Purify or Bust

Chapter 2: Attack on the Center!

The two individuals who had just crashed through the roof of the Pokémon Center stood up and detached the climbing ropes from their belts. Misty heard the noise of the unknown assailants crashing through the roof and raced into the building as they landed. The dense fog from outside prevented any light from entering the building, thus protecting the assailants' identities. However, Ash could tell that they were dark angels, and sent Lucy to attack them. They could tell that Lucy was charging towards them, so they sent out a Raticate to counter her. "Cate cate raticate?"it asked. "Raticate cate cate raticate cate raticate raticate raticate cate cate raticate." one of the assailants replied. "Raticate, cate. Cate cate raticate raticate cate."

At that point, Misty sent out a Swanna and had it use Defog. Before long, all the fog had dispersed, revealing the two sides in the battle as Misty returned her Swanna to its Poké Ball. A few minutes later, the Center's back-up generator kicked in, activating the lights above them and letting Ash see the assailants' faces. One was a guy in his late teens or early twenties with green hair that was similar to a bowlcut in the back and had large bangs in the front. The other was a young woman, about the same age as her partner, with golden-colored hair in a feminized version of her partner's hair style. Both had brown eyes and wore the same uniform that consisted of a black, long-sleeved top with a grey collar, white gloves, a grey belt, and black pants for him and a black knee-length skirt for her. The top was also emblazoned with a red 'R' on the front. The woman also wore red lipstick and red triangular earrings.

The nurse entered the lobby and gasped when she saw two intruders fighting against the young man who brought in the Pikachu and his traveling companion. The intruders noticed her and the guy pulled out a smoke bomb before setting it off and taking the nurse hostage in order to get to the room where all the sick Pokémon waiting for treatment were stored. Ash and Misty followed them after Ash retrieved Lucy and soon found the nurse in one of the empty treatment rooms, bound and gagged. The duo untied her and removed the gag from her mouth. "Thank you very much. My name's Joy and I'm the nurse for the city." "I'm Misty and this is Ash. Who were those guys we were fighting?" "They're Pokémon thieves here to steal the Pokémon we have yet to treat. They must be stopped." "Agreed." Ash and Misty replied.

Suddenly, the electronic door to the treatment room opened and Ash, Misty and Nurse Joy hid behind the medical bed in the middle of the room. Lucy jumped off Ash's shoulder and walked into view, forcing Ash to follow her. What they found was the Pikachu that Ash had caught. "Chu pika pikachu?" it asked, looking at Ash. "Chu. Pikachu chu?" he replied. "Pika pikachu pika pika pika pika pikachu." "Chu. Pika pikachu?" Ash wondered. "Pikachu, pikachu, pikachu, chu pikachu." "Eevee eevee, eevee, vee eevee, vee vee eevee." Lucy chimed in. "Chu." Ash responded before motioning for them to huddle in close and whispering his plan into their ears.

Once he was done, Lucy ran to the room where the thieves were and taunted their Raticate. Soon, the golden rat was furious and chasing Lucy. Lucy led it back to the lobby, after making sure they got the attention of the thieves. There, Ash and the others waited for them to race back into the lobby before Pikachu used Iron Tail to slice through the handle of the sack containing the stolen Poké Balls. Misty retrieved the loot as Pikachu used Thunder Shock to send the thieves flying out through the hole on the roof. Once the thieves were long gone, Misty returned the stolen Poké Balls to Nurse Joy, who then went behind the counter and turned on a computer.

"This is Nurse Joy in Viridian City. The Viridian Pokémon Center has been attacked. Requesting emergency transfer of injured Pokémon to Pewter City." "Request granted. Proceed to send Poké Balls when ready." a feminine voice replied over the computer speakers. Nurse Joy placed the Poké Balls onto a conveyor belt one at a time. At the end of the conveyor was a machine that looked like an inverted funnel attached to a plastic hose. The Poké Balls passed under the machine before being hit by a beam and disappearing. Ten minutes later, all the recovered Poké Balls had been transfered. "Transfer complete." Nurse Joy stated before turning off the computer monitor and moving in front of the desk. "Thank you both so much for helping to keep those injured Pokémon safe." she said, bowing. "Don't mention it. You'd have to be heartless to see something like that happen and not do anything." Ash replied. "He's right. We couldn't turn a blind eye." Misty agreed.

Just then, a police issue motorcycle pulled up and a young woman in her mid-twenties entered. She noticed Ash and immediately handcuffed him. "You're under arrest for stealing Pokémon." "Wait a minute. I'm not the thief!" Ash yelled. "Oh, really? Do you have any identification to back up your story?" "My Pokédex is in my right jacket pocket." The officer searched Ash's jacket pocket and retrieved Dexter. "This Pokédex belongs to Ashton 'Ash' Ketchum. If this Pokédex is lost or stolen, please contact Prof. Oak." Dexter stated in a mechanical voice, showing a picture of Ash. The officer removed the handcuffs sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just assumed that you were the thief. I always jump to conclusions on things like this." "No harm done. I did get a description of the culprits though." "Really? Any information would help us greatly." Ash relayed the information to the officer, who jotted down notes. "I see. Those two are wanted criminals. The man is Botch Kosaburo and his partner is Cassidy Yamato. They belong to a criminal syndicate named Team Rocket. Rumor has it that Team Rocket's currently experimenting on Pokémon, but it is unclear what they are trying to accomplish." the officer, now known as Officer Jenny, stated. "That sounds worrisome." Nurse Joy noted. "Yes, but rest assured, I will handle this case to the best of my ability." "Officer Jenny, am I free to go?" Ash queried. "Yes, you are. Stay safe out there." "Will do."

