Pokémon - The Journey Begins
Chapter 9: Lost!
After Matt's first disappointing and somewhat humiliating loss, he along with his new found friend Lizzie along with even another traveling companion Jordan continued to walk down the long, dirt path of Route 5. For at the end of this route, it will give signs and directions for a detour which will lead to Route 6, and from there, the entrance to Vermillion City.
In only his third day of training, Matt had already managed to bolster his roster of up to seven Pokémon, along with two badges obtained from the Pokémon gyms in both Pewter City and Cerulian City. Filled with confidence about his abilities, Matt confidently walked on, as his journey continued.
The time was about noon, and the sun was high into the clear, blue sky. Clouds which had come in from earlier that morning could no longer be noticed, as they cleared out over the next hour or so. Matt, finding the sun rather hot, decided to stop by a nearby lake and wash his face. Jordan waited patiently, sitting in the shade of a large tree, while Lizzie with her arms crossed grew continuously tired of waiting.
Lizzie moaned loudly. "Matt, come on, you've been sitting there washing your face for at least five minutes! You can take a little bit of sunlight, can't you?!"
"Relax, relax," Jordan replied; "we'll get there in good time if we stop to take breaks once in a while."
Little to Matt's knowing, his Squirtle was also taking a break, swimming laps in the very same lake from which Matt was washing his face. Suddenly, from the surface springs Squirtle's face, which surprised Matt. He blew with full force water all over Matt. In reaction and disgust he stood up, staring at himself, completely soaked.
"Squirtle!" he shouted, frustrated. "Geez, I only wanted to wash my face, but now you've gotten me all wet!"
"Good, you're refreshed, can we go now?!" Lizzie impatiently shouted.
"Geez, I didn't want to have it done THAT much," Matt stated, searching through his backpack for a dry shirt. He found one among his sleeping bag - for emergencies of course - and removed his wet shirt. He let it fall on the ground which made a sloppy sounding thump. He then put on the dry one and rang out the wet one before putting it back into his backpack where it wouldn't interfere with any of his other belongings.
Squirtle, continuously in a jesting mood, suddenly leaped off the ground, and landed directly on top of Matt's head. Matt, surprised by the sudden increase in weight, collapsed onto his knees.
"Sheesh! Squirtle's only a small turtle! He can't be THAT heavy!" Jordan commented.
"Okay then," Matt began, "how about we put your Charizard on YOUR head?" He rather violently picked up Squirtle and stared deep into his eyes. "I don't know what kind of mood you're in, but you already went too far by the lake over there. Now if you wish to stay out of your Pokéball, you'll stop, understand?"
Jordan, meanwhile, was deep in thought about Matt's remark about having his Charizard on his head. He laughed at the comical idea of being squashed.
"What's so funny?" Lizzie asked.
"Nothing...inside joke," Jordan replied.
"Yeah..." Lizzie muttered. She then enlarged a Pokéball which she moments ago took from her Pokémon belt. "Hmm, Val needs some exercise. I'd better let her out."
"Val?" Jordan asked, looking confused.
"She's my Vulpix, and I don't care WHAT anybody says; I think she is the loveliest, most talented Vulpix out there in this entire world!" She then opened up her Pokéball as Vulpix's form took shape.
"It didn't seem all that great when I found it..." Matt commented.
Upon reaching the end of Route 5, there was a sign which was pointing into a nearby forest. Matt pulled out his map to double-check to make sure which ways to turn.
"Yeah, this is the detour all right. We should get some good Pokémon in here!" Matt said. Lizzie nodded in agreement.
Jordan chuckled. Lizzie and Matt looked at him both raising an eyebrow. "You wonder why I laugh? Because I've already captured over forty different kinds of Pokémon. And a good portion of them were from here."
Matt blinked, then turned his head towards Lizzie who soon turned her head looking straight at Matt. Neither of them had the heart to respond to that comment, but eventually Matt did say something.
"That's...nice, Jordan," Matt replied, "but...I don't know exactly what was so humourous about it."
