Pokémon Crimson Gold
Chapter 42: Life or Death
Ethan and Lyra had just arrived in Ecruteak City and after regrouping encountered Team Rocket.
The Team Rocket Member was tall and very thin, he had bright purple hair cut short at the sides with a large curl on top. He wore a black Team Rocket Jumpsuit which appeared to have been customized with yellow-goldish lines from the neck to the belt.
"You will be handing your Pokémon to me." The man said with a wild smirk, pulling out a Pokéball.
"I can hardly see a thing, who's he challenging!?" Lyra asked Ethan, while trying to get past some heads in the crowd.
Ethan who was an inch or two taller, saw who it was that the Team Rocket man challenged, Ethan smiled in relief.
"Well... looks like Team Rocket's losing this battle!" Ethan said confidently.
"Who is it!" Lyra spoke up.
"The man you just faced... Morty!" Ethan told her.
They finally squeezed through to the front of the crowd to see Morty, who pulled out a Pokéball and got ready to battle.
"You Team Rocket fools best get out this city, you're not laying a finger on my Pokémon!" Morty declared, releasing his Gengar.
"Gengar!" Gengar shouted upon being released.
"Woah... Morty's using his Gengar, he's won this for sure!" Someone in the crowd said, getting the audience even more riled up.
"Now go, Kabutops!" The Team Rocket soldier yelled as he threw his Pokéball.
"Kabutops!" Kabutops yelled upon being released. It was a tall Pokémon, there were six hard spikes going from its back to its neck, three on each side that lead to the beginning of its tail, giving off a fierce appearance, which was further highlighted by its long sharp claws.
"Kabutops huh," Ethan said checking his Pokédex for data on it.
"Kabutops, the Shellfish Pokémon. In the water, it tucks in its limbs to become more compact, then its wiggles its shell to swim fast."
Lyra leaned in to hear the Pokédex's description. "It certainly looks strong, but Morty's powerful himself."
"Oh yeah, without a doubt!" Ethan nodded.
"Kabutops, Rain Dance!" The foe yelled, Kabutops listened, and a large rain cloud hovered above them, and the whole crowd.
"Awe! I'm wet!" Lyra said as she covered her hair.
"Water type moves have been strengthened; you can't win this!" The man said, crossing his arms.
"Hmph, that so?" Morty said crossing his arms. "Gengar! Dark Pulse!"
Gengar listened and fired a dark beam of energy at Kabutops, who dodged.
"Kabutops, Hydro Pump!" Rocket yelled, Kabutops shot a blast of water at Gengar, which made direct contact.
"Gengar!" Morty yelled.
Gengar shook off the damage revealing he was fine, making Morty smile.
"Alright, now use Slash!" The grunt commanded.
Kabutops came running at Gengar at full speed, it leaped at Gengar hard enough to shake the ground, as it came it pulled its claw back, preparing for the attack.
"It won't work!" Morty replied, as Kabutops went for the Slash it only managed to phase through Gengar.
"Now, Thunder Punch!" Morty yelled, revealing a new move on his Gengar.
Gengar spun around and charged its fist with surging electricity, with one strike it blasted Kabutops to the ground, whiting it out.
"Ka-bu...tops..." Kabutops groaned in pain as it lied on the ground, defeated/
"Wha, I lost!?" The man cried.
"Morty won!" The crowd screamed going wild.
"I knew Morty had this in the bag!" Ethan exclaimed.
"Kabutops, back to me." The man said returning his Pokémon.
"You're not an average Team Rocket Lackie are you, identify yourself." Morty asked.
Gengar blew his tongue at the Team Rocket member and came to hid Trainer's side.
"Hmph, fine. Since you've defeated me, I'll at least tell you my name, I'm Petrel, an executive of Team Rocket." He admitted.
"Well Petrel... you realize you need to be served your punishment, right?" Morty told him. "As a member of Team Rocket you will be judged accordingly by the law."
"Hmph, oh really." Petrel said, pulling out a second Pokéball.
"What's he thinking?" Lyra muttered.
"Go, Koffing!" Petrel yelled, releasing a second Pokémon.
"Koffing!" Koffing roared, purple gas releasing from its mouth.
"That Pokémon cannot defeat my Gengar!" Morty declared, getting ready to command his Pokémon.
"Who said anything about battling?" Petrel smirked, Koffing exhaled a huge poisonous smoke, shocking the audience.
