Chapter Two

Plasma

As the trio stepped onto Route 1, Rosa felt giddy with excitement. She was finally going on her Pokemon quest!

Suddenly Cheren glanced over at her. "Hey, Rosa, you know you still have Haru on your head, right?"

Haru chittered in response, sitting on Rosa's head like Cheren said he was. "Oh, right," Rosa replied. Then she saw Ivy, curled up around Cheren's neck as if she was his scarf. "Are you aware that Ivy is still pretending to be your scarf?"

Cheren glanced down and chuckled. "No, I wasn't." He pulled out Ivy's Pokeball, and Ivy perked up upon seeing it. After a flash of red light, she disappeared into the Pokeball.

Rosa pulled out Haru's Pokeball to put him back as well, but he gave an angry chitter and lightly pulled her hair.

"I don't think he wants to go in there," Bianca pointed out. "Embie doesn't really want to, either."

"Is that true, Haru?" Rosa asked.

She could feel Haru nod vigorously in response.

"Alright, then," Rosa said. "You can stay up on my head for a while longer.

Haru gave a happy squeak and relaxed again. Rosa continued walking, not really minding the weight on her head.

As they were walking to Accumula Town on the grassy path, a purple and tan cat Pokemon crossed their path.

"What's that?" Bianca asked.

"You know, Bianca," Rosa responded sarcastically, "there's something called a Pokedex that would really help."

"Oh, right," Bianca replied.

Rosa pulled out her Pokedex out of the pouch on the side of her backpack and scanned the Pokemon, which was looking curiously in their direction.

"Purrloin, the Devious Pokemon," the Pokedex said. "Its cute act is a ruse. When victims let down their guard, they find their items taken. This Pokemon steals from people for fun just to see the looks on their faces. However, their victims can't help but forgive them. It attacks with sharp claws."

"Oh, I can show you how to catch a Pokemon while we're out here," Cheren added.

"Do you even have Pokeballs?" Rosa asked.

"I do, in fact," Cheren replied. "But you need to prove your strength to the Pokemon before you can catch it."

"Prove your strength?" Bianca echoed.

"A Pokemon," Cheren explained in his "I thought you knew this" voice, "will only allow itself to be caught in a Pokeball if the trainer and its Pokemon have proven their strength in a battle. The Pokemon will then stay in the Pokeball, but if you haven't battled it or are not strong enough for it, it will, more likely than not, break out of the Pokeball."

"Oh," Bianca said, somewhat deflated. She probably felt bad for not knowing.

Cheren pulled out Ivy's Pokeball and threw it out. The Snivy popped out in a bright flash of light. She looked annoyed, probably from being dragged out of her drowsiness, but locked eyes with the Purrloin in front of her.

The Purrloin tipped his head in acknowledgement, as though agreeing to the challenge.

Cheren pulled out his Pokedex and brought up the screen that showed the moves Ivy had. He called out, "Ivy, use Tackle!"

Ivy obeyed, charging forward towards the Purrloin. Rosa expected the Purrloin to dodge, and was surprised when the cat Pokemon instead reared up and tried to deflect the attack with his claws. He hit Ivy on the side of the face, but the Snivy had bowled into the Purrloin in retaliation. Both Pokemon fell into the tall grass. The Purrloin got up, but Rosa couldn't see Ivy. Then she saw the grass moving slightly in a small patch, and a brighter green color poked out very slightly. She's camouflaging, Rosa realized.

Cheren wasn't giving any orders, but had his eyes on the patch of rustling grass, which moved slowly towards the Purrloin, who had his back turned to Ivy. But just as Ivy was about to strike, the Purrloin angled his ears backwards. Then, without warning, he whipped around and struck the snake Pokemon, sending her flying out of the grass. Ivy screeched, less out of pain and more out of anger, it seemed, and landed carefully on the ground. The Purrloin burst out of the grass to strike Ivy again, but as he raised up on his hind legs to slash at Ivy, Cheren exclaimed, "Knock him off balance!"