"Oh, don't mind me, it just brought back plenty of memories and such."
"Geez you're weird. And you wonder why nobody recognizes you," Lizzie bluntly stated. Jordan slightly blushed in response, while Lizzie felt somewhat remorseful about her last remark. She decided to attempt to soften the blow. "Did...did you catch more than one of the same type?"
"If you mean more than one of the same Pokémon, then no," Jordan replied, suddenly with his spirits risen again. "If you mean Pokémon types, then absolutely! I like to catch them all at their first stage, so that when they evolve, it will increase the amount of Pokémon I have by one, still counting its previous stage!"
"So, is that how the Pokédex works?" Matt asked.
"I believe so. I was one of the people who helped create the Pokédex," Jordan said. "It was designed to hold information of every single type of Pokémon seen. But there are some that we have very little information about. We believe that there are a good portion of them which became extinct about a thousand years ago."
"Just like other things over time," Matt replied. "Come on, there are several Pokémon with our names on it. I get dibs on the first one!" Matt ran into the forest.
"Not if I see it first!" Lizzie said, following Matt. Jordan quickly gave chase to both of them.
Even with the clear sky, and the sun shining brightly, the forest seemed dark. Matt, although this was his first time entering the forest, blasted through several trees. After darting though some tall grass, he found himself stuck between a small river, which seemed to run through the entire forest with no way around it. Lizzie and Jordon soon caught up.
"How the heck are we going to cross this thing?"
"Maybe we can go around?" Lizzie suggested, looking around.
"I tried; I think it goes on for miles, if not longer."
Jordan pulled out a Pokéball and enlarged it. "I have an idea. Charizard, come out!" he shouted, opening the Pokéball. Beside him, a large, red dragon-type Pokémon took form on the small dirt patch beside Jordan. Its wings were closed and hiding behind its back, however its tail was swishing left and right. At the very tip was a flame, very similar to the tail of a Charmander, Matt noticed.
"Charizard, I don't ask for many favours outside of battle..." Jordan began, with both Matt and Lizzie finding the beginning of his request rather bizarre; "...however we need you to give us a lift across this river. Could you do it for us?"
Charizard, with big, blaring black eyes stared deep into the eyes of Jordan. Matt was unaware of what its response was going to be. Its appearance began to intimidate him a little bit.
Closing its eyes, it lifted its right claw to its mouth...and released a yawn. It then allowed itself to collapse to the ground, creating a slight tremor in the ground. Jordan's eyes widened in surprise, while Matt and Lizzie blinked, not knowing what to say.
"And just what the hell is THIS?!" Matt exclaimed. "This thing isn't going to do us any good if it's going to lie around sleeping!"
"This is very peculiar, and quite maddening," Jordan replied quite sternly, obviously frustrated with the lack of respect chosen by his Pokémon. "Charizard, get up! None of us have any time for these games!"
In frustration, Jordan began gently tapping his Charizard with his foot. He continuously increased the strength and speed of his kicks everytime, in a vain attempt to get Charizard to rise on its feet. In the Charizard's frustration however, it launched forth heavy flames towards Jordan. Quickly he backed off, and struck heavily at his jacket the small flames which engulfed on it.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lizzie said. "I thought you were an experienced trainer."
"Don't question my experience," Jordan angrily replied, absorbing Charizard back inside of its Pokéball. He stared straight at it and began to clench it tightly, as if he was trying to break it. He then minimized it and returned it to his Pokémon belt. "This is the very first time that Charizard has decided to speak against my will. Surely something must have happened to have angered it. It also looks like we'll have to find another way to cross the river."
Without any other option, Matt and Lizzie were in unanimous agreement. In order to cross to the other side, another path must be reached. They continued to walk down along the edge of the river, hopefully looking for either an end to it, or a smaller gap from which one can jump from one side to another with success.
