Chapter 2
"Meeting Boss Rocket"
The truck screeched to a stop. I heard the doors at the front slam shut.
They're coming.
Then I realized what that meant.
"Guys! Guys! This time, I know they're gonna open the door. Get ready to attack!" I whispered.
My Pokémon looked at me and nodded. They were ready. I decided to get ready too.
The door rattled, and I heard Jessie yelling at James. I barely heard him whine an apology, then the door started rattling some more. I heard Meowth say something. The door stopped rattling for a moment, then they rattled it some more.
What is taking them so long?
After a long time of waiting anxiously, they flung the door open.
"Now!" I shouted.
"Now!" shouted Meowth.
"Roger!" Jessie and James said. They aimed two gun barrels at us. Before anyone could stop them, two huge streams of white goo came hurtling at us. I was completely covered, and when I looked around, I saw that all of my Pokémon were too.
"Pikachu!" I yelled, or, I tried to yell. The goo hardened so quickly that I could hardly move a muscle. I didn't give up though. "Pikachu! Use your Thundershock!"
Pikachu heard me. I know that for sure. It shouted a muffled "CHU!!", but there was no evidence of electricity.
Meowth laughed. "HA!! This was our best plan yet!"
Jessie smiled. "You bet! First, kidnap the twerp. Then, if he doesn't cooperate, cover him with super glue! We'll be getting our Pikachu really soon now!"
"And the boss will give us all promotions!" James said excitedly.
"Let me out of here!" I tried to shout. The glue was very hard though.
"No way," said Jessie, "You have a very important meeting…with the boss."
"So you'd better be on your best behavior!" warned James.
"Yeah! Da boss doesn't like troublemakers!" said Meowth.
Jessie and James bopped him on the head.
"No wonder he hates us so much…" Jessie muttered.
"Yeah. We're the world's best troublemakers," said James.
"You're not getting Pikachu!!" I mumbled through the super glue.
"Moh mot metting Mikamoo!" Jessie mocked me. They all had a good laugh.
"It's not funny!! I have a very important match to get to!"
"Ha! He sounds like a paralyzed Metapod!" laughed Meowth.
"And he's just as worthless as one," said Jessie, "Come on. Let's get hauling. Arbok! Lickitung! Go!"
Arbok and Lickitung came out of their Pokéballs.
"Go Weezing! Go Victreebel!"
Weezing and Victreebel also came out.
"What are you gonna do with them!?" I demanded.
They decided to ignore me, and they each pulled out a buzzsaw.
What the…?
"Let's get sawin'!" said Meowth. He turned his on. Jessie and James turned theirs on too.
"Wait a second!! You can't buzzsaw us!! We're too young to die!"
"We're not going to kill you, numbskull," retorted Jessie, "We're just going to make you more travel-friendly."
"Huh?"
I soon found out what they meant. They were cutting the super glue that was in between each of us, making us all separated. Otherwise, we looked like one big winter scene. When they were done, they had their Pokémon haul us into a big mansion.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Huh? I can't understand a word he's sayin'," said Meowth.
Liar. You could understand me before…
"It doesn't matter," said Jessie, "He doesn't have any say in this. That's why he can't talk. Get it?"
"Oh…Yeah!" Meowth laughed. "I like that!"
…I'll get back at them later…Right now I need to find a way out of here.
We were all marched to a big fancy set of doors, and Jessie knocked timidly.
"Who is it!?" an irritable voice said from inside.
"Uh…We've brought the twe-, I mean…the boy and his Pokémon…sir…" Jessie said.
"……Come in."
Why does he want me?
James opened the doors, and their Pokémon hauled us in.
A mean looking man in an ugly orange suit was sitting behind a desk. He glared at us. Finally, he spoke.
"What…did you do to them?" he said.
"Uh…We super glued them for you!" said Jessie.
He raised an eyebrow. "Super glued?"
"Uh-huh! We super glued them so they couldn't run away!"
"………Not bad." He looked at us, still trapped. I think he smiled. "Not bad at all. For once, you three have managed to do something right. Heh. I'll give you raise in your next paycheck."
Jessie, James, and Meowth literally jumped for joy.
"Oh thank you! You're too kind!" said James.
"…If you don't want the raise…"
Jessie and Meowth covered James's mouth before he could respond.
"No, that's quite alright. We'll take it," Jessie assured him.
"…Fine. Now leave."
"Yes sir!" they all said, saluting. Then they dashed out the door, slamming it shut behind them.
The 'boss' watched them leave. Then he looked down at me.
"So…I finally get to meet Ash Ketchum…I'm a big fan of yours."
"Huh!!?"
"……Especially from what I've heard about your Pikachu. It's about time those blunderers got hold of it."
"You can't have Pikachu!!"
"Pika!" Pikachu said.