Ivy crouched down and swiped her tail under her opponent's paws. The Purrloin fell and Ivy was right on top of him, bowling into the Pokemon and rolling into the trunk of a nearby tree. The Purrloin stood up again, but was shaky and looked at Ivy with an expression Rosa couldn't read.

"I think I'm okay to throw a Pokeball now," Cheren said, interrupting Rosa's thoughts. He pulled out a Pokeball from his bag and tossed it at the Purrloin.

In a flash of red light, the Pokemon disappeared into the Pokeball. It wiggled once, then twice, then thrice, and then there was a click sound.

"That click means I caught it!" Cheren explained, obviously trying to contain his excitement at catching a new Pokemon. He walked over and picked up the Pokeball, which now had his new Purrloin inside. "I'll have to think of something to call him."

"Hey," Bianca piped up randomly, "what if we have a contest?"

"What sort of contest?" Rosa asked.

"Well," explained Bianca, "why don't we all split up and try catching as many unique Pokemon as we can on this route! Then, we'll all regroup and compare. Whoever has the most Pokemon, including the one from Professor Juniper, wins!"

"That sounds fun," Rosa said, "but Cheren is the only one who has Pokeballs."

"Oh, that's no problem," Cheren pointed out. "I packed loads. I can give you guys some."

"Really?" Bianca replied.

"Yeah," Cheren said, "it's really no problem. I can give you both five to start, and if you need more to finish the contest, you can find me and I'll probably still have plenty."

"Thanks, Cheren!" Rosa responded.

Cheren handed them the Pokeballs and added, "We'll regroup at the entrance to Accumula Town at-" he glanced at the Xtransceiver on his wrist- "maybe eleven?"

Rosa looked at her Xtransceiver, too. It was ten forty-five in the morning right now. That would give them twenty-five minutes to look for Pokemon on this short Route. "I think that's good," she replied.

"Alrighty then," Bianca exclaimed, "move out!"

Rosa split off from her friends and wandered around the Route for a little bit, trying to find something. Then, Haru lightly tugged on her hair to get her attention.

"What?" Rosa asked. Haru pulled her hair to the right in response, causing her to turn. There, she saw a rat-like Pokemon that was mostly brown. It had piercing yellow and red eyes, and stood on its hind legs. "What's that?" Rosa wondered aloud, and pulled out her Pokedex.

"Patrat, the Scout Pokemon. Using food stored in cheek pouches, they can watch for days. Extremely cautious, they take shifts to maintain a constant watch on their nest. They feel insecure without a lookout, but even they won't notice a foe coming from behind."

"So, they won't notice an opponent from behind," Rosa mused. "Haru, do you think you can get behind it and use a Tackle attack?"

Haru crawled down onto her shoulder and nodded before jumping off. Despite not being camouflaged by the grass like Ivy, he crept up behind the Patrat without alerting him.

I don't know if that means he's stealthy or this Patrat has horrible peripheral vision, Rosa thought.

Haru was almost at striking range now. He took another few steps, then lunged forward.

The Patrat opened his mouth to let out a warning screech, but Haru knocked him down and winded him before he could.

I've got to prove myself to him before he alerts the rest of the Patrat around here. "Alright, Haru, use Tackle!"

The Patrat tried stumbling to his feet, but Haru rammed into him again, making him collapse. The rodent Pokemon looked up with a fire blazing in his eyes, but didn't try calling for help.

So he's interested enough to try taking us on, but not enough to be caught quite yet, Rosa thought. Alright.

The Patrat Tackled Haru, toppling him over. The rat-like creature looked almost arrogant as he looked down on Haru. "That all you got?" he seemed to be saying.

Haru looked pretty angry as he got up.

"Haru, another Tackle!" Rosa exclaimed.