Within a few minutes, the latter option became reality. Squirtle was the first to cross, swimming to the other side. Matt decided afterwards that he would be the first to jump across. He took a few steps back and built up energy to leap across. He landed on the other side, however his right foot landed in a small puddle of mud, and from this he slipped, and landed forward violently on the ground below.
"Are you okay?" Lizzie asked, gasping. Matt picked himself up and checked his nose to see if it was bleeding from the impact. Fortunately, it was not. He then beckoned for Squirtle to wait with him while the others jumped across.
"Okay, here I go!" Lizzie herself took back a few steps back, then she jumped over. As she landed, her left foot slipped on the same puddle of mud that Matt did. Matt reached out and grabbed Lizzie just before she fell. She thanked him.
A few moments later, Jordan made his way across the lake, and landed without slipping. "You see here, the trick is to land with both of your feet completely flat towards the ground. That way you won't slip."
Lizzie, Matt and Squirtle all stared at Jordan. Matt was beginning to become quite annoyed with Jordan's comments; he found that he always had to either have the last word, or prove to everyone that he is always right. If he is supposed to be well-known, Matt thought, then perhaps he shouldn't think so highly of himself.
"Let's just get going..." Matt said.
From checking the map again, they soon found their way which will lead to Route 6. However, nearby, there was some yelling heard.
"OUCH! Cloë, you have once again stepped on my foot!" a man yelled.
"Did I again? Oh, I am so very sorry," Cloë replied.
"That just so happens to be the third time! Do you not realize that you are getting mud all over my precious boots? Boots which required plenty of planning and 'trail and error' for me to steal?!" Zach complained.
"I really am sorry, Zach. So very sorry. Tell you what: why don't you go and search for some twigs and leaves with which we can use to cover up this hole?"
"What? First you soil my boots, and now you want me to search for dirty and disgusting dead twigs and leaves?! You owe me much more than a dinner, my dear!" Zach shouted while climbing out of the nearby hole. What he had yet to notice was that Matt, Lizzie and Jordan were standing nearby.
"Is there some sort of...construction going on here?" Jordan asked.
"Team Rocket again?! How the hell do you keep finding me?!" Matt shouted.
"Wait a second, you're telling me that Team Rocket actually exists? I thought that it was just some ridiculous rumour started by some workers at Silph Co.!" Jordan said, looking confused.
"Well, I first met them in the Viridian Forest, and I saw them in Mount Moon," Matt said. "Personally, I was told they're dangerous, but I'm already getting rather tired of them."
"Who's there?" Zach turned around, spotting Matt. "Cloë! The rat has arrived, and this time he brings other victims!"
"What? Surely it can't be the one you're talking about; it's far too early for him to be here! Our trap is far from completion!" Cloë said, exiting the hole.
"Unfortunately we currently do not have the luxury of relying on our spectacular trap: a Team Rocket tradition," Zach said, then grew an evil smirk on his face. "Regardless, he does have some companions with him, and that means more Pokémon to steal."
"I thought I recognized you!" Lizzie shouted. "You're the thugs who stole my Vulpix!"
"And for crying out loud, will you give it up already? Why don't you get a life and get a real job or something; or what, haven't I humiliated you enough already?" Matt asked.
"How dare you speak to us like that, you littie riffraff," Zach sternly replied. "I will have you know that it took us hours and weeks of cruel training in order to become honourary members of the exclusive, yet well respected organization of Team Rocket."
"Well respected, my ass!" Lizzie replied, looking at her Vulpix down at her feet. "You're only a bunch of thieves and cowards; and I'm going to get revenge! Val, go!"
"Poliwag, go!" Jordan threw an enlarged Pokéball as a short, spherical Pokémon appears. With a feather-like tail, and bulging, black eyes paired with a mezmerizing stomach which contains a continuous, swirling pattern.
"Squirtle! Go!" Matt yelled.
The two water Pokémon paired with the fox-like fire Pokémon stood side-by-side on the battlefield.
"How ironic; you were the one complaining to us about using two Pokémon at once, yet here you are shamelessly using three!" Cloë grabbed two enlarged Pokéballs and tossed them. "For that, we shall reward you with some of our strongest Pokémon to date! Machop, Ivysaur. Go!"
