To Dannichu, Reviewer of the Chapter: You're the first person to notice the quirks! hands you a plate of nachos (or cookies, if you don't feel like nachos...) Just about every Pokemon will have one of these (Bulba's (shy) was pointed out for the reader, but none of the others will be) in this and related stories (except Charmander... I can't think of a good one for it, but then again, FR's turned out very people-centric thus far). Not much of those will be in this chapter, though... this is one of the more serious ones...
---
VS Rhyhorn
It had been a week since Leaf's battle with the Rocket Grunts... and now, it was time to face whatever challenge they had planned for her. Not that she was worried, of course- she thought her two encounters with them had told her all she needed to know. They were simply weak, annoying, and used way too many Poison-types. A few hard hits, and they would be down and out, and she could go home and do her homework...
Oh, how wrong she was.
She stood in front of the Gym, a large, run-down building. Huge, circular holes were in many of the windows, as well as one of the walls, and whichever windows hadn't been broken were cracked... it gave her the creeps, that was for sure. A signpost in front said Viridian City Gym and nothing else.
She took a deep breath and went inside...
...and a huge, rocky Pokemon stared her down, grinning at its new prey. Leaf screamed and it charged. Just when it was about to use its large horn to smash her into a bloody pulp, a burst of white light quickly recalled it. Laughter came from the depths of the Gym, but she couldn't see the person it was coming from.
A man's voice. "Release your Pokemon." Leaf sent out Clefairy. "Both of your Pokemon." Bulbasaur followed. "Tell me- what do you see Team Rocket as?"
Leaf considered her options- Maybe this is someone against Team Rocket...- and smirked. "An annoyance. They just like to creep people out." More laughter. Giving this guy sass had definitely been the wrong answer.
"Then you misunderstand what those agents were for... they have a lot to learn... as do you." Very much the wrong answer. "Your opponent will be Rhyhorn-" the same pokemon that had been at the door reappeared and roared- "and you may use both of your Pokemon against it... not that it'll make any difference as to whether or not you'll win. Begin now."
Beginning to panic, Leaf yelled, "Clefairy, Magical Leaf! Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" Leaves of various colors- mostly yellow and red- formed in the air around Clefairy, and it pointed them toward Rhyhorn. The Spikes Pokemon was only annoyed by them and Bulbasaur's two vines, which were hitting Rhyhorn repeatedly without any effect. It charged at Bulbasaur and had knocked it out before it could dodge. Clefairy kept using Magical Leaf after Magical Leaf, but it had no effect on the charging pokemon... and soon Clefairy was unconcious too. Leaf recalled them both as Rhyhorn pounced upon what would have been her pokemon, but was now just empty air. It turned for her, slobber coming from its mouth... but it was again recalled, leaving a puddle of saliva on the floor. Scared out of her wits, Leaf ran for the door as the man's laughter pounded in her ears, running for home-
She reached it after a few minutes of running, letting herself in and locking the door, shutting away the outside world. Things were normal here... There was her mom, sitting at the table. She was probably really caught up in bills to not notice her... but this was important. Leaf walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Mom?" No response. She shook her shoulder and almost fainted.
The blank face of a stuffed dummy stared back at her, its blonde wig falling off. A note was pinned to its chest...
Leaf,
Your mother will be fine... for now. She tells me you wish to go on a journey... why don't you? Collect the seven badges of Kanto other than the Green Badge and return to the Viridian Gym. I doubt you have been much of a challenge for me
This was before her battle... while she was at school, they'd done this. Why hadn't she come home first, why?
and I'm not quite sure if you ever will be, however... the police will be warned about this, and they'll be coming soon... they'll want the Viridian Gym Leader there, of course...
He'd be there, whoever he was, and chances were he would frame her. She wasn't safe here...
I think you had better get packing.
What choice was there? There was more to Team Rocket than Leaf had thought, and there was no way that she could beat them now. She went to her room and dumped the books that she had put in her yellow bag out. Having never gone camping, she was putting in various things such as money, her favorite blanket, pillow, and Pikachu plushie, and the Potion she had gotten as a souvenir from the Pewter Gym that ranged from useful to completely useless. Her next stop was the kitchen downstairs. Only a few fruit snacks made it into her bag before she heard sirens, and she dashed out the door and away.
It was the journey she had always wanted... but she had never thought it would be like this...
---
REWRITE! Gets rid of the same thing as the VS Horsea one. Most of the original review is below...
Personally, I don't really like this chapter as much as some of the other TR-related chapters I have planned... I just can't do horror stories well. That, and I was also unsure of how to end it, so that took up some time (you'll see... personally, I think it's just out of place in this one). I also have no idea what the English names of the Kanto (or Johto, for that matter) badges are, so I'm using the Japanese names (Grey Badge, Blue Badge, Orange Badge, etc.) for now, as you might have noticed. Don't be afraid to review!