The otter Pokemon barreled into the Patrat with greater strength than he did before. The Patrat looked surprised as he fell. Haru stood over him with his stubby little arms on his sides. It looked more cute than it did intimidating, but Rosa appreciated the effort. The Patrat got up, but this time it was different than before. The fire was still in his eyes, but it seemed to have died down. His ears were flattened, and he stared at Rosa rather than Haru.

"Haru, stand down," Rosa ordered. She pulled one of her vacant Pokeballs from her bag, and Haru backed away begrudgingly. Rosa threw the Pokeball, and the Patrat disappeared inside in a bright flash of red light. The Pokeball shook once, then twice, and then thrice, until it clicked. The Patrat was caught.

Rosa picked up the Pokeball and held it in her hand for a moment. "What am I going to name you?" she thought aloud. Then she added, "You know, I should probably get you to a Pokemon Center first. But before that, time to see what other Pokemon this Route holds." Rosa looked at her Xtransceiver. Ten fifty. She had ten minutes to find some kind of other Pokemon. "Let's go, Haru!"

Haru chittered in agreement as he climbed back on top of Rosa's head. That seemed to be his "spot."

After walking a while, Rosa seemed to be finding a lot of Patrats. She knew there were other Pokemon on this Route- she wouldn't mind her own Purrloin- but she was having a bit of bad luck.

Okay, a lot of bad luck.

Rosa looked at her Xtransceiver again. It was ten fifty-five, and her legs were starting to ache. I should probably start heading for Accumula Town. If my luck improves, I might find another Pokemon on the way.

Her luck didn't improve.

By the time she got to the entrance to Accumula Town, it was almost eleven. Cheren was already there.

"Run out of Pokeballs?" he asked.

"No, I ran out of luck. All I kept finding were Patrats," Rosa corrected.

"I've been having the opposite problem," Cheren groaned. "Ivy is pretty strong, so she kept knocking out every Pokemon I encountered! She doesn't know how to back down from a fight, either. It's admirable, but not really the best mindset to have when trying to catch Pokemon."

"I ran out of Pokeballs," Bianca announced from behind Rosa, making her jump. "Those Lillipups are really hard to catch for some reason!"

"How did you get there?" Rosa questioned.

"Walking! Duh, silly!" Bianca retorted cheerfully.

"No, like, how did I not hear you coming up from behind me?"

"Dunno!" Bianca grinned.

"...Right," Cheren continued. "Anyways, how many Pokemon, including our starters, did you guys catch?"

"Two," Rosa and Bianca replied together.

"Really?" Cheren verified. "I got two, as well. So we-"

"Why didn't you say 'two, too?'" Bianca asked innocently.

Rosa tried not to laugh.

"Because redundancy is annoying," Cheren responded. "Regardless, it looks like we all tied."

"We should probably head to the Pokemon Center to heal our new Pokemon," Rosa suggested. "Besides, Bianca can buy more Pokeballs there."

"True," Cheren said. "We can explore Accumula Town, too. There might be some information around there."

"So let's go!" Bianca squealed, dashing past them and toward the gates of Accumula Town.

"Bianca, wait!" Rosa called after her.

"Of course she dashes off like that…" Cheren grumbled. "Alright, guess we gotta follow her." Cheren walked after her, and Rosa followed.

Accumula Town was bigger than Nuvema, that was for sure. There were multiple levels to the place; it looked like stone platforms were built onto the side of a hill until the entire hill turned from curved and green to flat and gray. Sure, the buildings were much more gray and the place was covered with more stone, but there were sparks of color everywhere. Planter boxes were arranged delicately on the side of some houses, while others had full gardens in their backyards. There was also a huge grassy courtyard with a fountain in the center. And around this courtyard stood a large crowd of people. Rosa wondered if there was some sort of event going on.

As if on cue, Bianca came up to Rosa and Cheren. "You're just in time, guys! This dude with a fancy cape is gonna make some kind of speech! There might be enough room near the front to get a better view, if we hurry."

"Sounds interesting," Rosa responded. "Cheren, wanna go check it out?"

