The Daycare Liberation, Team Plasma Strikes!
"Remind me again how liberating these eggs is the right thing to do? It feels wrong." Three Team Plasma members were currently stashing the Pokemon Daycare's egg supply into their sacks. Breaking in was simple enough and after easily tying up the old couple that watched over the place, they were free to start collecting the eggs as they were ordered. Though most Plasma grunts had orange hair, these three didn't. The one voicing their concern was a female grunt, she had a light skin tone and blue eyes along with some strands of blonde hair being visible beneath her headwear.
"Because we're saving them from a life of tyranny under the control of trainers!" A male grunt spoke up, he had a tanned skin tone similar to Ash along with brown eyes and sleek black hair. "Besides you should know better than to question orders, the Black Knight gave us these orders himself and we're to follow through. You better not leave him here you questioning his orders or else you'll lose your tongue like Brick over there!" The man pointed at a taller and bulkier grunt, he had a light skin tone similar to the female but freckles were scattered about his face, he had green eyes and a bit of red hair was showing beneath his headwear.
"B-Black Knight himself?!" The female grunt's eyes lit up at the mention of the mysterious figure. There was just something about the mystery behind him that made him alluring!
"Yes, Brooke. Now if you hurry up you might just please him enough that you'll become his mate!" The male smirked causing Brooke to growl out.
"You're a jerk, Chase!"
"I know and it's so much fun!" Chase smirked.
Just then the door to the daycare opened up as the old couple's son and wife had arrived to take over for the day, immediately being greeted by the sight of them being tied up before they made a quick rush to the back of the building where they'd see Team Plasma putting the last of the eggs into a sack.
"Hey, stop!" The son growled out as he threw forth a ball, releasing the rock structure Pokemon known as Gigalith! His wife threw a ball as well as a alternate colored Gigalith burst out.
Brick let out a grunt as Brooke was quick to nod.
"Time to go!"
"Heh, they wouldn't dare attack us with full sacks of eggs!" Chase smirked before sticking his tongue out at them. "But just in case, Heatmor let's burn this dump!"
"Heatmor!" The brown anteater Pokemon burst out before firing a ball of orange, red, yellow and black fire at the daycare wall with it soon bursting into flame as the owners let out a terrified shout!
"Haha, let's go!"
"Ah! W-Was that really necessary?!" Brooke cried out only for Chase to not answer as he grabbed her arm and yanked her out the door!
"Whoa, what is that Pokemon?!" Ash stared at a blue duck Pokemon as it swam about a pond in front of him, nibbling at some bread crumbs that Hilda and Cilan had tossed out for it's flock.
"Ducklett the Water Bird Pokemon, they are better at swimming than flying and they happily eat their favorite food, peat moss, as they dive underwater!"
"Maybe I should catch one, what do you think Pikachu?" Ash asked as he clenched his fists.
"Pika!"
"Uh, Ash? Don't you think you've caught enough Pokemon for now, you've still got to train the ones you have!" Iris exclaimed and though she sounded rude she did have a point. If Ash captured every single Pokemon that he saw then they'd never become experienced enough to fight in the Unova League. He should train the others he had up a bit before attempting to capture additional members.
"I'll take this one, I'm gonna need more Pokemon if I'm gonna rescue-er if I'm gonna help you guys fight Team Rocket and Team Plasma!" Hilda quickly caught herself as she gripped Snivy's ball before releasing her grass snake. "Snivy let's start off with Tackle!"
"Sni!" Snivy charged into the water and pinned one of the Ducklett down as the rest let out a squawk and flew off into the air! The Ducklett let out a terrified squawk as his wings began glowing bright before giving Snivy a hard slap!
"Sni!"
"Snivy use Leer then give it another Tackle!" Hilda cried out. Snivy cast off a Leer at Ducklett before charging across the pond once more in order to tackle it, Ducklett let out a squawk before going limp as swirls appeared in his eyes.
"Duck..."
"Alright Snivy!" Hilda cheered as Snivy smirked in response before raising his head as a heavy blush crossed his cheeks. Hilda grabbed hold of an empty ball and threw it, Ducklett soon disappearing in a beam of red light as the ball hit the shallow water and began to shake, a chime eventually went off to announce the capture as Hilda let out an ecstatic shout.
"Yes, Ducklett is now mine!"
"Sni!"
"Way to go Hilda!" Ash praised his friend before turning to face Pikachu as the rat's ear began to twitch, his gaze focused on something in the distance. "What's up, buddy?"
"Pika pi!" Pikachu pointed frantically in the direction before hopping off Ash's shoulder causing him to quickly give chase, the others looked after him before quickly following as they wanted to ensure that Ash wasn't about to get into trouble.
"Go go, go!" Chase shouted as he raced by followed by his two associates. Ash did a quick turn as his gaze locked directly onto them, they were definitely Team Plasma and that suspicious sack they were carrying had to have something in it!
"Hey Team Plasma, get back here!" Ash shouted.
"Hey isn't that the kid Ghetsis warned us about?" Brooke asked.