Zach also grabbed an enlarged Pokéball and tossed it. "Because of your continuous cruelty, you shall have to be punished with Rhyhorn!"
Machop, the same Pokémon used in Viridian Forest made its second appearance for Matt. However, he had yet to see the Ivysaur and the Rhyhorn. Ivysaur, to Matt's knowledge, was an evolved form of Bulbasaur. Except this time, the bulb on its back began to grow a flower, and the size of the Pokémon was much larger. Rhyhorn was a large Pokémon, like a rhinocerous when being compared to other animals, with a large horn on its head. Matt figured its body was hard as stone.
"Squirtle, stop Rhyhorn with your Water Gun!"
From its position, Squirtle took in a deep breath, and exhaled with a stream of water. Rhyhorn was struck directly, as it cried out in pain; for it deepy disliked water.
"Machop, use Seismic Toss on that Vulpix! Ivysaur, use Vine Whip on that Poliwag!" Cloë commanded.
"Val, Flame Thrower on Machop!" Lizzie replied.
Vulpix, much like Squirtle, took in some air. Except when it exhaled, a streaming line of fire was released, which burned Machop greatly, forcing it to stop its attack. Meanwhile, from the root of its bulb, four vines from Ivysaur rose into the air, and struck violently the small Poliwag, injuring it greatly. Jordon reacted quickly and opened up a small potion, and poured it all over the small Pokémon's body. Its wounds were slightly healed.
The battle continued on for several minutes, all Pokémon battling following their trainers' every command. In the end, Jordan commanded his Poliwag to release Hypnosis waves, which rendered all of the Pokémon used by Team Rocket asleep. In one final attack, Squirtle, Vulpix, and Poliwag strike the Pokémon with their most effective attacks, knocking them all out.
"Damn! I never thought it possible to lose by being both rinsed and fried!" Cloë muttered in disgust while absorbing both her Machop and Ivysaur back inside their Pokéballs. Zach called back his Rhyhorn.
"This result begins to grow old!" Zach pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground, with an irritating smoke filling the air.
"If it grows old, then get lost, and don't come back!" Matt shouted between coughs.
The smoke lasted for only for a few more seconds, as it cleared rather quickly (according to Matt, anyway). Without a surprise, Team Rocket was nowhere to be seen.
"You mean they're gone, just like that?" Jordan asked, continuing to look around, making sure there wasn't some kind of trap involved.
"We did it!" Lizzie said, hugging her Vulpix. "Way to go, Val!"
Matt rubbed Squirtle's head. "That was some excellent battling there, good job! Your persistence is what really drew me to selecting you in the first place. And each time, I feel better just watching you out there. Do you know that?"
Jordan also smiled, and walked up to his Poliwag. "You also did a good job. You never cease to please me," he stated, kneeling down beside him. The Poliwag smiled in response.
Suddenly, a blinding light began to surround Poliwag, consuming its entire shape. Slowly, its form began to grow, though due to the blinding light, it was difficult to see. Matt and Lizzie was unsure of what was occuring. Jordan watched in awe as he watched his Poliwag growing arms and losing its tail. As the light faded, Matt and Lizzie both looked to see what happened.
"It...it evolved! Poliwag became Poliwhirl!" Jordan said, his eyes widened.
"Wow...so that's what a Pokémon evolution looks like. Hey, congratulations!" Matt replied.
"Thank you..." He then took out his Pokéball and absorbed Polywhirl inside, as its reward. Lizzie also called Vulpix back into her Pokéball.
"That's some really great news on top of other great news. We ward off Team Rocket together, and your Pokémon evolved. Now come on! Vermillion's not going to sit and wait for us, now is it?" Lizzie asked.
"Well, technically since it's a city, we should hope that it doesn't move at all," Jordan replied, laughing.
Lizzie groaned and struck Jordan in the arm. "You know that's not what I meant...."
