After hours of walking, Ash finally trudged his way into the outskirts of Viridian. It had been storming and thundering with flashes of lightning since midday. Midday! It was late afternoon now. With nowhere to get any decent cover, he was soaked to the bone.
He sighed as the sopping wet fabric of his clothes clung to his frame, filthy from having slipped and fallen in the slick slurry of mud that marred the road to Viridian. At this point, the water had seeped through the olive-green raincoat he wore as well, rendering it as good as obsolete.
Ash lamented with a whine, 'It was all nice and sunny just yesterday as well...'
At least Chrys and Nova were doing alright. He had returned them to their balls – to little objection – shortly after the rain begun to fall from the darkened sky, with no signs of letting up. It's not like they all had to get drenched right?
Trundling on past the local police station, he noticed a Meowth-shaped hot air balloon floating up above, with there seemingly being one, maybe two people in there; it was hard to tell with how high up it was. On the front face of the building, a notice board was positioned, which had some wanted posters pinned to it. It was late in the evening by now however, and he was drained and shivering after the long day, so he just ignored them.
The rest of his journey here had generally been a little lacklustre. Thanks to the dissapointingly-abysmal weather, he hadn't had the chance to do much other than focus on getting to the city and into the dry as soon as he could.
Even if it hadn't been like this though, with Chikorita's still-healing leg, and Fletchling only just beginning to settle in to its new environment, he wasn't sure he would have gotten anything done either way, so it wasn't quite the end of the world for him; it still kinda sucked though.
Making his way through the streets, which, despite his generally poor navigation skills, wasn't that difficult since he had been here a few times before with his mum, Ash plodded along towards his destination, passing by only a few scant pedestrians. The city was a moderately-small compared to others in the Kanto region, being not much bigger than Palette Town itself, but despite this, the city did was nowhere near forgettable, and this was all thanks to its one major claim to fame.
Standing tall and proud, it was right in the heart of the city, radiating with an aura of prestige and power that no one could ever hope to deny – it was the Viridian City Gym. It was led by a man who was a trainer of exemplary skill, as well as a successful businessman who owned a casino in Celadon on the side. In all his public appearances, which were few and far between with how busy he was, he was always seen wearing a simple shirt, followed by a black suit on top.
His name was Giovanni.
The Gym he commandeered was the cornerstone of the city. He was one of the most – and when Ash said that, he meant the most – respected battlers across the entire region excluding only the Elite Four and the Champion. He commanded his Pokemon with grounded discipline and calculating wit; even the most inexperienced of rookies knew not to challenge him without thinking twice about it, and the veterans knew to set out their gameplans for him carefully.
Ash was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they were leagues away from challenging him as they were right now at their skill level. He wondered if he would ever manage to get that strong…
Moving on from the Gym though, like his home of Palette, the city was unremarkable in every other aspect. There was obviously the general run of the mill housing, schools, shops, and restaurants that he passed by on the street; the sight of the latter made his stomach rumble and gurgle with hungry gusto, but he had higher priorities, he could eat later.
Turning the corner there was a Pokemart placed, he hummed – they'd have to make stop there for supplies at some point before they left again. Nevertheless, Ash continued walking, heading on past it; he wasn't up to doing that right this minute, they could take a look later.
He took a few more steps, the buzz of electricity filling the air as a streetlamp flickered, and then stopped, craning his head to look up at the sign of the building before him. Its large, red roof was recognisable to anyone, and it shone like a friendly beacon for rookies and veterans alike.
They had finally reached the Pokemon Centre.
Walking inside, the doors automatically sliding open as he drew near, he strolled inside. Surrounding him were white walls, and a cream-coloured tiled floor with potted plants were placed with even precision to liven up the atmosphere.
The spacious room was almost silent notwithstanding the various beeps and humming that the various technologies and machines present would make, and as Ash headed through the main lobby and up to the front, a trail of dripping water plip-plopped behind him.