Cheren glanced towards the courtyard, then at the Pokemon Center nestled in the nearby corner. Then he decided, "Sure, why not?"

The three went to the edge of the crowd, and after a bit of scooching around, Rosa saw him.

A man who looked like he might be in his thirties or even forties stood in front of the fountain, with a gray-clothed, orange-haired cohort of about seven people. His cape was unevenly divided between purple and gold, with strange eye markings on the side, and he had a sharp, square monocle that had a red lens. The thing that stood out most, however, was his green hair. Bright green hair. Not necessarily neon, but it certainly wasn't the color that came to mind when you thought green. It could be better described as pastel. Something about this man seemed… off to Rosa. Some sort of intuition. Haru seemed to sense it too, and sat on her shoulder instead of her head.

The man stepped forward as the murmuring of the crowd dulled and he began his speech. "Greetings. My name is Ghetsis. I have come here today representing Team Plasma, an organization focusing on liberating Pokemon."

The crown began to murmur again. Rosa was able to pick up some voices in the crowd.

"Liberation?"

"What on earth is this old coot talking about?"

"Why would we need to liberate Pokemon?"

"This is just pointless gossip. Forget this."

After allowing the crowd to whisper amongst themselves for a moment, Ghetsis continued his speech. "Most of you standing here probably believe that humans and Pokemon stay together because they need each other to grow and evolve. But how can you be sure this is the case? The human race has been known for getting too big for their boots in the past. Could it just be that we humans simply assume that this is the truth?"

As the crowd whispered more, Rosa was horrified at some of the things that she heard.

"Hey, this dude's got a point."

"Whatever this 'Team Plasma' is, it sounds like a neat organization."

"Perhaps this 'liberation' idea isn't all that bad."

"I don't know, guys. I mean, he hasn't given us concrete evidence quite yet. Maybe liberation is an over-exaggeration? There could be an alternative."

That person's probably the only voice of reason in here that actually wants to speak up, Rosa thought somewhat bitterly.

Ghetsis must have heard that last comment, because he countered it by saying, "Need I remind you of the Brothers' War? Two brothers, divided by their greed, also split the legendary dragon Pokemon into two. This war ended up in the destruction of the Unova region, and it also cost so many Pokemon lives; more than the losses on the human side of things. And let's not forget the Kalos War, where Pokemon dropped like flies due to the lust of the king of Kalos. For years, now, Pokemon have been worked to the bone and even killed, but they're talked about as though they're our 'partners' helping us do our work. The truth is, Pokemon are treated as slaves who do our work for us, and this is glorified by our belief that humans and Pokemon are equal. But this is not so. Now tell me, what can we do to make Pokemon and humans equal in this world?"

This stunned all of Accumula Town into silence. Nobody spoke, not even Bianca, who was the chattiest person Rosa knew. Haru sat unamused on Rosa's shoulder.

In the silence, Rosa thought. I have to admit, he's got a point, but…

Instead of completely cutting off our relationship with Pokemon, why can't we work to repair it? It would probably work out much better in the long run.

Finally, someone in the crowd spoke. "Liberation! That is how Pokemon and humans can be equal!"

"That's right!" Ghetsis exclaimed, with a smirk that made Rosa feel as though a bunch of spiders were slowly crawling down her spine. "We must liberate our Pokemon! Only then will humans and Pokemon truly be equals. I implore all of you to consider the relationship between humans and Pokemon, and the actions we should take alongside them. Thank you, everybody, for listening." With that, Ghetsis and his entourage picked up the flags that they had placed down and marched to the other exit of Accumula Town, which Rosa presumed led to Striaton City.

The citizens split off into little groups around the town and were talking in hushed whispers. Why they had to be so secretive, Rosa didn't know.

"Let's go to the Pokemon Center," Cheren suggested.

"You're not even going to talk about what just happened?" Bianca asked.