"Keep running, don't stop!" Chase merely growled as the three kept going.
"That's not suspicious at all." Iris commented.
"Rufflet take to the skies and keep an eye on them!"
"You too, Pidove!" Hilda cried out as the two bird Pokemon burst out and took to the skies, following Team Plasma as the heroes stayed on their trail. They had no idea what Team Plasma was carrying but whatever it was surely had to be stolen if they were running from them.
Cilan trailed behind a bit and ended up tripping over a crab Pokemon as it suddenly came out in front of him, he flailed his arms about frantically as he tried to avoid stepping on it and faceplanted into the dirt.
"Pansage!" Pansage rushed over to help his trainer up as the crab Pokemon looked towards them with a saddened expression.
"I'm fine Pansage, we should really catch u-Hey you're a Dwebble!" Cilan was quick to say as his eyes landed upon the crab Pokemon and fully took in the sight. "But where's your rock? That's your home is it not?"
"Dwebb..." Dwebble lowered his gaze as he looked at the ground.
"You lost it, didn't you?" Cilan frowned, casting a quick glance after Ash before looking back at Dwebble. "You know, I'm sure they'll be fine without me. Why don't I make you a new home? I'm a rock connoisseur and have become an expert at carving rocks, I can make you a new home in no time flat!" Cilan didn't even bother waiting for an answer as he enthusiastically rushed to gather up some rocks as Dwebble watched him with a curious expression.
"Crap!" Chase had led them into a cave, the Plasma grunt thought that he could find another way out but it appeared to be a one way cave system!
Brick let out an annoyed grunt.
"Quick let's turn around before-" Brooke paused as the three were now face to face with Ash, Brock, Hilda and Iris. Pikachu's cheeks sparked in a threatening manner as Ash was quick to speak up.
"Alright Team Plasma, I don't know what's in the bag but hand it over!"
"You won't want to do that Ketchum unless you like the smell of scrambled eggs!" Chase smirked as he pulled out a light brown egg with what appeared to be a fur design around the side of it. "All these bags are full of eggs, you can't touch us!"
"Well you're not getting through us either so we're at a stalemate." Hilda growled.
"Let the eggs go and we'll let you go, you've got my word." Ash tried to reason with them as he didn't want to risk the eggs getting hurt during a Pokemon battle.
"Like hell we are, not after what they did to my bro!" Hilda threw a ball in a rather aggressive stance than normal. "Snivy, use Vine Whip to grab those bags!"
"Snivy!" Snivy reached out with his vines, easily yanking the one Brooke was carrying before pulling at the one Chase was holding. Unfortunately Chase wasn't letting it go that easy.
"Heatmor!"
Heatmor burst out and let out a growl.
"Cubchoo, let's go!" Brooke cried out as a small polar bear cub burst out, Iris let out a terrified scream and froze up on the spot resulting in Brock taking over as Croagunk raced forward and dispatched Cubchoo with a singular Poison Jab attack!
"Sawk!"
"Throh!" Brick sent out a tall blue and a short red humanoid Pokemon that wore karate uniforms.
"Rufflet and Nidoran I choose you!"
"Nido!"
"Ruff!"
"Snivy use Leer than launch yourself up with Vine Whip and Tackle him!" Hilda ordered. Snivy launched herself up into the sky with her vines before firing off like a missile at her target, slamming her body against Heatmor as Hilda quickly ordered the next attack. "And Tackle again, no mercy!" Hilda growled out.
"Dang girl, what did I ever do to you?" Chase asked as her Snivy was viciously speeding about and not allowing Heatmor a chance to attack before it's unconscious body was thrown right into his own causing him to collapse onto his back as Snivy snatched the sack of eggs.
"Snivy!"
"Way to go Snivy!" Hilda praised.
"Sni!" Snivy was suddenly encased in a bright light as his body began changing form while his body grew longer and slimmer, leaves also grew out of his backside.
"Servine!" The newly evolved grass snake raised his head in pride before blushing heavily as Hilda gave him a hug.
"You evolved! Thank you Servine, thank you! We keep this up and we'll rescue my brother from these clowns in no time!"
"Brother...?" Chase narrowed his eyes as he grunted out.
Throh grabbed at Rufflet in an attempt to hurl him across the cave only for the eaglet to quickly fly up out of the way!
"Wing Attack!" Rufflet's wings lit up a bright blue color as he swooped through the area before slamming his wings across both Sawk and Throh's bodies!
Sawk rushed forward and began rapidly punching Nidoran but Ash didn't order a dodge for once, merely smirking as Sawk's face suddenly turned purple on account of Nidoran's Poison Point ability!
"Use Poison Sting on Throh!" Ash called out. "Rufflet, use peck on Sawk!"
Nidoran began firing multiple purple darts from it's horn in the direction of Throh, successfully pelting the Fighting type as his face turned a dark purple color. The red Fighting type soon keeling over from the poison damage while Rufflet gave Sawk a quick peck resulting in the blue Fighting type dropping unconscious as well!
