Silence filled the air while everyone waits in the gym, hoping for the coast to be clear while terror filled their hearts. Before long, another explosion shook the area, inviting another series of screams and shrieks amongst the crowd. Red hid behind the doors of the Pokemon gym with Leaf by his side as she held onto his arm tightly like a strong vice as they listened and checked on the situation outside through the window. After he heard Misty finishing her call, she calms down and looks around, seeing the scared and worried expressions on the people's faces which made her feel sorry for them. She then approaches towards the crowd, clearing her voice before she announces to everyone.

"Alright, guys. Not to worry, our police officers are trying to get this under control as much as they can. We need to stay here and be safe for the time being. However they're requesting for assistance from the Pokemon trainers here so for anyone that has Pokemon, we need your help with protecting the crowd especially if they are strong Pokemon. As for the Pokemon trainers..." As Misty paused her announcement, she turned to Red and Leaf who are still observing the situation outside which caused her eyes to twitch as she walked up to them. Both trainers were wondering why they didn't hear Misty voice anymore until the answer came in the form of a kick to Red's shin, making him yelp in pain. This got the duo's full attention as the red capped teen descended to the ground to hold his shin while the brunette gives her a deadly glare which causes the gym leader to be slightly startled.

"The hell did you do that for?" Leaf said as she walks towards Misty who simply turns around and goes back to the crowd, resuming her speech. "AS FOR THE TRAINERS, I will be putting you guys into two groups. One will be protecting the civilians while the others will be accompanying me to catch the thieves."

As she said this, she pointed at Red who looks at her with a bewildered expression while nursing his shin until she continued. "Hey, no face! You're coming with me to intercept the thieves along with the shivering chestnut over there."

"Hey! We both have names, you know. Don't have to be salty because you lost to us. Then again it would fit since you like to swim in seas a lot." Leaf said with a smirk on her face causing the gym leader shoulders to twitch uncontrollably. She was about to continue until she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to the red capped trainer who healed from his dilemma with his shin. He then shook his head which alerted for her to stop which she did, pouting and folding her arms before she leans against the wall. Seeing Red glaring at her angrily, Misty scoffs before she resumed her speech again. After she finished her speech and sorted the trainers, a series of gunshots echoed through the area, scaring the people in the gym as everyone notice various men on the street who seem to be observing the area while one of them is looking on the device.

Misty and her group approach the entrance of the building, watching the thugs while the gym leader motions for the other group to retreat to the back of the gym. She then leads Leaf towards the healing room of the building as both of them put their Pokeballs in the machine, waiting for them to heal as they sit down. The situation starts becoming awkward as they both want to leave the room as quickly as possible however they have to stay due to their injured Pokemon.

"What the hell happened today, chestnut? I thought I was gonna get 10 wins over you today…but you caught me off guard. Never seen you battle like that." Misty said in a melancholic tone as she watches at the device blinking different colors until the brunette responded to her. "It's simple. I trained. Don't underestimate me! I'm a lot better than you think. Plus, I'm gonna be the Champion one day."

When she heard the girl, Misty chuckled before she continued. "I see that you're stubborn as hell, that's for sure. Not many would challenge me ten times in order to get the badge. The most I've seen someone challenge me is three times."

"Are you here to help me heal my Pokemon or to talk shit, Misty?"

"Relax. I'm just saying that with the way you were battling before, I would have given it another week before you beat me…but you surprised me today along with your boyfriend."

As the gym leader said this, Leaf cheeks quickly changed to pink as she waved her hands crazily in the air and stuttered, much to the orange haired girl's amusement. "W-w-what are you talking about?! R-Red isn't m-my b-boyfriend."

"He…he is just a good friend of mine who happens to come with good luck." The brunette calmed down as she played with her dress, her cheeks slowly changing from pink to red when she continued. "He helped me a lot during training and gave me some good tips. I'm thankful to him for everything he has done for me so far…"

Hearing the brunette ramble on, Misty smiles as she looks at the device while tracing her fingers along the glass before her mind made a mental comment. 'Sounds like she's got it bad for him. But he looks so normal…Guess looks aren't everything…Noted.'