"There's nothing to talk about. Just a group of people spreading around gossip and rumors to rouse the public for a dumb cause," Cheren pointed out. "Instead of releasing our Pokemon, we should bond closer together with them. Work alongside them instead of having them work for us."

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Rosa exclaimed.

Haru climbed back on Rosa's head and chittered. Rosa had no clue what Haru said, but he sounded angry. And since he was still sitting on her head like he normally did, he definitely wasn't mad at Rosa or her friends.

Suddenly, there was a voice behind them. "Ma'am, your Pokemon…"

Rosa, Cheren, and Bianca all turned around to see a young man addressing them. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt with black highlights, and a cap and a watch that had the same color scheme. He had khaki pants, as well as long, green hair, slightly brighter than Ghetsis's. He also had a Purrloin trailing behind him. The cat-like Pokemon looked up curiously.

"My Pokemon?" Rosa asked.

"Yes," the mysterious man replied. "It said something. It said…"

"Pokemon can't talk!" Bianca pointed out.

"Bianca, be polite!" Cheren scolded. He turned to address the mystery man again. "What were you saying, sir?"

"So you can't hear them speak, either," the man mused. "How unfortunate." Then he turned to Rosa. "May we battle? I'd like to hear the voices of your Pokemon again.

"Uh… yeah, sure, I just need to heal my Pokemon first," Rosa replied.

Haru, however, jumped down from his spot on Rosa's head and locked eyes with the Purrloin. She gave him a challenging glare in response.

"Your Oshawott doesn't seem to want to wait," the man translated. "But if he needs attention, I could heal him for you."

"Really?"

"Of course. It's only fair." The mysterious man pulled an Oran Berry from his pocket. "I always keep berries on me, just in case." He bent down and showed Haru the berry. Haru looked up at Rosa, as if asking for permission.

"Go ahead, Haru," Rosa prompted.

As Haru grabbed and bit into the berry, the man said, "Haru? Is that his name?"

"Yes it is," Rosa answered. "Does your Purrloin have a name?"

The green-haired man bent down and pet his Purrloin. "Her name's Sable," he explained.

"Sable? That's a nice name," Rosa complimented.

The Purrloin purred, and the man said, "She said 'Thank you.'"

Rosa smiled, and the man continued, "We should battle in the courtyard. There's more room there. Besides, we won't get in the way of pedestrians."

"Good idea," Rosa agreed.

The two trainers walked over to the courtyard and stood on either side of it. "One on one?" The man asked.

"Sure!" Rosa chirped in response.

The man nodded, and without a word, the Purrloin leapt onto the grass with a yowl, attracting the attention of the Accumula Town residents; and starting the battle.

As soon as Haru's feet touched the grass, Rosa exclaimed, "Haru, Tackle!" Her strategy for battle at this point was constantly using Tackle.

Haru dashed forward to strike the Purrloin, and, predictably, Sable dodged the attack. However, Haru was getting better at his reflexes, and quickly turned around and barreled into Sable.

Sable hit the ground, Haru on top of her, and "oohs" escaped from the crowd, which surprised Rosa; she hadn't realized how many people were watching. Some looked skeptical, still feeling swayed by Ghetsis's speech, while others were whooping and cheering. She heard some of the conversations that were taking place:

"Hey, who do you think is gonna win?"

"Dunno, man. The girl and her Oshawott seem tough, but the green haired dude seems to have more experience."

"Should they even be fighting? I mean, I don't own any Pokemon, but if I did, I'd let them go after that speech from that Ghetsis guy."

"Ro, Ro, let's go!" That was Bianca.

Rosa brought her attention back to the battle. Sable was getting up. Rosa was about to yell out for Haru to use another Tackle when, without the mystery man giving any verbal command, Sable reared up and unsheathed her claws for a Scratch attack. "Haru, shield!"

Haru was one step ahead of her and was already holding his scalchop in front of him. When Sable's claws hit the scalchop, it made a sound like nails on a chalkboard. Rosa winced and covered her ears. The man had a similar reaction, though much calmer than Rosa's.

