Chapter Nine

The Oceanic Museum stood majestically close to the sea. When compared to the rest of the city, it was sure to rival it in terms of scientific or just personal interest. I suppose that after I cleaned up the garbage taking up space inside, I could spend some time there. A nice reward for some warm-up training. Upon getting closer, Wrumple and I saw two Team Magma members stationed outside the entrance. Perfect. I peeled my Pokémon off my shoulder and aimed carefully.

"Surprise Wrumple Assault!"

My arm cocked back and launched the red caterpillar onto one of the unsuspecting grunt's face. Not used to having large insects crawling all over his features, the grunt panicked and shouted with surprise while his cohort tried to get the creature off of him. Unfortunately for them, they were all open for my attack.

WHAM!

I slammed my entire body weight on the unblinded Magma grunt. Having no time to brace himself, the henchman hit the building wall and knocked his head on the metal frame. Hard enough for him to fall unconscious. Now incapacitated, I locked onto the remaining target. He was aware of the attack and now forcefully tried pulling Wrumple's body off his face. I didn't want to hurt my Pokémon, so I did what any logical person would do: Punch him the stomach.

As my fist came flying, Wrumple saw it coming and braced herself. I hit the grunt with as much force as I could muster and sent him back. The building did the rest of the work and knocked his lights out. Pleased with my handiwork, I got Wrumple back and placed her on my shoulder. "Great job Wrumple! Now let's go bust the rest of those thugs!"

My Pokémon gave out a small battle cry and held on tight. She was very eager for action. It was pretty sad that there had been zero intervention of the police. What were they doing that was so important anyway? How could they not see any of these losers' activities?! It had been just like that in Johto! I remember when Team Rocket took over the lighthouse and not a single officer came to intervene! If nobody was gonna come, then I'll save the day myself!

"Alright Magma dorks! Prepare yourselves for the wrath of May Map-OOF"!

No matter how much enthusiasm, ambition or bravery is involved, my short-sightedness was always there. I expected the door to push open when a small 'pull' sign visibly showing on the glass doors stated otherwise; causing me to knock my head against the once spotless panes. That moment was pretty embarrassing. It took me a moment to shake off the pain and go inside the right way this time.

The museum was much more impressive than I expected it to be. It was spacious and cool. The murals on the walls started light blue on top to match the sky and changed to the golden sands, deep blue waters and many colorful water-type pokemon at the bottom that represented the denizens of the deep. The floor was tile a light blue color to match the theme of the ocean. There were many displays and models of exhibits from different layers of sediment in the sea to a red ball rising and sinking with the water level as an example of underwater pressure. Everything certainly piqued my interest; including a dozen Team Magma members roaming around the floor with several people taken hostage. It certainly didn't take long for them to notice my presence. Once noticed, they immediately raised their pokeballs at me with threatening glares. I smirked; this was gonna be e-THWACK!


The first thing I remembered when coming to, was a throbbing pain that reverberated from the back of my head. Someone must have snuck up and knocked me out. The second thing was the feeling of thick rope that tied my arms and torso. When my thoughts gathered, I opened my eyes to see Wrumple locked inside a glass case of the Gigante ship model. A very famous ship that was supposed to be virtually indestructible; it ended up sinking from the hull being damaged by a cliffside. Oh the irony. Wrumple constantly crawled around all four sides to look for an escape.

"TCH! Those animals! Just wait till I get loose! They're gonna pay for this!" I snarled while thrashing in my bindings. Whoever did the knots was very efficient at tying. Fortunately, they were also dumb enough to leave my pack with me. Now if I could just get free.

"I-I don't. Think that's a good idea. Those Team Magma guys are pretty strong,"

Huh? Who was that?

Upon hearing the new voice, I looked to my left to see two people with me in the corner of the enormous first floor. The guy who spoke up looked like he was in his late twenties. I think what bothered me about him the most was the near similarities in appearance he had with Professor Sycamore. His black hair was covered with a backwards blue cap. He had slightly pale skin with a small stubble on his chin. Fortunately, the same things they shared ended there. He wore a grey t-shirt with some Pokémon on it that was unknown to me. On his legs were baggy blue jeans and had black sneakers. His personality was….a bit timid.

His female counterpart on the other hand was much different. She had short cut dark brown hair and eyes with light peach skin. She wore a turquoise and light green top with white capris, flats and earrings. She looked more rebellious, but in a classier way.

She rolled her eyes and groaned at his cowardice. However, I wasn't going to pass up the chance to speak up.

"No they're not! They just got lucky with sneaking up on me! All I gotta do is get loose and they're toast!"

The strange man looked unsure, but the woman locked onto me with interest. Coincidentally, they were rope-free. "Really? You can beat those guys? That sounds pretty great and all...but what's in it for us to help you out?"

I gazed at her with a curious expression. Were they extortionists or something? "Well, what do you want?"

There was some sort of mysterious glint in her eyes at the question. I don't think I like what she might request. "Well….if we untie you, you gotta let us follow you around the museum. We're pretty good at being behind the scenes, so it's not like we'll get in the way,"

"Wait….so you guys don't want to escape?"

"Why would we? Not if there's something interesting involved!"