"It's Poison Gas! Get out of here before it infects us all!" The crowd screamed as they all ran out of there. Ethan and Lyra were forced to pull back to not get hit, but they didn't retreat from the crime scene.
"You okay Lyra?" Ethan said holding her in his arms so she wouldn't get hit just in case.
"I-I'm fine." Lyra replied, Bayleef jumped in front of the two just in case to cover them with the blast.
"Damn, I've got to back away or it'll hit me!" Morty muttered as he balked up from the gas.
During the commotion, Petrel bolted out of there running for his life, his Koffing following behind him.
Gengar easily passed through the Poison Gas with zero affect as he was not only a dual type but a poison type, thankfully.
"Gengar!" Gengar said alerting its Trainer Petrel was getting away.
The smoke had cleared, and it was clear to see Petrel was making a run for it across the streets of Ecruteak.
"We can help you Morty!" Ethan and Lyra both yelled, along with Bayleef coming by Morty's side.
"You two are here? Fantastic, help me catch that guy, he's Team Rocket, bad news!" Morty made clear.
"Got it, no time to waste!" Ethan yelled as he ran after Petrel, Bayleef following suit.
"Let's go Morty!" Lyra said to the Gym leader who she had just defeated.
"Yeah, let's go!" Morty said as they both ran behind Ethan and Bayleef.
Petrel ran through crowds of people, his Koffing releasing more and more poison smoke, causing the surrounding citizens to cower and flee, and understandably so at that.
"Damn, as long as his Koffing continues with the gas it's futile!" Morty cursed, stopping before the gas cloud.
"Is it really," Ethan said, pulling out a second Pokéball. "Alright, go Togetic!" Ethan announced as he threw his Pokéball.
"Toge, Togetic!" Togetic let out as he spun around Ethan playfully.
"Heheheh," Ethan laughed patting Togetic on his head. "Togetic, I wish I could play with you more but there's not much time, I need a flier, on my command, can you do that?"
Togetic agreed and nodded, getting one more pat on the head from Ethan.
"Now Bayleef, here, take this." Ethan said, handing Bayleef a berry.
"A Pecha berry, that's perfect!" Morty said.
"Take it, but don't swallow it, take it only once for certain you catch Petrel, cause you're going to run through that Poison Gas, alright?" Ethan told her.
Bayleef smiled and placed the berry in her mouth, without taking even a nibble.
"Now go!" Ethan yelled, Bayleef listened and charged through the smoke.
"It's reckless Ethan, I don't like it." Lyra said. "What'll happen if Bayleef faints before curing the Poison?"
"She will." Ethan claimed, with no doubts.
Bayleef charged through the poison, although she tried not to breath in it was impossible to resist when in this deep.
"B-Bay!" She finally yelled, with all her might she sent one of her vines across a great distance, dragging Petrel along the way towards the dust cloud.
Bayleef pulled back slowly, while being affected by the deep poison,
"N-no, what'll happen if the Poison touches me!" Petrel worried. "Koffing, do something!"
"That won't happen. Togetic, now's the time. Prevent that Poison type from interfering with Bayleef." Ethan said.
Togetic listened and hovered above the poison gas, and locked eyes with the Koffing, who was entering the Poison Gas to attack Bayleef.
"Toga!" Togetic yelled as he charged Aerial Ace, Togetic smashed into Koffing at lightning-fast speed. So fast in fact the poison had no time to infect him.
Koffing was smashed into oblivion, so far into the sky there was no telling where it was going, only thing that could be seen was a blink in the sky.
The Aerial Ace managed to wipe out the Poison Gas from the surrounding area, once Ethan and the rest could see clearly without the fear of being hit by poison, they saw Bayleef, whose Vine's grip was tightened on Petrel's leg, she had caught him.
Togetic's Aerial Ace is even stronger than Heracross'! Ethan couldn't help but realize.
Bayleef was sweating from the immense pain of the poison, but she still had the berry in her mouth.
"Good going Bayleef, now quick, eat the Pecha berry!" Ethan said.
Bayleef listened and swallowed the Pecha berry whole, curing the poison.
"You did it Ethan!" Lyra said, clapping her hands. Morty sighed in relief and smiled.
"Caught by a couple of kids..." Petrel pouted, almost on the verge of tears.
Togetic came down and ran into Ethan's arms, Ethan smiled and hugged Togetic back.
"Thank you, Togetic. You made daddy proud!" Ethan said as he let go of Togetic.
"Toge!" Togetic giggled happily.