Approaching the counter, Nurse Joy (a member of the Joy family's business that provided healthcare for Pokemon across the globe, and one of the world's many mysteries as to how they all looked so similar) was sat to one side, typing away on a computer. Above her was a large screen, filled with numerous empty columns used to display expected completion times, but it was switched off at the minute. Next to it, was a cracked and faded painting, depicting the three legendary birds of Kanto – Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos – titans of fire, ice, and lightning respectively.
Ash'd only ever heard stories about them, mostly recountings that had been passed down through the generations; they were hard enough to find and get a glimpse of as it was, combine that with the power to bring about hurricanes and heat waves and whatever else they could do, and you would be lucky to live to tell the tale.
Despite all that, he still hoped he would one day get to see one; what was the point of a reward without any of the risks or hardships? I mean, yeah it was a plus that he could lord it over Gary but, y'know, the first thing sounded more wise so he'd just go with that.
Getting back to the matter at hand, the woman stood up from her seat, noticing him as he reached the desk in all his soggy glory, and moved to greet him with the same open and professional demeanour all the Nurse Joys were known for, "Welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Centre. How may I help?"
"I'd like to have my Pokemon healed" Ash replied his tiredness coming back in a rolling wave as he wiped his cold, grimy hands against his trouser leg, before unclipping his starter's capsule from his belt. Placing it down on the counter, he remembered to add, "please."
Nodding her head succinctly, giving Asha look of sympathy as he rubbed his reddened nose with a sniffle – the colour standing out against the skin paled from the cold – she assured, "Of course. I'll just need to verify your trainer details quickly. With Team Rocket's growing presence, the league wants to be more on-guard against Pokemon theft."
Fumbling as he flipped open his Pokedex and brought up the required information, Ash handed the device over to her.
"Ash Ketchum…home of Palette Town…Pokemon owned: Chikorita…" Nurse Joy muttered to herself, skimming through his details with a swift and practiced ease, before giving back the device to him, "Okay, thank you. Everything here appears to check out."
As a Chansey arrived on cue, taking the Pokeball away towards the healer, he couldn't help but glance somewhat anxiously. Even as he knew she had been alright and was going to be fine, he hated that twisting, squirming feeling of not being able to do anything. To just have to just… sit and do nothing but wait as it all played out.
"Don't worry," she reassured warmly, pulling him back to the present, as her attitude softened in sympathy at his forlorn expression, "your Pokemon will be back shortly, better than ever."
"In the meantime, you could make your way to the lodgings upstairs in the meantime if you wish, although accommodation is free for only the first three days." she suggested, looking at the state of him as she helpfully tacked on, "There's hot showers available with each room as well."
Ash's lips tilted upwards slightly. They were just words; they didn't really do anything to settle the admittedly unfounded worry in his gut, but they served as a reminder: the grass type would be in good hands here.
Things would all turn out fine.
/
Having handed the Pokemon in to be healed, Ash had decided all too gladly to take Nurse Boy's advice.
He bolted off to one of the rooms reserved for trainers, where he could warm up, wash himself down and change into a clean set of clothes – because contrary to what some people may think he was old enough now to change into clean clothes without his mother nagging him, even if she begged to differ.
Ash rubbed his damp hair with a towel one more time so he could be content, before leaving his cap and jacket near the radiator to dry. Only two days had passed since leaving home and he was already missing the luxuries of what could be considered simple things.
Heading back down to the main lobby, Ash took note of the fact that Ritchie was also here now, sitting on a bench with a glum look on his face.
Beyond that though, his gaze was drawn to a set of telephone booths stationed in the corner of the Centre.
He stopped in place, giving a short hum in thought. He had promised his mum he would call, and now was as good a time as any, he supposed.
Sending a small wave of greeting to Ritchie as he passed by, he walked over to the machines, typing only to delete the number a few more times on the keypad than he cared to admit until he was finally sure he got it right, putting the phone up to his ear.
"Hello? This is the Ketchum residence.", the voice on the other side crackled.
"Hi Mum, it's Ash."
A silence hung over the line.
...
"Eeeeeeeee!"
