Pokémon Crimson Gold
Chapter 45: Storming the base
Ethan and Bayleef returned from the Lake of Rage after catching the rare Red Gyarados who had been apparently in some way forced to evolve. Ethan had heard from a strange Trainer who he had met named Lance that his father Allen would be returning from the Hoenn region, so Ethan dialed and called his Mom on his Pokégear to see if it was true.
"So... Dad's really coming then..." Ethan said as he walked along with Bayleef exiting the Pokémon Center after collecting his Pokémon.
"Yes Ethan, he should be making it here in New Bark Town two days from now, you should return. I'm sure he'd like to see you." Mom told Ethan.
"Does he even know which starter I chose? He hasn't called me in forever!" Ethan complained, he stopped and sat a bench next to his Pokémon.
"Of course, I told him a while back you chose Chikorita as you always said you would!" Mom exclaimed.
"Why're you so excited to see Dad again, he's just going to leave again to go on some training trip!" Ethan asked.
"Well, he's your father and I love him." Mom said. "I know you still feel sad that he missed your thirteenth birthday, but you know how much responsibilities he has."
"I know... he has to provide for the family... but I don't want to come back and meet him, it'd probably take me a month on foot to make it back to home." Ethan sighed.
"Ethan..." Mom said, not sure what to say to cheer him up.
"I've got to go anyways Mom; we can talk about this later." Ethan said, about to hang up his Pokégear.
"Okay Ethan, I love you." Mother told him.
"Goodbye." Ethan said as he went to hang up.
"Wait!: His Mom yelled startling the boy, almost making him fall from his seat.
"W-what is it Mom, you almost scared me!" Ethan asked.
"Before you go you have to say I love you." Mom said.
"But Mom, people are here..." Ethan complained.
"Ethan!" She raised her voice.
"Alright... love you, bye." Ethan quietly said pulling his Pokégear close to his mouth.
"Love you too son, goodbye!" Mom said as she hanged up, Ethan turned to Bayleef who was chuckling.
"Something funny!?" Ethan asked, not amused. "Ugh... anyways, looks like I've got to worry about Dad coming back."
"Bay Bay!" Bayleef said trying to make him happy.
"I don't know Bayleef... he hasn't talked to me in so long, well you heard what I said on the phone with mom, right?" Ethan asked.
"Bay..." Bayleef shook her head.
"Maybe it's not all bad..." Ethan sighed. "We can challenge him to a Pokémon battle to see how far I've come, but then again, I don't want to go back to New Bark Town, that'd take forever!"
Ethan laid his back on the seat and Bayleef rested her head on his lap, Ethan gently put his hand down and pet her.
I miss Lyra... Ethan thought.
After almost falling asleep on the bench Ethan reawake once he remembered that he promised Lance he'd meet with him to investigate what was going on with the suddenly evolving Magikarp.
"Where could Lance be...?" Ethan asked getting up to look around. "Didn't he say to meet him in Mahogany?"
"Bay Bay!?" Bayleef questioned as she looked around for the mysterious Trainer/
Think Ethan, think. Where would Lance be, what did he say? Ethan tried to recall.
….
"Excellent! It seems that the Lake of Rage's Magikarp are being forced to evolve. A mysterious radio broadcast coming from Mahogany is probably the cause. And that suspicious souvenir shop... I'll be waiting for you in Mahogany, Ethan." Lance said as he got on his Dragon Pokémon, quickly flying off.
….
"Of course! I should go check the Souvenir shop he mentioned!" Ethan said hitting the nail on the head. "Come on, follow me Bayleef!"
Ethan finally found the Souvenir shop and quickly entered it, inside he saw Lance, who was staring a man down face to face in a threatening manner. His dragon Pokémon right behind him.
"Lance!" Ethan spoke upon seeing the man.
"I said, stand aside!" Lance said to the man, who only got closer to his face.
"I told you buddy, get the hell out of here..." The man said, towering over Lance.
