Chapter 4:
Assault on Denning Town!
Team Rocket Returns?!?
"I can't believe I'm still 60 miles away from Viridian! I left two days ago; I should be there by now!"
Taria sat down by a tree, sighing. Viridian City was usually a day or two's walk, but as she saw from a nearby sign, she was nowhere near it.
Taria groaned. "I should've brought a map. I can't believe—"
She then remembered what Professor Oak told her.
--
"I've even added a map feature to this Pokédex. My fellow colleagues complained about it being overkill, but I decided to put it in anyway, just in case. Anyways, just press this button, and it will show you a map of where you are and what towns are nearest you."
--
Taria put her hand on her face and slightly laughed. "Here I am, lost, and I could've used the Pokédex the whole damn time!"
She pressed the button under the screen. The Pokédex showed a small map.
"Let's see...the nearest town is...Denning. And it's only five miles away!"
Taria ran down the highway which led to Denning Town. About an hour later, she reached a cliff. From that point, she could see the whole town. There were many buildings and roads, with a few skyscrapers in the town center.
"It sure seems busy for a town in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, I guess I'll stay here for a little while." Taria ran towards the town.
A couple of minutes later, Taria was walking in the downtown district of Denning. The streets were busy, a contrast from what she was used to in Pallet. Yet, there was something strange about this town. Although she was surrounded by many people, she could easily be spotted. The townspeople were dressed strangely alike; they wore either all black or all gray, or a mix of black and gray.
"There is definitely something wrong with this town. I don't know what it could be..."
Just then, she accidentally bumped into a boy, who fell on the ground. From his looks, he was obviously older than Taria, but still had the looks of a teenager. He smiled like he was completely satisfied and pleased with his life. He had an appearance that would seem to cheer anyone up. He was tall and looked scrawny, but if you took a better look, it was obvious that he had a moderate, but bulky build. He was wearing all black, and had short purple hair.
Taria held out her hand to help him up. "Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry."
The boy, still smiling, took her hand and got up. "It's all right. You didn't see me."
He then looked at her clothes. "You're not from here, are you?"
"No, I'm not. I'm from Pallet." She then looked around once again. There was not one person who wasn't wearing black or gray. "Is there a dress code or something? I don't get it."
The boy quickly lost his contented smile. "You have to get out of here, as soon as possible!"
Taria became suspicious. "What are you talking about?"
"It's best for you not to know. Unless you desire to face the horrible fate these townspeople will soon have." The boy ran swiftly. "Get out of here, now. Get as far away from here as possible!"
Taria watched the boy, somewhat confused. "What the hell is he talking about? I have to find out why he's in such a hurry and why he wants me gone."
---
Taria, careful not to be noticed by the boy, ran after him. He unknowingly led her to a warehouse in a slummed area of the town. There, Katen rhythmically knocked on the door.
A small slit on the door opened. "Number with password."
The boy said without hesitation, "TQN-56748, Team Rocket will dominate the world with atrocious force and unmitigated destruction."
The man then opened the door. "It's about time, Katen. Did you put up the finishing touches?"
Katen put up a thumbs-up as he walked in. A number of TR grunts wearing black clothes were also in the warehouse. "It's all done. In twenty minutes, the helicopters will arrive to pick us up. When we reach 50 miles away from the city, I'll call in HQ to activate the bombs." He held what up what seemed like a bead. "This might seem like a bead, but this is a bomb that is popular on the black market. Just one is packed with enough liquid nitrogen to reduce half of Celadon City to ashes. There are so many of these bombs around Denning, anything within 30 miles of Denning will be disintegrated. However, they are completely harmless unless activated by a machine that controls the atom structure. That machine is the machine HQ will use to activate the bombs." He slightly chuckled. "Nobody took notice of our return at Lilycove six years ago. When our mission is completed, every human and Pokémon on this planet will cower with fear, because Team Rocket is back!" The grunts applauded and Katen smiled with constant content.
Taria, hiding behind a stack of boxes, nearby, was shocked with what she heard. "I can't believe this. Team Rocket was disbanded long before I was born. After all these years, they're back. I have to stop this, I just have to. But how?" A couple of moments later, she snapped her finger with satisfaction. "I got it!"
---
"Nice watch! Where'd ya get it?"
"Stole it from some guy my Scyther hacked in two. He should've known better than to piss me off. I see you got you some nice ass shades. Where'd you get them from?"