TO BE CONTINUED.
Chapter 9: Lost!
After Matt's first disappointing and somewhat humiliating loss, he along with his new found friend Lizzie along with even another traveling companion Jordan continued to walk down the long, dirt path of Route 5. For at the end of this route, it will give signs and directions for a detour which will lead to Route 6, and from there, the entrance to Vermillion City.
In only his third day of training, Matt had already managed to bolster his roster of up to seven Pokémon, along with two badges obtained from the Pokémon gyms in both Pewter City and Cerulian City. Filled with confidence about his abilities, Matt confidently walked on, as his journey continued.
The time was about noon, and the sun was high into the clear, blue sky. Clouds which had come in from earlier that morning could no longer be noticed, as they cleared out over the next hour or so. Matt, finding the sun rather hot, decided to stop by a nearby lake and wash his face. Jordan waited patiently, sitting in the shade of a large tree, while Lizzie with her arms crossed grew continuously tired of waiting.
Lizzie moaned loudly. "Matt, come on, you've been sitting there washing your face for at least five minutes! You can take a little bit of sunlight, can't you?!"
"Relax, relax," Jordan replied; "we'll get there in good time if we stop to take breaks once in a while."
Little to Matt's knowing, his Squirtle was also taking a break, swimming laps in the very same lake from which Matt was washing his face. Suddenly, from the surface springs Squirtle's face, which surprised Matt. He blew with full force water all over Matt. In reaction and disgust he stood up, staring at himself, completely soaked.
"Squirtle!" he shouted, frustrated. "Geez, I only wanted to wash my face, but now you've gotten me all wet!"
"Good, you're refreshed, can we go now?!" Lizzie impatiently shouted.
"Geez, I didn't want to have it done THAT much," Matt stated, searching through his backpack for a dry shirt. He found one among his sleeping bag - for emergencies of course - and removed his wet shirt. He let it fall on the ground which made a sloppy sounding thump. He then put on the dry one and rang out the wet one before putting it back into his backpack where it wouldn't interfere with any of his other belongings.
Squirtle, continuously in a jesting mood, suddenly leaped off the ground, and landed directly on top of Matt's head. Matt, surprised by the sudden increase in weight, collapsed onto his knees.
"Sheesh! Squirtle's only a small turtle! He can't be THAT heavy!" Jordan commented.
"Okay then," Matt began, "how about we put your Charizard on YOUR head?" He rather violently picked up Squirtle and stared deep into his eyes. "I don't know what kind of mood you're in, but you already went too far by the lake over there. Now if you wish to stay out of your Pokéball, you'll stop, understand?"
Jordan, meanwhile, was deep in thought about Matt's remark about having his Charizard on his head. He laughed at the comical idea of being squashed.
"What's so funny?" Lizzie asked.
"Nothing...inside joke," Jordan replied.
"Yeah..." Lizzie muttered. She then enlarged a Pokéball which she moments ago took from her Pokémon belt. "Hmm, Val needs some exercise. I'd better let her out."
"Val?" Jordan asked, looking confused.
"She's my Vulpix, and I don't care WHAT anybody says; I think she is the loveliest, most talented Vulpix out there in this entire world!" She then opened up her Pokéball as Vulpix's form took shape.
"It didn't seem all that great when I found it..." Matt commented.
Upon reaching the end of Route 5, there was a sign which was pointing into a nearby forest. Matt pulled out his map to double-check to make sure which ways to turn.
"Yeah, this is the detour all right. We should get some good Pokémon in here!" Matt said. Lizzie nodded in agreement.
Jordan chuckled. Lizzie and Matt looked at him both raising an eyebrow. "You wonder why I laugh? Because I've already captured over forty different kinds of Pokémon. And a good portion of them were from here."
Matt blinked, then turned his head towards Lizzie who soon turned her head looking straight at Matt. Neither of them had the heart to respond to that comment, but eventually Matt did say something.
"That's...nice, Jordan," Matt replied, "but...I don't know exactly what was so humourous about it."
