AN: Hey, everybody! Journal's back! I got stuck on First Missions, so I'm
back to this one! I'll eventually start again with FM, but for now, SotJ
is in the house.
Chapter 9
Rocket Base
Within fifteen minutes, we had gathered up everything and were ready to go kick some more black-garbed butt. I zipped up my vest, each pocket with Pokeballs and Items. Goliath wrapped a "Philip brand" Pokebelt around his waist. Hick Girl put a rope through a belt loop. I laughed, picturing her with a lasso, roping Grunts. Bob yoinked a random Pokeball that was sitting on a table and pocketed it. Isaac grabbed his skateboard, Steve mimicking him.
Philip pulled out several strange of his inventions, none of which I recognized. He also grabbed a scorched Potion bottle, why I don't know, and winked at Natalie. Maya checked Flame's stats on a Pokedex. Carol put her book back in a backpack and put on a fierce look that I had never seen on her face. Chloe looked at me and smiled. I tried to smile back, but the situation was too grim to get a good one out. All I could do was nod and look back down to my Pokedex, where I was checking Pokemon.
I had taken all of them out of the computer. Each one was in good shape to battle. Good. It was time.
* * *
We walked outside, Steve and 'Sac leading on their wheels. I walked in front of a wedge behind them. "They might be watching," said Maya.
"You're right," I said. "Goliath?"
He had the loudest voice, so he called out, "Everybody, Pokemon out!" Everyone complied and tossed out Pokeballs. We soon had a large group of any Pokemon imaginable.
"Snowpea!" something cried.
"What's that?" asked Bob.
A small green figure walked out of an alley onto the sidewalk in front of us.
"Snowpea!" it cried again.
I pulled out my Pokedex. "Snowpea, Type 1: Grass. Other data not found," it said in a very monotonous voice.
"Whatever it is, I'm gonna catch it!" I pulled out a Pokeball.
The little thing looked like a little baby in a pea-pod Halloween costume. It had what looked like a green mask on its face. I threw the Pokeball and it was caught. Later I would send it to Oak for him to examine it, after we rescued him.
A few minutes later, we reached the supposedly abandoned warehouse. "Steve, how did you get in before?" asked Isaac.
"Through here." He kicked his foot down on one side of a manhole cover and it flipped up into his hands. I was reminded of our journeys through all those tunnels in Johto. It was cramped inside, so we recalled our Pokemon.
"This doesn't look like a sewer." said Philip, examining the floors and walls. "Wouldn't it be a bit slimier?"
"Let's give it up for Captain Obvious!" I clapped, but there were only a few chuckles. "Ooh, tough crowd."
We didn't have to go far before Steve pointed up to another cover. Goliath reached up and punched it upward. We climbed out and looked around.
There wasn't much to look at. A few empty boxes sat in the nearest corner, but we were only in a small room off down a hallway. I didn't think we should just charge out around the corner, maybe into a bunch of gene- Pokemon attackers.
"Maybe we should send somebody to look." began Natalie.
"I'll go," cut in Chloe.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, I can handle myself." She walked off around the corner. After a few seconds, she screamed and ran back around.
"They're coming!" she yelled. "Run!"
We didn't have time to get to the manhole if they were that close. All we could do was--
Chloe stopped and pulled a switch to her left. A cage fell from a rope on the ceiling and trapped us underneath it.
"Chloe, what the." asked Maya.
"She trapped us in here! That little." Flame Creamfire opened her mouth to fry Chloe, but Maya stopped her. We'd be caught in the fire.
"Let us out!" said Goliath, trying to bend the bars apart.
"There's no use," said a thick Mexican accent. I'd heard that voice before. In the classroom, one of the students. I heard the voice echo in my head as I tried to place it with the student from the roster. Cos, Martin de!
"Who are you?" demanded Courtney.
"Why, I'm General Cos!" A figure stepped from the shadows. He wore the uniform of a high-ranking Mexican army officer. A bronze statuette hung from his belt. It was in the shape of a. weasel?
"Hahaha! Thank you, Chloe, for capturing my foes."
"Chloe, you." said Bob.
"Silence, kleptomaniacal one!" yelled the General.
The cage was suddenly lifted up into the air. The rope was gone, there was no way that we were being lifted up, unless.
"Sabrina, you traitor!" I said.
"I'm flattered," said a cold feminine voice. Sabrina, mistress of telekinesis, stepped from behind Cos. "But I wasn't expecting such friendliness from a captive 'hero'!"
"Shut it, witch!" said Goliath.
"Don't talk to her that way!" said Chloe. She had stepped in line on Cos' left.
