Quick update. I missed a lot, I know I'm sorry. The point is that something happens in this chapter which I'm still not sure if I will keep it in. I messaged several Beta readers but haven't gotten any reaction (yet). Hopefully I will get a reaction, I hope I won't miss another update. Btw, italic (like this) are things that happened in the past rather than present time. I know I have been using the italic feature for Danny's thoughts, that feature will be removed. To explain where the events are happening, like I did last episode with italic, will now be with a line underneath it (like this) Enjoy!

Last time on Danny's Journey: The New Team Rocket has completely taken over Celadon City. Danny managed to escape with help from a new friend named Gregg. They took shelter in a bunker and managed to retake the Game Corner. During that fight Charmander evolved into Charmeleon and Beedrill got hurt badly, causing Danny to send him to Professor Oak in return for Grimer. Meanwhile, the NTR admin Gordon assaulted Richard to figure out Danny's name.

A shady figure crept through the streets of Celadon City. Careful to not make any noise that could alert the people that where in the city as well. At this moment that where mostly members of the criminal organization the New Team Rocket.

The vague guy however had no intension of meeting with any of the NTR members. No, his goal was way different.

"Before I forget, Gregg, can you stay on? There is someone who would like to talk to you as well." Oak said by the telephone.

Danny turned around while Gregg nodded. "Sure, why not?"

"I'll connect you through."

Within seconds, Oak was gone and a, equally old, woman appeared.

"Agatha?" Danny said surprised.

"Ah, it is good to see you young Danny. I was afraid they had gotten you too." Agatha replied.

"I thought you were in the city as well?" Danny asked.

"I was, I was lucky I had other plans and had to leave the city, not a moment too soon I might say." Agatha smiled. "How did you escape?"

"Gregg helped me." Danny said happily.

"Ah yes, Gregg. I wanted to ask you. You seem to be more of an expert, how are things in the city?" Agatha asked.

"I can't say they are good. The NTR took over the entire city. Danny and I just managed to re-take the Game Corner but we don't know for how long. We also managed to take 23 members hostage, they are one floor above us." Gregg explained.

"How about the citizens of Celadon City?" Agatha asked.

"They have been taken hostage by the NTR, we have yet to figure out where they currently are." Gregg explained. "What we did find, is what the NTR is after. There is a device that creates the X-drug, it is located in the Celadon Department Store. Thanks to Danny's Pidgey we now know they are looking for that thing."

"Why would they want to use that….." Agatha asked herself out loud.

"We believe that it isn't the device alone they are after." Gregg explained. Together with Danny he had tried to figure out why Irena wanted to take over the city. "We believe that the NTR wants to frighten all of Kanto by taking over Celadon because they need more than only this advice for their plan."

"That would mean extra protection in every city." Agatha said.

"Not every city." Gregg explained. "Small towns like Pallet and Lavender are presumably save."

"We can take no risks Gregg, I will inform all officers throughout the region that they should enlarge their police forces."

In the Pokémon lock-up

On top of the Celadon Department Store was a small room, a kind of ceiling. In there, the NTR decided to put all the Pokéballs their hostages were carrying. They had been thrown on top of each other, making a big pile of Pokéballs.

One Pokémon, however, was outside of its Pokéball at the moment they were captured: Venonat. Venonat was sitting in a small cage, surrounded by Pokéballs. It had never been without Janine since it had decided to join her 6 years ago and the little bug Pokémon was quite frightened.

It had given up all hope, but that was just the thing that came flying in through a small window the NTR had forgotten to close….

Gordon's office

"What do you say?!" Chief Gordon was beyond himself with anger. The grunt before him did a step back.

"T-the Game Corner has b-been taken sir." The grunt tried.

"I know what you said." Gordon said angrily and he slapped the grunt across the face.

"Sorry sir." The grunt said while rubbing his cheek.

"Any word of Dawson?" Gordon asked, still angry.

"No sir, he has gone missing." The grunt crouched, fearing the answer of his chief.

