Chapter 7
New Bark Town At Last
It was a quarter mile from New Bark Town when the train finally stopped at Route 46 and let off its passengers.
Ruby glanced at the map and looked around. "New Bark Town is not to far from here. We just need to go south on this trail and we will get there in no time."
Callista looked at her watch. "It's already five minutes until we have to meet." Callista sighed. "Looks like we are going to be late after all,"
"Come on now. I'm sure the professor wasn't expecting any hold ups on the train." Ruby assured her.
Sure enough, Callista was right when she said they were going to be late. It was a half an hour later when they stepped up to the long trail leading up to Professor Elm's laboratory. Callista knocked on the door and Elm answered it right away.
"Why hello Callista," Elm motioned them to come in. "I was getting worried about you two."
Elm looked at Ruby. "And you must be Ruby. I really appreciate you helping Callista like this."
Ruby smiled and shook his hand. "Don't mention it."
Elm led the girls to a back room which was loaded with pictures of pokemon. Also in the room was a long table with young trainers gathered all around it.
"Now that we are all here I'll get Callista's storage box done and then I have to talk to all of you." Elm announced to the crowd. Then he looked at Callista. "Let me have your pokedex."
Callista reached into her pocket, pulled out her pokedex and handed it to Elm.
"Now have a seat and I'll be right with you." Elm said as he took the pokedex out of the room.
Callista looked at the table of trainers. There were five of them which made Callista number six.
"Wow, you have a big group." Ruby said as she took a seat furthest away from the group. "I had three rivals and you have five."
Callista just stared at the group.
"Well, aren't you going to go and introduce yourself?" Ruby asked.
"Uh," Callista began to feel a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, yeah that's what I am going to do, yeah."
Callista stepped up to the table and had a seat near the trainers.
A young black hair boy notice Callista first. "Hello, I'm Ian."
"I'm Callista."
"I haven't seen you here before. Where are you from?"
Callista answered, "Olivine City."
Ian smiled. "Ah, so you're the trainer that stayed here in Johto," Ian said. "The rest of us went to Kanto to start out."
This attracted the attention of the other trainers.
"So I'll bet you have a bunch of cool Johto pokemon," a blond haired girl blurted out.
"Um, well actually," Callista started. "I've been a little busy."
Ian looked at the blonde haired girl. "Stop it Hailey," Ian said. "You're making her nervous. This is the first time she has ever met us."
Hailey looked at everyone. "Then maybe we should introduce ourselves better.
Next to Hailey a girl with long brown hair and freckles all over her face spoke up, "I am Harriet."
Next to her was Ian. Next to Ian was another black haired boy, "I'm Scott."
On the other side of Hailey there was a brown haired boy, "Mathew."
Now that everyone was introduced, Callista started to feel a little bit better.
Scott stretched and yawned. "I can't wait until the Professor is done with our boxes. Then I can catch more pokemon."
"You mean you have already caught six?" Callista asked as she began to feel uneasy again.
"Of course," Scott said. "I caught my sixth a day ago."
"All of us have caught six," Hailey added. "That's why Professor Elm noticed the storage boxes right away because we all called and complained."
"Hey Callista I have a quick question." Hailey said.
"Yeah," Callista answered.
"There was so many of us that Professor Elm had to catch two more pokemon just to give us all starting pokemon." Hailey said. "What did he give you?"
"The Professor said that since I was staying in Johto he should give me different pokemon." Callista answered. "He gave me Chikorita."
"Wow," Ian said. "I got a grass type too. I got Bulbasaur."
Callista wasn't as nervous as she was when she first showed up, but she was still very uneasy since everyone seemed to have more pokemon than her. Luckily, Professor Elm came back before they could ask her more questions.
"I trust you guys have all been introduced." Professor Elm said as he walked in with an arm full of pokedexs.
All of the trainers reached for their pokedex as he set them on the table.
"Now all of your boxes are set." Elm announced as he sat in the only seat left at the table. "Let's get down to business."
All of the trainers focused on The Professor.
"Now there is another reason why I called you all back." Elm began his long speech. "There is an old threat rising again. Their name is Team Rocket."
This got both Callista and Ruby's attention.