"Alright way to go team!" Ash shouted, Nidoran and Rufflet cheered alongside him before a bright light surrounded Nidoran's back, his body grew slightly taller and more muscular while also losing the cute charm as it's cute eyes now looked focused and a bit fierce and it's buck tooth was lost in favor of fangs that hanged out on either side of it's mouth. Nidorino let out a huff before crying out it's new name as Ash shouted out again.
"Nidorino you evolved, that's so awesome!"
"Nido!" Nidorino smirked while Rufflet flew over and took the remaining sack of eggs away from Brick.
"It's over Team Plasma, nowhere to run!" Hilda growled out before turning to Ash. "Blast them with Thunderbolt!"
Ash gave a nod before pointing towards the three Plasma grunts. "Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity as he charged up in preparation to zap the three bad guys but right as the lightning flew across the cave the wall nearby collapsed as the black scaled Haxorus rushed in and blocked the attack.
"Ketchum, we meet at last! I've come to issue you a warning, stay away from Team Plasma or we'll destroy everything you hold dear!"
"I don't think so, Thunderbolt him!"
"Pika!" Pikachu fired off a bolt of electricity only for the knight to hold up his sword as it glowed a bright blue color, redirecting the attack back at Ash and knocking him off of his feet!
"You may win the battle but the war is ours."
Hilda let out a growl, rushing at him like a madwoman before pounding her fists against his plated chest in a blind rage. "I don't care about your stupid war, just give me my brother back you assholes!"
"H-Hilda...?" The knight held his head as he experienced another migraine.
"Zach!" Hilda's eyes lit up as a smile crossed her face. "Quick does anyone have a Psychic type-" As Hilda turned she was quickly bonked on the head as the knight regained control
"Foolish girl, he'll never escape!" The knight hopped onto Haxorus' back before the dragon quickly raced back through the tunnel, revealing that the other three had gone upon moving away.
"No Zach! Come back!" Hilda shot back up and attempted to chase after her mind controlled brother but to no avail as Haxorus was just too fast for her!
Ash and the others caught up before long, Ash placing his hand on Hilda's shoulder as she collapsed to her knees and began crying. "I think you've got some explaining to do."
The others had met back up with Cilan while Hilda explained about what she found out while in the dreamscape.
"So Team Plasma's had your brother this whole time? He might not be the same guy if we free him, he's probably gone crazy or depressed by now." Iris stated.
"I don't care, I just want him back. I don't care what he's like now all that matters to me is having him back! Our bond is the one thing I treasure most in this world and I'm not going to throw it away by letting him remain a slave!"
"You don't have to worry, Hilda. We'll free him!" Ash promised as Brock and Cilan nodded in agreement.
"Right, it won't be an easy task as that Haxorus of his sure seems to be quite a powerful Pokemon but we'll do our best!" Brock stated.
Hilda smiled upon hearing how her friends were willing to help her out, giving them all appreciative looks before they continued in the direction that Team Plasma had ran away from until they spotted a Pokemon Daycare that was still lightly smoking from earlier, an old man let out an excited shout before quickly hurrying forward.
"You brought them back! T-Thank you, thank you so much! Those Pokemon would have died without their incubators!"
"No problem, it was obvious they were running away from something but we weren't sure what. We're just glad that all the eggs are safe and none got cracked!" Ash stated with a light grin.
"We must thank you all somehow though..." The old man looked thoughtful. "We didn't even ask yet you still displayed this great kindness on us, why don't you all take a Pokemon egg each? We've got more than enough and I can't think of a better place for them than with the five of you!"
"Really? That's quite some gift." Cilan exclaimed.
"Got any Dragon type eggs?!" Iris was quick to ask before the old man chuckled, handing her a dark blue egg with a black splotch that looked like fur. Cilan reached out at random, picking a purple egg with yellow squares across it, Hilda grabbed a yellow and tan egg while Ash grabbed the egg that Chase had happened to be holding earlier. Brock was the final one to pick one, settling on a yellow egg with an static insectoid look to it.
"Looks like you're all settled then, I've got to get the rest back and settled in but thanks again!" The man gave them a wave before carrying the rest of the eggs back to the daycare as Ash and his friends waved after him, thanking him one last time before turning to continue on their way to Nacrene City. Before they got far Cilan let out a shout as he tripped over something again.
"Not again, I love calling myself a Connoisseur at many things but not tripping..." He groaned out before noticing Dwebble standing directly in front of him with an attentive look. "Huh? What's wrong? I thought you liked the rock I made you?"
Dwebble looked at the rock on his back and gave a confirming nod before looking back at Cilan as Brock spoke up.
"I think Dwebble's trying to say that he wants to join you." Brock smirked.
"Is that true, Dwebble?"
"Dwebble!"
"Well alrighty then!" Cilan exclaimed as he threw forward a Pokeball, Dwebble leaped right up and tapped it with his claw before disappearing in a beam of light as the ball chimed immediately to signal the capture complete.
Ash and his friends gained some new Pokemon along with evolutions! Next stop, Nacrene City!