He had to unexpectedly yank the phone away from his ear as an excited squeal came loudly from the speaker. "Ash! So, you made it to Viridian City." Delia exclaimed happily, the screen flashing on as her face now appeared on the device.
"How has it been so far?" she continued, looking at him expectantly, "Are you doing alright? It's been chucking it down for hours and I don't want you catching a cold."
"I got pretty wet, but I'm doing good at the minute." He grinned, before reaching down and grabbing the ball that remained fasted to his belt. Sending out the small bird, who looked up at Ash, before staring inquisitively at the screen, he continued, "Chikorita's and I have been getting along, and I've even managed to catch another Pokemon!"
"That's great Honey!" she said as she chose for his sake to gloss over the trek through the rain, her face beaming at seeing his excitement, "Things have been fine here. Professor Oak's says that there's been no word from Leaf so far, but Gary's phoned to confirm he's already moved on to Viridian Forest."
'Gary had already made his way to the forest?', he pondered, 'It figures Gary would try and get ahead of the rest of the competition.'
It was normal for starting trainers from Palette Town to stop in Viridian City and rest for the night. Gary never settled for just average though; it was never enough for him; he had to be the one and the only best at whatever he set his mind to.
Ash felt a fire light from within him, expression hardening subtly.
There was no way he was just letting him get ahead.
"I'm also going to be heading off into Viridian Forest too tomorrow," he blurted out, a moment passing before he followed up with an apologetic sheepishness, "I'm not really sure when I'll next be able to call again though; it'll be a couple of days at least."
"Okay.", the brunette lamented with a sigh, a hint of exasperation present as she could guess at his sudden motivation, "I'll tell the Professor you said hi, and you get your rest then sweetie. Goodnight."
Hanging up with a 'Goodnight' of his own, the screen faded back to black, and Ash put the phone back on the machine with a click. With nothing else to do right now but wait to have his Pokemon back, he took a seat next to the other boy, Fletchling deciding to take roost on top of his head.
He didn't mind so much though; Nova was fairly light compared to Chrys, and he, for one, wasn't being a smug rascal about it like the grass type had.
Ash couldn't help wondering how comfy it actually was up there. With all his hair sticking out and about, maybe it was like some kind of strange nest? Not that it mattered but he was curious person, through and through.
Ritchie, who had been glancing with some longing envy at the bird, spoke up, "You've caught another Pokemon already?"
Ash looked at the other boy blankly for a few seconds, not expecting the boy to talk to him.
"Yeah, he was a tough catch." he finally answered with a tone that was admittedly a little smug (What? He was allowed to feel good about himself. It didn't make him Gary levels of self-absorbed.)
The robin shuffled shyly at Ritchie's gaze, before Ash addressed the flying type, "You're pretty strong after all, aren't you bud?"
Chuckling as Fletchling flushed at the praise – quite literally heating up – and squished its body down against his head in an attempt to shrink away and out of sight, he decided to follow up on Ritchie's question with, "So anyways, how about you?"
"We ran into a few Pokemon, but all of them got away." Ritchie recounted with a downhearted tone, running a thumb his starter's Pokeball.
Slumping back, he adjusted his cap, running his hand through his hair before refastening it. Ritchie released a pent-up breath and resumed, "At one point or another, we got jumped by a Nidoran, and Zippo got poisoned. I had an Antidote on me, so he's fine, but things just kind of went downhill from there in general."
"I'm sure things will get better though. Its only day two, so I just have to keep trying my best until things go right." Ritchie finished with a laugh laced with an anxious uncertainty, as if he was trying to convince himself.
Ash smiled at that; the hopeful and optimistic attitude definitely made for a refreshing change: Gary would constantly push others down inflate his already bloated ego, and even Leaf tended to have a slightly cynical attitude at times.
The two quickly settled into a friendly conversation, continuing to talk back and forth about their small array of experiences so far, happy as could be.
Unfortunately, a certain balloon had now reached its desired destination. Despite its laughable design, it had drifted ominously above the Pokemon Centre, casting a looming shadow.
The boys would soon find that the troubles ahead…were only just beginning.
