Chapter 11
The Raging Pokemon
As our heros journeyed to the next Johto League Gym they find themselves approaching a small city on the way.
"This looks like a good place to stop for some fresh supplies," Callista said as the girls stood on a large hill overlooking the city.
"Yeah," Ruby glanced at the map. "Violet City shouldn't be too far from here. You'll be battling in another gym in no time. This is Cattailia City."
"It doesnt looked like a city," Callista said as she looked at all the old wooden buildings. "It looks more like a small ghost town. I don't see any people!"
"I'm sure when we get closer we will see all the people," Emily replied as they headed down towards the city.
Unfortunetly, when they got down to the city they realized that Emily was wrong. There was no people anywhere in sight.
"Where is everybody?" Ruby asked as the three girls surveyed the area.
All the buildings looked old and rustic with, what looked like, burn marks all over the roof tops and walls. Window shutters clattered as they saw faces in them staring at them and then slamming the windows closed.
"Looks like there are people here," Emily said when she saw the windows shutting as they continued to walk through the city.
"Yeah, but they seem like they are afraid of something," Ruby replied.
Callista didn't like the feel of this. Something was wrong here and she wanted to know what it was. As the trio stepped further into the city a figure appeared ahead of them and Callista decided to try to wave it over.
"Hey!" Callista shouted as she waved her hand in the air. "Over here!"
As the figure got closer they realized it was a person on a motorcycle. When the motorist finally pulled up they recognized the rider as Officer Jenny.
"You all need to come with me, now!" Jenny shouted.
The girls were shocked. What did they do?
The trio followed Officer Jenny to the police station where they sat inside a small office and waited for Officer Jenny to return. As they looked around the office they noticed a few things that just didn't seem right. Ruby walked over to the large desk in the center of the room and saw a framed picture of Officer Jenny with a Spinarak.
"Hey, I thought all officers had Growlithe?" Ruby asked as she pointed the picture out to her friends.
"No, not all of them. There are all different types of pokemon that the police force uses. As a matter of fact I kind of remember reading something like that in my manual." Emily replied as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a thick brown book with a Pikachu on the cover.
"What is that?" Callista asked as she and Ruby sat in one of the waiting chairs by the door of the office.
Emily also sat down. "It's my traveling manual of Johto. It has detailed maps, information on all the top pokemon salons, the location of every single Pokemon Center and brief histories of all the cities." Emily began flipping through the pages until she found the page she wanted. "Here it is," Emily began again. "Cattailia City located near to Violet City. This city is best known for their huge population of police Spinarak. It says here a long time ago, hundreds of years, there was a sneaky cat burglar that ran loose here in this city. The greatest of them all, the Black Arachnid. The Officer Jenny back then used a Spinarak to finally catch him and since then every one of the Officers in this city now has Spinarak to use on the force."
"Yes," Officer Jenny appeared at the door of the Office. "That was my great ancester that did that a long time ago. And thats also the reason why we are having so much trouble now."
"What's the matter Officer Jenny?" Callista asked. "We didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah," Ruby added, "We just got into town."
Officer Jenny nodded. "Yes, I know you didn't do anything and I know you're not from here. I just needed to get you out of the streets and safely inside."
Emily thought for a minute. "What kind of trouble are you having Officer Jenny?"
"It's a long story," Officer Jenny said, "But a few years ago a young boy trainer who lived here was given a pokemon, a Ponyta, as a birthday gift. We'll as the years went by the boy was getting upset at the fact that his pokemon wasn't evolving on its own. It turns out that the Ponyta didn't want to evolve and when the boy finally forced it to evole with the use of a firestone the new Rapidash grew angry at the boy and refused to listen to his orders. Finally the boy gave up and abandoned it in a nearby forest hoping to never see it again."
"He just abandoned it?" Callista asked, she couldn't believe her ears. "Just like that?"
"Yes, and the Rapidash just recently found its way back here and is now running wild down the streets trying to find the boy," Officer Jenny explained. "But the boy left this city just after he abandoned his pokemon."
"Well, why don't you just battle it and capture the pokemon so it doesnt cause so much trouble?" Ruby asked.
"We tried that many times, but like I said all the officers on the force have Spinarak and bug pokemon are weak against fire attacks. All the volenteer trainers who have come by to try to help all got chased right out of the city. We don't know what to do. The pokemon burns up everything in its path. We use to have such beautiful mansions, but they are now all broken down rubble."
"Like mine!" Another voice appeared at the door of the office.
Officer Jenny moved and the girls saw a heavy set old man, about in his fourties, wearing very wealthy looking clothes. He spoke up again, "Officer Jenny! Have you thought of anything to get rid of that monster yet."
Ruby resented that remark.
"That monster burned up the last of my rose patches this morning and torn down my tool shed," he continued, "If you don't do something soon I'll call my own exterminatior to get rid of it for good."
"I understand your angry. But its not the pokemon's fault. We wanted to try to stop it without really hurting it, but....."
"That's not a pokemon its a monster! And you better hurry up and get rid of it fast and soon!" The old man turned and left the office, stomping his feet as he walked out.
Officer Jenny stepped over to the other side of the desk and flopped onto the chair. She placed her head in her hands and signed. "What am I going to do?"
"Don't you worry Officer Jenny," Callista said, "We'll help you find a way to stop that pokemon."
"We will?" Emily whispered to Callista as Callista gently jabbed her in the stomach. Emily changed her attitude. "I mean yes, yes we will."
"Of course," Ruby added, "I am a fire pokemon trainer and I can't stand by and watch this pokemon suffer like this. I'm sure if we all put our heads together we can help it."
The telephone that was sitting on the desk started to ring and Officer Jenny quickly picked it up.
"Hello," she said. "Yes this is her.........what.........I'm on it!" Officer Jenny slammed the receiver back onto the phone base and looked up at the girls. "We have to go."
They all piled into Officer Jenny's police jeep and sped away.
Two faces rose up from the outside window of the police office. It was Pat and Garret still following the girls. They over heard what Officer Jenny had told the girls and they already thought of a use for this pokemon.
"Did you hear that Pat?" Garret whispered. "A wild Rapidash right here in town."
Pat replied, "Yes, and that would make a perfect pokemon for our team. All we would have to do is release it and let it run a muck around our enemies. And after it burns everything in sight we call it back and finish up the job ourselves. We have to have it!"
