Scene 53: The Chase Is On!

Kari and her Pokémon are resting at a dumpling stand in the middle of the dirt path. They've been traveling down Route 5 for some time now and Kari's starting to wonder if they'd ever make it to Saffron City.

A breeze blows on by, ruffling her hair. As Kari and Eevee both take a bite of their dumpling a farmer walks by with his Tauros pulling a cart. He waves at Kari and she waves back. She smiles. As is the custom in the southern Kanto Region these old folk are always so kind to travelers. She looks out to the open fields and the bright blue, cloudless sky above. It's so different being out in the country than in the cities. So calming and tranquil. Her eyes are heavy and she's certain she could fall asleep any second now…

Vee! The sound of Eevee's voice snaps Kari back to reality. She looks over to where he's sitting on the bench beside her, "What's up?" She notices the way his tail is wagging with excitement. Kari follows his gaze. Across the way, just behind the trees is a small blue Pokémon. She blinks. Pulling out Dex, Kari scans the image of the Pokémon to learn more about the Poliwag. Kari jumps to her feet, her fists clenched.

She thinks back to the past couple days of traveling: They'd battled a number of Trainers and managed to catch several new Pokémon, including a Mankey, Bulbasaur, Oddish, and a Krabby. She pulls out a ball from her hip, releasing her trusty Raticate.

Raticate gives a triumphant cry, puffing out his chest. As Kari's first caught Pokémon, he was very proud of himself. The two look at each other with confidence, "We're gonna catch Wild Poliwag! You up for it?" He whips his long tail in response, turning to face his opponent. Poliwag has just noticed them. He seems to understand their desire for a challenge. He wags his tail and bounces on the tips of its toes.

The two Poke'mon are staring each other down- Raticate seems stoked and primed for battle. It's a tense moment as a dusty breeze pushes at them. Eevee is still at the bench, finishing off their tray of dumplings. After looking once at Kari, then back to meet Raticate's eyes, Poliwag giggles. He turns and runs off.

"….HUH!?" Kari and Raticate are stunned. She turns and sees the Poliwag down the street, running at full-speed. She looks down at Raticate. They blink. Then, without another word, they jump into action and make chase, "Get back here, you!"

Eevee jumps at Kari's yelling. He follows the two of them with his eyes before realizing what's happening. He takes the last bite and dashes off after them all.

Down the dirt path and around corner after corner, Kari & Raticate follow after the Poliwag. He makes a sharp turn into a Berry Field. Kari and Raticate don't even slow as they continue in her wake. Eevee, on the other hand, skids to a stop. His eyes are bright as he looks upon all the fresh berries. He jumps up, snatching one off the tall bush and swallowing it whole before running off again.

A little further down, Poliwag happily leaps over a white picket fence. Raticate expertly makes the jump, but Kari stumbles. Her foot gets caught and she crashes straight into a feeding trough. There's a shriek nearby as an elderly women quickly stands. She wasn't at all expecting a small girl to come flying into her backyard..!

As Kari sits up and shakes off the Pokémon food, Eevee appears having finally caught up. A baby Pichu waddles over with a few of its friends, all curious to meet them. Eevee smiles at them all, speaking to the youngsters. Kari looks around at the group of baby Pokémon, "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you like that!" She sees the old lady standing nearby, her hand to her chest and breathing heavily. She laughs a little, "Not at all, not at all..! Between surprises like that and these little ones, I'm definitely forced to stay young." The Pichu picks up Kari's fallen hat and hands it to her, "Thanks." Raa! Raticate! Raticate is jumping and calling to her on the other side of the fence now. Kari gets to her feet, "Oh no!" She smiles apologetically to them all, "Sorry! Wish I could stay, but I've got a new friend waiting for me to catch!" And with that- she was off. Much quicker than before, Kari throws herself over the fence and after Raticate. Noticing her departure, Eevee bids farewell to the young Pokémon and jumps over as well.

An old man comes walking out of the backdoor, yawning. He rubs his eyes, looking to his wife, "What's goin' on here? What with all the mess?" She just gives him a look and sighs, "There'd be no point in tellin' ya. Not like you'd believe me…"

Still chasing after the Poliwag, the group delve deep into the forest. Every now-and-then Kari or Raticate would catch sight of the Poliwag's blue coat, both jumping forward and narrowly missing her from their grasp. He'd stop just ahead, maybe behind a tree, just to flaunt them by flicking his tail. But as soon as they'd get close, he'd dash off farther into the wood.

At one point, the Poliwag stopped long enough to send a playful Water Gun their way- hitting Raticate squarly in the face. His face red with anger, Raticate gives out a cry, upsetting some nearby bird Pokémon. Another time, when Kari caught sight of Poliwag, she skidded to a sudden stop. He hadn't noticed her yet. Kari tip-toed closer and closer. Maybe she could surprise it and finally capture it. To cover that last couple feet she jumped forward, but Poliwag had been waiting for her. He bounced out of her way just in time, while Kari fell into a shallow stream. She sat up, catching Poliwag's jovial laughter at the sight of her. Kari pulled her wet hair out of her face and watched as he bounded away.

Kari gave an exasperated cry, splashing her fists into the water. Eevee and Raticate jumped at her outburst. Kari stood, "That little Poliwag is acting like this is just a game!" The two Pokémon looked up and saw the evil grin on her face, "In that case… game on…" She pulled her cap farther down, her eyes becoming covered in shadow, "You're mine, Poliwag..!"

