Mark and Joseph woke up tied to a tree by where Mark and Cody's camp had been earlier in the day. Both of their belts, along with their pokeballs, were lying on the ground in front of them.
Mark saw four members of Team Rocket, including the three from Viridian City and one that he didn't know. Cody was also there, but he wasn't wearing a Rocket uniform.
The leader from back at Viridian City left soon after they awoke, as did the two enforcers that were there too.
"You two keep an eye on them, and maybe Cody can come back." The leader told them as he left. Cody released Shredder and Pinsir, and the unknown Rocket pulled a gun from his belt.
"Alright, Cody. So now I know why you joined Team Rocket. Because they're the only people who come close to being as cowardly, backstabbing, and cruel as you." Mark spat after the leader had left.
Cody didn't say anything, but he definitely looked hurt. The other Rocket, who was large and muscular glanced at Cody for a response, and when he didn't give one, the Rocket left to go sit by the fire.
"You don't know anything about me. How dare you presume to judge me?" Cody replied once his partner was out of earshot.
"I know that you're a lying criminal. What more is there?"
Cody didn't answer, but he left in disgust to join his partner, Shredder and Pinsir following behind.
Then Joseph made his move. He stuck his hand into his shoe and pulled out a small, flat knife that he must have been keeping there. He quickly cut his bonds and reached the pokeballs on the ground in front of him.
"How do you expect to get out of here with them watching?" Mark whispered.
"Does your Bulbasaur know Sleep Powder?"
"I think so." Mark told him, and then reached for Spore's pokeball. After fastening his belt to his waist and slinging his pack over his shoulder he threw the pokeball and gave the command.
"Spore! Use Sleep Powder now!" He cried.
Shredder and Pinsir got up to fight, but were quickly put to sleep by the small purple flakes. Cody fell a second after, and the Rocket was asleep just before he'd pulled his gun back out of his belt.
"Let's go!" Joseph told his fellow captive, but Mark wanted to do something first. He took Pinsir and Shredder's pokeballs off of Cody and returned the pokemon, then set them on the ground. He proceeded to tie up the Rockets to the tree just as they'd been tied, and then he left.
"Where should we go now?" Joseph asked Mark as they ran down the forest path.
"I just know that I want to go somewhere where there are no Team Rocket members." Mark answered.
They headed in a random direction until the trees began to become sparse. Joseph spotted a sign that read ROUTE 01, VIRIDIAN FOREST-PALLET TOWN.
"How about Hoenn?" Joseph asked, smiling.
"You mean leave the country? Without telling anybody?"
"We'd call home once we reached port in Hoenn. I hear that they've got an up and coming pokemon league, and they definitely don't have any Rockets."
"I'd have to think about it. I mean, that's a pretty major decision." Mark responded, his mind working hard on the situation at hand.
"This may or may not effect your decision, since we've just met, but I'm definitely going to Hoenn. I mean, we were just hogtied and held captive by dangerous criminals!" Joseph explained as he made his way to the port in Pallet Town. The small settlement had had a population explosion recently, and a small seaport had been built along the coast.
Mark decided to think on it some more. It sounded like a good idea, but he'd like to ask his parents first. However, he couldn't risk going along Route 01 again, not with Team Rocket all over.
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Joseph boarded a small ship christened the SS Moltres after buying a last minute ticket from a customs officer. It was too bad that Mark wasn't coming, because even though they'd only just met, he felt like he shared something with him.
He felt his stomach lurch as the SS Moltres left port and got out to open sea. Even with its powerful motors it would take the ship about a week to reach Slateport City. Joseph looked out onto the ocean from the deck, enjoying the salty air.
"Hey Joseph!" a familiar voice called out, and Joseph was surprised to see Mark standing on board, Spore and Bruin beside him.
"You came!" Joseph exclaimed, happy that somebody he knew was going to accompany him on his journey to a new country.
"Yeah, it was a hard decision, but I think I made the right choice. I used Professor Oak's phone to call my parents, but they weren't in so I just left a message. I didn't mention about Team Rocket though, I wouldn't want them to worry."
The two boys talked on the deck for about an hour before heading back to their cabins below deck.
As Mark walked down the stairs, he saw a small arena where two pokemon were battling. Interested, he went to see what was going on.
A Pidgey and Geodude were battling, and it looked like the flying-type had the upper hand. Its trainer kept telling it to use Gust attack, which seemed to be working quite well.
Then the Geodude's trainer called back his pokemon and tossed out a second ball, which opened up to release a large pokemon with a jagged tail. Raichu.
"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!" The trainer commanded, and a blast of electricity arced out from the Raichu's cheeks, hitting Pidgey straight on and knocking it out.
The small crowd around the battle cheered, and Mark was amazed by that display of power. As the embarrassed Pidgey trainer handed over his money, his opponent left quickly, his Raichu toddling along behind him.