"But how are we going to trap it?" Garret asked. "All of out money was spent on that helicopter that those brats destroyed."
"Then we will just have to do things the old fashion way," Pat replied. "We will let the brats battle it and then finish it off with our pokemon and then catch it for outselves.
"Great idea!" Garret replied. "We better hurry and find it before the others do."
And with that, Team Rocket snuck off in search of the wild Rapidash.
"What is going on?" Callista asked as she rode in the front seat with Jenny. The other two girls were sitting in the back.
"That call was from one of our families at the edge of the city," Officer Jenny explained. "The Rapidash is there right now as we speak attacking the family members."
When they finally arrived on the scene the trio saw what they were up against. It was huge and extremely musclar, probably from all the destruction of the strong buildings in the city. Ruby guessed the pokemon was about 5' 8" and over 200 lbs. The Rapidash was ramming up against the side of the house where the family hid and tried to protect themselves from the wild pokemon.
"What should we do?" Callista asked as Officer Jenny jumped out of the Jeep.
"We need to get it away from the family and then we can decide how to stop it," Officer Jenny reached back and tossed a pokeball into the air. "Go!"
Spinarak appeared.
"Spinarak, get its attention with your poison sting."
Spinarak shot out several poison barbs which struck the Rapidash in the back if its next. Rapidash flinched and then turned its sights on the four girls. It must have thought that these would make much easier targets, because it quickly turned around and began pawing at the ground.
"I think its about ready to charge," Emily shouted as Callista dashed a head of them. "What are you doing?"
Callista grabbed a rock from the ground and got a little closer to the angry pokemon.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Callista shouted at the pokemon as she threw the rock straight into the pokemon's face.
The rock didn't hurt it, but it did make the Rapidash even angrier.
"Yeah that was smart," Ruby said as the girls looked on.
"You didn't like that did you? Well, what are you going to do about that," Callista shouted as she darted back towards the girls.
The Rapidash pawed at the ground again and then chased after her.
"Run for it!" Callista shouted as she dashed past the other girls.
Officer Jenny, Ruby and Emily all looked up and saw the Rapidash charge straight towards them. The girls raced after Callista as Callista lead the Rapidash away from the family.
"At least now the Rapidash is focused on us and not the family," Callista screamed out to her friends as they all ran from the Rapidash.
After a few minutes of running, the girls were almost out of breath.
"We can't keep this up all day," Ruby yelled out to Callista. "Besides Rapidash is one of the fastest pokemon out there. There is no way we can out run it!"
"You absolutely right," Callista said as she turned around and faced the charging pokemon. "You guys hide and I'll distract it." Callista grabbed a pokeball and tossed it into the air. "I choose you, Pikachu!"
Pikachu appeared from its pokeball.
"Pikachu use your thundershock!" Callista ordered as Pikachu released its electric attack into the Rapidash.
The Rapidash stopped charging and stomped its hoofs into the dirt trying to send the electricity into the ground. It worked and the thundershock attack stopped. Rapidash pawed at the ground in anger.
Ruby and the others ran into a nearby abandoned building and watched the battle from a half broken glass window.
"I think that attack made it even madder!" Emily shouted as Callista nodded.
"Pikachu use your quick attack!" Callista ordered as Pikachu sped towards the Rapidash.
Rapidash rose itself up onto its hind legs and just as Pikachu approached it slammed its hoofs right onto the Pikachu using its stomp attack. Rapidash backed off and left the unconcious mouse on the ground.
"Pikachu return," Callista called her pokemon back and grabbed another pokeball. "Let's try something a little bit different. Go Chikorita!"
Chikorita appeared from its pokeball.
"Chikorita try to calm it down with your sweet scent!" Callista ordered as Rapidash approached again.
Chikorita raised its large leaf and release a cloud of pink dust towards the Rapidash. Rapidash used its flamethrower and burned up the attack before the sweet scent could affect the fire horse. Rapidash then released another flamethrower attack. This time Callista chickened out and called her pokemon back. "Return quickly!"
Chikorita returned to its pokeball.
"I can't have you facing a fire pokemon like that!" Callista said to the pokeball as she looked up and saw the Rapidash charge at her.
Callista screamed and ran towards the abandoned building. Unfortunetly, Callista was out of pokemon and she was chased back into the building with the other girls.
As she breathed deepy from running she said, "Well.....I tried."
"Well then it must be our turn!" A familar voice appeared from the back door of the building.
It was Pat and Garret.
"Prepare for trouble!" Pat said.
"And make it double!"
"To conquer the world and its habitation."
"To restart our forces and its new generation."
"To announce the team to all the masters."
"To build our team and cause disasters."
"Pat."
"Garret."
"Team Rocket takes over with all of its might."
"Surrender your pokemon now or prepare to fight."
Callista spoke up angerly. "What are you two doing here."
"If you haven't already figured it out then you don't know us very well do you?" Garret sneered as he and Pat approached the girls.
"That pokemon would be a valuable asset to our team!" Pat said as she grabbed an empty pokeball. "That pokemon must be ours, and after you Pikachu shocked it that pokemon will be a sinch to catch."
Pat and Garret both raced out of the building and faced the Rapidash. Rapidash stared down Team Rocket, but the team refused to budge.
"Go pokeball!"
Pat tossed the pokeball towards the Rapidash, but the Rapidash easily hit it with its horn and threw it right back to Pat.
As Callista watched Team Rocket she shouted to them, "You have to weaken it first before you can catch it. I know Pikachu zapped it but even so that Rapidash is far from being weak!"
"Fine then have it your way!" Pat grabbed both of her pokeballs. "Go Spearow, go Murkrow!" Both of the bird pokemon appeared, Spearow on the ground and Murkrow hovering in mid air. "Both of you attack that Rapidash together!"
Both of the birds flew up into the sky and then dove towards the fire pokemon.
Rapidash, seeing this, raised its head and released a huge flamethrower towards the birds. The bird were caught offguard and were both knocked from the sky as the flamethrower struck the both of them. Murkrow and Spearow both fell onto the ground. Spearow had a hard time getting back into its feet as Murkrow got back up easily.
"Let's put all of our forces together," Garret said as he tossed both of his pokeballs and released his pokemon as well.