"Oh, don't mind me, it just brought back plenty of memories and such."
"Geez you're weird. And you wonder why nobody recognizes you," Lizzie bluntly stated. Jordan slightly blushed in response, while Lizzie felt somewhat remorseful about her last remark. She decided to attempt to soften the blow. "Did...did you catch more than one of the same type?"
"If you mean more than one of the same Pokémon, then no," Jordan replied, suddenly with his spirits risen again. "If you mean Pokémon types, then absolutely! I like to catch them all at their first stage, so that when they evolve, it will increase the amount of Pokémon I have by one, still counting its previous stage!"
"So, is that how the Pokédex works?" Matt asked.
"I believe so. I was one of the people who helped create the Pokédex," Jordan said. "It was designed to hold information of every single type of Pokémon seen. But there are some that we have very little information about. We believe that there are a good portion of them which became extinct about a thousand years ago."
"Just like other things over time," Matt replied. "Come on, there are several Pokémon with our names on it. I get dibs on the first one!" Matt ran into the forest.
"Not if I see it first!" Lizzie said, following Matt. Jordan quickly gave chase to both of them.
Even with the clear sky, and the sun shining brightly, the forest seemed dark. Matt, although this was his first time entering the forest, blasted through several trees. After darting though some tall grass, he found himself stuck between a small river, which seemed to run through the entire forest with no way around it. Lizzie and Jordon soon caught up.
"How the heck are we going to cross this thing?"
"Maybe we can go around?" Lizzie suggested, looking around.
"I tried; I think it goes on for miles, if not longer."
Jordan pulled out a Pokéball and enlarged it. "I have an idea. Charizard, come out!" he shouted, opening the Pokéball. Beside him, a large, red dragon-type Pokémon took form on the small dirt patch beside Jordan. Its wings were closed and hiding behind its back, however its tail was swishing left and right. At the very tip was a flame, very similar to the tail of a Charmander, Matt noticed.
"Charizard, I don't ask for many favours outside of battle..." Jordan began, with both Matt and Lizzie finding the beginning of his request rather bizarre; "...however we need you to give us a lift across this river. Could you do it for us?"
Charizard, with big, blaring black eyes stared deep into the eyes of Jordan. Matt was unaware of what its response was going to be. Its appearance began to intimidate him a little bit.
Closing its eyes, it lifted its right claw to its mouth...and released a yawn. It then allowed itself to collapse to the ground, creating a slight tremor in the ground. Jordan's eyes widened in surprise, while Matt and Lizzie blinked, not knowing what to say.
"And just what the hell is THIS?!" Matt exclaimed. "This thing isn't going to do us any good if it's going to lie around sleeping!"
"This is very peculiar, and quite maddening," Jordan replied quite sternly, obviously frustrated with the lack of respect chosen by his Pokémon. "Charizard, get up! None of us have any time for these games!"
In frustration, Jordan began gently tapping his Charizard with his foot. He continuously increased the strength and speed of his kicks everytime, in a vain attempt to get Charizard to rise on its feet. In the Charizard's frustration however, it launched forth heavy flames towards Jordan. Quickly he backed off, and struck heavily at his jacket the small flames which engulfed on it.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lizzie said. "I thought you were an experienced trainer."
"Don't question my experience," Jordan angrily replied, absorbing Charizard back inside of its Pokéball. He stared straight at it and began to clench it tightly, as if he was trying to break it. He then minimized it and returned it to his Pokémon belt. "This is the very first time that Charizard has decided to speak against my will. Surely something must have happened to have angered it. It also looks like we'll have to find another way to cross the river."
Without any other option, Matt and Lizzie were in unanimous agreement. In order to cross to the other side, another path must be reached. They continued to walk down along the edge of the river, hopefully looking for either an end to it, or a smaller gap from which one can jump from one side to another with success.
Within a few minutes, the latter option became reality. Squirtle was the first to cross, swimming to the other side. Matt decided afterwards that he would be the first to jump across. He took a few steps back and built up energy to leap across. He landed on the other side, however his right foot landed in a small puddle of mud, and from this he slipped, and landed forward violently on the ground below.
