A/N: Well it is official NO MORE REVIEW RESPONSES ALLOWED. Thankfully they added the response links to signed reviews, so if you have a question and leave it in a review or a concern you'd like a response to, you should make sure you leave a signed review. I mean it only takes like a second to login don't be lazy.
WARNING! ANGST AND TRADGEDY AHEAD. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
The Escape
"I don't remember this place being so cold." Said Ash shivering. "It's like fifty below!"
"Will you stop whining?" Snapped Misty "We're almost to the Pokemon Center anyway."
Once the group reached Mahogany Town they decided to return Suicune to his pokeball and walk the rest of the way. Unfortunately for the weary group it was at the height of winter and very early in the morning. Trainers' Forest had delayed them almost an entire day.
From the edge of town it took them about an hour to reach to Pokemon Center while carrying quite a few battered pokemon who were too damaged to go back into their balls. Psyduck still had what appeared to be a concussion; Pikachu was utterly exhausted and most likely had some internal injuries from all the battling he did. Dawn and Mune were simply worn out as were all of Misty's pokemon save Suicune. Ash's Poke'dex was still on the fritz so he couldn't transfer any of his battle worn partners into storage for another.
Upon entering the center they rushed straight up to the counter. A very sleepy Nurse Joy greeted them in a monotone. "Welcome to Mahogany Town Pokemon Center will you…" She stopped when she noticed the state of the pokemon who were out of their balls. Seeing them immediately woke her up. "What in Ho-Oh did you do to them?" She exclaimed.
"Trainers' Forest." Said Ash simply "And we won all our battles. You'll probably get some more in here later. Team Rocket attacked us after we were forced to battle like 100 times and it took everything our Pokemon had to get rid of them."
"I see." Said Joy "Hand over your pokeballs." They did so and then she ushered some Blissy to take their severely injured pokemon to the Operation Room. "You'll have to wait here for a while. I'm going to do my best and that's all I can promise." At the sorrowful looks on the teenager's faces she added "I'm sure they'll be fine, but it will take some time." With that she left them to go back to the Operations Room.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Asked Misty holding back tears. She didn't like seeing her pokemon injured and she certainly didn't want a repeat of what happened to Starmie.
Ash pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "They'll be fine Mist." He said reassuringly "They've been through worse battles then that."
"But Psyduck…" She sobbed quietly into his chest "…Psyduck's never had a headache were he wasn't blasting Confusion attacks everywhere. And there was a really tender spot on his head. He smacked that tree so hard."
A tender spot, that can't be good. Thought Ash. Aloud he said "If anyone can survive head trauma I'm sure Psyduck can." As an afterthought he added "His head's almost as thick as mine."
The caused Misty to giggle a bit and Ash was glad he'd cheered her up slightly. In truth he was really worried about his pokemon as well. It was never good to have your pokemon battle constantly as they had done. The only positive that he could see from this situation was Misty catching Ariados and Dawn finally evolving. With a melancholy of thoughts Ash lead Misty over to on of the large couches and sat down on it. Within minutes they were both sleeping heavily Ash holding Misty tightly in his arms.
…
It was three days after Ash and Misty arrived in Mahogany Town that Giovanni decided to strike. He knew that they were at the Pokemon Center thanks to the grunts he had tailing them. Based on his information they were still recovering and only had a few pokemon between them. By his reasoning the only pokemon needed to decimate them at this time was Lugia. With that he got ready to make his strike. He didn't want any grunts to botch this up so he was giving this mission his personal touch. Once his Team was assembled they boarded a blimp and were on their way to Johto.
…
Giovanni had taken quite a few of the good trainers in Team Rocket on his mission. This left only a handful of competent trainers at the headquarters in Veridian. Creig and Fiona were off on a field assignment as were Bashou and Bason. This left only Domino and the Gym Leaders as the best trainers in the building. These were the thoughts of Brock Slate as he made his way down toward the Holding Cells. He found the one he was looking for and stared through the bars at the lone occupant.
"Professor." Brock whispered
Oak looked up and saw Brock standing on the other side of the cell door. "What is it now?" He asked in resignation. He knew Brock was now a loyal Rocket so he wasn't expecting any sympathy from him or any other person who came to the cell.