'Yeah!'
He chuckled quietly.
"You really believe that? Look at your present situation. You're been immobilized. You're Pokémon can't help you. And guess what else? Nobody knows where you are. You don't even know where you are, I'll bet."
"Uh-! Well……"
…He's right…I don't where I am…and Misty and Brock thought I went to talk to Richie…Richie? The match! When I don't show up…they're gonna…They don't know where I am. They're gonna think I forfeited…
"What time is it!?"
"Huh? Why would you…? Oh…" He grinned. "Worried about your match? Why don't we see for ourselves?"
"What are you-?"
He picked up a remote control and aimed it at a TV on the corner of his desk. The screen flickered on to show a dark gym floor with a trainer at one end. There was no one at the other.
"Is that…?"
"…and there's still no sign of trainer, Ash Ketchum. This has been a very long wait folks, and it's starting to look like he's decided to forfeit the match!"
"No! I didn't forfeit!"
"I wonder how Richie feels about this…He already asked the ref if they could wait ten more minutes for Ash to show up. That takes real guts folks. I guess he came here for a match, and his opponent didn't even show up!"
He asked them to wait longer. I…I promised I would show up…
"Wait. It looks like the ten minutes are up. Wow. I guess Ash couldn't take the pressure and decided that a loss by forfeiting is better than a loss by actually losing. No one will ever become a Pokémon Master that way. Learn it from Ash!"
The camera zoomed in on the referee.
"Ash has forfeited the match! The battle goes to Richie!"
"No…"
The crowd started cheering wildly. Richie looked devastated. I felt sorry for him, but I couldn't help feeling sorrier for me. As the camera zoomed out, I thought I saw two figures running towards him.
"I think that's all we need to see."
"No! Wait!"
He gave me a disgusted look, but he left the TV on.
"It looks like Ketchum's two coaches are approaching the referee. Maybe they can explain his absence?"
The camera zoomed in to show Misty and Brock talking to the referee, with Richie standing to the side, watching.
"He would never forfeit!" Misty was saying, "I've known Ash for a year now, and he's never given up until the end."
"At the very least, I know he would show up," Brock added.
"I think something's happened that's stopped him from coming. He might be in trouble!"
"Ash is in trouble?" Richie said.
The referee looked at the three of them. They were obviously worried about me. I was glad I had friends like them.
"They'll never find you," the boss told me. He must have seen my relief somehow.
"Until we have proof, the battle still goes to Richie," said the ref, "For now, notify the police. They'll find him."
"Thank you," Misty said, "You don't know how much this means to us."
The camera switched to show the announcer. He looked a bit flustered, if you ask me.
"Wow. Folks, we have here a really special case on our hands. It seems like even his coaches don't know where he is. I guess the police will take it from here. I've never seen anything like this before. If Ash Ketchum really is missing, I can't say what the rest of the competition will do…"
A woman approached him and whispered something in his ear. He looked a surprised, but he leaned back into the microphone and started talking again.
"Until the whereabouts of Ketchum are found, the tournament will be put on hold!"
There was a mixed reaction from the crowd, and I couldn't tell exactly what they were.
"Remember, this is a friendly competition, and if one trainer is unable to compete, none should be able to. We have an equal opportunity policy here at Indigo Plateau. And rest assured, the police and the rest of us will not rest until this young trainer is found!"
The woman said something to him again.
"There's nothing more to see here. All battles have been postponed…Let's go to our commercial break…Later, we'll have an update for all you viewers at home…"
He trailed off and the boss clicked off the TV.
"Well," he stated, "it seems as if you've created quite a stir."
"Whaddaya mean me?" I retorted, "It was your clonies that stopped me from showing up in the first place!"
"Eh…The correct word is 'cronies'," he replied tersely.
"Whatever! I still want to know why to brought me here in the first place!"
He grinned evilly and leaned forward. "That answer should be obvious. I want your Pokémon." He gave Pikachu a sideways leer. "Particularly that Pikachu. I've heard its quite the fighter."
"…That's right. And as soon as you let it out of that glue, it's gonna give you a shock you'll never forget!"
"Chu!!" Pikachu shouted.
'That's right!'
He shook his head in amusement. "I think not. For one thing, what use is a Pokémon without a trainer? Can you tell me that, Ash?"
"…What do you mean?"
He sighed. "You're not very quick are you?"
I decided not to answer him.
"We've tried capturing trained Pokémon before…Let's just say it wasn't very pleasant for their new trainers."
"I know what you mean," I muttered, remembering when I first got Pikachu.
"Hm? What's that mean?"
"Uh-! Nothing!" I covered, badly.
He gave me an inquisitive gaze for a while, then went back to talking.
"So…I've started a new program…" He looked down and pressed a button on his desk. "Jessie! James! Report to my office immediately!" he shouted.