"Of course he has gone missing. There is trouble and Dawson is gone." Gordon sighed. "What is your name?"

'Landon, sir." The grunt said.

"Ah yes, Landon. Would you mind walking towards the window and tell me what you see outside?"

Landon had no idea what to expect but he decided it was best to follow up the orders quickly. He ran towards the window and looked outside.

"I see houses, sir. I can see Celadon City perfectly from this point." The grunt said.

"Can you see people walking around?" Gordon asked sweetly, a tone Landon seemed to miss.

"Only our grunts, no one else." Landon replied.

"Indeed, and I would like to keep it that way." Gordon said, suddenly angry. He walked forward and pushed Landon out of the window.

The grunt screamed for almost a minute until he hit the streets below him. Other grunts looked shocked.

"He had it coming." Gordon said unimpressed. "Get someone to clean that up."

"Yes sir." Another grunt said. You better do exactly what Gordon asked, otherwise you might end up on the streets as well.

Celadon Alleys

The strange figure crept forward, it seemed like he or she was heading towards the Celadon Department Store. What he wanted was unclear.

He was wearing a big, black cape. He was close near the Department Store until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"So what is our next move?" Danny asked Gregg after they had ended the phone call.

"We need to take them down." Gregg answered. 'If only we could figure out how."

Danny scratched his chin.

"We still have Pidgey." Danny said.

"No, I wanted to tell you this before we spoke Agatha, but Pidgey's cam went black. It might have been captured." Gregg said sympathetic.

"What if its captured?" Danny asked scared.

"Then they will put it together with the other Pokémon. Don't worry about Pidgey, they won't hurt him. What we do need to be concerned about is searching parties. I'm afraid we can't stay here."

"I thought nobody knew about this bunker?" Gregg's reaction made Danny confused.

"And that is true. The normal grunts don't, but that chief, Gordon, he has been part of the original Team Rocket so he does know about this bunker. If he intervenes they will have found this place within seconds."

"So we will be back on the streets…." Danny stated sadly.

"I'm afraid so. I can't think of any other place that the NTR would possibly have missed. We will need camouflage though."

Danny stared at the black screen which once showed the view of Pidgey's camera.

"I might have an idea….." He started.

The figure turned around shocked. A Team Rocket grunt looked into his eyes.

"Got you, I knew you would be here somewhere." The grunt said.

"Yeah, I got as close as I possibly could." The figure said with a grin.

In The Department Store Basement

Richard was lying on the ground. The grunts had allowed water and washing cloths so Janine had cleaned up his wounds and took care of them. He still had a headache though.

"I betrayed Danny, how could I do that?" He murmured.

"Don't blame yourself. He started beating you! I fully understand you couldn't resist and so would Danny." Janine said furiously.

"It's not that. He threatened to beat you as well." Richard said softly. It clearly costed him quite some trouble speaking that much.

"What!" Janine shouted. "You should have let him. I would have had the chance to show that jerk how strong a Poison type trainer is."

Richard shook his head. "He wouldn't stop. That guy is a maniac. He would kill you just for his entertainment."

Erika came sitting next to them. "How are you two holding up?"

"I've had better days." Richard grinned, which made him wince.

"Calm down now, you've had enough action for a while." Janine said softly. She would never admit it to everyone, but she was really thankful that Richard didn't let Gordon hit her.

In the Pokémon lock-up

Venonat looked all joyful. It had been hanging out with Danny's and Richards Pokémon long enough to know that this creature that just flew in was no-one else but Danny's Pidgey.

Pidgey walked towards the cage and examined the lock. He didn't seem to be able to get Venonat out.

Translated from the Pokémon Language

"I'm sorry Venonat, I can't get it open." Pidgey said, slightly disappointed.

"What! Are you sure?" Venonat asked scared.

"Yeah, I wish I could but I have no idea why. Do you maybe know who has the keys?"