"Some boy who thought he was a gangsta. That bitch started talking shit, so I had my Houndoom burn him to a crisp, but not before taking his tight ass shades."
As the Team Rocket grunts sat around discussing how they killed innocent people, Katen stood at a wall looking at his watch.
"Only five more minutes..."
All of a sudden, Taria appeared from behind the stack of boxes. She started yelling and shouting, attempting to get their attention.
Katen looked up. "What the...is that the girl I ran into earlier?"
The men became furious.
"I bet that damn kid was listening the whole time."
"Let me at her ass, Katen. I'll show this child what happens to spies."
Katen, however, kept his contented look. "Wait a minute." He looked over at Taria. "I see. After I told you to leave as far away from this doomed town as soon as possible, after I tried to save your life, you decide to come here and endanger our plans. Unfortunately, for you, that will not happen. As you can see, you are completely outnumbered. It is just about impossible for you to succeed with your plan, child."
He then called out the men. "Get rid of her, now." As they ran towards Taria, Katen laughed. "Nobody's that dumb to just get our attention like that. Let's see how powerful she truly is."
One of the grunts took out a Pokéball. "That wench is mine. Go, Kingler! Use Guillotine!"
The man's Kingler ran at Taria with high speed, repeatedly clamping his claws.
Taria cheered. "This is going just as planned. Come on out, Spheal! Use your Ice Beam!"
Taria's Spheal shot out a shining beam at Kingler. Because Kingler was going so fast, it had no time to dodge the attack. Kingler was encased in a block of ice.
"Damn it. Kingler, return!"
"Let's finish this, Spheal. Blizzard!"
Spheal screeched piercingly, and a small cloud surrounded of the men. Just then, huge gusts of wind and snow surrounded them.
Katen, looking from the warehouse, gazed at Taria and Spheal.
"She must be pretty advanced to have her Pokémon learn Blizzard. I wonder..."
One of the men managed to reach his Pokéball. "Get rid of this storm, Houndoom! Sunny Day!"
Houndoom howled deafeningly, and the blizzard disappeared as the sun seemed to get brighter. The cloud surrounding them vanished as well.
Taria stepped back. "Okay, I didn't plan that..."
"You're finished, girl!"
All the other men brought out their Pokémon. Taria was surrounded by a number of Pokémon, some of which included Scyther, Houndoom, Pinsir, Raticate, Crobat, Electrode, and Feraligatr.
Taria screamed. "What am I going to do now?"
The men doubled over with laughter. "The little girl's crying."
"Don't worry, wench. You'll be put out of your misery very soon."
All the men called their Pokémon. "Get ready for your Hyper Beam!"
Meanwhile, Katen shook his head, smiling a little less. "I'm disappointed. I really thought I would have a worthy opponent. She's just like the others who have tried to take me down. Full of courage but weak as hell."
Taria ran over to Spheal and held him. "It can't be over like this. It just can't."
Just then, a shimmering silver aura surrounded Taria and Spheal. Taria's eyes began to glow a shimmering silver, and a sharp, cold wind blew.
Katen looked up and stepped back. His smile faded instantly. "There is something more to her. Is she...one of The Ones?"
Huge and vast gusts of wind surrounded Taria. Spheal's eyes began to glow a deep dark blue.
The Pokémon all shot their Hyper Beams. Just then, the beams stopped in front of Spheal and disintegrated.
Katen frantically took out his cellphone. "What the hell is she thinking?" He hastily dialed the Team Rocket Headquarters. "Katen to HQ! Abort mission NOW!" He then took out a Pokéball. "I have to stop her before she kills us all!"
The once calm, blue sky abruptly turned dark with gray clouds. The temperature instantly dropped significantly. Snowflakes began to fall and cold wind blew nonstop from every direction.
Taria screamed out with all her might,
"ABSOLUTE ZERO!"
A ball of dark blue energy materialized over Spheal. Just then, he screeched loudly and sent the ball of energy at the grunts.
Katen ran out of the way. "Now. I have to do it now!"
The blast was so strong that the grunts and their Pokémon were disintegrated before the blast even hit.
"No. My team...they're all gone..."
Katen swiftly ran over to Taria.
"Stop this now before we all die!"
He started to grab Taria's arm, but was then hit by a huge gust of wind. He fell to the ground, somewhat shocked.
"I knew it. Skarmory, Quick Attack!"
All of a sudden, a Skarmory flew out of nowhere and tackled Taria at high speed.
"Wha..."
