's words and tossed him the Lift Key before turning on his heels and fleeing around the corner, visage contorted with rage and embarrassment.
"Well, that was fun," Red said, pocketing the Lift Key. "Come on, let's go and find the Rocket Boss. Man, I don't get it, Eevee, but I'm super excited for some reason. I guess it's mostly because we'll be able to help Lo's family, but the fact we'll probably have to battle someone even more powerful than an Executive gets my blood pumping. Is that weird? It's probably insane. I think the longer we've been here and the more battles we've had, the more confident I'm becoming. What do you say?"
They strode back the way they came, retracing their steps, on high alert should a random Rocket jump out at them, demanding the Lift Key back.
But it was silent. At least, it was silent until it was not for the noises of a Pokémon battle drifted ahead of them, enticing them to sate their curiosity and investigate.
Red and Eevee ran over to the sounds, the latter's nose and ears twitching, sounds and scents telling her of those she was about to see. She quickened her pace.
"Eevee, wait for me!" Red shouted, putting on a burst of speed himself.
The corridor opened up into a room filled with computers, a couple of which had cracked screens and blackened keyboards.
"What the…" Red started to say, only to be cut off by a yellow blur electrocuting a Machop with a voltaic pulse. The blur came to a standstill, revealing itself to be Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Red shouted, running past the defeated Grunt, who headed in the opposite direction, spitting curses. "Leaf!"
The Trainer in control of Pikachu turned to him. Red slowed. He did not recognise her eyes. Yes, they belonged to Leaf, but they were not hers, were completely different to the girl he had left upstairs in the Game Corner.
"Leaf," Red said softly. "What are you doing here?"
For a scary few seconds, that look in Leaf's eyes seemed destined to stay, an expression that extinguished any of her former warmth, blue pools of icy water that chilled to the bone. Fortunately, the sharpness blunted, and she placed her hands either side of Red's face.
"Red," she whispered.
"Yes?"
She pinched Red's cheeks so hard his eyes watered. "Ow, ow, ow! What are you doing? Stop it, Leaf!"
"What possessed you to come down here?" Leaf asked, her voice sweet but laced with fury. "You must have realised this was a Team Rocket hideout and yet you came here anyway. And you didn't think to tell me? If you had to come down here, you could've waited for me, couldn't you? And you came with my Eevee? You were seriously going to put someone else's Pokémon at risk?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Red wailed. "It just sort of happened. And I thought maybe I would take advantage of this being a Team Rocket place and try to help Lo. And I'm really, really, really, really, REALLY sorry for bringing Eevee into this! But if it makes you feel any better, she's very strong! Can you please let go of me now?"
Leaf relinquished her hold of the boy whose face now matched his name. "I get you, Red. Maybe I should've gone about that better. But I don't like the fact you came here without me and kept Eevee with you. I hate it in fact. Then again, I suppose I brought Pikachu along, but what else was I meant to do with him?" She sighed and glared up at a camera. "Speaking of, Pikachu, use Shock Wave on that camera."
Pikachu obliged, grinning as the camera exploded from his attack.
"It probably doesn't make a difference," Leaf said to Red, "but it feels good to destroy their stuff."
"I bet it does." Red jerked a thumb over at Pikachu. "Erm, you seem to work well with Pikachu. Glad to see it."
"He's a little soldier," Leaf said fondly. "He knows we've got to work together to get through this. No nonsense. No wonder you've used him in all your Gym Battles thus far."
"Huh? Oh yeah, I have." Red knelt next to his Pokémon and reached out to stroke him, which he promptly side-stepped. Red sighed. "No nonsense just like Leaf said, right, buddy? Well, in that case, you'll be glad to know we're going to have a tough battle now."
Pikachu's ears twitched.
"A tough battle?" Leaf said. "What do you mean? Is there an Executive here?"
"There might be. But I'm talking about the big boss, the actual head of Team Rocket."
"Team Rocket's boss is here?" Leaf said, her voice hollow. "How sure are you he is? And how certain are you that you can even find him in this place?"
Red brandished the Lift Key. "Ta-da. I got this from a Grunt. We can use this to ride the lift to wherever the boss is. Since he's in charge of this entire thing, he'll probably want to battle like the other Rockets – it'll be kind of cool if he does, wouldn't it. I'm going to beat him and get him to tell me where Lo's family is."
A sharp look spread across Leaf's face. "I'm definitely coming with you, you know. I've got some words for that evil man myself. You won't believe what else they're doing here."
"Considering what we've experienced with them so far, I probably will."
Red was right. He did believe Leaf. But it did not make what she said any less dreadful. "Let's go as quickly as we can," he said, his heart burning with the intensity of Charmeleon's Fire Spin. "The sooner we take the boss down, the sooner we can rescue all those Pokémon." He hung his head. "Man, Team Rocket just get worse and worse, don't they?"
o~o~o~o~o
Ah, so the boy had obtained the Lift Key. And he and the girl had reunited and were coming to confront him. Giovanni crushed a sheet of paper into a ball. It was infuriating. How did his Team Rocket operatives – trained agents – allow these preteens to run around their hideout with as much freedom as they were doing? His fist tightened around the paper ball. There would be repercussions for those inept fools, but that would come later. For now, he would need to involve himself in this farce.
Let them come. On second thought, maybe it was good that they would meet at last. Children – mere children – who had done more damage to Team Rocket's goals than the law and those who enforced it had ever done surely should provide him with a good conversation and battle at least.
And the Pikachu and Eevee too.
He dumped the paper ball into the bin under his desk and picked up a walkie-talkie. "Archer," he whispered into it. "I do not want any operatives to battle the children. Allow them to reach me. Over."
"I understand, sir. I will let everyone know. Over."
Giovanni leaned back into his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Yes, this could be a good thing. Or maybe it would be a horrible mistake.
Not that it would matter in the end.
Not when he still had his greatest goal to achieve.
o~o~o~o~o
Fresh air. It is so beautiful. I drink it like water. The sun it out, and it is so warm, impossibly so. When was the last time I felt its rays on my skin? I don't know. So long. Was it? I finally gained the courage to poke my head out from my home or, from what I've come to know it, my prison.
Risky? Yes. But I can't stand it anymore. I want to be free.
Why can't I be free?
How much longer do I have to wait for?
What do I have to wait for?
Who do I have to wait for?
Or is this my life, to hide away until I expire?
Is that my life?
Or is there more for me?
Please. Please, let there be more for me.
I want to live.
Can't I have that?
Please, let me have that.