"Cos, what is the meaning of this?" I asked.
"Don't you see? I control Team Rocket!"
"Giovanni's replacement?"
"No, silly boy! I have always controlled it. Giovanni was but another puppet himself! Sabrina was third-in-command. Of course, we had a bit of trouble with you, young one, but after you got rid of Giovanni, our contract was ended."
"What contract?" asked Steve.
"We had a deal from the beginning. He would take orders from me, and get to make the unimportant decisions. With a big decision like Operation: Dark Cloud, he had to come to me for advice."
I noticed that other kids had gathered, each in a jumpsuit like always. Chloe pulled off her shirt to reveal one as well. "And are all these kids brainwashed like Jessica was?"
"Ah, Jessica. She was one of our best agents during the short time she was with us. Yes, most of these are brainwashed. All but Chloe and your other 'friends' here." He gestured towards a group of familiar faces: Ryan, Ross, Paul, and Corey.
"I knew you hadn't come back to our side!" yelled Philip. "You were spies all along!"
"Sure," said Ross.
"Anything to get paid," said Ryan.
"And we get benefits, too!" said Corey. "Like dental, and."
"Quiet, fool!" yelled Cos. "Back to what I was saying. Yes, these are mindless drones. Anything else you would like to know?"
I just glared.
"Good, because I wouldn't have answered. Stephanie!" A girl came up behind him. She looked about fifteen, sixteen. "Take them to their holding cell!"
Sabrina let us down from her mind grip and opened the lock. I tried to run, but Sabrina had a psychic rope tied about our ankles. We were all tied together with no way out.
Stephanie prodded me in the back with another of the bronzed weasels and I moved forward. It wasn't sharp, but if it was hurled it could do some damage.
She led us to a meat locker in the back. She shut it and Sabrina must have sealed it because even Goliath couldn't break down the door.
"So what now?" asked Carol.
"I don't know." I said. "I can't think of any plan."
"Should I take their Pokemon away, ma'am?" asked Stephanie out in the hall.
"No, nothing they have is strong enough to get through that wall."
Maybe that was our edge.
"Pinky, go!" Out came the sparkling pink Crobat. "Use Supersonic to break open the door!"
It shot out a barely audible scream. I hoped it would break down the door, but instead it just bounced off and ricocheted over the walls. It echoed in our ears as it hit us. We all fell to the ground, stunned by the sound.
"P-pinky, ret-. return," I gasped.
"Jim, you idiot," laughed Hick Girl.
"I know."
"Any more bright ideas?" asked Sabrina from outside. "I told you, nothing can get through these doors."
"Fine, fine. Just tell me, what are you planning on doing with us?"
"Well, right now, we're sending out letters to all of your parents asking for a little bit of ransom money. Heh heh heh."
"Don't you just want my gene-Pokemon?"
"Well, yes, but as soon as we get the money, we'll kill you, then take them anyway."
"That's low, Sabrina, very low."
"I know. Stephanie, bring them their gruel!"
The door opened to let the brainwashed teenage girl through. She carried a stack of bowls. Under one arm she carried a large pot. Using a ladle, she scooped some out and poured it for us.
"Steph, why are you here?" I asked her.
"I don't know. I can't remember anything before waking up here about a year ago. All they can tell me is that I'll be here until they have no use for me. Then they'll either terminate me or just restore my memory and return me to civilization," she replied.
"Help us out."
"I can't. I'd love to, but they might catch me."
"Just at least tell me where Oak and Erika are."
"I don't have enough clearance to know that."
"Can you find out?"
"Maybe. I'll try, then I'll get back to you tonight."
"Thanks." I returned to my sludge that we were supposed to eat. "How do we eat this?"
"You don't. Just leave it alone. It might smell bad after a while, but it doesn't taste any better." She walked out the door and shut it behind her.
Goliath looked at it, then poked it with his finger. It had a funny film on top of it and was looked inedible.
It apparently was edible, though, because Bob gulped it down and then yoinked ours, too. "Mmm, mmm, good!"
Carol gave him a look of pure disgust.
My watch beeped twice. It was nine o'clock.
"It's gonna be a long night," I said, then stretched out and lay on the cold, hard floor.
"Probably," said Isaac. "D'you think any of us will be able to sleep?"
"Well, only if "us" doesn't include her," said Philip. He leaned his head towards Natalie, who was asleep to his right. He put his arm around her and closed his eyes.
"Well, at least they left us all in the same cell," said Steve.
"Yeah, we're not alone," said Courtney.
"True, true. We're all together," said Goliath. He was the only one still standing. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, soon snoring.