After that display, Mark realized that the battlers here were out of his league, so instead of waiting around for a chance to fight, he continued going towards his room.
"Hey, kid. Wanna trade?" A girl asked him, looking at Bruin who was still out of his pokeball. "I'll give you my Totodile for your Teddiursa."
"Totodile? What's that?" Mark asked, having never heard of that pokemon before.
"It was my starter pokemon that I got from Professor Elm. I really prefer cute pokemon to tough ones, so I've been looking to trade it for quite some time."
"Oh! This is from Johto. But still, I don't know if I should trade for your starter, I mean, don't trainers usually have a special bond with their starter?" Mark asked. He really wanted the pokemon, but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.
"Well, if you don't want to trade for the Totodile, how about this Dustox? It was really cute when it was a Wurmple, but now all it's good for is battling."
"A Dustox? Sure!" Mark exclaimed. Bruin was all right, but he'd heard of Dustox before. It was one of the few Hoenn pokemon he knew about. Mark knew that it used Psychic attacks, plus it would be good to have a local pokemon when he reached Hoenn.
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The rest of the week passed without anything out of the ordinary happening, but the day that the SS Moltres was supposed to dock at Slateport, none of the crew could see any cities at all. They just saw a large expanse of plains, with several herds of pokemon grazing it.
"All right everyone, it looks like we made a mistake in our calculations. We're currently four hours south of Slateport, but we won't be able to turn around for a few hours. So, any trainers who want to go test their luck against some of the biggest pokemon in the world will be allowed to go to go to the land, as long as you're back by six." A voice explained over the intercom.
Mark definitely wanted to go to shore and catch some pokemon, so he went up to the deck to see if he could catch a ride on anyone's water pokemon.
"Hey, Mark you heading to the mainland?" Joseph called, and Mark turned to see him about to jump off of the ship and on to a Lapras.
"Is that yours?" Mark asked, incredulous.
"Well, not really. It's my dad's. He sent it here via PC for me to use until I've got some more pokemon." Joseph explained.
"But, a Lapras? Those are pretty rare and quite strong, too. I just can't believe it."
"You coming or not?" Joseph called from the Lapras.
"You bet." Mark replied, jumping down from the boat.
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When they finally reached land, Mark and Joseph clambered up the seashore and onto the grassy plains that were being grazed by a herd of Tauros.
"I've got to catch one of those!" Mark exclaimed, and he quickly ran towards the nearest one.
"Stop!" Joseph yelled. "Those things are tough! If you absolutely have to catch one, try and get one of the stragglers. If you attack one in the middle of the herd they might all gang up on you."
"Okay, fine. I'll try that one then." Mark said, pointing to a Tauros lying down on the far edge of the herd. "Dustox, Spore, let's get ready to battle, okay?"
Dustox flew towards the straggler and let loose a flurry of flakes that temporarily paralysed it. Then, Spore unleashed tow powerful vines that crashed into it, dealing it an average amount of damage.
Once again Dustox attacked, but this time it used a Psychic attack. His eyes began to glow, and suddenly the Tauros shuddered violently, then snapped out of paralysis. Spore was sent fling by a powerful Horn Attack, and Dustox would have been next if it hadn't dodged the attack just in time.
"Alright, Dustox, use Confusion again!" Mark commanded after calling back Spore. Sweat was pouring sown his face from this intense battle, but he wasn't going to give up. The Tauros shuddered terribly again, but this time it turned around and used Horn Attack again, cutting open Dustox' thorax.
"Spore, I need you to help out again!" Mark commanded as he tossed out his Bulbasaur's pokeball. This battle was turning out to be too much for him to handle, but he wasn't going to give up. No way.
"Mark! Can't you see that this Tauros might kill your pokemon?" Joseph screamed, and then he tried to stop Spore by jumping on it. However, the Bulbasaur dodged and Joseph fell to the ground.
"I'm not giving up, Joseph." Mark yelled back, and gave another command to his pokemon.
"Dustox, use Confusion. And while it's down, Spore can attack it with Vine Whip!"
The Dustox's eyes glowed again, and as the Tauros began to twitch, Spore's bulb shot out two vines that slammed it to the ground. Before it could struggle back up, though, Mark tossed an empty Greatball at it that encased the wild pokemon completely. He waited for the pokemon to burst out, but it didn't. Mark had caught the Tauros!
He and Joseph walked back to shore slowly, and Joseph was clearly disappointed in Mark. "You may have won, but your pokemon are seriously hurt. When are you going to learn when to draw the line?"
"I don't know, but it worked, didn't it?" Mark chuckled.
"I guess, but next time it might not." Joseph replied.
The two trainers reached the ship a few minutes before it set sail again, and they were off, soon to be in Hoenn. Mark was happy to have a new pokemon, and all three of them were now in the hands of the Nurse on board the ship.