/
Silently looking at the building waiting below, two figures, concealed by the cloak of dusk, readied themselves, Pokeballs in hand.
With a nod of confirmation between them, they released their grasps, and crashing down through the central, glass portion of the centre's roof, the capsules fell into the room with clatter, sending shards scattering down all across the floor.
"What on earth –" Nurse Joy started with a gasp of surprise, only to be cut off as two Pokemon tore their way out of the balls, fixing their sights on the blindsided group as they emerged.
Both were purple in their colouring, signifying the poison typing they shared. One was an Arbok, which gave a hiss, spittle flying from its mouth, as it glared maliciously at Fletchling, who ducked behind Ash as an intimidating aura radiated from its predatory visage. The other was a Koffing, which bobbed up and down, releasing small puffs of gas from its noxious pores. This one's usual dopey smile seemed to have taken on a more sinister turn to it, however, looking all to ready to cause some chaos and mayhem.
Immediately, the room started to fill with a thick layer of the poisonous gas that was expelled spread all around, creating an obscuring haze that engulfed the room.
Ritchie gave a cough, and then a hack that wracked his body, hastily putting an arm over his mouth to try and avoid inhaling any more of the fumes than he already had.
All the while, the figures took advantage of the confusion, casting out a line for themselves, dropping wordlessly down it into the room through the hole created in the ceiling.
Ash doubled over, his throat feeling raw as a revolting, burning sensation crept down it.
It felt like he was choking, drowning, slowly suffocating under the veil of the gas, as each breath became harder and harder to draw in and a nausea began to churn in his stomach.
As their visions too began to swim, Nurse Joy hurriedly urged her assistant with a hoarse voice "Chansey, use Aromatherapy!"
Nodding resolutely as she had picked up the gravity of the situation, a soothing, floral scent began to roll off of the egg Pokemon in waves, a shimmering of pink and petals going with it. As the gas dissipated, the toxins in the air rendered inert and neutralized, a refreshed feeling coursed through his body, and the three of them greedily gulped in lungfuls of fresh air.
Two people wearing a crude pair of respirators were now visible for them to see, freezing as they were spotted sneaking off towards the storage room of the Pokemon Centre.
There was a slender woman with long, magenta hair and obnoxiously-gaudy, green earrings, and a man thick, violet hair, who for some reason had some kind of flower – it appeared to be a rose – tucked into his back pocket.
Ash's face grew pale as his brain finally decided to register what they were both wearing; they were wearing a white uniform, and upon the middle of their shirts, a single letter – the letter "R" – sat, blood-red in its colour.
There was no mistaking what it stood for.
It was the one and only, Team Rocket.
Team Rocket was a notorious crime organisation, widely feared across the region. They attacked and stole and reaped it all for profits, like that whole fiasco half a year ago with the Slowpoke tails; the league had been up to their necks trying to stave off the news outlets.
In terms of their goal, their purpose? There didn't seem to be one, nothing other than just assuming complete control of the Kanto region. That simple. No tricks, no overcomplicated schemes or plots, just a pure grab for as much power as they could hold on to.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Nurse Joy, stepping protectively in front of the two rookies and firmly standing her ground as a bead of sweat rolled down her face.
"We're here" drawled the man, James, as he stated the obvious, "for the Pokemon."
"You're not taking my Pokemon!" declared Ash, his face scrunching up defensively as he faced the Rocket's head on – a sudden rush of boldness going running him. Chrys was back there with the rest of the patients. There was no way he'd just stand by and let them steal her.
"And you're going to stop us?" scoffed his partner in crime, Jesse, mockingly as she took off the now-unneeded respirator, "Don't get ahead of yourself. None of the 'oh-so-precious' pipsqueaks that the likes of you two would have are enough to stand up to us."
"Well, you're wasting your time!" Nurse Joy stated, doing her best to retain a calm and professional exterior in the face of the danger, "It's the first day of the season. You know as well as I do that there's nothing here but starting trainers' weak and injured Pokemon."