"They were attempting to control the world with the use of pokemon." Elm continued. "Some old Team Rocket members had enough of their leader stealing and force training pokemon for battle so those two rose up and took apart the whole team piece by piece. They have been recognized for their heroic efforts. Their names were Jesse and James, former employees of Giovanni, the head of the old Team Rocket. But unfortunately a new leader has come forth and has rebuilt the team making their members even stronger and more vicious than ever. I am telling you all this because their main target are young trainers. They find it easier to steal trained pokemon than to catch and train new pokemon themselves. So you all must be careful and if you see anything suspicious you must report straight to the authorities so we can stop Team Rocket before they get too strong for anyone to stop."
"Well, thanks for the info," Mathew interrupted. "I think we can handle ourselves. They don't sound all that tough. Besides, I'm pretty tough myself. I have a gym badge."
Elm sighed. Obviously he is getting use to the attitudes of new trainers. "Okay, well that's all I needed to tell you," Elm stood up and headed for the door. "Just watch yourselves and make sure you keep me updated on your progress." Elm opened the door and let everyone out. Ruby and Callista stayed behind as Elm walked the other trainers out.
Ruby got up and then sat by Callista who was still at the table.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"No, not really," Callista answered as she put her arms crossed on the table and placed her head down.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" Callista said. "Were you not listening to them? They all have way more pokemon than me. I am already so far behind. And Mathew already has a gym badge."
Ruby placed her hand on Callista's shoulder. "Listen Callista, you just started a few days ago. I'm sure they already had a good head start when they all got their beginning pokemon before Elm could even get to Olivine City to give you yours."
"Well," Callista began.
"Callista, you beat some people from Team Rocket." Ruby said. "You heard it straight from the Professor's mouth. They are very dangerous and powerful and you beat them. You're doing great! Also think about this. I have been through all of Kanto and I only have three pokemon. Even I don't have six and I have been at this training thing for quite some time."
Callista looked at Ruby and then smiled. "I guess your right. It's kind of hard to catch pokemon when I'm on a train battling with Team Rocket."
That's the spirit," Ruby said. "Now let's go talk to the professor. I'm sure he will want to know about our encounter with the Rockets."
Callista and Ruby showed themselves out as they saw Professor Elm wave good-bye to all of the trainers as they left in different directions. Elm turned around and saw the girls walking up to him. "So what's up Callista? How are you doing?"
"Great," Callista answered.
"How are your pokemon doing?"
"Even better," Callista eagerly said, "My Chikorita is a lot stronger and my Pichu evolved into a Pikachu!"
Professor Elm looked pleased, "An evolution already. That's really impressive Callista. You really must be training your pokemon well to have one evolve so soon."
"Plus, I think I know what I'll be doing next," Callista said.
"What's what?"
"I think I am ready to try for a gym badge," she announced to Professor Elm.
"That's great news!" Professor Elm said. "And you know what. There is a brand new gym in Cherrygrove City. Maybe you can start out there!"
"New gym?"
"Yes," Professor Elm said, "The gym opened up not even a month ago and is the home of the Poison badge. The gym leader raises poison pokemon."
"Poison pokemon, huh." Callista thought about this for a second. "I'm sure I can handle it."
"Well, I wish you luck then." Professor Elm than changed the subject as an idea popped into his head. "I completely forgot to tell something to all of the other trainers, but since you are still here then you can hear it."
"What?" Callista asked.
Ruby just listened and tried not to get involved into the conversation.
"I was just informed, before you all showed up, that the museum in Nosawa which is a small town on the way to Cherrygrove City. It has a brand new exhibit opening up tomorrow."
"Cool," Callista said.
"A bunch of paleontologists from the Nosawa Museum has discovered a Dome fossil from the shore of Cianwood City. It is said to be the remains of an ancient pokemon from the Kanto region. I really think it would be a great opportunity for you girls since you'll be headed in that direction anyway."
"That's a great idea!" Ruby couldn't help but join in. "We have to go see it!"
"Yeah, it sounds cool." Callista smiled.
Before Callista could say anything more, a small metal ball fell from the sky and landed onto the grass next to the group.
"What's that," Professor Elm asked as he looked closer at the round object.
Suddenly, the metal ball exploded into a huge cloud of black smoke and dust.
"Girls are you okay?" Professor Elm yelled as the smoke clouded his eye sight. As the smoke began to clear two figures stood before them.
Ruby recognized them first when the smoke finally lifted and cried out, "It's Team Rocket!"
Pat and Garret grinned as they stood next to each other, arms crossed, back to back.
"Prepare for trouble." Pat sang.
"And make it double." Garret rhymed.
"To......"
"How dare you sneak up to us like that," Professor Elm shouted at the two members, interrupting their motto.
Garret whined, "We are never going to be able to finish the motto without anyone interrupting."