"Are you okay?" Lizzie asked, gasping. Matt picked himself up and checked his nose to see if it was bleeding from the impact. Fortunately, it was not. He then beckoned for Squirtle to wait with him while the others jumped across.
"Okay, here I go!" Lizzie herself took back a few steps back, then she jumped over. As she landed, her left foot slipped on the same puddle of mud that Matt did. Matt reached out and grabbed Lizzie just before she fell. She thanked him.
A few moments later, Jordan made his way across the lake, and landed without slipping. "You see here, the trick is to land with both of your feet completely flat towards the ground. That way you won't slip."
Lizzie, Matt and Squirtle all stared at Jordan. Matt was beginning to become quite annoyed with Jordan's comments; he found that he always had to either have the last word, or prove to everyone that he is always right. If he is supposed to be well-known, Matt thought, then perhaps he shouldn't think so highly of himself.
"Let's just get going..." Matt said.
From checking the map again, they soon found their way which will lead to Route 6. However, nearby, there was some yelling heard.
"OUCH! Cloë, you have once again stepped on my foot!" a man yelled.
"Did I again? Oh, I am so very sorry," Cloë replied.
"That just so happens to be the third time! Do you not realize that you are getting mud all over my precious boots? Boots which required plenty of planning and 'trail and error' for me to steal?!" Zach complained.
"I really am sorry, Zach. So very sorry. Tell you what: why don't you go and search for some twigs and leaves with which we can use to cover up this hole?"
"What? First you soil my boots, and now you want me to search for dirty and disgusting dead twigs and leaves?! You owe me much more than a dinner, my dear!" Zach shouted while climbing out of the nearby hole. What he had yet to notice was that Matt, Lizzie and Jordan were standing nearby.
"Is there some sort of...construction going on here?" Jordan asked.
"Team Rocket again?! How the hell do you keep finding me?!" Matt shouted.
"Wait a second, you're telling me that Team Rocket actually exists? I thought that it was just some ridiculous rumour started by some workers at Silph Co.!" Jordan said, looking confused.
"Well, I first met them in the Viridian Forest, and I saw them in Mount Moon," Matt said. "Personally, I was told they're dangerous, but I'm already getting rather tired of them."
"Who's there?" Zach turned around, spotting Matt. "Cloë! The rat has arrived, and this time he brings other victims!"
"What? Surely it can't be the one you're talking about; it's far too early for him to be here! Our trap is far from completion!" Cloë said, exiting the hole.
"Unfortunately we currently do not have the luxury of relying on our spectacular trap: a Team Rocket tradition," Zach said, then grew an evil smirk on his face. "Regardless, he does have some companions with him, and that means more Pokémon to steal."
"I thought I recognized you!" Lizzie shouted. "You're the thugs who stole my Vulpix!"
"And for crying out loud, will you give it up already? Why don't you get a life and get a real job or something; or what, haven't I humiliated you enough already?" Matt asked.
"How dare you speak to us like that, you littie riffraff," Zach sternly replied. "I will have you know that it took us hours and weeks of cruel training in order to become honourary members of the exclusive, yet well respected organization of Team Rocket."
"Well respected, my ass!" Lizzie replied, looking at her Vulpix down at her feet. "You're only a bunch of thieves and cowards; and I'm going to get revenge! Val, go!"
"Poliwag, go!" Jordan threw an enlarged Pokéball as a short, spherical Pokémon appears. With a feather-like tail, and bulging, black eyes paired with a mezmerizing stomach which contains a continuous, swirling pattern.
"Squirtle! Go!" Matt yelled.
The two water Pokémon paired with the fox-like fire Pokémon stood side-by-side on the battlefield.
"How ironic; you were the one complaining to us about using two Pokémon at once, yet here you are shamelessly using three!" Cloë grabbed two enlarged Pokéballs and tossed them. "For that, we shall reward you with some of our strongest Pokémon to date! Machop, Ivysaur. Go!"