"Yes, we do know." James chuckled with a shake of his head, a smug confidence lacing his voice as he countered, "Even if they are bottom rate, with amount of Pokemon you've got here, we could nab enough to supply an entire squadron of new recruits; even grunts like us need Pokemon from somewhere."
"We'll bring the boss all these Pokemon, and he will be sure to reward us handsomely, maybe even put us up for promotion! That makes this all worth the while for us."
"James" spoke his partner in a low tone to catch his attention, pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself.
"Yes?"
"Why" she hissed, "are you bothering to explain yourself to these twerps?"
"I…" he started, opening his mouth with a raised finger to justify himself, before blinking owlishly, "I'm not quite sure."
Taking the opportunity of their distraction, Ash had tensely moved in front of Nurse Joy, and ignoring the shakiness of his legs, said, "You go and call for help. I'll try and buy us some time."
"You can't! It's far too dange – "
"I'll figure something out," he tried to reassure her, squashing down on his own worries. He had to win this, no matter what, "just go!"
"I– I'm staying too." Ritchie piped up, seeing that Ash had already made up his mind, before giving him pointed look, "You can't face them both alone."
Locking eyes with them, Nurse Joy stared at the boys, a string of rebuttals dancing on the end of her tongue, before she relented, and instructed her Chasney, "Just don't let them get hurt."
As she made a break for the phones, the two rookies, alongside the Egg Pokemon, moved forwards, looking at their opponents.
The air filled with a thick suspense, and in a burst of light, Charmander materialised on their side, causing Koffing to cautiously float a pace back. Its tail flared as it surmised it was time for a battle, regarding Ritchie with a disdainful growl, eyes narrowing.
"So, you brats think can handle Team Rocket?" Jesse said, interrupting the interaction as she took a moment to evaluate them. As both remained silent, she snarked, "Well, we'll how long that lasts."
Moving in sync with as partners in crime, they made their orders:
"Arbok, Wrap!"
"Koffing, Sludge!"
The cobra lunged forwards in an attempt to grab the lizard, giving a battle-hungry snarl as it could finally cut loose, and Ritchie called, "Zippo, keep back and use Ember!"
Nova dove away from the oncoming opponent at Ash's command, and Chansey was sticking close to the boys' side, but the Charmander seemed to have other ideas in mind. Instead leaping away and out of harm's reach, flames spewing from its maw, a draconic power went pulsing through its veins instead. Its vision flooded red, and it swiped blindly at the snake, a look of violent fury twisting its face.
Arbok however deftly avoided the blow, wrapping itself around and around the lizard's torso in a squeezing embrace that left its arm's pinned. Holding the fire type in place as it struggled futilely, Zippo's face contorted and reddened as it strained against its bindings, a bulging glob of poison headed straight for it.
Without thinking, Fletchling instinctively reacted to his ally's peril, unleashing an Ember of his own. It soared before colliding with the incoming wad of vileness, which with a sizzle, the attacks put a stop to another, the majority of the harmful toxins burning up from the flame.
Following up on this in support, Chansey tottered forwards, grasping the snake with a firm hand and yanking it off of the fire type. Wincing as sharp fangs were sunk into the limb, wreathed in a dark and writhing energy, she sent it flying back from where it came with a Seismic Toss.
Charmander stumbled back as it steadied itself, taking a moment to rub its sore upper torso. Ritchie, who was looking at it with a face mixed in a cocktail of concern and frustration, uttered "Look, I get it, okay? You're still mad about yesterday; I know I messed up, but now's not the time, Charmander. You're going to need to listen to me, even if it's just for this."
The Pokemon gave a disgruntled huff, before unenthusiastically nodding with a snort. He could be gracious enough to put up with this loser for this battle. It wasn't at all because he couldn't handle it; he was powerful enough on his own, obviously.
Nova took the respite to glance at his trainer, hoping for some input.
Ash clenched teeth, brow creasing with concentration; Fletchling was probably functionally similar to other flyers like Pidgey, it could dish out plenty of damage, but it wasn't so good at taking it.
That was the general rule of thumb school had taught.