The hunt continued for at least another couple hours, Poliwag still laughing and the others following close behind in frustration. In a corner of the woods, Poliwag stops at a doorway. He hears Kari and the others approaching. There's nowhere else to go. Using his tail, Poliwag shoves the door open and hops in. Without hesitation, Kari and the others follow the Wild Pokémon inside. In the dim light Kari almost misses the staircase before her. She catches herself before she falls. She looks between Eevee and Raticate, nodding. They decide to push-on.

At the bottom of the staircase is a narrow hallway. There's lights lining the tops of the walls, but they're not very bright. Just ahead Kari catches sight of Poliwag. He had stopped again, but this time to catch his breathe. Seemed that his little game of chase was finally starting to get to him. Kari points, "Aha!" Poliwag gets startled. He sees that they're still following and turns to leave.

Kari is about to follow when, out of nowhere, a man wearing a long red lab coat and circle-lenses appears before her. She gives a surprised shriek, nearly slamming into him. The others stop just behind her. The man gives a strange low laugh. It slowly gets louder and louder and more and more creepy. He leans in, smiling like a lunatic, "Hello there! I am Scientist Murray- greatest Master Trainer in the Region! You have entered my domain, and that means-" Kari shoves past him. She looks back over her shoulder, "Sorry! But I don't have time for creepy weirder down dark allies..!" She waves and runs on, leaving the strange man behind.

Kari looks around at the low ceiling above her head. "We must be underground somewhere." The path is barely lit and her footsteps are echoing as she runs. As they near the end of the path, Kari loses sight of the Poliwag again. They arrive at the bottom of the steps and see a light ahead. She's about to following, figuring that Poliwag must have left the tunnel, but a sound catches her attention. That's not the giggling sound of Poliwag they had grown accustomed to hearing. She looks around at her Pokémon, all of them confused. Kari stops her Pokémon from climbing before her. At the bottom of the steps she sits and listens.

Poliwag (completely oblivious) continues on. He thinks that Kari is still playing, but at the top of the stairs Poliwag stops in his tracks. There are two men standing there. His eyes get wide at the sight of these unfamiliar faces.

Kari cautiously climbs the first few steps in order to hear better. She can make the sounds out as human voices. [ "That's strange. Who else besides me and that creeper guy are down here?" ] She catches a bit of their conversation. Something about a boy… about Saffron City and plans for a "Master" Ball..? Kari is on all fours as she reaches the top. She peaks around the corner and gasps. She recognizes the uniforms right away. It's Team Rocket!

One of the men stops mid-sentence having just noticed the small Poliwag. He nudges his friend, "Heeeey! You think the Boss'll like this Pokémon?" His partner gives a nod, "Oh, yeah. Let's catch it!" Poliwag is too scared to move as the two men approach. They both jump Poliwag, one is clinging to him by the tail and the other sitting on top and flattening him. Poor Poliwag is whimpering.

Suddenly, it's as if some kind of dial is turned all the way up- Kari's anger is boiling. Her mind flashes to being back in that dark lab with all those caged Pokémon- to the day her father humiliated her in front of the entire Academy… the dark look in his eyes… Kari reacts on instinct. She doesn't even care that they're just lowly Grunts. They've most likely never even seen much action having been stationed all the way out here. And she's certain they wouldn't know her face or even her connection to their boss, Giovanni.

"Headbutt, Raticate!" At the sound of her voice the two men's heads jerk upward. They thought they were alone. Raticate knocks them over on top of each other. Kari jumps over the men, grabs Poliwag, and shoves the door open. One of the men tries to stand, but Eevee bites his leg and he wails. Raticate, still on top of them, jumps up and down, his whole bodyweight enough to knock the wind out of them. Kari doesn't stop running until she' arrives on the main road again.

Several trees down this new path Kari stops to catch her breath. [ Why didn't I try to stop them right there?] She clenches her fists… She thought she was ready to fight against Team Rocket. To bring them down, but when she was given the chance… She couldn't do it.

Poli! There's a nudge at Kari's hand. She was still carrying the Poliwag. She sets him down just as Eevee and Raticate arrive. The Poliwag bouncing around them in circles, wanting to thank Kari for saving his life. She smiles at the little Pokémon and his enthusiasm, "Hey, Poliwag. Do you think you'd like to join us on our journey?" Raticate and Eevee crowd the two of them, "We can have a lot of fun like we did before!" Poliwag stops to consider her offer. Kari reaches around and pulls a fresh Pokéball from the pouch looped around her belt.

He looks around at the three of them. Kari winks at him, "Although… maybe next time we can leave out all the running around? I'm exhausted..!" She laughs. After a moment, Poliwag gives a giggle. He agrees. Kari happily stands and throws the Pokéball in the sky and Poliwag catches himself. She's got a brand new Pokémon!

Barely 10minutes down the road Kari arrives at a sign for the next town. But now she's confused… She double-checks the name on the sign… How did she completely skip over Saffron City and arrive in Vermillion City? Then it clicks, "Wait… not 'over,' but under..!" Of course! But no matter. According to the sign she's reading about the city, there's a Pokémon League Gym here as well. She looks at her Team, "You guys ready for a brand new challenge?" But instead of feeling excited, they seem to be all tuckered out.

Eevee gives a yawn and Kari follows suit, rubbing at her eyes. She chuckles, "Yeah, you're right. That can wait till tomorrow. For now, I think we all deserve a good rest at the Pokémon Center..!"

{{Current Team: Eevee, Pidgeotto, Metapod, Ekans, Raticate, Sandshrew}}

Total Poke'mon: Eevee, Pidgeotto, Raticate, Metapod, *Beedrill, Ceffairy, Spearow, Ekans, Sandshrew, Goldeen, Mankey, Bulbasaur, Oddish, Krabby, Poliwag…