"Ehh, there is one guard who comes checking on us every hour, if you wait in here you could check if he has the keys." Venonat explained.

"Well, that sure sounds fun. I'm in." Pidgey said happily.

"How are the others holding up?" Venonat asked curiously.

"For as far as I know they are all good. I left to spy on the bad guys, but I'm afraid this area is a little too dark for the camera." Pidgey explained. "Once we get outside they should be able to see me again, but this is more important."

Venonat nodded slightly. "Thanks…"

"Don't mention it, you are my friends so all I can do to help you is a good thing."

Just at that moment, the door opened and a NTR grunt came walking in.

"What is this? A wild Pidgey! Come on, get out!" He tried.

"This is the guy?" Pidgey asked and Venonat nodded.

"Great." Pidgey flew up and started picking the guy.

"What the hell?!" The grunt screamed, not knowing what happened to him.

Pidgey kept picking him but eventually, the grunt recovered and he tried to hit the Flying type.

Meanwhile, Venonat was simply waiting for Pidgey to grab the keys and knock the grunt out in the progress.

"How's everything going?" It asked.

"A little busy…. At the moment.." Pidgey grunted as he flew over the grunt to peck at him from behind. Sadly, the NTR member was quick and directly turned around to once again face Pidgey again.

Another peck attack at the front did hurt the grunt, but he didn't stop fighting.

"How ridiculous, why should I be fighting?" The grunt said and took one of his Pokéballs while being under attack.

A Zubat emerged from the Pokémon and started to follow Pidgey.

"Just great, another one." Pidgey said as he flew away from the grunt.

"Zubat, use Wing Attack." The grunt ordered.

"Didn't think so." Pidgey flew up higher until it was right above Zubat and flew straight down, hitting Zubat with quite some force.

"That should do it." Pidgey said. Venonat started cheering but the Zubat wasn't done just yet: It came flying back towards Pidgey.

"Dammit, I can't do this alone. Venonat, do you know which Pokéball is Weezing's? Pidgey asked. He did need help and Weezing was the biggest and possibly the strongest he knew.

"I don't know, there are a lot of them." Venonat said.

"Well, I guess any of them could help me out." Pidgey flew towards the nearest Pokéball and pressed on it.

A giant plant-like Pokémon came out.

"Ah great, a Victreebel." Pidgey sighed, but directly had to fly away from the Zubat again.

The Victreebel released a vine and smashed the Zubat against the wall with it. The Zubat fell knocked down to the ground.

"So you took over the city. Doesn't look like much." The Victreebel growled angry.

"Wait, I got another Pokémon." The grunt reminded himself while returning his Pokémon.

"No you don't." Victreebel responded as his vines took away the two remaining Pokéballs.

"What?" The grunt didn't know what was happening.

"Time for a nap. You guys better keep your breath." Victreebel said. Pidgey and Venonat both nodded as the Flycatcher Pokémon released a Sleep Powder attack.

The room was filled with a blue powder. The grunt started to yawn and quickly fell asleep.

Luckily for Pidgey and Venonat, the powder quickly left the room through the window and it was safe to breath again.

"Well, I owe you a thank you for releasing me. My name is Victreebel and I am one of the Gym Leader's Pokémon." The Victreebel explained.

"Wow, I really clicked the right one." Pidgey said relieved. "I am Pidgey and this is a friend of mine, Venonat."

Victreebel nodded. "It certainly is nice to meet you, how about we free all the Pokémon from their Pokéballs. It seems like we might be able to free our trainers."

Pidgey took the keys towards the cage and pushed it into the opening. It pushed at it with all its power and the lock went open, freeing Venonat.

"That sounds like a good plan."

In the lobby of the Pokémon Department Store

"Hi there, I found this citizen wandering around Celadon, I figured I should bring him here." The grunt said to the lobbyist, which was also a NTR member, as he forced the shady figure that had been walking through the streets forward.

"Good job, bring him down with the others." The lobbyist said.

