Woo-hoo update! Now, this chapter will bring back a classic character as well as two of the graduates (I haven't forgotten about them and they WILL be appearing again, please don't worry).
Jack entered the main path of Rock Tunnel, the move Flash was no longer required since lights were installed several years earlier, giving the tunnel a soft yellow glow. None of Jack's pokemon were out with him, he decided that they could use a break after their encounter with the RM. He took this time to think about what he would do once he reached Lavender Town.
"Jack..." a voice spoke to him, snapping Jack back to his senses. It was Meridia, she seemed a bit disappointed to see him. It didn't take long for Jack to realize why she looked upset.
"You should have heeded my warning Jack. I told you to avoid Team Dark Star, and now you are a wanted criminal in the eyes of Kanto..." She said, noticeably concerned. Jack looked guilty, but then he realized something.
"Wait a minute, how do you know it's me Meridia?" Jack asked.
"I can read your aura Jack. I would recognize you anywhere!" Meridia answered, a bit of a smile on her face.
"You can read auras?" Jack asked.
"Yes, it's also the reason why I'm such a high ranking member of the company I work for. I've also taught one of my daughters how to read auras!" Meridia explained, she checked the time on her PokeNav Plus. "Please excuse me Jack, I must take my leave. Perhaps we shall meet again. Best of luck to you, stay safe." She left in the direction Jack came from, Jack pressed on through the cave.
Meanwhile, Diego and the twins were going through the hidden passage that led directly to Lavender Town, it wasn't very complex, just a straight path. Wild pokemon crossed their path a few times, but they mostly ignored the trio. After a while, they began hearing this strange thumping sound behind one of the walls. Suddenly, the wall burst open! Ray and Snow walked out of the hole in the wall, the trio were too shocked to say anything.
"Oh hey guys! Sorry if we scared you, our battle must have gotten a little out of hand." Snow said, laughing a little bit.
"Where are we anyway?" Ray asked.
"This is the secret path from the Old Power Plant to Lavender Town." Renée answered.
"Well I guess that'll make it easier for us, we could all go together!" Snow proposed. "But why don't we battle first?"
"That actually sounds like it could be fun!" Julia said.
"Let's make it a double battle! You and Diego against me and Snow!" Ray said, Diego looked eager to battle, the fourth of them got into position and reached for their pokeballs.
Back in the main cave, Jack was admiring how peaceful Rock Tunnel was. He heard the sound of struggling, when he looked to see who it was, he noticed two Geodude. One seemed to be stuck inside of a crack in the wall. In a sense of empathy, Jack helped the Rock pokemon.
"Its always nice for a trainer to help a pokemon in need." A voice said. Jack turned to see a man with spiky brown hair, a brown jacket with a blue shirt underneath it, black pants and hiking boots. Jack seemed to recognize this man and he was in awe at who he was.
"Y-you the champion of Kanto!" Jack said.
"Heh, that's right! The names Blue." He said, shaking Jack's hand.
"What are you doing in a place like this?"
"I've been studying how pokemon act in their natural habitats for my Gramps. You're Jack aren't you?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, but... how did you know?"
"Yeah out have the same look in your eyes as Red, I hear his son became a trainer, too." He said in a hint of nostalgia. "Anyway, I know you're a wanted criminal Jack, but I also know you're innocent. You just don't seem like the type of person who would do that sort of stuff." Suddenly, Blue had an interested look on his face. "How about a battle Jack, I'd like to know just how strong you are."
"You mean it?!" Jack asked in awe.
"Why not? I'd like to see how strong you are." Blue answered, Jack reached for his pokeballs with an incredibly nervous look on his face.
"Wartortle, use Rapid Spin!"
"Roy, use Ice Punch!"
Snow's Wartortle and Ray's Poliwhirl (named Roy) charged at Diego's Golbat and Julia's Spheal.
"Spheal, Body Slam!"
"Golbat, use Confuse Ray!"
Spheal and Golbat tried to counter the water pokemon's attacks, but they failed, taking considerable damage from the assault. Suddenly, Spheal began to evolve! Julia referred to her pokedex to inspect the evolved pokemon.
'Sealeo, the Ball Roll pokemon: Be it a Spheal or a pokeball, Sealeo will spin any hound object on its nose with the greatest of ease.'
"That's so cool!" Julia said, "Sealeo, show us an Aurora Beam!"
"Golbat, hit em' with an Air Cutter!" Diego ordered.
"Use Water Pulse!" Snow and Ray commanded. Their pokemon both sent out their attacks, despite Sealeo and Golbat's best efforts, the attacks connected. Both Sealeo and Golbat were knocked out!
"Aww what?! But my pokemon just evolved!" Julia protested.
"Having an evolved pokemon doesn't always mean you'll win. Strength can come in all shapes and sizes!" Snow stated.
"I guess you're right." Julia said, a bit upset over her loss, then her face lit up. She seemed to have an idea. "Hey, why don't you two come with us to Lavender Town?"
"Sure, we were heading over there anyway!" Ray answered. The five trainers continued towards Lavender Town.
Jack was currently battling Blue, though it wasn't much of a battle, it was more of a slaughter. Blue had knocked out every single one of Jack's pokemon except Ivysaur. Blue was using his Umbreon, which hadn't even taken any damage yet.
"Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder!" Jack called out.
"Umbreon, Dark Pulse!" Blue commanded, Umbreon let out a black cloud of energy that sent Ivysaur flying back, Ivysaur was knocked out before it hit the ground.
"Well I guess I saw this loss coming. You are the champion..." Jack said.
"Well you tried Jack, honestly you're not a bad trainer." Blue remarked.
"Thanks, that really means a lot coming from you!" Jack said, suddenly, Blue's PokeGear began ringing.
"Excuse me for a sec." Blue said. After a few minutes he turned to Jack. "Sorry Jack, but I have some urgent business to attend to back at the League, smell ya' later!" He said, leaving the cave.
Several hours later, Sandra, Max, Pandora Ryan and Simon met up in an empty hallway of the TDS building.
"So why did you call us here Sandra? You know I need my sleep!" Max said in a grumpy tone.
"After what happened last night with the RM, I've been think about what the Bosses' intentions are. So I called you all here because I think we should do a little bit of spying." Sandra answered.
"What do you mean by 'spying'?" Simon asked.
"We need to know who are bosses really are. We've been working here for weeks now and we haven't even seen their faces!" Sandra noted.
"That's true, why would the boss want to attack the Cerulean Gym?" Ryan pondered. Pandora thought about the pokemon she was forced to capture, the Caterpie that had been killed (and unbeknownst to her, revived) because of the boss, and the information she had seen on the TDS database.
"I - I'm in!" Pandora said, surprising Simon and Ryan a bit.
"Me too! After having to experiment on that poor Poochyena, I deserve some answers! I may be evil, but I would never abuse an innocent pokemon!" Max called out. Simon and Ryan soon put their hands in as well.
"Ok, now we just need to plan out how were going to do this..." Sandra pondered.
"Well, we should plan in the morning, I'm exhausted!" Max said, heading back to his room.
"Perhaps we should wait until morning." Sandra said, yawning a bit. "I'll see you all then."
Our heroes are quickly nearing Lavender Town! That means another gym battle is coming up soon! But what are our grunts planning? Will they succeed, keep reading to find out!