Croconaw and Ariados appeared from their pokeballs.
"Hey, four against one is not fair!" Emily shouted as Ruby smiled.
Ruby has been watching this Rapidash for a while now and every second she was learning more and more about the strength and speed of its attacks.
"Croconaw use your water gun," Garret commanded as Croconaw released a large burst of water towards the Rapidash.
The water gun hit the Rapidash, weaking its defences and pushed the fire horse to the side. Rapidash didn't like the water attack much and quickly charged at the Croconaw. Croconaw tried to run, but the fire horse was too quick and it slammed into the water pokemon with a mighty take down attack. When the Croconaw was lying on the ground trying to recover from the previous attack, the Rapidash raised itself into its hind legs and slammed its hoofs onto the Croconaw with its stomp attack.
"Oh, no Croconaw!" Garret whimpered.
"Wing attack, the both of you!" Pat ordered.
Both of her pokemon dove down and struck the Rapidash at the exact same time with their wing attacks. This distracted the pokemon long enough for Garret to call his water pokemon back.
Rapidash kick and pawed in the air trying to get to the bird pokemon.
"Dive!" Pat ordered as the pokemon both dove down.
Rapidash used its flamethrower again and struck both of the pokemon. Spearow was able to get back up, but Murkrow was finished.
Murkrow returned to its pokeball.
"We'll have to try something else," Garret said, "Ariados use your spider web attack!"
Ariados shot out a large web to cover the fire horse.
"I got it!" Garret cheered, but her cheered way too soon.
The fire on the Rapidash's back and mane started to burn away the web. Rapidash broke free easily and then glared at its enemies. Rapidash had just about enough of these jokers and charged at the remaining pokemon. Using all of its strength the Rapidash tackled the pokemon as hard as it could. Ariados and Spearow got tossed right into their trainers knocking them all over.
A small fireball appeared in Rapidash's mouth. Team Rocket screamed as Rapidash released a powerful ember attack towards the team. The huge tornado of flames surrounded its victims and with a big fiery explosion it sent Team Rocket flying.
"I hate fire pokemon," Pat whined as her and Garret shot up unto the sky.
"Yet we have been trying to steal one go figure!" Garret said.
"We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket all shouted together as they disappeared into the sky.
Ruby has just about enough of all this and was ready to finish this once and for all. "Looks like I'm going to have to take care of this myself."
Ruby grabbed a pokeball and raced out of the building.
"Wait, its too dangerous out there," Officer Jenny called out as she and the other girls ran after her.
Ruby ran into the middle of the road just as Rapidash looked up and saw her approach. The angry pokemon immediately looked up and prepared to charge.
"I understand why you are so angry Rapidash!" Ruby shouted out to the pokemon as she attempted to reason with it. "But just because your trainer abandoned you doesn't mean that all humans are like that!"
Rapidash lowered its head and began to paw at the ground.
"You just have to give us a chance to prove ourselves!" Ruby shouted out.
Rapidash just didn't want to listen. It shouted out a call and began to charge at Ruby.
"Ruby get out of there!" Callista shouted as she tried to get out there to her friend, but Officer Jenny and Emily held her back.
Ruby refused to back down. "Then I'm just gonna have to calm you down the hard away!" She reached back and threw a pokeball into the air. "Go Charmander!"
Charmander appeared from its pokeball.
"Charmander use your flamethrower!"
"Char char," Charmander released a powerful flamethrower attack at the charging Rapidash.
Rapidash quickly jumped to the left and dodged the attack.
"That didn't do anything!" Emily said.
Callista disagreed, "Yes it did, it stopped the Rapidash from charging."
Rapidash was more than willing to battle with her as it got into battling stance.
"Okay Chamander we can do this," Ruby said as Charmander nodded in agreement. "Use your flamethrower again!"
As Charmander attacked, the Rapidash leaped out of the way again and charged at the Charmander.
"Look out!" Ruby called out as Rapidash struck Charmander with a takedown attack.
Charmander got tossed aside, but managed to land on its feet.
"Great job," Ruby coached, "Try your leer attack!"
Charmander's eyes glowed a bright red as it hoped to lower the Rapidash's attack power. Unfortunetly it had the opposite effect of the Rapidash and inraged the pokemon even more. Rapidash, again, charged at the Charmander. Before Ruby could react, Rapidash struck the Charmander with another powerful take down attack. Again, Charmander was tossed to the side, but this time Charmander couldn't find the strength to get back onto its feet and collapsed onto the floor.
"Charmander return!" Ruby called her pokemon back and grabbed another pokeball. "Go Vulpix!"
Vuplix appeared from its pokeball.
"Remember Vulpix you're a winner. You can do this!" Callista called out from the building.
The Rapidash didn't wait for Ruby to make a move as it charged once again.
"Use your agility!"
Vuplix bolted out of the way just before the Rapidash could attack.
"Quick attack," Ruby shouted as the Vulpix tackled the angry pokemon from the side. The Rapidash was pushed a little bit off balance, but it quickly regained itself and pawed at the ground. Before it could charge again, Ruby took the next move. "Use your confuse ray!"
A small beam of red light flashed from Vuplix's eyes and made contact with Rapidash's. Immediately Rapidash began to run around in a circle, kicking the air like if it was being attacked by something. Now that Rapidash was confused, Ruby tried to take the advantage. "Vuplix use your quick attack."
Vulpix darted toward the wild-eyed Rapidash, but before it could strike with the attack Rapidash turned its back on the pokemon and, without knowing it, kicked the small pokemon with its amazingly powerful back legs. Vulpix was thrown to the ground.
"Come on Vulpix," Ruby coached, but Vulpix was unable to continue the battle and collapsed onto the ground. "Vulpix return," Ruby sighed as she looked over at the Rapidash. "You are tough!"
The Rapidash was extremely exhausted from all the battling and stampeding around the city all day. There was no way this pokemon would be able to last for too much longer. Rapidash managed to shake off the confusion and focused back on its enemy.
Callista looked up at the buildings and noticed people beginning to open up their windows when they heard the battle happening on the outside and wanted to see what was going on.
Ruby only focused on the Rapidash and did not notice anything else that was happening around her. Ruby grabbed her last pokeball and prepared to battle again. "But I can't stand by and let you suffer like this. I choose you Quilava!"