As she went through her thoughts, she along with Leaf were interrupted and frightened as a series of sound blasted through the air which was followed by screams. As the screams stopped, both females then hear banging sounds on the doors of the gym before sounds of glass shattering resonate through the area, startling them. Seeing that the healing machine is finished and quickly taking out her Pokeballs, Misty is barely able to notice Leaf rushing through the door, not having the patience to wait before she hears another scream. As the gym leader gets out of the room, she froze when her eyes landed on the scene before her. Barely gaining her mobility, she walks into the room, seeing the civilians hiding in one corner, some of them helping in nursing a few of the injured Pokemon trainers, internally cringing when watching the wounds. Turning her gaze to the entrance, she notices that one of the doors being cracked and the other on the floor in pieces, a thought coming across her mind. 'All of this happened in such a short time…'

"What…the hell just happened here?" Misty said in a worried and bewildered expression, her arms quivering. She then went over to the trainers with Leaf slowly following behind her as the brunette's eyes are darting around, looking like she is searching for someone.

"I'm sorry…Ms. Misty. They attacked us out of…nowhere. One of them had a Psychic type…they used it to get through to us and stole…some of the Pokemon and TMs along with a child." The injured trainer explained between coughs, both girls seeing a woman by the wall crying with some of the people trying to comfort her. He starts wincing from the pain when he gets some bandages applied to his shoulder along with the burning sensation from the alcohol on his shoulder before he along with everyone else hear a question from the gym leader.

"Did you happen to catch who they were?"

"No…they were…too skilled. Before we could…anything…we got knocked around…by those men…in black…"

After he finishes his explanation, the trainer starts coughing, not showing any signs of stopping. Seeing his condition worsening, Misty asks Nurse Joy if he's going to be fine only for the pink haired woman to reassure her as her Chansey heals the man, making the gym leader sigh in relief when his injuries slowly starts to disappear. She then thinks about the situation going on, she knows that the police officer states that it is Team Rocket that is behind this but she does not know what they look like. Racking her brain for any possible answers, she is interrupted when one of the civilians touches her, giving her their phone and said. "I…got this during the fight. I-I don't know if it will help but it's the best I can do."

"O-oh. Thank you." Misty thanked the person before she saw the video, seeing the fight went down. Within the video, the trainers got attacked, some of them able to put up a good fight until a yellow and brown Psychic type came up to the door, hypnotizing some of the trainers to sleep before the thugs came in. The video ends when the men came in, the gym leader's eyes widening in horror when she saw the insignia on their shirts, her hand went to her mouth as she gasped. "Damn it. I wish the police's speculation were wrong. It's them."

Her face still frozen in horror, she gives the teenager the phone before she slowly walks towards the group of trainers. As she is about to say something, she was interrupted as various police officers rushed into the gym, helping the injured and sorting out the crowd while one of them went towards Misty, his face sweating and a worried and stress filled expression on his face.

"W-we have a predicament, Gym Leader Misty." He spoke, pausing as he looked at the injured people and Pokemon before he looked at the gym leader. "It seems that the damage was not as bad as I thought,"

"Don't tell me it's what I think it is, officer?" Misty said, hoping that it's not what she expected. The officer nodded as he stated. "I'm afraid it is. Team Rocket is the cause of this."

Hearing this, most of the trainers gasped in horror, some of them panicking while the others look around in confusion, not understanding the message. Misty clenched her teeth in frustration as her shoulders started to tremble before seeing the troubled and stressed expressions on the civilians before she turned around and asked. "What do we need to do to keep them safe?"

"I'll let a few of my crew stay behind to keep an eye on them. We found Team Rocket's hideout and we're planning to intercept them shortly. Will you join us, Misty?"

Misty looks at the civilians, seeing the fear etched on their faces before turning around with a look of confidence when she said. "Yeah. I'll help out."

The two nods as they got to work, the police officer guiding the people while Misty rally up as much trainers as she could. After a few moments, all the trainers were quickly grouped together with Misty and the police man about to speak before another voice talked first.

"Excuse me. Does anyone know where Red is? I'm looking for him but I haven't seen him around here." Leaf asked, interrupting the two as the gym leader noticed that the area is missing some of the trainers, including a certain raven haired trainer. The two girls turned towards the trainers when one of them, who is a middle aged man, explained the situation as he scratches his hair.