With the clear difference in size between them and Arbok, which was backed up by Koffing's wide radius of attack, they had to tread carefully; one mistake and that would be it…
'Well,' Ash thought to himself, 'here goes nothing.'
"I'm going to need you to trust me here…okay?" he asked nervously.
Looking back at Ash, Fletching gave a hesitant nod.
"Alright then…Nova, get moving around with Quick Attack!"
The bird flapped its wings, dashing off as a white aura emanating from its body, forming a trail as it picked up speed.
Turning their heads to and fro, the opponents' Pokemon glanced around wildly as Fletchling darted through the room, ducking under furniture, and circling around to leave them disorientate.
"Now Nova!" shouted Ash suddenly with a sweep of his hand, "Peck!"
Jesse cursed as the robin burst out from behind a plant pot, zipping towards the snake and leaving behind a cut using its sharp beak. Before the snake could even retaliate, an Egg Bomb smacked it head on, giving the robin time to dash off again in another direction.
In quick succession to Fletchling's hit and run strategy, the brown-haired boy supplied, "Zippo, focus down the Koffing with Scratch!"
"Dodge and then use your Poison Gas attack!" countered James, at ease, his self-assured expression contrasting Ritchie's uncertainty.
The Poison Gas Pokemon levitated out of the way of another attack with relative ease – causing Zippo to let out a ferocious snarl – after having already been far out of reach of the Charmander's claws.
'Actually' Ash wondered as Ritchie called for an Ember, 'why was it staying so far back?'
It went beyond just general caution, to the point it was getting a little suspicious. He observed as the poison type had practically wrenched itself away from another fire that was spat out by Charmander just now, gaze repeatedly eyeing Charmander's tail.
Why though? What about that would–
He paused, focusing on its flickering flame. Maybe…?
As it finally got the chance to retaliate, thick clouds of pungent smoke poured out of openings on the poison type's body and headed towards their Pokemon; however, an idea started to take shape in his mind.
He called "Fletching, blow the gas back at them!"
The small robin screeched to a halt over the front counter and began to flap as hard as it could with its small wings, channelling the direction of the fumes, and sending them back at their sender.
It was a struggle; the small bird was clearly not physically built for something like this, but it valiantly pulled it off nonetheless.
"It's no use!", laughed James as the gas reached their side, "Don't you know poison types can't be hurt by toxins?"
Here came the gamble, the roll of the dice. Ash prayed to Arceus that this would work, because he was taking a shot into the dark…
"Ritchie!" he shouted across, "Try burning it!"
Ritchie looked at him with befuddlement, before his eyes widened in understanding, and he called, "Zippo! Use ember on the gas!"
Digging deep, the Charmander drew its head back, before belching a small ball of fire from its mouth at its enemy, its tail-flame blazing at the use of the attack.
Jesse seemed to have caught on by now, yelling out for the poison Pokemon to get back, but it was too late.
FWOOM!
The gas combusted.
Everyone in the room gagged – a wave of the gas' putrid smell spreading out at them, invading their nostrils, and causing their eyes to water.
The flames singed the enemy Pokemon, licking at them without care or regard; Koffing especially was at the centre of it all.
They weren't down just yet, but both looked ready to keel over and faint over at any moment after that.
"One more Quick Attack!" Ash called out to Nova in encouragement.
His nerves were at a fever pitch by this point.
They were almost in the clear, almost there.
A good hit would end it.
Jesse fumed, stomping her foot in fury as she scowled at her Pokemon, "Hurry up and end them brats already!"
Baring its fangs at its trainer with a hiss of annoyance, Arbok turned back around and coiled up its tail, beginning to prepare a Poison Tail – the viscous toxic energy bubbling up around the end of its body. Focusing its slitted-eyes on Nova, it made its intentions crystal-clear – this was it.
Pushing forwards with one last burst of energy, the bird zoomed out from behind once more with a with fiery determination in its eyes.
Arbok was wholly ready for the avian this time. Swinging its tail, it smashed into Fletchling, sending him crashing into a column with a sickening thud.
Ash's stomach dropped.