"Listen I know I've done some pretty awful things since you've been here…" Began Brock
"You killed twenty helpless BABY pokemon and didn't even blink." Said Oak. "Not to mention you helped them attack Pallet."
"I didn't have a choice!" Protested Brock
"There's always a choice young man." Said Oak "It is a matter of consequences which we don't like to face which make us say things like 'I had no choice' there is always a choice."
"They were going to kill them." Said Brock meekly.
"And I suppose they didn't?" Asked Oak
"They did." Said Brock "My Crobat and my parents, plus they now have all my siblings in some kind of training program."
"That's all very sad, but what are you doing here?" Asked Oak
"I know that nothing I do can make up for some of the things I've done, but I can't do this anymore." Said Brock "I'm getting out of here and I'm not leaving you here."
"Take Mae and leave me here." Said Oak
"What!" Asked an astonished Brock. "Professor I can't-"
"Yes you can." Said the older man "I'm an old man Brock I'll only slow you down. I'm too much of a bargaining chip if things get ugly for Giovanni for him to kill me. If Mae is gone then that's one less thing for him to Blackmail me with. Like you I've done some things I'm not proud of since I've been in here."
"Sir?" Asked Brock curious as to what the professor had done.
"When you get out of here head to Pallet." Said Oak "They destroyed the top half of the lab but they couldn't get into the subterranean levels. The code to the door is Smeargle Tail."
"Are you sure about this sir?" Asked Brock
"Yes I am." Said Oak without hesitation "Mae is two cells down from me. I think they've been giving her some kind of sedative that keeps her out but stops her from starving herself." He said bitterly "I don't want my granddaughter to continue to go through that."
"I understand professor." Said Brock
"If you see Ash and Gary tell them I'm alright and not to worry." Said Oak "Also let them know about the research you find in the lab. "I left a list of the passwords for the computer files in a filing cabinet. There is no key now so open it by any means necessary."
"I understand." Said Brock "Take care professor, I'll do my best to keep Mae safe."
Oak nodded and Brock
went two cells down and saw a figure lying on the sheet metal cot at
the back of the cell. Brock took out the keys and opened to door.
The girl had long dark brown hair and looked to be about his age.
He walked over to her and lifted her up. She was pretty light and he
figured that had something to do with not eating for well over two
weeks. He checked her pulse and found that it was there if a little
weak. She was also breathing evenly. Putting her over his left
shoulder he exited the room. Now all he needed to do was get Sabrina
out. He figured the best way to do this was to do a full frontal
assault. He made his way to the level with Sabrina's holding
chamber on it. He saw about four guards who weren't looking his way
and he lifted a pokeball from is belt.
He hit the release switch and his Graveler materialized. The guards still hadn't noticed anything so Brock leaned down and whispered into Graveler's ear. "Ram the door as hard as you can and use Explosion." The rock pokemon nodded and charged the door at full speed. The guards were startled when they saw pokemon using Rollout and heading straight for them. They didn't even have time to dodge as the pokemon started glowing white and then there was a massive explosion which blew a hole straight through the blast doors and killed the guards. Brock didn't even bat an eye at the carnage he'd caused. For once he felt justified in doing it. He ran through the smoke and into the hole that was in the doors. He saw Sabrina hanging against the far end of the room by her hands and feet with some kind of helmet on her head. There were four pokeballs on a shelf and without a second thought Brock grabbed them and then sent out Lombre. "Razor Leaf on those binds." He ordered. The top of the jolly pokemon's head started glowing and leaves shot out severing the binds on Sabrina's hands and feet. She seemed to be unconscious at the moment and Brock caught her as she fell. The helmet slipped off her head and was now dangling by chords and clanging against the wall. Now with two unconscious women on each shoulder Brock mad his way back through the hole. He heard a bunch of footsteps coming down the hall toward him and knew he'd been found out. He threw Onix's pokeball and the huge Rock serpent materialized in front of him. It was too big for the hall way and it's horn made a hole in the ceiling. "Onix we need to get out of here. Charge!" He ordered. Onix roared and started plowing down the hall. making it's own doors as it went. Brock knew that there were steel reinforced walls on the outside of the complex so he thought fast. "Onix Hyper Beam the ceiling."