Quilava appeared from its pokeball. "Lava!"
The two pokemon stared at each others eyes, both of them refusing to back down.
"Go Quilava use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out.
"Lava," Quilava started up it's flame on its back and then released a powerful flamethrower attack at the Rapidash.
The Rapidash leaped out of the way and then used its own flamethrower back right at Quilava.
"Flame it again quick!"
Quilava used its flamethrower again and the two attacks struck each other with a mighty blow. The flamethrowers seemed to be equally powerful since neither seemed to be making any progress. Rapidash, seeing this was useless stopped and used its speed to dodge the remaining flames from Quilava's attack. Quilava stopped and waited for its next order.
"Use agility!"
Quilava bolted towards the Rapidash using its speedy agility. Rapidash was getting dizzy with Quilava circling and was starting to get confused again.
"Quick attack!"
Quilava attacked from behind and hit the Rapidash with a powerful quick attack. This time Rapidash was tossed to the side, but only for a few seconds and then it quickly jumped back up. Again the attack kept the Rapidash from getting confused again. It raised its front hooves, let out a cry and then charged straight for Quilava eyes glowing a bright red.
"Get out of the way!" Ruby cried as Rapidash struck Quilava with a tackle attack.
Quilava was thrown into the air, but then when it came down the little pokemon managed to land on its feet. "Lava"
"Great job Quilava," Ruby cheered. She stopped cheering when she saw the Rapidash attacking again. The big pokemon dashed towards the Quilava with its horn pointing right at its victims stomach. "Smoke screen!"
Quilava opened its mouth and released a huge cloud of thick smoke. Rapidash stopped in its tracks trying to figure out where it was going and where Quilava went.
"Take down attack!"
Out of nowhere, Quilava struck the Rapidash from the side with a mighty attack.
Rapidash was thrown down onto the floor. With its legs shaking of exhaustion, the Rapidash struggled to its feet. When the smoke had cleared the Quilava had returned to Ruby's side, awaiting another command. Ruby stared at the Rapidash. "One more attack should do it," Ruby thought to herself as the other girls continued to look on.
"You can do it Ruby," Callista yelled out as Emily nodded and smiled along with Officer Jenny.
Ruby glanced back at them, nodded and then put her attention back onto the battle. When she looked at Rapidash it looked a little different to her. It head hung down in lack of breath and its legs were spread part and all tensed up. Its eyes faced forward toward Quilava and were bright red. The air around the shape of its body began to turn a light pink.
"What's going on," Ruby asked as she turned to Callista.
Callista opened her pokedex and pointed it at Rapidash.
Pokedex: "Rage, one of Rapidash's greatest attacks. As its rage increases so does its attack power. This can be very dangerous and proceed with caution."
With Ruby distracted by the pokedex, Rapidash took this opportunity and charged at Quilava. Ruby turned just in time to see Quilava get hit by Rapidash's take down attack. Quilava was thrown into the air again and landed, hard, onto its back.
"Quilava are you okay?" Ruby asked as Quilava struggled to its feet.
Rapidash charged again, this time it seemed much faster and with a lot more power.
"Quilava use your agility and get behind it!"
Quilava dashed out of the way as Rapidash stopped itself when its saw that its target had moved. Quilava appeared from behind as Rapidash turned its head around.
"Now use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out as Quilava hit the Rapidash in the back with a powerful flamethrower.
Rapidash stomped its hoofs into the ground to brace itself and tried to fight against the hot burning flames. It slowly turned around and began to move towards the Quilava as the flames continued to push on the Rapidash. Seeing this was very dangerous for the pokemon Ruby ordered for Quilava to stop. Quilava stopped its flame attack and Rapidash fell to the ground.
Ruby decided to try a pokeball. "Pokeball go!"
She tossed it at the Rapidash and the Rapidash got sucked in. The ball twitched around on the ground and just as Ruby thought that she might have caught it the Rapidash jumped right back out. Rapidash appeared exhausted and could hardly stand up.
"I really don't want to do this," Ruby said as she winced at the idea, "But I have no other choice. I can't allow for you to continue to hurt yourself and others just because some immature trainer dumped you." Ruby's eyes turned focused and ordered her final attack. "Quilava use your flame wheel!"
Quilava dashed toward the Rapidash as it lit its body into a giant ball of flames. Rapidash raised its head and, using all of its strength, released a weak flamethrower attack to try to stop Quilava's attack. Quilava's flaming body broke through the flamethrower and struck the Rapidash with a tremendous force. As Rapidash fell to the ground, Ruby threw the pokeball once again. "Pokeball go!" The pokeball tapped the motionless Rapidash and sucked the pokemon inside. The light flickered as the ball twitched on the ground. It twitched and twitched until finally the ball stopped and the light flickered off. Ruby stared at the pokeball for a few seconds, just to be safe, and then walked up to it. She picked it up and whispered to it. "You have a friend now Rapidash."
A huge round of applause echoed through the street as Ruby and the others looked up and saw hundreds of people clapping and cheering for Ruby from out of their windows and doors. All of them grateful to her for taking care of their huge fiery problem.
She put the pokeball away and looked up at her friends. Callista was the first one to run up to her. She gave Ruby a big hug, "I knew you could do it!"
"You were awesome," Emily said as she and Officer Jenny approached too.
"Thank you so much," Officer Jenny said, "I don't know what we could have done with you."
"I'm glad I could help," Ruby said as she glanced at Rapidash's pokeball on her waist. "I'm glad I have a chance to help you too."
Officer Jenny gave the girls a lift to the other side of the city towards the next town.
"I just can't thank you all enough," Officer Jenny said, "Everyone will feel safe now that you have captured that troublesome Rapidash and we all are working together to rebuild our town."
"I am glad we could help," Ruby said.
"Well, good luck Callista," Officer Jenny said as she shook Callista's hand. "I wish you good luck in the Johto League."
"Thank you!"
Officer Jenny turned to Ruby. "Take good care of that Rapidash."
"You can count on me," Ruby answered.
The trio began to walk away as they waved goodbye to Officer Jenny.
"Good bye," Officer Jenny shouted out to them. "And thanks again."
"Goodbye!" The three of them shouted out together.
Once again the trio set out towards the next town and towards their next adventure with high hopes and a brand new pokemon for Ruby.