When my watch beeped midnight, I was still asleep. I couldn't sleep. It was just how hopeless this all seemed. We were stuck in an icy metal room with no way out, unless.
Bang.
I bolted straight up. "What the."
"Jim! You awake?" asked Stephanie from outside.
"Yeah."
"I got the Prof and Erika."
"Oak?"
"I'm all right, Jim, but we need to get you out," said the old man.
"All right. Can you get us out?"
"I think so," said Steph. "Sabrina's asleep, so I don't think her mental lock is as strong. Can you try to break through from that side?"
"Goliath, wake up!"
"Huh?"
"We need to get through this door."
"Okay."
"Phi-Lip-Ooh!"
Philip was standing up and taller again. Together, they pried the door open.
I woke everyone up as quietly as possible and then we all sneaked out. The only problem before we reached the door was a gene-Pokemon guard, which was taken out by Hick's whip.
But, as we were walking out the door, a bronze spear struck the wall beside my head. "You're not leaving so soon, are you?"
"Sure we are!" I drew a Pokeball from my belt. I just hoped it was the right one. "Go!"
"Snowpea!"
Argh.
"Snowpea, use. something."
"Come on, I can take anything you can throw at me!" yelled Cos, pulling out another weasel.
Out of nowhere, a metal boot smacked him in the face. "Hey, who threw that?"
Then, Snowpea sucked in its chest and charged at the Hispanic dude.
"Snowpea!" It latched onto his leg and little hearts popped out all over.
"No, not the hug, no, no. Oh, Snowpea, you are so cute, man!" Cos said, then he hugged the little thing back.
I blinked, and glanced at Maya. She gave me a skeptical look. I countered with a shrug.
"Go, just go," said the general.
"You want us to go?" asked Goliath.
"For the love of evel, just GO!"
"What's 'evel'?"
"Don't ask."
We all went out, feeling a little more confused than when we went in.
AN: So, how was that? Snowpea and the entire attacking sequence were adapted from the character in iMucha Lucha! (I used a little i as an upside-down ! because it's Spanish. Anyway, Maya still belongs to moonymonster, and General Cos partly belongs to gideonguy. It's kind of an inside joke, so don't ask about the Cos thing.
Next: The beginning of the new story line: the big trip to. somewhere that won't be revealed until next chapter!
Until then, may you be safe from the evels of General Cos!
Chapter 9
Rocket Base
Within fifteen minutes, we had gathered up everything and were ready to go kick some more black-garbed butt. I zipped up my vest, each pocket with Pokeballs and Items. Goliath wrapped a "Philip brand" Pokebelt around his waist. Hick Girl put a rope through a belt loop. I laughed, picturing her with a lasso, roping Grunts. Bob yoinked a random Pokeball that was sitting on a table and pocketed it. Isaac grabbed his skateboard, Steve mimicking him.
Philip pulled out several strange of his inventions, none of which I recognized. He also grabbed a scorched Potion bottle, why I don't know, and winked at Natalie. Maya checked Flame's stats on a Pokedex. Carol put her book back in a backpack and put on a fierce look that I had never seen on her face. Chloe looked at me and smiled. I tried to smile back, but the situation was too grim to get a good one out. All I could do was nod and look back down to my Pokedex, where I was checking Pokemon.
I had taken all of them out of the computer. Each one was in good shape to battle. Good. It was time.
* * *
We walked outside, Steve and 'Sac leading on their wheels. I walked in front of a wedge behind them. "They might be watching," said Maya.
"You're right," I said. "Goliath?"
He had the loudest voice, so he called out, "Everybody, Pokemon out!" Everyone complied and tossed out Pokeballs. We soon had a large group of any Pokemon imaginable.
"Snowpea!" something cried.
"What's that?" asked Bob.
A small green figure walked out of an alley onto the sidewalk in front of us.
"Snowpea!" it cried again.
I pulled out my Pokedex. "Snowpea, Type 1: Grass. Other data not found," it said in a very monotonous voice.
"Whatever it is, I'm gonna catch it!" I pulled out a Pokeball.
The little thing looked like a little baby in a pea-pod Halloween costume. It had what looked like a green mask on its face. I threw the Pokeball and it was caught. Later I would send it to Oak for him to examine it, after we rescued him.
A few minutes later, we reached the supposedly abandoned warehouse. "Steve, how did you get in before?" asked Isaac.
"Through here." He kicked his foot down on one side of a manhole cover and it flipped up into his hands. I was reminded of our journeys through all those tunnels in Johto. It was cramped inside, so we recalled our Pokemon.