"P-please, I don't want any trouble!" The store clerk begged the two to take it easy, but neither man would budge.
"Dragonite. You know what to do..." Lance said.
Lance's Dragon Pokémon quickly appeared like an orange flash in front of the opposing man and shoved him, backing the man into a wall so hard the wall shook, dropping some items from the counters to the floor.
"Gahhhh!" The man groaned in pain.
"What speed!" Ethan exclaimed, along with Bayleef in shock.
"Thank you for that, Dragonite!" Lance said, petting his orange Pokémon behind its ears.
"Dragonite..." Ethan said its name as he checked for its Pokémon entry.
"Dragonite, the Dragon Pokémon. It is said that this Pokémon constantly flies over the immense seas and rescues drowning people."
Dragonite turned to Ethan upon hearing the voice of the Pokédex, which managed to get the attention of Lance.
"What took you so long, Ethan?" Lance asked, going up to greet the boy.
"Sorry Lance, I had to get the rest of my Pokémon from the center, but I'm ready now." Ethan told the man.
"Just as I thought, that strange radio signal is coming from here." Lance said, giving the clerk a glance.
"S-sir, p-please, I already told you, t-there's no radio signal here!" The clerk said, on the verge of tears since Lance was marching towards him.
"Are you lying to me?" Lance asked the man, who was now adjusted his back to a shelf and cowered.
"I-I'm no liar... just please... leave this place." The clerk said as he cried.
Ethan felt bad watching the interrogation, he turned to Bayleef, who was watching closely.
"Lance, what would we do if the signal isn't here?" Ethan said.
"It is here, observe." Lance said as he pushed the man aside from the shelf gently, he pushed it along with the help of his Dragonite, revealing a staircase.
"So you were lying to me!" Lance raised his voice turning to the cowering store clerk.
"N-no, I wasn't. Nothing's down there, I promise you!" The clerk yelled, but Lance had no reason to believe him.
"I'll be the judge of that." Lance uttered. "Ethan, we should split up to check this place. I'll go first." And with that Lance and his Dragonite entered through the stairs.
Ethan took his first step into the staircase and turned around to the crying store clerk.
"Hey, it's alright. Someone's making you lie right?" Ethan asked the man.
"Down there, snf, is Team Rocket." The clerk said. "They said they'd kill me if I spoke of their whereabouts!"
"It's alright sir." Ethan said kneeling down next to the man. "They won't lay a finger on you, I promise!"
"Are you kidding me, their Team Rocket!" The clerk said, slightly yelling. "Look what they've done in Kanto, you think one more kill to their list would be impossible!"
"They won't kill you; I promise..." Ethan said, pulling out a Pokéball.
"What are you...?" The clerk asked as he wiped his tears with his sleeve.
"This is my Pokémon, Togetic!" Ethan said as he released Togetic from his Pokéball.
"Togetic!" Togetic exclaimed as he went to Ethan, Ethan went and grabbed Togetic by both hands.
"Togetic, would you please protect my friend here in case anything happens?" Ethan asked.
Togetic nodded and went by the clerk's side, surprising the man.
"Y-you'd really... lend me your Pokémon!?" The clerk asked touched.
"Yeah, my friend over there might not, but I trust you. I can tell you mean no harm, so if any trouble happens, Togetic will battle for you." Ethan said standing up, Bayleef ran to his side.
"You, you're too kind." The clerk said under his breath.
"Let's go then." Ethan said to Bayleef as they quickly went downstairs.
As the clerk had warned Ethan, it indeed did appear to be a Team Rocket HQ they were entering, the room Ethan entered was completely marble white, with statues of the Pokémon Persian situated near the walls of the hallways.
Ethan walked into a room, encountering two half unconscious Team Rocket guards, they were groaning in pain on the floor, back facing the opposing walls.
"Think Lance took care of these guys?" Ethan asked his starter.
"Bay!" Bayleef agreed.
"I-it's a kid..." The broken and bruised Team Rocket member on the left of Ethan said.