The Raging Pokemon
As our heros journeyed to the next Johto League Gym they find themselves approaching a small city on the way.
"This looks like a good place to stop for some fresh supplies," Callista said as the girls stood on a large hill overlooking the city.
"Yeah," Ruby glanced at the map. "Violet City shouldn't be too far from here. You'll be battling in another gym in no time. This is Cattailia City."
"It doesnt looked like a city," Callista said as she looked at all the old wooden buildings. "It looks more like a small ghost town. I don't see any people!"
"I'm sure when we get closer we will see all the people," Emily replied as they headed down towards the city.
Unfortunetly, when they got down to the city they realized that Emily was wrong. There was no people anywhere in sight.
"Where is everybody?" Ruby asked as the three girls surveyed the area.
All the buildings looked old and rustic with, what looked like, burn marks all over the roof tops and walls. Window shutters clattered as they saw faces in them staring at them and then slamming the windows closed.
"Looks like there are people here," Emily said when she saw the windows shutting as they continued to walk through the city.
"Yeah, but they seem like they are afraid of something," Ruby replied.
Callista didn't like the feel of this. Something was wrong here and she wanted to know what it was. As the trio stepped further into the city a figure appeared ahead of them and Callista decided to try to wave it over.
"Hey!" Callista shouted as she waved her hand in the air. "Over here!"
As the figure got closer they realized it was a person on a motorcycle. When the motorist finally pulled up they recognized the rider as Officer Jenny.
"You all need to come with me, now!" Jenny shouted.
The girls were shocked. What did they do?
The trio followed Officer Jenny to the police station where they sat inside a small office and waited for Officer Jenny to return. As they looked around the office they noticed a few things that just didn't seem right. Ruby walked over to the large desk in the center of the room and saw a framed picture of Officer Jenny with a Spinarak.
"Hey, I thought all officers had Growlithe?" Ruby asked as she pointed the picture out to her friends.
"No, not all of them. There are all different types of pokemon that the police force uses. As a matter of fact I kind of remember reading something like that in my manual." Emily replied as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a thick brown book with a Pikachu on the cover.
"What is that?" Callista asked as she and Ruby sat in one of the waiting chairs by the door of the office.
Emily also sat down. "It's my traveling manual of Johto. It has detailed maps, information on all the top pokemon salons, the location of every single Pokemon Center and brief histories of all the cities." Emily began flipping through the pages until she found the page she wanted. "Here it is," Emily began again. "Cattailia City located near to Violet City. This city is best known for their huge population of police Spinarak. It says here a long time ago, hundreds of years, there was a sneaky cat burglar that ran loose here in this city. The greatest of them all, the Black Arachnid. The Officer Jenny back then used a Spinarak to finally catch him and since then every one of the Officers in this city now has Spinarak to use on the force."
"Yes," Officer Jenny appeared at the door of the Office. "That was my great ancester that did that a long time ago. And thats also the reason why we are having so much trouble now."
"What's the matter Officer Jenny?" Callista asked. "We didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah," Ruby added, "We just got into town."
Officer Jenny nodded. "Yes, I know you didn't do anything and I know you're not from here. I just needed to get you out of the streets and safely inside."
Emily thought for a minute. "What kind of trouble are you having Officer Jenny?"
"It's a long story," Officer Jenny said, "But a few years ago a young boy trainer who lived here was given a pokemon, a Ponyta, as a birthday gift. We'll as the years went by the boy was getting upset at the fact that his pokemon wasn't evolving on its own. It turns out that the Ponyta didn't want to evolve and when the boy finally forced it to evole with the use of a firestone the new Rapidash grew angry at the boy and refused to listen to his orders. Finally the boy gave up and abandoned it in a nearby forest hoping to never see it again."
"He just abandoned it?" Callista asked, she couldn't believe her ears. "Just like that?"
"Yes, and the Rapidash just recently found its way back here and is now running wild down the streets trying to find the boy," Officer Jenny explained. "But the boy left this city just after he abandoned his pokemon."
"Well, why don't you just battle it and capture the pokemon so it doesnt cause so much trouble?" Ruby asked.
"We tried that many times, but like I said all the officers on the force have Spinarak and bug pokemon are weak against fire attacks. All the volenteer trainers who have come by to try to help all got chased right out of the city. We don't know what to do. The pokemon burns up everything in its path. We use to have such beautiful mansions, but they are now all broken down rubble."
"Like mine!" Another voice appeared at the door of the office.
Officer Jenny moved and the girls saw a heavy set old man, about in his fourties, wearing very wealthy looking clothes. He spoke up again, "Officer Jenny! Have you thought of anything to get rid of that monster yet."
Ruby resented that remark.
"That monster burned up the last of my rose patches this morning and torn down my tool shed," he continued, "If you don't do something soon I'll call my own exterminatior to get rid of it for good."
"I understand your angry. But its not the pokemon's fault. We wanted to try to stop it without really hurting it, but....."
"That's not a pokemon its a monster! And you better hurry up and get rid of it fast and soon!" The old man turned and left the office, stomping his feet as he walked out.
Officer Jenny stepped over to the other side of the desk and flopped onto the chair. She placed her head in her hands and signed. "What am I going to do?"
"Don't you worry Officer Jenny," Callista said, "We'll help you find a way to stop that pokemon."
"We will?" Emily whispered to Callista as Callista gently jabbed her in the stomach. Emily changed her attitude. "I mean yes, yes we will."
"Of course," Ruby added, "I am a fire pokemon trainer and I can't stand by and watch this pokemon suffer like this. I'm sure if we all put our heads together we can help it."
The telephone that was sitting on the desk started to ring and Officer Jenny quickly picked it up.
"Hello," she said. "Yes this is her.........what.........I'm on it!" Officer Jenny slammed the receiver back onto the phone base and looked up at the girls. "We have to go."
They all piled into Officer Jenny's police jeep and sped away.
Two faces rose up from the outside window of the police office. It was Pat and Garret still following the girls. They over heard what Officer Jenny had told the girls and they already thought of a use for this pokemon.
"Did you hear that Pat?" Garret whispered. "A wild Rapidash right here in town."
Pat replied, "Yes, and that would make a perfect pokemon for our team. All we would have to do is release it and let it run a muck around our enemies. And after it burns everything in sight we call it back and finish up the job ourselves. We have to have it!"