"The kid in the red cap and jacket? He ran out of the gym and chased those guys along with some others. We tried to stop them but we were too late. I hope that they're alright." The man explained, slightly out of breath. The gym leader's frustration as she scratches her head before she notices Leaf shaking uncomfortably while typing quickly on her Pokegear.

"You mean to tell me that some of the trainers are chasing those guys as we speak and you didn't say anything about it?! Don't you think that's important information?!" Misty yelled at the trainers, startling some of them as one of them made a rebuttal.

"It should not be that bad. Should it?"

"It is! This is Team Rocket that we're talking about! Grrr… Officer! What is the plan?"

The gym leader turns to the officer, trying her best to calm down until she hears a series of gunshots sounds followed with screams as the police officers ran out, motioning Misty and her group to follow. Making their way through the city while the officer explains the situation to them, they notice a group of trainers on the street, some of them being injured and unable to move while the others are tending to the wounded.

"What happened here?" The policeman demanded. His voice startles the group, making them think it is an enemy, panic in their face. Seeing Misty, they made a sigh of relief and resume their activities while one of the girls in the group approaches them and explains the situation. "We were chasing the burglars but they got the jump on us. Before we know it, most of us are on the floor. One person ran ahead after them, we followed but we lost them."

After hearing this and looking at the group, Misty asked a question which got Leaf's attention. "Is the person who is still chasing the people a boy in a red cap and jacket?"

"Yeah. How did you know that?" The girl said, baffled by the gym leader's guess. Misty then scoffs before she turns to Leaf who is busy typing on her Pokegear. "Hey, Leaf. You able to get to your boyfriend yet?"

"No. What do you think I've been doing all this time?! I haven't gotten a response from him at all. I'm worried…" Leaf exclaimed, her voice coated in worry and concern. She once again types a message on her Pokegear, sending the message as she put the device in her bag. "Why does this have to happen now? Red…"

'I hope that you're ok.'

Red pants as he remains in hot pursuit of the thieves, his Beedrill beside him and having his slingshot ready. As they turned another corner and went into an alleyway, he commands his Luxio to continue going down the street while he gets into position, waiting to intercept them on the other side. Seeing the men appear from the other side of the street, he gets his slingshot ready before he lingers in wait for the men, making Beedrill coat the street with String Shot in order to trap the men.

"Damn it! They got us! Try to get your Pokeballs!" One of the men said, the others followed his orders. Suddenly they stopped, confusing one of the grunts before he notices that they were unconscious which surprised him. He was about to notify the others until he was interrupted by a shot to the head that staggered him, looking around to see his teammates knock out cold which caused the man to sweat profusely until Beedrill appears in front of him, hovering close to his face with its stingers ready. He then noticed Red when the trainer approaches him, his slingshot ready as he silently asks a question. "Where is the kid?"

"W-what?" The man said, not hearing what the teenager said.

"Where…is the kid that you took?" Red said louder and more clearly.

"Heh! If you're threatening me, kid. You gotta do better than tha-" He could not finish his statement as Beedrill has its stinger in his mouth, surprising him. Before he could do anything, he notices Luxio walking up to him, its body crackling with electricity as it raises its paw which is cloaked in electricity. The thug starts sweating profusely before he sees a glimpse of Red's eyes which frightened him which made him afraid while he squirms and flails about in desperation in the silky prison. Seeing this, the raven haired boy asks Beedrill to take its stinger out of his mouth which made the man cough excessively before he is able to speak.

"They're on…their way to the…Underground Tunnel on Route 5. That's…our escape…path." The man said, coughing between words. "I told you everything. Can you let me go?"

Red hummed before he smiles and shakes his head, much to the man's horror when the teen retrieves the stolen items and then sprints towards Route 5 in order to catch up with the other thugs. After a few minutes of running, he finds himself at the entrance of the tunnel, quickly catching his breath before his Pokegear starts ringing. He looks at it to see multiple messages from Leaf which cause him to sweat when he realized that he haven't noticed the device's alarms, not reading it and turning off the device, wincing as he did so.

'She's gonna kill me for this.' Red thought as his mind imagined an angry version of the brunette which brought chills up his spine, something that he has to deal with later.