Moments later, the said trio appeared in the doorway.
"Yes sir! How can we be of service, sir!?" they saluted in almost-unison. Meowth looked a little sour at not being named as part of the group.
"Do you still have the saws with you?" the boss asked them.
"Yes sir!" replied James, pulling out his. Jessie and Meowth did the same.
The boss looked at me. "That's good. Because I see only five Pokémon here. He must have one still on his belt. Retrieve it for me."
"What!!?" I shouted.
"You…want us to cut…into his stomach?" James asked.
"No!!!" I screamed, "You can't do that!!"
The boss simply nodded. "That's where he keeps his Pokéballs, isn't it?"
I felt sick. I felt like I was going to throw up, catch a fever, a cold, and faint all at the same time.
"Ya want us ta kill im?" asked Meowth.
"No!" the boss responded angrily, "I just want you to retrieve his Pokéball. Leave the boy intact."
"That's a relief," I muttered.
At least he doesn't want to kill me. Can't be so sure that those three will be very successful though…
Jessie started her buzz saw. "Let's get started then, shall we?"
James and Meowth did the same. They all approached me, saws buzzing crazily.
"Pika!! Pikachu!!"
'Ash!! No!!'
Now…forgive me if I wasn't exactly brave during all of this. If three imbeciles were sawing at your stomach with buzz saws, I'm sure you wouldn't have looked either. At least I didn't wet my pants…
I wasn't timing it, but after what seemed like a long time, the buzzing stopped rather suddenly.
Am I dead yet? I wondered as I cautiously opened my eyes, scared of what I might see.
"I got it!" Meowth proclaimed, holding up a red and white Pokéball.
I did my best to look down. As far as I could tell, I was okay. At least, I wasn't bleeding all over the place.
"Good job," said the boss, "Give it to me."
Meowth reluctantly handed it to the boss. He took it and examined it.
"What Pokémon is it?" he asked me.
"Like I'd tell you…"
"…Jessie. James. You've fought him enough times. Which Pokémon is missing?"
"Huh?" said James.
"Uhh…That Charizard," said Meowth.
The boss seemed impressed. "A Charizard, eh? I wonder why it wasn't out of its Pokéball. It probably could have gotten you out of this mess before you got into it."
That's none of your business…
He smiled slightly at my silence.
"Either you didn't think of that, or…you have a problem Pokémon in this Pokéball."
I kept my silence, even though he was making me angry.
"…You three," he said to Jessie, James, and Meowth, "Get the Pokémon in holding room…Leave the boy here."
"What…?" I said, breaking my silence.
"Pika! Pikaaa!" Pikachu cried.
'Wait! Leave me here too!'
I smiled beneath the glue. I always knew I could count on Pikachu to want to stick with me…Even if that meant being really sticky.
"Come out Arbok and Lickitung!" ordered Jessie.
"You too, Weezing and Victreebel!" said James.
Together, they carried my Pokémon through a sliding metal door that was on the right wall in the far right corner. When their job was done, they promptly left.
"Where did you take them!?" I demanded, "What's in there? What will you do to them!?"
"Tsk tsk tsk. So many questions. Ask one at a time, young man, and you might get the answer you're looking for."
"I don't have time for this! Let me go!"
"Okay."
I blinked in disbelief.
"…What?"
"I said okay."
I gave him a suspicious look, even though he couldn't see it. "……What's the catch?"
He laughed quietly. "Of course there's a catch……You have to join Team Rocket."
"What!?"
"I can't let you go otherwise…So what do say? Join us?"
"Never!!"
He seemed to consider that. "Fine then. You'll make a very…interesting decoration here in my office."
"…I'll make a what?"
"A talking statue…Why didn't I think of that before…?"
He was being way too casual about this…
"Of course, it's your decision. If you want to stay as you are now…you're free to do so. If not…you're just as welcome to join Team Rocket. Just let me know when you change your mind."
I'm never going to join Team Rocket. Especially not after this.
"…No change?…That's okay. You might think differently tomorrow…Or the day after…I'm very patient."
"Well, so am I!" I lied.
He chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you are, little boy. You must be very patient."
I really didn't appreciate his sarcasm.
"I won't join Team Rocket. You can't make me."
"I know that. I'm not trying either. I'm giving you a simple choice. You make the decision. It's not as it I'm forcing you or anything."
Yeah, and Pikachu is a banana, I thought bitterly. Who does this guy think he is?! He can't keep me here forever!……Right?
He looked at his watch. "It's getting late. I'll see you in the morning. We'll see if you've changed your mind or not. Until then…"
He turned and entered the door on the left-hand wall. That's when I saw his Persian for the first time. It followed him in, then he turned off the light and shut the door.
I was all alone, in pitch black, and very stiff.