"The motto isn't important. What is important is catching all of the pokemon we can," Pat said as she reached into her pocket and took out a small remote control. "And that is exactly what we are going to do! I'm sure this research facility is just loaded with goodies."
Pat pushed the one and only button on the remote. The ground underneath Professor Elm and the girls began to vibrate.
"What's happening?" Callista exclaimed.
Before any of them could move, four sets of bars came hurling upward and trapping the trio in a cage of metal bars.
Callista gripped onto the bars and shouted, "You better let us out of here!"
"After what you two did to us you'll be lucky to get out at all," Pat snickered.
Garret walked up to the bars, "Now that we have you where we want you we will help ourselves to all of your pokemon."
Professor Elm shouted back at them, "Those pokemon I have aren't mine. They belong to the trainers that keep them here."
"We don't care who they belong to," Pat said. "We are going to take them anyway. But first..," Pat stepped up to the cage. "We want that Quilava of yours and all of your other pokemon as well."
Ruby grabbed Quilava's pokeball. "If you want it then you got it!" Ruby held the pokeball outside of the bars and released her pokemon. "Come on out!"
Quilava appeared from its pokeball.
Pat and Garret jumped back in surprise.
"That's not exactly what we meant, but if you want to do this the hard way then so be it." Pat said as she grabbed a pokeball. "Go, Murkrow."
Murkrow appeared from its pokeball and flew into the sky.
"Quilava use your flame thrower," Ruby ordered.
"Quilava lava," Quilava shot several streams of burning hot flames toward Murkrow and each time Murkrow dodged them.
"Tackle it," Pat ordered.
Murkrow dove towards the fire pokemon.
"Quilava use your agility to dodge!" Ruby shouted as Quilava dodged the attack in the nick of time. Murkrow stopped itself before it crashed into the ground. Ruby shouted again, "Quick attack!"
While Murkrow was still close to the ground, Quilava sped towards the bird pokemon and hit it with its quick attack. Murkrow was tossed to the ground, but quickly stood up.
"Peck attack," Pat shouted.
"Quilava use your fire spin!" Ruby ordered.
Quilava braced its feet hard onto the ground and began to build the fire on its back to charge up the attack.
Murkrow got closer to Quilava as it dove down to attack.
"Quilava!" Quilava released a huge blast of flames from its mouth and surrounded the Murkrow in a large circle of fire.
Murkrow stopped in mid air keeping itself from running into the flames. "Murkrow murkrow," Murkrow chirped in surprise.
"Great," Ruby shouted.
"I will take care of this," Garret said as she tossed a pokeball. "Go Croconaw!"
Croconaw appeared next to the flaming circle.
"Use your water gun to put out the fire," Garret ordered.
Croconaw turned toward the fire and released a powerful blast the water to soak down the flames. As the fire died down, Ruby took this chance to try to free them from the cage.
"Quilava use your flame wheel at full power on the bars of the cage!" Ruby commanded as Quilava raced toward the cage at full force and charged up into a ball of flames. "Quilava!" Quilava crashed into the bars causing a huge hole on the side of the cage.
Ruby crawled through it with Callista and Professor Elm right behind her.
"No, they can't get free!" Garret complained, "We haven't even stolen a single pokemon yet. Croconaw use your water gun!"
Croconaw shot a huge blast of water towards Quilava.
Ruby reacted too late, "Quilava look out!"
Just as Quilava turned back around, it was struck by the powerful blast of water and thrown several feet away from Ruby.
Ruby ran to her pokemon, knelt down and laid the pokemon in her lap. "Quilava, are you okay?"
"Lava," Quilava answered weakly.
"Croconaw, finish it!" Garret ordered.
Callista jumped into the fight. "Not so fast," she grabbed a pokeball. "Go Chikorita!"
Chikorita appeared from its pokeball. "Chika chika."
"Chikorita, use your razor leaf attack!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita released several razor leaves at Croconaw, hitting it before the pokemon was able to attack.
"Now use your sleep powder!"
Chikorita spread a blanket of sleep powder toward Croconaw.
"Murkrow use whirl wind and blow that powder away," Pat ordered as Murkrow obeyed and began flapping its wings.
The movement of Murkrow's wings created a large whirlwind which collected all of the sleep powder and blew it away.
Garret called out another pokemon," Go Ariados!"
Now the odds were two against one, but Callista still wouldn't give up.
"Chikorita use your razor leaf!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita used released several razor leaves striking the Croconaw right in the face.