"Now you, Petrel, right? I've faced plenty of Team Rocket members during my time around Johto and you're all the same!" Ethan yelled at him, joining Bayleef's side to get in close with the fallen enemy.
"Don't go so close Ethan, you don't know what he could be planning?" Lyra warned, but Ethan ignored it.
Bayleef released Petrel's leg, it didn't matter anymore as if he tried to run, she'd easily catch him.
Petrel began to give out an evil laugh, startling Ethan and the rest.
"W-what's so funny?" Ethan asked.
"Haha, you think I'm done?" Petrel smirked as he pulled out another Pokéball, before he could press the button and release his next Pokémon, Ethan kicked it out of his hands, throwing the Pokéball to across the sidewalk.
"Well shit." Petrel uttered.
"Yeah, that's what I'd be saying too." Ethan said, he pet Bayleef making her smile.
Morty came and picked Petrel up easily, with his hand tight on his arm. "Alright, you're going to a Ecruteak cell immediately, anything to say for yourself?"
"Hehe, imprison me. See what happens!" Petrel laughed.
"You're a real jackass you know that." Petrel said as he dragged him across the street to the local jail.
"Team Rocket, I've heard stories of them from back when they were in Kanto, awful people." Lyra said with a disgusted look on her face.
"I know, and now they've come to Johto." Ethan replied.
"Yeah, I faced a couple of guys claiming to be Team Rocket during my journey, but I only thought they were just bandits taking the name to steal other's Pokémon." Lyra said, shaking her head. "I hate them, we've got to do something about them."
"Yeah." Ethan agreed.
"Well, guess I should see how this whole thing works out before I leave the city, you coming too?" Lyra asked.
"Let's go." Ethan said, leading the way, Bayleef and Lyra followed behind him.
….
Morty, along with Ethan and Lyra went to the city jail to imprison Petrel for good.
"We're here." Morty said, still holding Petrel, who hadn't even tried to escape from Morty's grasp.
The jail was quite small, looking like it could only hold one or two cells, although it was this way as criminals locked up for serious crimes were sent away and given more severe punishment.
"Let's go." Ethan said, Lyra nodded and agreed.
Morty quickly opened the door, and shoved Petrel inside. "I know, I'm in, I'm in." Petrel complained.
The guard was sleeping on his desk but awoke upon the loud noise.
"W-what's going on in here!?" He said upon awaking. "M-Morty?"
"Hey, sleeping on the job?" Morty said with his hands on his hips.
"No sir, not me!" The guard said standing up. "P-please don't tell my boss, please..."
"This man right here is Team Rocket, he tried to take my Gengar from me." Morty explained the situation.
"He's a bad man!" Lyra said.
"Lock him away!" Ethan said.
"Bay Bayleef!" Bayleef shouted, agreeing with Ethan and Lyra.
"Team Rocket!?" The guard said, getting in Petrel's face. "Attempting to steel Pokémon is one thing, you can get up to five years for that. But being a member of Team Rocket? You'll need to be judged by the proper officials for that one, be it in a court, or the Indigo League."
The guard put cuffs on Petrel and led him into a back room, taking him into custody.
"So that's that then. Team Rocket, beaten by a couple kids!" Ethan laughed; Lyra chuckled as well.
"Yup, and this isn't the first time, that Red guy was the one who drove them out of Kanto previously." Morty said.
"Red... I heard that name before." Ethan muttered quietly.
"That Petrel will need to be interrogated, he's an executive of Team Rocket." Morty told the guard as he came back.
"He made that very clear to me just now, said he'll be freed soon!" The guard laughed.
"Well, now that I know the man's imprisoned, I'll be on my way. Goodbye again, Ethan, Morty, Bayleef." Lyra said as she headed for the door.
"Take care." Morty said waving goodbye.
"See ya, Lyra." Ethan smiled.
Lyra turned the doorbell and left, but it was then when she ran back in shock.
"G-g-guys...!" She freaked, quickly shutting the door.
"W-what's wrong?" Ethan asked, coming to her side.
"O-outside, is..." Lyra said with a worried look on her face.
Ethan and Morty quickly looked out the window, to see an army of what must have been forty Team Rocket members, facing from outside the window in an array of rows, on the front was a blue haired man Ethan instantly recognized, he was standing side by side with a young woman with red hair, wearing a long white trench coat with a black turtleneck, with the R on signifying her allegiance to Team Rocket.