Haru shoved Sable away, and the Purrloin stumbled. "Now, Haru!" Rosa exclaimed.

Haru rammed into Sable, and the cat Pokemon fell right into the fountain. The Purrloin yowled in fury and disgust, and Rosa felt kinda bad, because she knew Purrloins hated water. But Sable shot out of the water and slammed into Haru, so she was probably fine.

Haru, on the other hand, was winded as he fell onto the ground. The mystery man seemed to want to call back Sable, but she was hissing and spitting with her fur on end, and didn't want to stop battling. The crowd was intrigued by the battle and were watching with bated breath.

Haru was getting low on health; he was visibly weaker as he struggled to his feet. Sable was also a lot weaker, though, so the fight was still even.

"Haru, try Tackling her again!"

Haru charged forward, and Sable used Scratch again at the same time. The two collided into each other, but Sable threw Haru off and stumbled back onto her paws. Haru got up, but Sable was struggling to even stand.

"Haru, now!"

Haru went to run into Sable again, but then the green-haired man shouted, "That's enough, Sable! Don't push yourself."

Haru tripped himself in order to stop running, and fell face first into the grass. Sable turned around to acknowledge her trainer. The man didn't seem angry like his shout had implied. Instead, he looked concerned.

The Purrloin grumbled before limping over to her trainer. The strange man scooped her up and said, "I'm very sorry. I tried to see if she would come back, but this rascal is too stubborn for her own good, so I had to end the battle prematurely before she got too hurt."

"Oh, it's alright," Rosa responded. "Haru's getting out of his comfort zone, too."

Haru nodded, panting. It wasn't until now that Rosa realized that her heart was pounding in her ears. The adrenaline must have gotten to her.

The mystery man, still holding Sable with one arm, extended the other to Rosa. "That was a good battle. You may be a newer trainer, but I applaud your skill."

Rosa shook hands with him. "You're a pretty good trainer, yourself," she said with a smile.

The crowd cheered wildly, much to the excitement of Rosa. Then, she remembered something. "Hey," she told the man under all the cheering, "we never even introduced ourselves! My name's Rosa. What's yours?"

The man smiled. "My name is N."

"Nice to meet you, N," Rosa declared.

"It's nice to meet you, as well, Rosa." N glanced at his watch. His expression changed from happiness to horror. "Oh, no! I'm sorry, Rosa, I really need to go, or I'll be late for something. See you around?"

"See you!" Rosa called as N ran to the Pokemon Center. Then she turned and picked up Haru, who was sitting on the edge of the fountain. Haru climbed back onto her head with a tired chitter. The cheering of the crowd had died down, and everyone had split off into their little groups again, but this time, the chatter was more excitable.

Suddenly, Bianca ran up to Rosa and hugged her tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Ro! You won your first trainer battle against someone that wasn't me or Cheren!"

"Choking… me…" Rosa rasped as Bianca squeezed the air out of her lungs.

"Oh, sorry!" Bianca pulled away and Rosa was able to breathe again.

Cheren came up to Rosa, as well. "Nice job! I thought you were going to lose for a minute there."

"Wow, nice to know you have faith in me," Rosa groaned sarcastically.

The trio laughed, knowing that it was all in good fun, and started making their way to the Pokemon Center.

Then, there was more clapping behind them. "Bravo, Rosa!" a familiar voice exclaimed. "It's nice to see you're putting that Oshawott to good use."

Rosa, Cheren, and Bianca all turned around in unison to see a woman standing behind them. She was wearing a sky blue lab coat with a white undershirt and a green skirt. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a bun, and her red earrings added another pop of color to her outfit. Her kind, green eyes were approving, and her smile was genuine, as well as another trademark of hers. The trio knew who she was immediately.

"Professor Juniper!"

Current Team:

Haru- Oshawott (M)

Patrat (M)