"He was like a monster; his Pokémon beat my Ledian in two seconds..." The man to the right of Ethan groaned.
"You guys had it coming!" Ethan muttered as he walked past them, it was then upon his next step he heard a loud alarm sound, making him cover his ears.
"B-Bay!?" Bayleef said confused as to what the alarm was.
"Intruder Alert... Intruder Alert..." Said the voice of a loud intercom system.
Ethan looked down to see he had crossed a red light right in between two Persian statues.
"D-damn, how the hell did Lance get past this!?" Ethan cursed as he ran past to the next room.
Upon entering the room, Ethan encountered multiple Team Rocket guards, who instantly took notice of him and pulled out their Pokéballs.
"You're the twerp who set off the alarms!?" One of the grunts said, Ethan turned back and pulled out three Pokéballs of his own.
"Go, Ampharos! Heracross! Eevee!" Ethan yelled as he released the two.
"Ampharo!" Ampharos cried.
"Hera Hera!" Heracross uttered.
"Ee, Eevee!" Eevee barked.
"Oh no you don't!" Said the grunts releasing Pokémon of their own.
"Tangela!" Tangela cried.
"Ratta, Raticate!" Raticate screeched.
"Seel!" Seel let out.
"Ar, Arbok!" Arbok hissed.
Bayleef joined the sides of Ethan's other Pokémon, Ampharos attacked the Tangela swiftly with a Fire Punch, Heracross smashed the Raticate to bits with a mighty Brick Break, Eevee reflected a Poison Sting back at Arbok, and Bayleef whacked Seel with her Vine Whip.
The grunt's Pokémon all flew back to them, easily having been taken out.
"I-Impossible!?" The grunts cried as Ethan quickly passed them, his Pokémon following behind him.
Ethan quickly went downstairs, only to meet up with Lance, who had just had his Dragonite easily knock out another Team Rocket member with a chop to the neck.
"Lance!" Ethan said, finally catching up to the Trainer.
"Are you all right?" Lance asked turning to Ethan.
"I'm fine, and you?" Ethan asked, already knowing the answer.
"Who me, why these Team Rocket members don't even make a warmup for my Dragonite!" Lance remarked, looking at the unconscious grunt before him.
"You all are doing great so far!" Ethan said happily to his Pokémon, who all appeared to happily agree.
"Ethan, let's give our best for Pokémon." Lance said, Ethan nodded his head understanding.
Lance stared ahead of him at a locked door. "Ethan! In order to unlock the door to the radio transmitter, you need the voice of a certain person."
"Can't your Dragonite just destroy it!?" Ethan asked.
"He could, but I wouldn't want to risk accidentally destroying the radio transmitter along with it!" Lance said petting his Dragonite behind its ears.
"Got it, well then anything else I should know?" Ethan inquired.
"The name of the person we're looking for is Petrel, the Team Rocket Executive!"
"Petrel... yeah I know him!" Ethan said, remembering his time back at Ecruteak.
"I have found out he is hiding in their leader's office! Unfortunately, though, that room is also protected with a password... Ethan! We need the password to their Leader's office first!" Lance informed the boy.
"Aye Aye Captain!" Ethan said with a salute as Lance quickly left on the back of his Dragonite.
Ethan turned to the many hallways and made his way in search of the password.
After a while of searching Ethan had his Heracross kick open a shut door, inside the room were many computers and monitors watching the rooms of the HQ.
A lady grunt with pink hair turned to Ethan and pulled out a Pokéball.
"You're going to tell me the password, you must know it!" Ethan stated, his Pokémon all forming battle stances.
"Hah! Maybe I do, maybe I don't! If you can beat me, maybe I'll tell you..." The lady said, throwing her Pokéball and releasing a Gravler.
"Grav, Graveler!" The Gravler roared.
"Bayleef, you're up!" Ethan said, Bayleef jumped in front of Ethan and used her Vine Whip attack, with one strike she smacked the Graveler, sending it flying back into the computers.