"They've come, and this fast!?" Ethan yelled. "How is that even possible, we only just caught Petrel not even thirty minutes ago!"
"I-I knew Team Rocket members have been patrolling the city, but I never imagined this many!?" Morty said, gritting his teeth.
"Y-you guys have to do something, I'm just a guard. I don't even have a Pokémon on me right now!" The police yelled scared.
Ethan continued to stare at the window, focusing on the blue haired man. "Wait, don't tell me that's, I battled with him in Azalea!"
….
It was then when the two saw a light coming from behind a cave corner. Ethan and Bugsy came from around the corner quietly to see what was up.
"Shh, don't let them see us. Not yet." Bugsy whispered to Ethan.
Ethan nodded, he looked next to him to Chikorita and put his finger to his lip, Chikorita understood.
A man stood there in front of them, he had teal hair and similarly colored eyes. His uniform consisted of an open-collared black shirt with yellow stripes and the "R" rocket logo. He was talking on his Pokégear with someone.
"Yes, it seems like we have Azalea town under our foot. We can relocate here as a base of operations if we so desire, yes, boss." He was talking to someone important, but they had no clue who.
"Alright I'll do that. Goodbye," he said, hanging up. The man turned and looked over his shoulder. "What do we have here, you two, behind the corner, out now!" He announced.
Ethan and Bugsy walked from behind the corner, finally revealing themselves.
"I am Bugsy, the gym leader of this town. And I will not allow you Team Rocket fools to try and use this town for your own evil doing." Bugsy said, heroically.
"Oh, well if we're going to introduce ourselves, I am Proton, often called the scariest and cruelest guy in our organization. I really urge you two to give up and run to your mommies. It's not wise to mess with our business."
….
"That's Proton, I battled him before!" Ethan told Morty and Lyra.
"Come out right now, or else this may get bloody!" Proton yelled, from behind him he pulled an ignited Molotov cocktail.
"He's trying to light us on fire!?" Lyra said, pulling out Azumarill's Pokéball.
Proton threw the explosive bottle at the jail from the outside, setting the jail on fire.
"N-no, we can't let the flames spread!" Morty yelled in fear.
"I-I've got this!" Lyra yelled as she ran past the door, releasing Azumarill from the Pokéball.
Azumarill understood by seeing the burning building and shot a Hydro Pump, extinguishing the flames.
Lyra turned her back to face the small army before her, Ethan and Bayleef ran out, as well as Morty who released his Gengar.
The civilians on the street all ran and got away from the terrifying Team Rocket, not wanting to get in any trouble.
"What are you lot doing here!" Morty yelled. "Run from this place you fools, this is your last chance!"
"Is that anyway you should be speaking to us, we have you out numbered. If you three try a damn thing, we'll slaughter you!" Proton yelled. His eyes locked with Ethan, putting a smirk on his face.
"You remember me huh?" Ethan asked. "I battled your Pokémon at Azalea."
"No, I don't remember you, you must not have done anything to be memorable." Proton said, making Ethan pissed.
"Bay!" Bayleef barked, in a battle position, Ethan put his arm before her, signifying her to relax.
"Who are you guys, what even is Team Rocket!?" Lyra yelled at Proton.
"We are what remains of Team Rocket, and we plan to revive it entirely!" The woman besides Proton said. "I am Ariana, an executive of Team Rocket along with this man here, we have come for Petrel!"
The guard came out and glanced at the large army before them. "You have to do something!" He whispered towards Ethan and the rest.
"Give us Petrel now, before we have to get violent!" Petrel spoke up. "If we beat you, which I assure you we will, we will strike you three down."
Each member of the army pulled out a Pokéball, there was at least forty of them, Ethan, Lyra, and Morty began to fret.
Bayleef, Gengar, and Azumarill all turned to their Trainers, but it was clear they had nothing in mind they could do.
"How do we know you guys won't kill us after we hand Petrel over!?" Ethan asked.
"You don't know, but I assure you, the only certainty here is your deaths if you don't hand Petrel over." Proton declared. "Either way we get Petrel, you can't battle all of us."
"You're right." Morty said, his pride shattered, he turned to the guard. "Fetch Petrel from his cell, resistance is futile."
"Bay!" Bayleef turned to Ethan, assuring him she could battle.
"I'm sorry Bayleef, but it's too risky, even if I released all my Pokémon there's almost fifty of them. It's done." Ethan told her, she sadly nodded.
The guard came back with Petrel, he pushed him to the ground, causing Petrel to land flat on his face.