Recollecting his thoughts, he enters the tunnel and slowly creeps down the stairs. Hearing voices, the teen sneaks a peek while hiding behind the stairs, seeing several people in black uniforms which had a red 'R' on them as they shuffle and carry various boxes and load them unto a weird machine.

'Team Rocket…' Red mentally commented. As he observed throughout the tunnel, he notices the kidnapped victims who are tied up by some of the boxes with a lone grunt keeping guard. Seeing the kidnapped child within the group, he quietly dashes from one group of boxes to another, readying his slingshot as he gets closer to the hostages who were panicking with some of them screaming, much to the annoyance of the grunt. Having enough of the captured individuals' shouts, the man stands up and walks over to them, taking out a Pokeball and crouching.

"If you don't shut your fucking mouths, my little friend will shut it up for you. Oh, and trust me. It will be permanent." He whispered in a low and murderous tone before he got a response in the form of a spit to his face which made him to be more annoyed as a vein appeared on his face and his eye started to twitch. His eyes then focuses on the perpetrator who is a woman when he stands up in front of her and lifts his foot before he kicks her in the face, making her land on the floor face first.

"Ok... I didn't expect that." He said as he walked towards her, firmly placing his foot on her face with a sadistic smile on his face. He then applied pressure, squeezing her head to the ground which invited a shriek of pain. "You little bitch! Who the fuck do you think that you're dealing with?"

He then starts laughing while continues torturing the woman before he turns to the rest of the hostages, saying something that caused all of their hearts to sink before they scream in terror. "You know what? Fuck this! I'll just kill you all right now."

As he said this, he gripped the Pokeball and was about to throw it in the air before something collided into his hand which made him to groan in pain, dropped the capsule. Confusion taking control of his mind, he checks around the area before noticing a stone coming towards him, barely having time to response or dodge as the rock connected to his left eye, causing him to scream while he held onto the wounded eye. About to call for reinforcements, he was interrupted as silk goes around his mouth, preventing any sound to come out until he turns to Red who quickly punches him on his temple which knocked him out, falling to the ground with a light slamming sound. The teen releases a sigh of relief before he goes to the hostages, freeing them and stating for them to leave which they did. After they leave, Red continues down the tunnel with Beedrill and Luxio behind him, preparing himself mentally and physically for any form of attack.

'I'm sorry but the number that you are calling is unavailable at this time. Pleas-.' Leaf ends the call, gripping her Pokegear as she gets a voicemail for the tenth time in a row, her anger showing on her face.

'I'm going to kill Red for this. Why is his phone turned off?' The brunette thought, trying his best to calm down. While she is doing so, Misty and the group are going towards the end of the city before they come across the hostages, seeing them along with some Team Rocket grunts that are trapped within a silky trap which cause them to stop, their minds bewildered.

"What's going on here? I'm glad that you're safe but how did you escape?" The police officer asked, confusion taking his tone. Some of the trainers let out a sigh of relief after seeing that the hostages being safe while others are glad that they do not have to engage in any conflict with such a dangerous group. After they heard the man's question, one of them walks towards the police officer as she pointed down the route.

"W-we were saved by a kid in a red jacket. He's at the Underground Tunnel taking on those Rockets alone. You need to help him." She said, the rest agreeing with her as everyone awaited the order of the officer who got out his walkie talkie. Annoyed and impatient, Leaf checks her Pokegear, desperately waiting for a response from Red before she walks towards the direction of the tunnel only to be stopped by other police officers, much to her frustration. After speaking with another officer on the walkie talkie, he then motioned for the officers to follow him as he said to Leaf and Misty's group. "We're going to intercept them."

After a minute of walking, they heard sirens before seeing a barricade of multiple police cars blocking the road, the doors quickly opening as a man in uniform with a gold badge on his shirt stepped out, looking around before he opened his mouth and exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

"All able bodied trainers, come with me! We're going to confront Team Rocket and take them out! We need all the help that we can get! If you don't believe you're up for the task, stay and protect the civilians!"