Zach also grabbed an enlarged Pokéball and tossed it. "Because of your continuous cruelty, you shall have to be punished with Rhyhorn!"
Machop, the same Pokémon used in Viridian Forest made its second appearance for Matt. However, he had yet to see the Ivysaur and the Rhyhorn. Ivysaur, to Matt's knowledge, was an evolved form of Bulbasaur. Except this time, the bulb on its back began to grow a flower, and the size of the Pokémon was much larger. Rhyhorn was a large Pokémon, like a rhinocerous when being compared to other animals, with a large horn on its head. Matt figured its body was hard as stone.
"Squirtle, stop Rhyhorn with your Water Gun!"
From its position, Squirtle took in a deep breath, and exhaled with a stream of water. Rhyhorn was struck directly, as it cried out in pain; for it deepy disliked water.
"Machop, use Seismic Toss on that Vulpix! Ivysaur, use Vine Whip on that Poliwag!" Cloë commanded.
"Val, Flame Thrower on Machop!" Lizzie replied.
Vulpix, much like Squirtle, took in some air. Except when it exhaled, a streaming line of fire was released, which burned Machop greatly, forcing it to stop its attack. Meanwhile, from the root of its bulb, four vines from Ivysaur rose into the air, and struck violently the small Poliwag, injuring it greatly. Jordon reacted quickly and opened up a small potion, and poured it all over the small Pokémon's body. Its wounds were slightly healed.
The battle continued on for several minutes, all Pokémon battling following their trainers' every command. In the end, Jordan commanded his Poliwag to release Hypnosis waves, which rendered all of the Pokémon used by Team Rocket asleep. In one final attack, Squirtle, Vulpix, and Poliwag strike the Pokémon with their most effective attacks, knocking them all out.
"Damn! I never thought it possible to lose by being both rinsed and fried!" Cloë muttered in disgust while absorbing both her Machop and Ivysaur back inside their Pokéballs. Zach called back his Rhyhorn.
"This result begins to grow old!" Zach pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground, with an irritating smoke filling the air.
"If it grows old, then get lost, and don't come back!" Matt shouted between coughs.
The smoke lasted for only for a few more seconds, as it cleared rather quickly (according to Matt, anyway). Without a surprise, Team Rocket was nowhere to be seen.
"You mean they're gone, just like that?" Jordan asked, continuing to look around, making sure there wasn't some kind of trap involved.
"We did it!" Lizzie said, hugging her Vulpix. "Way to go, Val!"
Matt rubbed Squirtle's head. "That was some excellent battling there, good job! Your persistence is what really drew me to selecting you in the first place. And each time, I feel better just watching you out there. Do you know that?"
Jordan also smiled, and walked up to his Poliwag. "You also did a good job. You never cease to please me," he stated, kneeling down beside him. The Poliwag smiled in response.
Suddenly, a blinding light began to surround Poliwag, consuming its entire shape. Slowly, its form began to grow, though due to the blinding light, it was difficult to see. Matt and Lizzie was unsure of what was occuring. Jordan watched in awe as he watched his Poliwag growing arms and losing its tail. As the light faded, Matt and Lizzie both looked to see what happened.
"It...it evolved! Poliwag became Poliwhirl!" Jordan said, his eyes widened.
"Wow...so that's what a Pokémon evolution looks like. Hey, congratulations!" Matt replied.
"Thank you..." He then took out his Pokéball and absorbed Polywhirl inside, as its reward. Lizzie also called Vulpix back into her Pokéball.
"That's some really great news on top of other great news. We ward off Team Rocket together, and your Pokémon evolved. Now come on! Vermillion's not going to sit and wait for us, now is it?" Lizzie asked.
"Well, technically since it's a city, we should hope that it doesn't move at all," Jordan replied, laughing.
Lizzie groaned and struck Jordan in the arm. "You know that's not what I meant...."
TO BE CONTINUED.