"Murkrow, wing attack," Pat called out.
Murkrow dove toward Chikorita.
"Dodge to the left!" Callista ordered as Chikorita rolled out of the way to dodge the attack.
"Now use razor leaf on Murkrow," Callista ordered.
Chikorita released several more razor leaves at the bird pokemon.
"Murkrow, fly up!" Pat ordered as Murkrow flew higher into the sky causing the leaves to miss. "Dive at it again."
Murkrow dove down.
"Croconaw, water gun," Garret ordered as Croconaw stood up and shot a huge water blast straight towards Chikorita.
"Chikorita get out of the way!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita dodged the water gun, but was too slow to dodge Murkrow as it dove down and hit Chikorita was a strong wing attack. Chikorita was tossed aside.
"Chika," Chikorita called to its trainer as Callista rushed to her pokemon's side.
She lifted Chikorita into her arms. "Are you okay?"
Chikorita nodded and Callista decided to return it back to its pokeball. Callista, Ruby and Professor Elm all glared at Team Rocket. Callista struggled to figure out what to do next.
"Looks like we have you beat," Pat laughed. "Now hand over that Quilava and all of your other pokemon and perhaps we will spare your lab."
"You will never get my Quilava," Ruby shouted as she held her injured Quilava even tighter.
"You have no choice," Garret said as he motioned Ariados and Croconaw to advance.
Suddenly a group of kids came running from the woods towards the lab. "What is all the commotion over here?" It was Mathew and all of the other trainers.
"They must have heard the explosion," Callista thought to herself.
"Back off kids," Pat snapped, "This isn't your fight!"
"We are taking the lab pokemon whether you like it or not!" Garret continued.
"That is our professor's lab," Ian shouted as him and Callista's other rivals advanced on Team Rocket. "You're not going to get it without a fight." Ian reached for a pokeball. "Go Bulbasaur!"
Bulbasaur appeared from its pokeball. "Bulbasaur!"
"You think that puny little thing is going to stop us!" Garret shouted.
"You are forgetting about the rest of us," Mathew said as he motioned for everyone else to attack.
One by one the trainers all released their pokemon.
Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgey, Sandshrew all appeared in front of Team Rocket eyes. Callista even called out her Chikorita one more time.
"If you want our pokemon then you'll have to come and get them," Scott said as all of the pokemon prepared to attack.
Team Rocket was shocked to see all the different pokemon. With two pokemon already injured Pat and Garret only had two more pokemon left and those pokemon wouldn't stand a chance against six strong looking pokemon.
"Very well, you brats have one this round," Pat snapped. "But we'll be back for you and one by one we will steal your pokemon!"
And with that, Pat and Garret called their pokemon back and raced off into the woods.
"They won't get away," Callista said as she was about to run after them.
Before she could, Professor Elm put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," Professor Elm said to Callista. "They are gone now."
Callista nodded and smiled up at her professor.
Professor Elm the turned to all of his trainers. "Thank you all. You were all really great."
"No problem," Ian said as he and all of the other trainers called their pokemon back.
"If you ever need us just give us a call!" Harriet said as she walked away. "Bye Professor!"
All of the other trainers waved goodbye and walked away to continue their journeys.
Callista, again, stayed behind.
Professor Elm looked at Callista just as she started to yawn. "You two look exhausted," Professor Elm commented as he watched Ruby yawn as well. "There is no pokemon center for you two to stay at here, but how about you two be my guests for this evening and stay here in the lab. That way you and your pokemon will be rested and ready for travel tomorrow."
"I don't want to be a bother," Callista said.
Professor Elm grinned, "No bother at all. I would prefer you two stay here and rest. Especially, if you want to battle in a gym soon. You'll need your strength."
Ruby interrupted, "And then maybe we can go see that fossil that is on display at that museum. It's on the way to Cherrygrove City so it's on the way."
Professor Elm agreed, "That's a wonderful idea Ruby." Professor Elm turned to Callista, "What do you say?"
"Sure," Callista answered.
Professor Elm led the girls back toward the lab.
Going to see the fossil was a great idea, but the only thing that was on Callista's mind was the gym battle she will be having soon. Will she have the skill to beat a gym leader? She will just have to try it and see.
(I know this chapter was lame, but I was stuck on it for a long time and I just wanted it finished so I can continue on. To read about Jesse and James's adventure check out my story "Raichu Tales" it is still a work in progress and I'm still updating chapters on it.)