Ash and Misty left the Pokémon Center and headed north towards Viridian Forest. Once they were far enough outside the city, Ash knelt down and looked at Pikachu. "Pika pika pikachu pika? Pika pikachu pika pikachu chu chu pikachu pikachu pikachu pika pikachu." he wondered. "Pika. Pika pika pikachu pikachu pikachu pikachu." Ash's ability to understand Poké-speak kicked in, so he began speaking English again. "What should I call you?" "Call me Mike, please." "Welcome aboard, Mike." "Glad to be here."

Elsewhere...

"Sir, Butcher and Cassidy have returned." a seemingly low-ranking member of Team Rocket stated. "I assume you mean Butch and Cassidy. Send them in." a gruff masculine voice said from the shadows. The Team Rocket member left and sent in the duo as instructed. They then kneeled before the man with their right hands over their hearts. "You wanted to see us, Boss?" Cassidy asked. "Yes. I need your report about what happened at the Viridian Pokémon Center." "When we got there, there was already an angel there. We fought with him before taking the nurse hostage and forcing her to open the room with all the sick Pokémon. We gathered a large number of Pokémon before the angel's Eevee ran in and taunted Raticate. Raticate flew into a rage and chased said Eevee out of the room and into the lobby, where the angel and his friend were waiting for us. The angel's Pikachu then used Iron Tail to rip open our stash of loot and Thunder Shock to send us flying out through the hole in the roof we entered through." Butch stated. "So you failed to steal even a single Pokémon?" "Uh... Yes, Boss. I take full responsibility. I didn't expect the angel to be that resourceful." Butch noted. "I understand. You are two of my better agents, so I'll let you off with a warning. Just don't let it happen again." "Thank you, Boss Giovanni. It will not happen again." "You are excused. Send in my assistant on the way out."

The duo left and the low-ranking agent returned. "Yes, Sir?" "Where is Unit B at this time?" "They are here at HQ. Want me to send for them?" "Yes. I have a mission for them."

Meanwhile...

Ash and Misty had just entered the Viridian Forest when a Caterpie wiggled out onto the path, causing Misty to scream. "Bug! Get it away, get it away!" she yelled, hiding behind Ash. Ash took advantage of the vague request and threw a Poké Ball at the Caterpie. The Poké Ball hit its target, but nothing happened. "Why didn't anything happen?" Ash wondered. "There's a safeguard built into the Poké Ball that prevents it from catching any Pokémon that belongs to someone else. If the Poké Ball you threw didn't absorb the Caterpie, the only explanation is that it already has a Trainer." Misty explained from her position.

Soon, a young man approached the two Trainers and held up a Poké Ball. A red beam of light shot out from the button on the front of the Poké Ball and struck the Caterpie, surrounding it and sending the caterpillar Pokémon to the inside of the Poké Ball. The Caterpie's Trainer was dressed in full samurai attire, with a horned helmet that had a black visor attached so no one would no the Trainer's true identity, plate armor covering his arms and torso, and sandals. A katana was sheathed and strapped to his left side.

"Thank you for finding my Caterpie. If you hadn't come along, there's no telling how far it could've gone." the young man stated, bowing. "You're welcome. I didn't realize that it had a Trainer, so I tried to capture it. At least I learned something about being a Trainer." Ash responded. "I don't mean to sound rude, but your outfit is rather curious." Misty chimed in, looking the boy over. "Oh, this? I come from a family of samurai and my father, who is the leader of the clan, is training me in our family's heritage. Since my family is from Pewter City and I am the only member of my family who trains Pokémon here in the Viridian Forest, the locals have started to refer to me as 'the Samurai' since I don't reveal my name to anyone."

The Samurai then turned to Ash. "Since we're both Trainers, how about we have a Pokémon Battle? I've been wanting to fight against another Trainer for a while now." "Sounds good. Does a Single Battle using two Pokémon each work for you?" "It does. I hope you're ready for a good fight."

With that, the two Trainers entered a clearing before standing on opposing sides and sending out their first Pokémon...

Translation of Poké-speak this chapter:

Paragraph 1:

Raticate: "What are my orders?"

Cassidy: "Your orders are to eliminate anyone foolhardy enough to try to mess with us."

Raticate: "Understood, ma'am. I'll start with the runt charging at us."

Paragraph 4:

Mike: "You're the one who caught me?"

Ash: "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Mike: "I want to help you defeat the guys making a mess of this place."

Ash: "Good. What moves do you know?"

Mike: "Thunder Shock, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack, and Iron Tail."

Lucy: "I know Tackle, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, and Quick Attack."

Ash: "Great."

Paragraph 8:

Ash: "Do you want to come along with me? I'm on a mission to stop dark angels from overthrowing the balance and starting a reign of darkness."

Mike: "I do. I've been wanting a life of adventure and it seems it found me."