"There, he's all yours, now can you leave us be?" Morty asked.
Proton smiled and put away his Pokéball. "Good, you fools have some sense after all."
Petrel ran to Proton and Ariana's side and flipped Ethan and the rest off.
"Very well, we thank you for releasing Petrel to us, but we're not going to let you off the hook." Proton said, revealing his true intentions.
"W-what! I knew it!" Ethan yelled.
"You liars!" Lyra screamed.
Morty showed no fear, he had clearly mustered up some resolve.
"If you wish to get rid of me then so be it, but please allow these two to live, their just kids." Morty pleaded.
"M-Morty!" Ethan said shocked.
"You can't plan to, what about your plan to see Ho-Oh!?" Lyra said.
"It's the only way guys, I have no other choice here." Morty said. His Gengar tried to shake some sense into Morty but be stood firm in his resolve. "It's an unwinnable battle, at least let you two make it."
Before Proton could respond, Ariana put her arm before him.
"No Proton, that wasn't part of the deal." Ariana told him, making his scoff.
"They're threats, they need to be taken out!" Proton yelled at her, trying to get some sense into her.
"We're soldiers, not mindless killers." Ariana told Proton. "They held their end of the bargain, and so will we."
"Tch, fine then... whatever you want..." Proton muttered.
"Alright, we'll leave you lot alone, Team Rocket, disband!" Proton yelled.
The Team Rocket members pulled back and went their distinct ways, fleeing from the scene. The guard fell to his knees in relief. "It's over, finally over, I thought I was dead!"
"You okay Lyra?" Ethan asked making sure she was alright.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Lyra told him,
"So, Morty. What now?" Ethan asked.
"Nothing, they won today Ethan." Morty said. "We're just lucky we made it out with our lives intact."
"Team Rocket... dang it, this Trainer Red stopped them before didn't you say, why doesn't he return and stop them again!?" Lyra angerly said.
"Johto, not his region not his problem, at least, I think. No one's heard from him since he challenged the Indigo League." Morty said.
"That doesn't matter, it's up to us to stop Team Rocket!" Ethan said, turning to Bayleef. "Isn't that right Bayleef?"
"Bay!" Bayleef nodded along.
"I've got to go, thank you two for all the help." Morty said returning his Gengar, taking his leave. "So long!"
"Well... this is it, for real this time, I've got to go Ethan." Lyra said to her rival. "I've got to get stronger, so I can face Team Rocket, and you two of course."
"I get it, so long Lyra." Ethan smiled. "Thanks for traveling with me to here."
Ethan held his hand out for Lyra to shake, but she instead gave him a hug, it was quick and awkward, but it made Ethan the happiest he's been in a while.
"Goodbye, stay safe." Ethan said as they released each other.
Lyra smiled, not looking Ethan in the eyes. "N-next time we meet, it'll be on the battlefield!" She finally came out with.
"Sure, but I won't lose you hear me!" Ethan declared.
"Ooh, someone's confident!" Lyra teased as she ran back. "Bye Ethan, see you later!"
"Take it easy, and good luck!" Ethan waved as she went off.
Ethan turned to Bayleef, who looked and smiled at him. "Alright Bayleef, we've got to get stronger if we're going to want to get strong enough to take on Team Rocket, and Lyra too!"
Ethan kneeled and pat Bayleef on her face. "To be honest, I thought we weren't going to make it back there... I'm so glad!" Ethan said, forming tears in his eyes.
Bayleef smiled and wiped Ethan's teats with her leaf, making Ethan chuckle. He leaned in and gave her a hug.
After he let Bayleef go, she nudged on his arm and pointed towards in the direction of Lyra, Ethan instantly got what she was trying to say.
"Oh, Lyra, what about her!?" Ethan asked.
"Bay Bay!" Bayleef said shaking her head, Ethan got what she was trying to say.
"Bayleef, no matter what happens between me and Lyra, I just want you to know, you'll still always be my girl!" Ethan said, continuing to pet her.
"Bay!" Bayleef said happily.
"Alright, now what do you say we get out of this place?" Ethan asked.
"Bay!" Bayleef agreed,
"Alright!" Ethan said. "Now let's go!"
And that's this chapter... I'd just like to apologize for not uploading any chapter in the past few days, I try to at least publish a chapter a day, but well... I'm a senior and I just graduated, now that that's done, I'm free to continue, so expect a chapter tomorrow, and one the day after, and the day after.