New Bark Town At Last
It was a quarter mile from New Bark Town when the train finally stopped at Route 46 and let off its passengers.
Ruby glanced at the map and looked around. "New Bark Town is not to far from here. We just need to go south on this trail and we will get there in no time."
Callista looked at her watch. "It's already five minutes until we have to meet." Callista sighed. "Looks like we are going to be late after all,"
"Come on now. I'm sure the professor wasn't expecting any hold ups on the train." Ruby assured her.
Sure enough, Callista was right when she said they were going to be late. It was a half an hour later when they stepped up to the long trail leading up to Professor Elm's laboratory. Callista knocked on the door and Elm answered it right away.
"Why hello Callista," Elm motioned them to come in. "I was getting worried about you two."
Elm looked at Ruby. "And you must be Ruby. I really appreciate you helping Callista like this."
Ruby smiled and shook his hand. "Don't mention it."
Elm led the girls to a back room which was loaded with pictures of pokemon. Also in the room was a long table with young trainers gathered all around it.
"Now that we are all here I'll get Callista's storage box done and then I have to talk to all of you." Elm announced to the crowd. Then he looked at Callista. "Let me have your pokedex."
Callista reached into her pocket, pulled out her pokedex and handed it to Elm.
"Now have a seat and I'll be right with you." Elm said as he took the pokedex out of the room.
Callista looked at the table of trainers. There were five of them which made Callista number six.
"Wow, you have a big group." Ruby said as she took a seat furthest away from the group. "I had three rivals and you have five."
Callista just stared at the group.
"Well, aren't you going to go and introduce yourself?" Ruby asked.
"Uh," Callista began to feel a swarm of butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah, yeah that's what I am going to do, yeah."
Callista stepped up to the table and had a seat near the trainers.
A young black hair boy notice Callista first. "Hello, I'm Ian."
"I'm Callista."
"I haven't seen you here before. Where are you from?"
Callista answered, "Olivine City."
Ian smiled. "Ah, so you're the trainer that stayed here in Johto," Ian said. "The rest of us went to Kanto to start out."
This attracted the attention of the other trainers.
"So I'll bet you have a bunch of cool Johto pokemon," a blond haired girl blurted out.
"Um, well actually," Callista started. "I've been a little busy."
Ian looked at the blonde haired girl. "Stop it Hailey," Ian said. "You're making her nervous. This is the first time she has ever met us."
Hailey looked at everyone. "Then maybe we should introduce ourselves better.
Next to Hailey a girl with long brown hair and freckles all over her face spoke up, "I am Harriet."
Next to her was Ian. Next to Ian was another black haired boy, "I'm Scott."
On the other side of Hailey there was a brown haired boy, "Mathew."
Now that everyone was introduced, Callista started to feel a little bit better.
Scott stretched and yawned. "I can't wait until the Professor is done with our boxes. Then I can catch more pokemon."
"You mean you have already caught six?" Callista asked as she began to feel uneasy again.
"Of course," Scott said. "I caught my sixth a day ago."
"All of us have caught six," Hailey added. "That's why Professor Elm noticed the storage boxes right away because we all called and complained."
"Hey Callista I have a quick question." Hailey said.
"Yeah," Callista answered.
"There was so many of us that Professor Elm had to catch two more pokemon just to give us all starting pokemon." Hailey said. "What did he give you?"
"The Professor said that since I was staying in Johto he should give me different pokemon." Callista answered. "He gave me Chikorita."
"Wow," Ian said. "I got a grass type too. I got Bulbasaur."
Callista wasn't as nervous as she was when she first showed up, but she was still very uneasy since everyone seemed to have more pokemon than her. Luckily, Professor Elm came back before they could ask her more questions.
"I trust you guys have all been introduced." Professor Elm said as he walked in with an arm full of pokedexs.
All of the trainers reached for their pokedex as he set them on the table.
"Now all of your boxes are set." Elm announced as he sat in the only seat left at the table. "Let's get down to business."
All of the trainers focused on The Professor.
"Now there is another reason why I called you all back." Elm began his long speech. "There is an old threat rising again. Their name is Team Rocket."
This got both Callista and Ruby's attention.
"They were attempting to control the world with the use of pokemon." Elm continued. "Some old Team Rocket members had enough of their leader stealing and force training pokemon for battle so those two rose up and took apart the whole team piece by piece. They have been recognized for their heroic efforts. Their names were Jesse and James, former employees of Giovanni, the head of the old Team Rocket. But unfortunately a new leader has come forth and has rebuilt the team making their members even stronger and more vicious than ever. I am telling you all this because their main target are young trainers. They find it easier to steal trained pokemon than to catch and train new pokemon themselves. So you all must be careful and if you see anything suspicious you must report straight to the authorities so we can stop Team Rocket before they get too strong for anyone to stop."