"Nova!"
The bird lay slumped against wall, hardly moving, with a purple flush filling its face as the poison entered through the gash in its side.
With a sinister glee in her eye, Jesse instructed "Finish them off."
As Arbok lurched towards the robin, Ritchie desperately urged, "Stop it Zippo!"
Without complaint for once, the fire type sprinted forwards, preparing to go all-out with an Outrage, only to be sent rolling to the ground by a Sludge attack to the back at James' command.
Charmander couldn't make it in time.
Chansey was running as fast as her legs would carry, but she was too far away to begin with.
Nova's eyes blearily opened, its vision spinning. Struggling, the young bird attempted to stumble to its feet, staring down the Arbok.
It loomed over him; its eyes bloodshot as it prepared to deal the finishing blow.
Realising he could just return the bird, Ash grabbed in a panic for Fletchling's Pokeball from his waist.
Ash pointed the capsule, but the cobra's tail was already coiled and twisted, rearing back as it charged a move to execute.
He wasn't going to make it.
He was going to be too late too late too late too –
All of a sudden, the doors to the Pokemon Centre blew open with a BAM, and everything seemed to freeze to perfect stillness, commanding the attention of everyone present.
Stood in the doorway, dressed in a universally known, blue uniform, was an authoritative-looking woman with teal hair.
Next to her, stood a proud and regal canine, flames spewing threateningly from its mouth as it growled at the Rockets.
Officer Jenny had arrived.
Staring at the newest arrival, the silence was broken as Chansey's fist wacked the snake square on, taking it down. If this was a cartoon, he could imagine there being picture-perfect swirls over its eyes, but it wasn't, this was real. This was all happening.
Jesse, recalling the wheezing snake, growled "Damn it, James, now the police are here!" turning away from Ash and Ritchie to focus on the bigger problem at hand.
"Me?!" exclaimed James in outrage, "This was your 'brilliant' idea!"
Jesse took a deep inhale through her nose, preparing to rip her partner a new one, before exhaling through grinding teeth, "We don't have time for this you moron! Focus on getting us out of here."
Grumbling at each other as they cut their cacophony of bickering short, the male Rocket shouted, "Koffing use smokescreen!"
"Arcanine, Extreme Speed!" ordered Officer Jenny as the poison type turned to complete its veiling attack.
Ash gaped – it all happened in the blink of an eye.
One instant, Koffing was poised at the ready, the next, it was sent sprawling across the tiled floor, knocked out in a single hit.
Not sparing a second, the Arcanine immediately whipped its head round and pounced on top of the grunts, standing over them menacingly as it bared its teeth.
The two Rockets looked between themselves and the Arcanine, hot flames puffing in shorts from its nose and wafting just shy at the front of their tops and just daring them to try something.
Jesse returning an equally angry glare at the large beast towering over her, and James could only squeak out, "Um…we surrender?"
/
Within a few minutes, blue and red sirens flashed outside, surrounding the building, lagging a bit behind after the chief of Viridian's force, Officer Jenny had sped on ahead atop her trusty Arcanine.
As the two Rockets were dragged away by the police, kicking and screaming and with hands handcuffed behind them, the pair of rookies had just finished being examined for any potential risks from the smoke inhalation.
As Ritchie went off to his room to get some rest and process the events of the evening, Ash looked over sombrely at Nova, who was currently carefully being fed a mulchy mixture of Pecha and Sitrus berries, with Chansey watching over it, gently rubbing its back as he pecked at it.
The battle replayed on loop in his mind. Scratches, Bites, Embers and Poison Tails.
Poison Tails.
The shallow rise and fall of Nova's chest, and the way everything ground to a halt.
Had Officer Jenny not arrived when she did…well, Ash didn't want to think about what might have happened.
It wasn't even just that.
What if Chansey hadn't been there to cover their mistakes?
What if Ritchie had taken a bit longer getting to Viridian and arrived tomorrow?
How much worse would things have been?
One thing was painfully clear right now. If he didn't want this to happen again, they were going to need to hurry up and improve themselves.