Taria was knocked unconscious by Skarmory's hit. As she fell, the aura surrounding her and Spheal disappeared.
As abruptly as the clouds came, the clouds disappeared. The sun came back out, and the snow that was on the ground quickly melted. The ball of energy dissipated as Spheal fell unconscious along with Taria.
---
Taria woke up sometime later. She looked around at her surroundings.
"What the...wasn't I in Denning?"
Indeed, the surroundings were completely dissimilar to where she was before. Taria was sitting by a tree in a field. A light, warm breeze was blowing, swaying the nearby trees. The town of Denning could be seen in the distance.
"What happened?" She then noticed her head was throbbing in pain. "Damn, that hurts! It feels like I got ran over by a pack of Tauros."
"Actually it was my Skarmory that ran you over."
Taria looked around. "Who...it's you!"
Katen was standing by a tree with his usual contented smile. "So you're awake. I should say I'm impressed. You're one of The Ones. But you were so out of control, I think you just got that power.
Taria, although in serious pain, was able to get up. "Who are The Ones? And what happened in the first place? And I thought you were going to kill me. Why the change of mind?"
Katen looked up at Taria. His smile was just about gone; it was apparent from his expression that he was full of fury and happiness.
"You have no idea what happened, do you? You almost killed us along with the town. You pulled off an Absolute Zero attack, an attack only a One can pull off. The temperature dropped so low that the bombs were destroyed."
"The bombs?"
"Don't act dumb. I know you were listening. You know damn well of those bombs. If your Pokémon's attack had hit the ground, it would have frozen the entire area including the bombs, activating them with more ferocity than usual. There were so many of the bombs around this town; the explosion could've wiped out this entire province, reaching as far as Pallet and Viridian."
Katen walked over to Taria.
I remember last time one of you people pulled off an Absolute Zero...anyway, you don't remember anything?"
"No, I don't. All I remember was feeling anger and fear while surrounded by your team. After that, nothing."
"I see. You're just beginning to reach your potential. I'll let you go this time. I have a feeling you'll be a much worthy opponent to fight one day." Katen walked away.
Taria ran after him. "Wait. I have no idea what's happening to me. What's going on?"
Katen turned around. "You'll find out soon enough, hopefully before we meet again. When we do, we will battle to the death."
"I have one more thing to ask you. Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why this town in the middle of nowhere? Why not Saffron or Celadon?"
"Who said they weren't targets? Nowhere in Kanto or anywhere for that matter is safe now. These people know something they shouldn't. Don't think that because you thwarted my plans this time, this town is safe. These people will die." Katen walked away.
Taria called out one last time to Katen. "Hey!"
Katen turned around once again. "Yeah?"
"My name's Taria Ketchum. What's yours?"
"You know it's not smart to reveal your name to the enemy, don't you?"
"I know. I just want to know who you are, since you're going on and on about battling to the death and all."
Katen slightly laughed. "You make a good point there. Katen. Katen Watanabe."
Taria walked away, somewhat confused. "What is up with him? Why was he so intent on telling me his plans? Plus, he could've killed me while I was unconscious, but he didn't. I don't know what's up with him..."
As Katen flew away on Skarmory, he remembered something, and then suddenly became suspicious.
"Ketchum? Don't tell me she's related to..."
He looked back. Taria was nowhere to be seen.
---
"What the hell do you mean the plan failed?"
"A girl ruined my plans, boss."
"You're just pathetic, Admin Katen. I don't know why I shouldn't kill your sorry ass right now. If anybody outside of Denning found out—"
"Calm down, boss. I have good news. The girl is one of The Ones. And I think she's related to Champion Ash Ketchum."
"The champion? If she's one of The Ones, I wouldn't be surprised. This is perfect. I know exactly how to get him out of hiding now. Thank you, Admin Katen. You're useful for something after all."
"You're welcome, boss."
Katen closed his cellphone. He looked at the sky, smiling.
"I know she'll be powerful one day. Then I'll finally have that battle I've waited so long for..."
Next time: Viridian City and the Trainer House
Thanks Yawgmoth, yingyang88, sapphireplusle, and Rylan Swank for reviewing.
Sorry for the late update. I was planning on updating last week, but school took up my spare time once again.
A/N:
I would like to answer a question about if Ash would be mentioned later on in this fic. I'm not going to answer directly, but I'll give you a hint. The answer to the question is in the last part of this chapter.
Also, I've also added Katen with the main characters.
That's all for now. Until later, R&R!