"But how are we going to trap it?" Garret asked. "All of out money was spent on that helicopter that those brats destroyed."
"Then we will just have to do things the old fashion way," Pat replied. "We will let the brats battle it and then finish it off with our pokemon and then catch it for outselves.
"Great idea!" Garret replied. "We better hurry and find it before the others do."
And with that, Team Rocket snuck off in search of the wild Rapidash.
"What is going on?" Callista asked as she rode in the front seat with Jenny. The other two girls were sitting in the back.
"That call was from one of our families at the edge of the city," Officer Jenny explained. "The Rapidash is there right now as we speak attacking the family members."
When they finally arrived on the scene the trio saw what they were up against. It was huge and extremely musclar, probably from all the destruction of the strong buildings in the city. Ruby guessed the pokemon was about 5' 8" and over 200 lbs. The Rapidash was ramming up against the side of the house where the family hid and tried to protect themselves from the wild pokemon.
"What should we do?" Callista asked as Officer Jenny jumped out of the Jeep.
"We need to get it away from the family and then we can decide how to stop it," Officer Jenny reached back and tossed a pokeball into the air. "Go!"
Spinarak appeared.
"Spinarak, get its attention with your poison sting."
Spinarak shot out several poison barbs which struck the Rapidash in the back if its next. Rapidash flinched and then turned its sights on the four girls. It must have thought that these would make much easier targets, because it quickly turned around and began pawing at the ground.
"I think its about ready to charge," Emily shouted as Callista dashed a head of them. "What are you doing?"
Callista grabbed a rock from the ground and got a little closer to the angry pokemon.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Callista shouted at the pokemon as she threw the rock straight into the pokemon's face.
The rock didn't hurt it, but it did make the Rapidash even angrier.
"Yeah that was smart," Ruby said as the girls looked on.
"You didn't like that did you? Well, what are you going to do about that," Callista shouted as she darted back towards the girls.
The Rapidash pawed at the ground again and then chased after her.
"Run for it!" Callista shouted as she dashed past the other girls.
Officer Jenny, Ruby and Emily all looked up and saw the Rapidash charge straight towards them. The girls raced after Callista as Callista lead the Rapidash away from the family.
"At least now the Rapidash is focused on us and not the family," Callista screamed out to her friends as they all ran from the Rapidash.
After a few minutes of running, the girls were almost out of breath.
"We can't keep this up all day," Ruby yelled out to Callista. "Besides Rapidash is one of the fastest pokemon out there. There is no way we can out run it!"
"You absolutely right," Callista said as she turned around and faced the charging pokemon. "You guys hide and I'll distract it." Callista grabbed a pokeball and tossed it into the air. "I choose you, Pikachu!"
Pikachu appeared from its pokeball.
"Pikachu use your thundershock!" Callista ordered as Pikachu released its electric attack into the Rapidash.
The Rapidash stopped charging and stomped its hoofs into the dirt trying to send the electricity into the ground. It worked and the thundershock attack stopped. Rapidash pawed at the ground in anger.
Ruby and the others ran into a nearby abandoned building and watched the battle from a half broken glass window.
"I think that attack made it even madder!" Emily shouted as Callista nodded.
"Pikachu use your quick attack!" Callista ordered as Pikachu sped towards the Rapidash.
Rapidash rose itself up onto its hind legs and just as Pikachu approached it slammed its hoofs right onto the Pikachu using its stomp attack. Rapidash backed off and left the unconcious mouse on the ground.
"Pikachu return," Callista called her pokemon back and grabbed another pokeball. "Let's try something a little bit different. Go Chikorita!"
Chikorita appeared from its pokeball.
"Chikorita try to calm it down with your sweet scent!" Callista ordered as Rapidash approached again.
Chikorita raised its large leaf and release a cloud of pink dust towards the Rapidash. Rapidash used its flamethrower and burned up the attack before the sweet scent could affect the fire horse. Rapidash then released another flamethrower attack. This time Callista chickened out and called her pokemon back. "Return quickly!"
Chikorita returned to its pokeball.
"I can't have you facing a fire pokemon like that!" Callista said to the pokeball as she looked up and saw the Rapidash charge at her.
Callista screamed and ran towards the abandoned building. Unfortunetly, Callista was out of pokemon and she was chased back into the building with the other girls.
As she breathed deepy from running she said, "Well.....I tried."
"Well then it must be our turn!" A familar voice appeared from the back door of the building.
It was Pat and Garret.
"Prepare for trouble!" Pat said.
"And make it double!"
"To conquer the world and its habitation."
"To restart our forces and its new generation."
"To announce the team to all the masters."
"To build our team and cause disasters."
"Pat."
"Garret."
"Team Rocket takes over with all of its might."
"Surrender your pokemon now or prepare to fight."
Callista spoke up angerly. "What are you two doing here."
"If you haven't already figured it out then you don't know us very well do you?" Garret sneered as he and Pat approached the girls.
"That pokemon would be a valuable asset to our team!" Pat said as she grabbed an empty pokeball. "That pokemon must be ours, and after you Pikachu shocked it that pokemon will be a sinch to catch."
Pat and Garret both raced out of the building and faced the Rapidash. Rapidash stared down Team Rocket, but the team refused to budge.
"Go pokeball!"
Pat tossed the pokeball towards the Rapidash, but the Rapidash easily hit it with its horn and threw it right back to Pat.
As Callista watched Team Rocket she shouted to them, "You have to weaken it first before you can catch it. I know Pikachu zapped it but even so that Rapidash is far from being weak!"
"Fine then have it your way!" Pat grabbed both of her pokeballs. "Go Spearow, go Murkrow!" Both of the bird pokemon appeared, Spearow on the ground and Murkrow hovering in mid air. "Both of you attack that Rapidash together!"
Both of the birds flew up into the sky and then dove towards the fire pokemon.
Rapidash, seeing this, raised its head and released a huge flamethrower towards the birds. The bird were caught offguard and were both knocked from the sky as the flamethrower struck the both of them. Murkrow and Spearow both fell onto the ground. Spearow had a hard time getting back into its feet as Murkrow got back up easily.
"Let's put all of our forces together," Garret said as he tossed both of his pokeballs and released his pokemon as well.