The rock serpent did as he was told and launched a beam of yellow energy at the roof. It made a large hole and the serpent put it's head in the hole and started lifting itself through. It wrapped it's tail around Brock and hoisted him up behind it just as Domino came around the bend.
"Stop him!" She ordered.
Not wasting time with pokeballs the Rockets fired machine guns at the retreating pokemon. They didn't see Lombre behind them until it was too late. There guns were ripped to shreds by a well aimed Razor Leaf and the jolly pokemon jumped into the hole and headed after it's trainer.
…
Ash didn't know what to do. Nurse Joy had informed them that most of their pokemon were going to make full recoveries and only needed a few days rest. However, Psyduck, Pikachu and Ariados were in the worst shape. To make matters worse the nurse had also informed him that the PC was down so he couldn't transfer any pokemon from the pokemon center in Charicific Valley. Thus the only pokemon he had that were in fighting condition were Electra, Onix and Silver. Misty was in a little better shape with Gyarados and Suicune. The rest of their pokemon could battle if it was absolutely necessary but Joy made a point of making them stay back in the Examination Room so they wouldn't battle. This was extremely disappointing to Mune who kept insisting that he was fine and the constant throb in his head was nothing to worry about. Dawn on the other hand had been asleep since shortly after the battle with the F.U.C.K. ME. Ash still couldn't figure out how Team Rocket came up with such a ridiculous name.
Misty was in no better state of mind then her boyfriend. She had always been kind of hard on Psyduck and now was feeling quite guilty about it since he was hurt. Joy said his concussion was very severe and it would take over two weeks to heal properly. It was a delicate process because one wrong move and a loose bone could puncture the brain and cause permanent damage. Thankfully there were no bruises on the brain so the risk of an infection was not as serious. Then there was Ariados. As much as Misty hated bugs she still didn't want anything to happen to that pokemon. Joy said that it should heal completely in a week and that was two days ago. Therefore in another three or four days the pokemon should be in perfect health.
Another interesting thing that happened while they were at the center was when Joy had examined Electra. Ash explained how they'd found her being attacked by a pack of Houndour and a Houndoom and Joy looked her over and said her injuries were gone. She didn't know why here memory was gone and didn't know how to treat that. When asked what she wanted to do since she'd been treated, Electra had decided to stay with Ash. It was obvious that a certain other yellow pokemon was instrumental in this choice
Right now Ash was trying to call Claire in Blackthorn to let her know that he was still on his way but would be delayed. The line rang and finally Richie's face appeared on the screen. "Hey Richie." Ash Said happily. He hadn't talked to his friend in ages.
"Ash!" Exclaimed Richie "We've been worried man. You were supposed to be here two days ago!"
"We got held up." Explained Ash "Ever hear of Trainers' Forest?"
"You didn't go through there did you?" Asked a disbelieving Richie "You'd have to be an idiot to…" At the look on Ash's face Richie stopped talking and was doing his best to contain his laughter.
"Its not funny!" Yelled Ash "I didn't know and now half of our pokemon are hurt!"
"Our?" Asked Richie
"I'm traveling with someone." Said Ash
"Who?" Asked Richie "Do I know them."
"Yes but let's leave it at that for now." Said Ash "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be there as soon as our pokemon are healed."
"Okay Ash I'll let Claire know."
"Well Richie I'll see-" He was cut off by a wall in the pokemon center collapsing "What the hell!"
"What's going on Ash!" Asked Richie
Ash turned around and saw several figures in black with the tell-tale red 'R' in the center of their uniforms. "Not again." Groaned Ash "Its Team Rock-" He didn't finish because the line went dead and several pokemon were released. Ash knew this was bad.
…
Onix surfaced right in the middle of the Veridian Gym arena. Brock ran out of the hole behind Onix and Lombre brought up the rear. As soon as the group made it to the entrance doors Brock knew something was wrong. There should have been a lot more resistance then there had been. His suspicions were proven correct when the doors opened and about a hundred Rockets armed with guns or pokemon were standing on the other side. Behind him he heard more footsteps and realized that he was surrounded. Leading the group in front of him was none other then Creig.