As he made the announcement, Leaf walks forward, passing the barricade before she continued down the route only to be stopped by the other officers who instructed her to wait which brought a pout to her face. Seeing the brunette impatiently fidgeting around, Misty sighed as she made her way to the other policemen, seeing them equip both of them with bulletproof vests along with some Ace Trainers. After they were finished getting ready, they turn to see that no other trainer is coming along with them, their faces filled with doubt and fear. This made the brunette melancholic as one of the trainers who looks to be the same age as Leaf looks towards the group, confusion taking her mind as she mouthed a question. "Wait. Why are they not coming?"

"It's understandable. With seeing the state of the hostages and how they barely survive with their lives. I'm surprised they didn't walk away sooner." Misty commented to which Leaf nodded. She turns to the brunette who is impatiently tapping her foot before she continued. "Plus, not all of them are the daughter of the commissioner who is used to situations like these…and has a boyfriend she needs to save."

Hearing this, Leaf growled before she stomped off, checking her Pokegear once again. One of the policemen notices the distressed expression on the gym leader's face, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder which startles her before saying. "Sorry. Uh… hi there. Nervous?"

"Huh?" The gym leader said, raising her brow.

"Oh n-no. I was just wondering if you were nervous. B-because if you were, I understand how that feels. However, you can't blame yourself. Doesn't mean you're a gym leader means you're this superhero…I mean I want to be one but…e-even Champions have their limits and weaknesses…" Hearing him ramble on made a smile appear on her face before she starts laughing which made the policeman look at her in confusion. She wipes a tear from her face before she said. "Calm down. I get it."

She walks away, leaving the guy looking to the ground before he heard something that made him look at her with wide eyes. "And thanks. That helped."

They then walked down the route, much to Leaf's relief as she briskly walks off, not willing to wait anymore. After a few minutes of walking, they stopped before their destination, seeing multiple officers by the entrance of the tunnel investigating and keeping guard who did a salute upon seeing the corporal.

"What's the status, cadet?" The corporal asked, walking up to them.

"There are signs of conflict in the tunnel. We send some of our own down there however they're having trouble as we speak however they all reported to hear conflict further down the tunnel. Some even state that they see lightning and electricity flaring further down as well." The woman by the entrance of the tunnel explained before everyone heard sounds of a clash which was followed by a scream which caused Misty to click her tongue. 'This does not look like it will be easy.'

'Lightning and electricity? That must be Red's Luxio.' Leaf said, glad as of the moment that her friend may be alright. Despite this, she would feel more comfortable coming to that conclusion herself and seeing him with her own eyes, knowing that the police has a tendency of sugarcoating events in order to prevent panic.

The corporal sighed before he turned to everyone and exclaimed. "Alright, everyone! The goal of this journey is to subdue as much of the Rocket grunts as possible. We need to stop them from taking as much of the stolen items as possible! Prepare to lave in a minute!"

Everyone nodded, preparing themselves as some of the police officers put Leaf, Misty and the other trainers got their Pokemon ready, some of them adjusting their vests. As they finished their preparations as the man spoke again. "I hope that you're ready for we will be going in the next five seconds."

"Five!" As he made the countdown, the trainers smirked as they braced themselves, some of them trying their best to keep calm.

"Four!" The police officers got their weapons and Pokeballs ready, some of them releasing their Growlithe and Herdier who are in battle position already as they awaited for their assault.

"Three!" Misty started to sweat, trying to calm herself down by inhaling and exhaling which resulted in failure as she still see her hands shaking as she closed her eyes in frustration as she thought. 'C'mon, Misty. You can do this.'

"Two!" Leaf impatiently walked towards the entrance, worried about Red when she heard the final number. 'Can this go any slower?!'

"One! Everyone, it's time to engage. Battle stations!" The corporal shouted as he along with the rest of the crowds rushed through the entrance of the Underground Tunnel, preparing themselves the best way they can as a single thought goes through Leaf's brain.

"Red. Please be alright."

Hiya, guys. Hope you like the chapter so far. This chapter was such a huge break compared to the storm I made that is the previous chapter. Not to worry for I'm writing up the next couple chapters as of the moment. I really like the Underground Tunnel and I'm honestly sad that nothing happens there. I feel like they missed an opportunity there to make some grunts be down there or some illegal trade happen however Pokemon is a kids' game so I can understand. Again, guys. Please take care of yourselves and your family and thanks for giving my story a read. Thanks again and Enigma out.