"This doesn't look like a sewer." said Philip, examining the floors and walls. "Wouldn't it be a bit slimier?"
"Let's give it up for Captain Obvious!" I clapped, but there were only a few chuckles. "Ooh, tough crowd."
We didn't have to go far before Steve pointed up to another cover. Goliath reached up and punched it upward. We climbed out and looked around.
There wasn't much to look at. A few empty boxes sat in the nearest corner, but we were only in a small room off down a hallway. I didn't think we should just charge out around the corner, maybe into a bunch of gene- Pokemon attackers.
"Maybe we should send somebody to look." began Natalie.
"I'll go," cut in Chloe.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, I can handle myself." She walked off around the corner. After a few seconds, she screamed and ran back around.
"They're coming!" she yelled. "Run!"
We didn't have time to get to the manhole if they were that close. All we could do was--
Chloe stopped and pulled a switch to her left. A cage fell from a rope on the ceiling and trapped us underneath it.
"Chloe, what the." asked Maya.
"She trapped us in here! That little." Flame Creamfire opened her mouth to fry Chloe, but Maya stopped her. We'd be caught in the fire.
"Let us out!" said Goliath, trying to bend the bars apart.
"There's no use," said a thick Mexican accent. I'd heard that voice before. In the classroom, one of the students. I heard the voice echo in my head as I tried to place it with the student from the roster. Cos, Martin de!
"Who are you?" demanded Courtney.
"Why, I'm General Cos!" A figure stepped from the shadows. He wore the uniform of a high-ranking Mexican army officer. A bronze statuette hung from his belt. It was in the shape of a. weasel?
"Hahaha! Thank you, Chloe, for capturing my foes."
"Chloe, you." said Bob.
"Silence, kleptomaniacal one!" yelled the General.
The cage was suddenly lifted up into the air. The rope was gone, there was no way that we were being lifted up, unless.
"Sabrina, you traitor!" I said.
"I'm flattered," said a cold feminine voice. Sabrina, mistress of telekinesis, stepped from behind Cos. "But I wasn't expecting such friendliness from a captive 'hero'!"
"Shut it, witch!" said Goliath.
"Don't talk to her that way!" said Chloe. She had stepped in line on Cos' left.
"Cos, what is the meaning of this?" I asked.
"Don't you see? I control Team Rocket!"
"Giovanni's replacement?"
"No, silly boy! I have always controlled it. Giovanni was but another puppet himself! Sabrina was third-in-command. Of course, we had a bit of trouble with you, young one, but after you got rid of Giovanni, our contract was ended."
"What contract?" asked Steve.
"We had a deal from the beginning. He would take orders from me, and get to make the unimportant decisions. With a big decision like Operation: Dark Cloud, he had to come to me for advice."
I noticed that other kids had gathered, each in a jumpsuit like always. Chloe pulled off her shirt to reveal one as well. "And are all these kids brainwashed like Jessica was?"
"Ah, Jessica. She was one of our best agents during the short time she was with us. Yes, most of these are brainwashed. All but Chloe and your other 'friends' here." He gestured towards a group of familiar faces: Ryan, Ross, Paul, and Corey.
"I knew you hadn't come back to our side!" yelled Philip. "You were spies all along!"
"Sure," said Ross.
"Anything to get paid," said Ryan.
"And we get benefits, too!" said Corey. "Like dental, and."
"Quiet, fool!" yelled Cos. "Back to what I was saying. Yes, these are mindless drones. Anything else you would like to know?"
I just glared.
"Good, because I wouldn't have answered. Stephanie!" A girl came up behind him. She looked about fifteen, sixteen. "Take them to their holding cell!"
Sabrina let us down from her mind grip and opened the lock. I tried to run, but Sabrina had a psychic rope tied about our ankles. We were all tied together with no way out.
Stephanie prodded me in the back with another of the bronzed weasels and I moved forward. It wasn't sharp, but if it was hurled it could do some damage.
She led us to a meat locker in the back. She shut it and Sabrina must have sealed it because even Goliath couldn't break down the door.
"So what now?" asked Carol.
"I don't know." I said. "I can't think of any plan."
"Should I take their Pokemon away, ma'am?" asked Stephanie out in the hall.
"No, nothing they have is strong enough to get through that wall."
Maybe that was our edge.
"Pinky, go!" Out came the sparkling pink Crobat. "Use Supersonic to break open the door!"
It shot out a barely audible scream. I hoped it would break down the door, but instead it just bounced off and ricocheted over the walls. It echoed in our ears as it hit us. We all fell to the ground, stunned by the sound.