"Well, well, well." Said Creig jovially "What do we have here."
"Looks like someone was trying to escape." Said Butch from behind Brock. "The boss isn't going to like this Slate."
"The boss can shove it for all I care." Said Brock
"You'd better watch your mouth or someone might get hurt." Said Creig. "Now return those pokemon or we'll fire."
Brock did as he was told and returned Onix and Lombre to their pokeballs.
"Now Slate you're gong to learn what happens when you cross Team Rocket." Said Creig. He snapped his fingers and a cage was lowered from the rafters. In the cage were Seven people who looked quite a bit like Brock.
Oh no. Thought Brock He wouldn't. Creig threw a pokeball in the air and Moltres flew up to the level of the cage. "No!" Yelled Brock. The children in the cage screamed when they realized what was about to happen. "NO!" yelled Brock again.
"Moltres, Overheat!"
Brock felt movement on his right shoulder and He heard Sabrina speak into his mind. "There's nothing you can do for them now." She said "Hold on to me as tight as you can and the other girl too." Brock knew she was right and held on tight. There was a flash of light just as a massive jet of flames was sent straight at the cage.
…
Claire had just finished a very tough Gym Battle when Richie came running into the arena. "Claire Ash is in trouble!" He said frantically. "He's at the Mahogany Town Pokemon Center and a bunch of Team Rocket members just showed up."
"Did he say how many there were?" Asked Claire as she and Richie headed outside to find Gary.
"No." Said Richie "He had just called to tell me that he would be late getting here because he took a detour through Trainers' Forest." Said Richie
"Trainers' Forest!" Asked an astonished Claire "Are his pokemon alright?" She asked
"Apparently not." Said Richie "He said he was traveling with someone and that both of them had severely injured Pokemon."
Claire simply nodded and whistled for Dragonite once they'd gotten outside. Within seconds the large dragon pokemon came settling down. Gary was riding on the dragons back and seemed to be a little worse for wear due to the blinding speed in which Dragonite answered his summons.
"Dragonite I need you to take me to Mahogany town as fast as you can." Said Claire urgently.
"What's going on?" Asked Gary
"Ash is in trouble!" Said Richie
Gary hopped off of Dragonite's Back and Claire got on. Richie released Zippo and climbed on the Charizard's back. "Gary I need you to stay here and guard the valley while we're gone." Said Claire.
"Sure thing." Said Gary. He threw a pokeball to Richie who caught it. "That's Alakazam." Said Gary "If you get into trouble have him teleport here and get me."
"Gotcha." Said Richie. Richie and Claire ordered their pokemon to take off and in a large cloud of dust they were on their way.
…
Brock, Sabrina and Mae appeared in a cave with a flash of white light. Brock looked around and saw what looked like a bed of moss in the corner of the cave. He laid the girls gently down on it and started walking toward the entrance of the cave. "There's a river not far from here." Said Sabrina telepathically then all was silent. Brock looked over to her and saw that she was clearly unconscious once again.
Having nothing else to do Brock went and looked for the river. He didn't really have any thoughts in his mind. Everything was just numb. Once he found the river he realized he would need to find some means of getting water to his companions. He saw some large rocks and had an idea. He released Onix and had him use Horn Drill on two of the medium sized stones. He stopped the drill before it went all the way through and made two makeshift bowls. He filled them up with water and headed back toward the cave. He only focused on taking care of the two women in the cave because if he thought of anything else he was afraid he'd loose it. The one thing he did think about the events of the past few hours was that he was going to make sure Creig died a horrible and painful death. And he wanted to do it with his bare hands.
…
A/N: That's it for today folks. I'll have the next update out soon and I will probably finish this story in December since the quarter ends then and I'll have like 3 weeks with nothing better to do. Also I could use a beta reader to help me out with editing and such. That would improve the overall quality of the story. If you're interested in helping me out e-mail me. Only do so if you're a good speller and have a knack for pointing out things that spell-check might miss.
Until Next Time…