The grunt nodded and walked towards the place the lobbyist had pointed.

"You know you're role?" the grunt whispered.

"Yeah of course, I try to bring as many prisoners to my side and ready to attack and you find the keys and free us all again." The figure said. "It was my plan after all."

"That's right, but I still believe it is risky. If I fail you are locked up there for I don't know how long."

"And that's why its fatal you don't fail." The prisoner laughed.

They eventually found a staircase that went down and they followed the stairs until they were on the lowest level.

"Who goes there?" a NTR guard asked.

"I have another prisoner."

"Let's throw him in with the others." The guard answered and he opened the door.

"Move it." The grunt said to his prisoner "Good luck." He whispered.

The vague person walked into the cage and heard the door close behind him.

"Here's some company." The guard laughed and both he and the grunt walked away.

The shady figure took off his cap and revealed a familiar face.

"Danny? Is that you?" Janine said as she walked forward "It is you! It's so good to see you." The two friends hugged for a minute.

"Where's Richard?" Danny asked.

"He lies overthere." Janine said. Danny could hear the concerned sound and fastened his pace. When he saw his best friend he was overtaken by terror.

"Richard! What happened?" Danny kneeled down besides his best friend.

"Danny, what are you doing here?" Richard murmured. "How did they capture you?"

"They didn't. I'm here on purpose." When he saw the confused looks he continued talking "A man named Gregg pulled me away at the moment they took over and thanks to him I remained free. Together with him we took over the Game Corner."

"So there is resistance out there?" Erika asked, who had walked closer together with Officer Jenny.

"Yes, the grunt that took me here is Gregg in disguise. He will find the keys to this cell and open it for us. I'm here to tell you all about the current situation and get you ready to fight."

"Well, we are ready to fight." Riley said angry.

"Speak for yourself." Richard grinned. "I'm not fighting anyone."

"What happened?" Danny asked.

They quickly explained how Gordon has punched Richard into telling Danny's name. At the end Danny had tears in his eyes.

"You should have just told them my name? They don't know me, it hadn't mattered."

"Yes it matters, I didn't want to betray you." Richard said. "And I'm sorry that I did."

"Don't be sorry, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Gordon will pay for this."

"By the way, where is Squirtle?" Richard asked.

Danny suddenly got a smile again. "That is another part of my plan."

Somewhere in Celadon City

Translated from the Pokémon Language

"So we all know the plan, right?" Danny's Charmeleon asked. All Pokémon nodded.

"I can't say it is a nice plan though. Why don't we get to battle?" Bellsprout asked.

"Because it is crucial that we get to the other Pokémon. We are just with six. If we can join up with all the others. Sandshrew, Voltorb, Venonat, Eevee, Weezing and all the other Pokémon that are held captive, we might have a better change." Charmeleon explained.

"After that I am more than 100% certain that you will get to combat." Abra said with a smile. "As well as I am 100% sure I will be getting my most pleasant nap in a very long time."

"You always sleep very pleasant." Bellsprout sneered.

"That is correct." Abra laughed.

Krabby and Grimer were standing on the side.

"How can you live around these guys?" Grimer asked.

"They protect me, so I learn to ignore their fights." Krabby explained.

"They do seem like nice Pokémon though." Grimer added and Krabby nodded.

"They are."

"Okay then. If everyone knows the plan we can move out. It's still a long way towards the Store and we might not have much time left." Charmeleon said.

"And remember. Don't get caught!" Squirtle reminded the others. They all nodded and started walking.

Next chapter will be the extremely exiting finale of the NTR takeover of Celadon City. I hope you guys don't mind that I did so many Pokémon talk in this, it might be irritating but I feel that 'Char-Char' or 'Pidg-Pidgey!' is more annoying, since now I directly get to translate their feelings. It also helps with the character building, so there's that. I don't know if I will keep the death in this chapter, it is really dark and I don't know yet if it is the style I want to keep. Let me know what you thought. Was it too dark or did it fit this story?