"Well, thanks for the info," Mathew interrupted. "I think we can handle ourselves. They don't sound all that tough. Besides, I'm pretty tough myself. I have a gym badge."
Elm sighed. Obviously he is getting use to the attitudes of new trainers. "Okay, well that's all I needed to tell you," Elm stood up and headed for the door. "Just watch yourselves and make sure you keep me updated on your progress." Elm opened the door and let everyone out. Ruby and Callista stayed behind as Elm walked the other trainers out.
Ruby got up and then sat by Callista who was still at the table.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"No, not really," Callista answered as she put her arms crossed on the table and placed her head down.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" Callista said. "Were you not listening to them? They all have way more pokemon than me. I am already so far behind. And Mathew already has a gym badge."
Ruby placed her hand on Callista's shoulder. "Listen Callista, you just started a few days ago. I'm sure they already had a good head start when they all got their beginning pokemon before Elm could even get to Olivine City to give you yours."
"Well," Callista began.
"Callista, you beat some people from Team Rocket." Ruby said. "You heard it straight from the Professor's mouth. They are very dangerous and powerful and you beat them. You're doing great! Also think about this. I have been through all of Kanto and I only have three pokemon. Even I don't have six and I have been at this training thing for quite some time."
Callista looked at Ruby and then smiled. "I guess your right. It's kind of hard to catch pokemon when I'm on a train battling with Team Rocket."
That's the spirit," Ruby said. "Now let's go talk to the professor. I'm sure he will want to know about our encounter with the Rockets."
Callista and Ruby showed themselves out as they saw Professor Elm wave good-bye to all of the trainers as they left in different directions. Elm turned around and saw the girls walking up to him. "So what's up Callista? How are you doing?"
"Great," Callista answered.
"How are your pokemon doing?"
"Even better," Callista eagerly said, "My Chikorita is a lot stronger and my Pichu evolved into a Pikachu!"
Professor Elm looked pleased, "An evolution already. That's really impressive Callista. You really must be training your pokemon well to have one evolve so soon."
"Plus, I think I know what I'll be doing next," Callista said.
"What's what?"
"I think I am ready to try for a gym badge," she announced to Professor Elm.
"That's great news!" Professor Elm said. "And you know what. There is a brand new gym in Cherrygrove City. Maybe you can start out there!"
"New gym?"
"Yes," Professor Elm said, "The gym opened up not even a month ago and is the home of the Poison badge. The gym leader raises poison pokemon."
"Poison pokemon, huh." Callista thought about this for a second. "I'm sure I can handle it."
"Well, I wish you luck then." Professor Elm than changed the subject as an idea popped into his head. "I completely forgot to tell something to all of the other trainers, but since you are still here then you can hear it."
"What?" Callista asked.
Ruby just listened and tried not to get involved into the conversation.
"I was just informed, before you all showed up, that the museum in Nosawa which is a small town on the way to Cherrygrove City. It has a brand new exhibit opening up tomorrow."
"Cool," Callista said.
"A bunch of paleontologists from the Nosawa Museum has discovered a Dome fossil from the shore of Cianwood City. It is said to be the remains of an ancient pokemon from the Kanto region. I really think it would be a great opportunity for you girls since you'll be headed in that direction anyway."
"That's a great idea!" Ruby couldn't help but join in. "We have to go see it!"
"Yeah, it sounds cool." Callista smiled.
Before Callista could say anything more, a small metal ball fell from the sky and landed onto the grass next to the group.
"What's that," Professor Elm asked as he looked closer at the round object.
Suddenly, the metal ball exploded into a huge cloud of black smoke and dust.
"Girls are you okay?" Professor Elm yelled as the smoke clouded his eye sight. As the smoke began to clear two figures stood before them.
Ruby recognized them first when the smoke finally lifted and cried out, "It's Team Rocket!"
Pat and Garret grinned as they stood next to each other, arms crossed, back to back.
"Prepare for trouble." Pat sang.
"And make it double." Garret rhymed.
"To......"
"How dare you sneak up to us like that," Professor Elm shouted at the two members, interrupting their motto.
Garret whined, "We are never going to be able to finish the motto without anyone interrupting."