Croconaw and Ariados appeared from their pokeballs.
"Hey, four against one is not fair!" Emily shouted as Ruby smiled.
Ruby has been watching this Rapidash for a while now and every second she was learning more and more about the strength and speed of its attacks.
"Croconaw use your water gun," Garret commanded as Croconaw released a large burst of water towards the Rapidash.
The water gun hit the Rapidash, weaking its defences and pushed the fire horse to the side. Rapidash didn't like the water attack much and quickly charged at the Croconaw. Croconaw tried to run, but the fire horse was too quick and it slammed into the water pokemon with a mighty take down attack. When the Croconaw was lying on the ground trying to recover from the previous attack, the Rapidash raised itself into its hind legs and slammed its hoofs onto the Croconaw with its stomp attack.
"Oh, no Croconaw!" Garret whimpered.
"Wing attack, the both of you!" Pat ordered.
Both of her pokemon dove down and struck the Rapidash at the exact same time with their wing attacks. This distracted the pokemon long enough for Garret to call his water pokemon back.
Rapidash kick and pawed in the air trying to get to the bird pokemon.
"Dive!" Pat ordered as the pokemon both dove down.
Rapidash used its flamethrower again and struck both of the pokemon. Spearow was able to get back up, but Murkrow was finished.
Murkrow returned to its pokeball.
"We'll have to try something else," Garret said, "Ariados use your spider web attack!"
Ariados shot out a large web to cover the fire horse.
"I got it!" Garret cheered, but her cheered way too soon.
The fire on the Rapidash's back and mane started to burn away the web. Rapidash broke free easily and then glared at its enemies. Rapidash had just about enough of these jokers and charged at the remaining pokemon. Using all of its strength the Rapidash tackled the pokemon as hard as it could. Ariados and Spearow got tossed right into their trainers knocking them all over.
A small fireball appeared in Rapidash's mouth. Team Rocket screamed as Rapidash released a powerful ember attack towards the team. The huge tornado of flames surrounded its victims and with a big fiery explosion it sent Team Rocket flying.
"I hate fire pokemon," Pat whined as her and Garret shot up unto the sky.
"Yet we have been trying to steal one go figure!" Garret said.
"We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket all shouted together as they disappeared into the sky.
Ruby has just about enough of all this and was ready to finish this once and for all. "Looks like I'm going to have to take care of this myself."
Ruby grabbed a pokeball and raced out of the building.
"Wait, its too dangerous out there," Officer Jenny called out as she and the other girls ran after her.
Ruby ran into the middle of the road just as Rapidash looked up and saw her approach. The angry pokemon immediately looked up and prepared to charge.
"I understand why you are so angry Rapidash!" Ruby shouted out to the pokemon as she attempted to reason with it. "But just because your trainer abandoned you doesn't mean that all humans are like that!"
Rapidash lowered its head and began to paw at the ground.
"You just have to give us a chance to prove ourselves!" Ruby shouted out.
Rapidash just didn't want to listen. It shouted out a call and began to charge at Ruby.
"Ruby get out of there!" Callista shouted as she tried to get out there to her friend, but Officer Jenny and Emily held her back.
Ruby refused to back down. "Then I'm just gonna have to calm you down the hard away!" She reached back and threw a pokeball into the air. "Go Charmander!"
Charmander appeared from its pokeball.
"Charmander use your flamethrower!"
"Char char," Charmander released a powerful flamethrower attack at the charging Rapidash.
Rapidash quickly jumped to the left and dodged the attack.
"That didn't do anything!" Emily said.
Callista disagreed, "Yes it did, it stopped the Rapidash from charging."
Rapidash was more than willing to battle with her as it got into battling stance.
"Okay Chamander we can do this," Ruby said as Charmander nodded in agreement. "Use your flamethrower again!"
As Charmander attacked, the Rapidash leaped out of the way again and charged at the Charmander.
"Look out!" Ruby called out as Rapidash struck Charmander with a takedown attack.
Charmander got tossed aside, but managed to land on its feet.
"Great job," Ruby coached, "Try your leer attack!"
Charmander's eyes glowed a bright red as it hoped to lower the Rapidash's attack power. Unfortunetly it had the opposite effect of the Rapidash and inraged the pokemon even more. Rapidash, again, charged at the Charmander. Before Ruby could react, Rapidash struck the Charmander with another powerful take down attack. Again, Charmander was tossed to the side, but this time Charmander couldn't find the strength to get back onto its feet and collapsed onto the floor.
"Charmander return!" Ruby called her pokemon back and grabbed another pokeball. "Go Vulpix!"
Vuplix appeared from its pokeball.
"Remember Vulpix you're a winner. You can do this!" Callista called out from the building.
The Rapidash didn't wait for Ruby to make a move as it charged once again.
"Use your agility!"
Vuplix bolted out of the way just before the Rapidash could attack.
"Quick attack," Ruby shouted as the Vulpix tackled the angry pokemon from the side. The Rapidash was pushed a little bit off balance, but it quickly regained itself and pawed at the ground. Before it could charge again, Ruby took the next move. "Use your confuse ray!"
A small beam of red light flashed from Vuplix's eyes and made contact with Rapidash's. Immediately Rapidash began to run around in a circle, kicking the air like if it was being attacked by something. Now that Rapidash was confused, Ruby tried to take the advantage. "Vuplix use your quick attack."
Vulpix darted toward the wild-eyed Rapidash, but before it could strike with the attack Rapidash turned its back on the pokemon and, without knowing it, kicked the small pokemon with its amazingly powerful back legs. Vulpix was thrown to the ground.
"Come on Vulpix," Ruby coached, but Vulpix was unable to continue the battle and collapsed onto the ground. "Vulpix return," Ruby sighed as she looked over at the Rapidash. "You are tough!"
The Rapidash was extremely exhausted from all the battling and stampeding around the city all day. There was no way this pokemon would be able to last for too much longer. Rapidash managed to shake off the confusion and focused back on its enemy.
Callista looked up at the buildings and noticed people beginning to open up their windows when they heard the battle happening on the outside and wanted to see what was going on.
Ruby only focused on the Rapidash and did not notice anything else that was happening around her. Ruby grabbed her last pokeball and prepared to battle again. "But I can't stand by and let you suffer like this. I choose you Quilava!"