"P-pinky, ret-. return," I gasped.
"Jim, you idiot," laughed Hick Girl.
"I know."
"Any more bright ideas?" asked Sabrina from outside. "I told you, nothing can get through these doors."
"Fine, fine. Just tell me, what are you planning on doing with us?"
"Well, right now, we're sending out letters to all of your parents asking for a little bit of ransom money. Heh heh heh."
"Don't you just want my gene-Pokemon?"
"Well, yes, but as soon as we get the money, we'll kill you, then take them anyway."
"That's low, Sabrina, very low."
"I know. Stephanie, bring them their gruel!"
The door opened to let the brainwashed teenage girl through. She carried a stack of bowls. Under one arm she carried a large pot. Using a ladle, she scooped some out and poured it for us.
"Steph, why are you here?" I asked her.
"I don't know. I can't remember anything before waking up here about a year ago. All they can tell me is that I'll be here until they have no use for me. Then they'll either terminate me or just restore my memory and return me to civilization," she replied.
"Help us out."
"I can't. I'd love to, but they might catch me."
"Just at least tell me where Oak and Erika are."
"I don't have enough clearance to know that."
"Can you find out?"
"Maybe. I'll try, then I'll get back to you tonight."
"Thanks." I returned to my sludge that we were supposed to eat. "How do we eat this?"
"You don't. Just leave it alone. It might smell bad after a while, but it doesn't taste any better." She walked out the door and shut it behind her.
Goliath looked at it, then poked it with his finger. It had a funny film on top of it and was looked inedible.
It apparently was edible, though, because Bob gulped it down and then yoinked ours, too. "Mmm, mmm, good!"
Carol gave him a look of pure disgust.
My watch beeped twice. It was nine o'clock.
"It's gonna be a long night," I said, then stretched out and lay on the cold, hard floor.
"Probably," said Isaac. "D'you think any of us will be able to sleep?"
"Well, only if "us" doesn't include her," said Philip. He leaned his head towards Natalie, who was asleep to his right. He put his arm around her and closed his eyes.
"Well, at least they left us all in the same cell," said Steve.
"Yeah, we're not alone," said Courtney.
"True, true. We're all together," said Goliath. He was the only one still standing. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, soon snoring.
When my watch beeped midnight, I was still asleep. I couldn't sleep. It was just how hopeless this all seemed. We were stuck in an icy metal room with no way out, unless.
Bang.
I bolted straight up. "What the."
"Jim! You awake?" asked Stephanie from outside.
"Yeah."
"I got the Prof and Erika."
"Oak?"
"I'm all right, Jim, but we need to get you out," said the old man.
"All right. Can you get us out?"
"I think so," said Steph. "Sabrina's asleep, so I don't think her mental lock is as strong. Can you try to break through from that side?"
"Goliath, wake up!"
"Huh?"
"We need to get through this door."
"Okay."
"Phi-Lip-Ooh!"
Philip was standing up and taller again. Together, they pried the door open.
I woke everyone up as quietly as possible and then we all sneaked out. The only problem before we reached the door was a gene-Pokemon guard, which was taken out by Hick's whip.
But, as we were walking out the door, a bronze spear struck the wall beside my head. "You're not leaving so soon, are you?"
"Sure we are!" I drew a Pokeball from my belt. I just hoped it was the right one. "Go!"
"Snowpea!"
Argh.
"Snowpea, use. something."
"Come on, I can take anything you can throw at me!" yelled Cos, pulling out another weasel.
Out of nowhere, a metal boot smacked him in the face. "Hey, who threw that?"
Then, Snowpea sucked in its chest and charged at the Hispanic dude.
"Snowpea!" It latched onto his leg and little hearts popped out all over.
"No, not the hug, no, no. Oh, Snowpea, you are so cute, man!" Cos said, then he hugged the little thing back.
I blinked, and glanced at Maya. She gave me a skeptical look. I countered with a shrug.
"Go, just go," said the general.
"You want us to go?" asked Goliath.
"For the love of evel, just GO!"
"What's 'evel'?"
"Don't ask."
We all went out, feeling a little more confused than when we went in.
AN: So, how was that? Snowpea and the entire attacking sequence were adapted from the character in iMucha Lucha! (I used a little i as an upside-down ! because it's Spanish. Anyway, Maya still belongs to moonymonster, and General Cos partly belongs to gideonguy. It's kind of an inside joke, so don't ask about the Cos thing.
Next: The beginning of the new story line: the big trip to. somewhere that won't be revealed until next chapter!
Until then, may you be safe from the evels of General Cos!