"The motto isn't important. What is important is catching all of the pokemon we can," Pat said as she reached into her pocket and took out a small remote control. "And that is exactly what we are going to do! I'm sure this research facility is just loaded with goodies."
Pat pushed the one and only button on the remote. The ground underneath Professor Elm and the girls began to vibrate.
"What's happening?" Callista exclaimed.
Before any of them could move, four sets of bars came hurling upward and trapping the trio in a cage of metal bars.
Callista gripped onto the bars and shouted, "You better let us out of here!"
"After what you two did to us you'll be lucky to get out at all," Pat snickered.
Garret walked up to the bars, "Now that we have you where we want you we will help ourselves to all of your pokemon."
Professor Elm shouted back at them, "Those pokemon I have aren't mine. They belong to the trainers that keep them here."
"We don't care who they belong to," Pat said. "We are going to take them anyway. But first..," Pat stepped up to the cage. "We want that Quilava of yours and all of your other pokemon as well."
Ruby grabbed Quilava's pokeball. "If you want it then you got it!" Ruby held the pokeball outside of the bars and released her pokemon. "Come on out!"
Quilava appeared from its pokeball.
Pat and Garret jumped back in surprise.
"That's not exactly what we meant, but if you want to do this the hard way then so be it." Pat said as she grabbed a pokeball. "Go, Murkrow."
Murkrow appeared from its pokeball and flew into the sky.
"Quilava use your flame thrower," Ruby ordered.
"Quilava lava," Quilava shot several streams of burning hot flames toward Murkrow and each time Murkrow dodged them.
"Tackle it," Pat ordered.
Murkrow dove towards the fire pokemon.
"Quilava use your agility to dodge!" Ruby shouted as Quilava dodged the attack in the nick of time. Murkrow stopped itself before it crashed into the ground. Ruby shouted again, "Quick attack!"
While Murkrow was still close to the ground, Quilava sped towards the bird pokemon and hit it with its quick attack. Murkrow was tossed to the ground, but quickly stood up.
"Peck attack," Pat shouted.
"Quilava use your fire spin!" Ruby ordered.
Quilava braced its feet hard onto the ground and began to build the fire on its back to charge up the attack.
Murkrow got closer to Quilava as it dove down to attack.
"Quilava!" Quilava released a huge blast of flames from its mouth and surrounded the Murkrow in a large circle of fire.
Murkrow stopped in mid air keeping itself from running into the flames. "Murkrow murkrow," Murkrow chirped in surprise.
"Great," Ruby shouted.
"I will take care of this," Garret said as she tossed a pokeball. "Go Croconaw!"
Croconaw appeared next to the flaming circle.
"Use your water gun to put out the fire," Garret ordered.
Croconaw turned toward the fire and released a powerful blast the water to soak down the flames. As the fire died down, Ruby took this chance to try to free them from the cage.
"Quilava use your flame wheel at full power on the bars of the cage!" Ruby commanded as Quilava raced toward the cage at full force and charged up into a ball of flames. "Quilava!" Quilava crashed into the bars causing a huge hole on the side of the cage.
Ruby crawled through it with Callista and Professor Elm right behind her.
"No, they can't get free!" Garret complained, "We haven't even stolen a single pokemon yet. Croconaw use your water gun!"
Croconaw shot a huge blast of water towards Quilava.
Ruby reacted too late, "Quilava look out!"
Just as Quilava turned back around, it was struck by the powerful blast of water and thrown several feet away from Ruby.
Ruby ran to her pokemon, knelt down and laid the pokemon in her lap. "Quilava, are you okay?"
"Lava," Quilava answered weakly.
"Croconaw, finish it!" Garret ordered.
Callista jumped into the fight. "Not so fast," she grabbed a pokeball. "Go Chikorita!"
Chikorita appeared from its pokeball. "Chika chika."
"Chikorita, use your razor leaf attack!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita released several razor leaves at Croconaw, hitting it before the pokemon was able to attack.
"Now use your sleep powder!"
Chikorita spread a blanket of sleep powder toward Croconaw.
"Murkrow use whirl wind and blow that powder away," Pat ordered as Murkrow obeyed and began flapping its wings.
The movement of Murkrow's wings created a large whirlwind which collected all of the sleep powder and blew it away.
Garret called out another pokemon," Go Ariados!"
Now the odds were two against one, but Callista still wouldn't give up.
"Chikorita use your razor leaf!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita used released several razor leaves striking the Croconaw right in the face.