Quilava appeared from its pokeball. "Lava!"
The two pokemon stared at each others eyes, both of them refusing to back down.
"Go Quilava use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out.
"Lava," Quilava started up it's flame on its back and then released a powerful flamethrower attack at the Rapidash.
The Rapidash leaped out of the way and then used its own flamethrower back right at Quilava.
"Flame it again quick!"
Quilava used its flamethrower again and the two attacks struck each other with a mighty blow. The flamethrowers seemed to be equally powerful since neither seemed to be making any progress. Rapidash, seeing this was useless stopped and used its speed to dodge the remaining flames from Quilava's attack. Quilava stopped and waited for its next order.
"Use agility!"
Quilava bolted towards the Rapidash using its speedy agility. Rapidash was getting dizzy with Quilava circling and was starting to get confused again.
"Quick attack!"
Quilava attacked from behind and hit the Rapidash with a powerful quick attack. This time Rapidash was tossed to the side, but only for a few seconds and then it quickly jumped back up. Again the attack kept the Rapidash from getting confused again. It raised its front hooves, let out a cry and then charged straight for Quilava eyes glowing a bright red.
"Get out of the way!" Ruby cried as Rapidash struck Quilava with a tackle attack.
Quilava was thrown into the air, but then when it came down the little pokemon managed to land on its feet. "Lava"
"Great job Quilava," Ruby cheered. She stopped cheering when she saw the Rapidash attacking again. The big pokemon dashed towards the Quilava with its horn pointing right at its victims stomach. "Smoke screen!"
Quilava opened its mouth and released a huge cloud of thick smoke. Rapidash stopped in its tracks trying to figure out where it was going and where Quilava went.
"Take down attack!"
Out of nowhere, Quilava struck the Rapidash from the side with a mighty attack.
Rapidash was thrown down onto the floor. With its legs shaking of exhaustion, the Rapidash struggled to its feet. When the smoke had cleared the Quilava had returned to Ruby's side, awaiting another command. Ruby stared at the Rapidash. "One more attack should do it," Ruby thought to herself as the other girls continued to look on.
"You can do it Ruby," Callista yelled out as Emily nodded and smiled along with Officer Jenny.
Ruby glanced back at them, nodded and then put her attention back onto the battle. When she looked at Rapidash it looked a little different to her. It head hung down in lack of breath and its legs were spread part and all tensed up. Its eyes faced forward toward Quilava and were bright red. The air around the shape of its body began to turn a light pink.
"What's going on," Ruby asked as she turned to Callista.
Callista opened her pokedex and pointed it at Rapidash.
Pokedex: "Rage, one of Rapidash's greatest attacks. As its rage increases so does its attack power. This can be very dangerous and proceed with caution."
With Ruby distracted by the pokedex, Rapidash took this opportunity and charged at Quilava. Ruby turned just in time to see Quilava get hit by Rapidash's take down attack. Quilava was thrown into the air again and landed, hard, onto its back.
"Quilava are you okay?" Ruby asked as Quilava struggled to its feet.
Rapidash charged again, this time it seemed much faster and with a lot more power.
"Quilava use your agility and get behind it!"
Quilava dashed out of the way as Rapidash stopped itself when its saw that its target had moved. Quilava appeared from behind as Rapidash turned its head around.
"Now use your flamethrower!" Ruby called out as Quilava hit the Rapidash in the back with a powerful flamethrower.
Rapidash stomped its hoofs into the ground to brace itself and tried to fight against the hot burning flames. It slowly turned around and began to move towards the Quilava as the flames continued to push on the Rapidash. Seeing this was very dangerous for the pokemon Ruby ordered for Quilava to stop. Quilava stopped its flame attack and Rapidash fell to the ground.
Ruby decided to try a pokeball. "Pokeball go!"
She tossed it at the Rapidash and the Rapidash got sucked in. The ball twitched around on the ground and just as Ruby thought that she might have caught it the Rapidash jumped right back out. Rapidash appeared exhausted and could hardly stand up.
"I really don't want to do this," Ruby said as she winced at the idea, "But I have no other choice. I can't allow for you to continue to hurt yourself and others just because some immature trainer dumped you." Ruby's eyes turned focused and ordered her final attack. "Quilava use your flame wheel!"
Quilava dashed toward the Rapidash as it lit its body into a giant ball of flames. Rapidash raised its head and, using all of its strength, released a weak flamethrower attack to try to stop Quilava's attack. Quilava's flaming body broke through the flamethrower and struck the Rapidash with a tremendous force. As Rapidash fell to the ground, Ruby threw the pokeball once again. "Pokeball go!" The pokeball tapped the motionless Rapidash and sucked the pokemon inside. The light flickered as the ball twitched on the ground. It twitched and twitched until finally the ball stopped and the light flickered off. Ruby stared at the pokeball for a few seconds, just to be safe, and then walked up to it. She picked it up and whispered to it. "You have a friend now Rapidash."
A huge round of applause echoed through the street as Ruby and the others looked up and saw hundreds of people clapping and cheering for Ruby from out of their windows and doors. All of them grateful to her for taking care of their huge fiery problem.
She put the pokeball away and looked up at her friends. Callista was the first one to run up to her. She gave Ruby a big hug, "I knew you could do it!"
"You were awesome," Emily said as she and Officer Jenny approached too.
"Thank you so much," Officer Jenny said, "I don't know what we could have done with you."
"I'm glad I could help," Ruby said as she glanced at Rapidash's pokeball on her waist. "I'm glad I have a chance to help you too."
Officer Jenny gave the girls a lift to the other side of the city towards the next town.
"I just can't thank you all enough," Officer Jenny said, "Everyone will feel safe now that you have captured that troublesome Rapidash and we all are working together to rebuild our town."
"I am glad we could help," Ruby said.
"Well, good luck Callista," Officer Jenny said as she shook Callista's hand. "I wish you good luck in the Johto League."
"Thank you!"
Officer Jenny turned to Ruby. "Take good care of that Rapidash."
"You can count on me," Ruby answered.
The trio began to walk away as they waved goodbye to Officer Jenny.
"Good bye," Officer Jenny shouted out to them. "And thanks again."
"Goodbye!" The three of them shouted out together.
Once again the trio set out towards the next town and towards their next adventure with high hopes and a brand new pokemon for Ruby.