"Graveler!" The grunt cried as her Pokémon was smashed.
"Gra...Graveler..." Graveler moaned as it got back up.
"Graveler, Rock Throw!" The grunt yelled, Gravler formed Rocks from the air alone and bashed them at Bayleef, who easily managed to dodge it all.
"Now, Magical Leaf!" Ethan yelled, Bayleef swung her leaf and fired multiple purple glowing leaves which easily knocked the Graveler unconscious.
"My Pokémon!" The woman uttered as she returned her Graveler.
"That was quick." Ethan spoke. "Now tell me the password, now!"
Ampharos began to surge with electricity, Heracross cracked his knuckles, and Eevee formed a battle stance, they were ready unless she tried anything. Bayleef in the front of Ethan
"Fine..." The woman turned around to her desk, and turned back to Ethan, she walked closer to him with her hands behind her back.
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
"The password..." As soon as she said those words, she quickly pulled her hands from behind her back, revealed to have a knife, Ethan's eyes lit up with shock seeing it.
"Die brat!" She yelled attempting to stab Ethan in the chest, but before she could, Bayleef used her Vine to grab the woman's hand viciously.
"Bay!" Bayleef angrily roared. Before the woman could try anything else, Eevee jumped from on the ground and tackled her in the gut, and Heracross jumped in as well, chopping her in the back of the neck to make sure she couldn't do a thing, she fell to the ground hard but before she could Ampharos gave her a good zap with Thunder Shock.
Ethan walked up to her as she groaned in pain and crouched down to speak with her. "Now... the password?
"It's... Giovanni." She muttered, it was then when Ethan noticed the effect of static lingering on her, as she was zapped by a stray bolt of electricity.
"Giovanni, what kind of stupid password is that?" Ethan asked dumbfounded.
"Don't make fun... of Team Rocket..." She said as she passed out from the pain.
Ethan sighed, he hated Team Rocket, but even he felt bad seeing how badly she was beat, since she did at least tell him the password he dropped next to her a Cheri berry for once she woke up.
Ethan bolted out of there, in search of the second password to enter the door, he came running downstairs into a single hallway, and on the other side, he saw the back of someone he encountered all too many times before.
"Silver..." Ethan issued upon seeing his rival, Silver turned around to face Ethan, he appeared to be pissed at something. Ethan's Pokémon formed battle ready stances prepared to do battle once again.
"...So, you are messing with them again." Silver scoffed. "Humph, you must really like Team Rocket so much."
"I could say the same to you, what are you doing here?" Ethan asked.
"Don't worry about it." Silver said. "...Tell me, who was the guy in the cape who used Dragon-Type Pokémon. He battled with incredible grace from what I saw, I wish to do battle with him, and of course, I would win!"
"That's Lance, and you can forget about challenging him, he would demolish you, that guy's an even better Trainer than me!" Ethan declared.
"Oh, and you make it sound like I'm below you... don't forgot who won our last battle." The redhead gloated.
"I don't have time for this Silver!" Ethan said, he went to walk past him but Silver raised a Pokéball, making Ethan take one step back.
"Bay Bay!" Bayleef said telling Silver to back up.
Silver smiled and released his Pokémon from its Pokéball, revealing a bug type Pokémon with a red, metallic exoskeleton. The Pokémon had two round, deadly looking pincers.
"Scizor!" The Pokémon spoke in a cold, monotone tone.
"I recognize that Pokémon, that's Scizor!" Ethan exclaimed. "So you've gotten a new Pokémon!"
"And I can see you have too, I don't recall you ever having a Heracross previously." Silver commented, Ethan's Heracross leaped in front of Ethan, he turned to Bayleef, telling her he had this.
"I'm pretty busy right now, but it looks like I won't be able to move on until we settle this once more!" Ethan said.
"Yes... now come and get what you're owed!" Silver exclaimed.
And that's this chapter... so I know Ethan and Silver don't actually have a battle once he shows up in Mahogany but I just had to include this, and it will of course conclude in the next chapter...