"Murkrow, wing attack," Pat called out.
Murkrow dove toward Chikorita.
"Dodge to the left!" Callista ordered as Chikorita rolled out of the way to dodge the attack.
"Now use razor leaf on Murkrow," Callista ordered.
Chikorita released several more razor leaves at the bird pokemon.
"Murkrow, fly up!" Pat ordered as Murkrow flew higher into the sky causing the leaves to miss. "Dive at it again."
Murkrow dove down.
"Croconaw, water gun," Garret ordered as Croconaw stood up and shot a huge water blast straight towards Chikorita.
"Chikorita get out of the way!" Callista ordered.
Chikorita dodged the water gun, but was too slow to dodge Murkrow as it dove down and hit Chikorita was a strong wing attack. Chikorita was tossed aside.
"Chika," Chikorita called to its trainer as Callista rushed to her pokemon's side.
She lifted Chikorita into her arms. "Are you okay?"
Chikorita nodded and Callista decided to return it back to its pokeball. Callista, Ruby and Professor Elm all glared at Team Rocket. Callista struggled to figure out what to do next.
"Looks like we have you beat," Pat laughed. "Now hand over that Quilava and all of your other pokemon and perhaps we will spare your lab."
"You will never get my Quilava," Ruby shouted as she held her injured Quilava even tighter.
"You have no choice," Garret said as he motioned Ariados and Croconaw to advance.
Suddenly a group of kids came running from the woods towards the lab. "What is all the commotion over here?" It was Mathew and all of the other trainers.
"They must have heard the explosion," Callista thought to herself.
"Back off kids," Pat snapped, "This isn't your fight!"
"We are taking the lab pokemon whether you like it or not!" Garret continued.
"That is our professor's lab," Ian shouted as him and Callista's other rivals advanced on Team Rocket. "You're not going to get it without a fight." Ian reached for a pokeball. "Go Bulbasaur!"
Bulbasaur appeared from its pokeball. "Bulbasaur!"
"You think that puny little thing is going to stop us!" Garret shouted.
"You are forgetting about the rest of us," Mathew said as he motioned for everyone else to attack.
One by one the trainers all released their pokemon.
Charmander, Squirtle, Pidgey, Sandshrew all appeared in front of Team Rocket eyes. Callista even called out her Chikorita one more time.
"If you want our pokemon then you'll have to come and get them," Scott said as all of the pokemon prepared to attack.
Team Rocket was shocked to see all the different pokemon. With two pokemon already injured Pat and Garret only had two more pokemon left and those pokemon wouldn't stand a chance against six strong looking pokemon.
"Very well, you brats have one this round," Pat snapped. "But we'll be back for you and one by one we will steal your pokemon!"
And with that, Pat and Garret called their pokemon back and raced off into the woods.
"They won't get away," Callista said as she was about to run after them.
Before she could, Professor Elm put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," Professor Elm said to Callista. "They are gone now."
Callista nodded and smiled up at her professor.
Professor Elm the turned to all of his trainers. "Thank you all. You were all really great."
"No problem," Ian said as he and all of the other trainers called their pokemon back.
"If you ever need us just give us a call!" Harriet said as she walked away. "Bye Professor!"
All of the other trainers waved goodbye and walked away to continue their journeys.
Callista, again, stayed behind.
Professor Elm looked at Callista just as she started to yawn. "You two look exhausted," Professor Elm commented as he watched Ruby yawn as well. "There is no pokemon center for you two to stay at here, but how about you two be my guests for this evening and stay here in the lab. That way you and your pokemon will be rested and ready for travel tomorrow."
"I don't want to be a bother," Callista said.
Professor Elm grinned, "No bother at all. I would prefer you two stay here and rest. Especially, if you want to battle in a gym soon. You'll need your strength."
Ruby interrupted, "And then maybe we can go see that fossil that is on display at that museum. It's on the way to Cherrygrove City so it's on the way."
Professor Elm agreed, "That's a wonderful idea Ruby." Professor Elm turned to Callista, "What do you say?"
"Sure," Callista answered.
Professor Elm led the girls back toward the lab.
Going to see the fossil was a great idea, but the only thing that was on Callista's mind was the gym battle she will be having soon. Will she have the skill to beat a gym leader? She will just have to try it and see.
(I know this chapter was lame, but I was stuck on it for a long time and I just wanted it finished so I can continue on. To read about Jesse and James's adventure check out my story "Raichu Tales" it is still a work in progress and I'm still updating chapters on it.)