"Not really a good idea, Gabby,"

"Shut up Ty! This could be a better than what we were supposed to cover! So, Whaddya say? Is it a deal?"

I raised a brow with curious interest. Any normal person(excluding me) would want to excuse themselves from danger at the first sign of it. Well, as long as they didn't get in my way. "Uh, sure whatever. Just help get this off of me," I replied while showing her my back with the neatly tied knot in the middle of it.

"Atta girl! I knew we could count on you!"

The woman quickly set to work as her clever fingers began going over the knot to get me free while her partner was on lookout; he looked very uneasy.

"Geez this is really tight. You must have pissed them off or something," she said with a grunt as she pulled hard at the knot. A small smirk was on my lips at the thought getting under their skin in the most dreadful way possible. "Just a 'little'. My friend Brendan and I busted a few of them in Petalburg woods and Rustboro city. They think their so tough when they bully other people around. It makes it easier for me to kick their a-"SOMEONE'S COMING!"

The guy who was watching for guards exclaimed in panic and I turned my neck as much as I could to see a patrolling grunt walking towards us. Nearing completion, the woman was momentarily broken from her focus and caused her to scowl at the man. "Whining about it is not going to make it go any faster! Stall him!"

He looked back at his partner like she was crazy, but gulped and braced himself when the grunt came close enough to have a conversation with.

"What are you doing up?! Sit back down!"

"I...I really have to go to the bathroom,"

"Too bad! Hold it!"

"Bu-but I have been...it's been over an ho-"

"HEY! What are you doing?!

The man failed to distract the grunt as he caught sight of me getting untied. The grunt quickly shoved the pleading guy out of the way and pulled the woman back. It was too late however, because she managed to loosen the knot and the thick rope fell carelessly from my torso. FREEDOM! I quickly got up and distanced myself from the thug with a pokeball already in hand. Payback was going to be absurdly delicious, like cake.

"Go Chirpie! I know you can do it!"

I held the sphere out in front of me and it opened up to reveal a very excited Torchic. Wrumple, who was still trapped inside the glass prison, gave out a crying cheer of some sort. She was very happy to see her battle partner.

The grunt also took out a pokeball and threw it. The device sailed into the air and opened up to send out an aggressive poochyena. The small dog snarled in the face of the ecstatic fire chick who kept on chirping happily; man he was really bursting with enthusiasm for battle. I was the first to issue a command to my Pokémon.

"Chirpie! Use ember!"

The small bird instantly complied and opened its beak to spurt out small blasts of fire at the dog. The opponent's Pokémon made the sad assumption of Chirpie's flames being weak...until it took the attack head on and suffered second degree burns for it. Despite the injury, it retaliated with a sharp snap of its jaws that nearly seized Chirpie's leg. My Pokémon attacked with its sharp talons raking raggedly across the side of the dark-type's already wounded body. It stumbled back before collapsing as it couldn't take anymore. Alright! Easy win!

The grunt was bewildered by the victory and quickly retracted his small beast that was followed by fleeing out of the museum. If all of my adversaries were all weak like this, then I should be done within the hour.

"This is Hoenn now news with reporter Gabby and cameraman Ty coming to you live from the Slateport Oceanic Museum! We just witnessed was a heroic, young trainer who just beat back a Team Magma grunt in no time flat! I'd sure hate to be on her bad side!"

My head turned to see the two tag-alongs with one of them having a camera pointed at me and the other narrating the scene with a handheld microphone. Oh geez, I picked up a camera crew. Dad never was the one to be the spotlight of televised events. He preferred to be on the sidelines where the tranquil peace dwelled.

Suddenly, two more grunts came upon us with a numel and zubat already moving towards our party. Ty looked frightened since he was one of those 'normal people' who contributed to society like any other average person, but Gabby scolded him. "Don't chicken out now! This is getting good. Move closer to the fight!"

I remained focused on the new opponents and Chirpie chirped in a cautious tone as it studied the two new Pokémon. "Reporter lady Gabby! Get my wrumple! I'm gonna be a little busy for a while! Chirpie let's make payback a big bitch for em'!"


"What a stunning turn of events! New comer trainer, May Maple has sent most of Team Magma occupying the museum packing! Using only a Torchic, this young girl has buried every opposing force standing in her way!"

Gabby and Ty courageously(more of Gabby pushing Ty) followed me around the museum to capture every move I made. Truthfully, they were irritating as they came, but a deal was a deal. The hostages I freed quickly left the building with overwhelming relief. Pretty soon, the entire first floor had been liberated. The only way to go now was up. And as I passed the retreating grunts, I paid them no mind after their defeat. The person who I wanted to take it out on was the one responsible for orchestrating the evil scheme. They should be on the second floor. There was no time to waste!

I ran up the stairs with Chirpie, trapped wrumple and the news crew tailing behind me. Gabby was filled with excitement while Ty was brimming over with uncertainly. Chirpie was...well he was looking forward to eating after this crisis ended.

Upon reaching the closed doors of an exhibit door, I promptly kicked it open. The scene that was revealed inside had been two grunts; one holding an old man by the front of his tan suit while the other stood by the side to watch. It was funny to think how small this planet was, because. I immediately recognized the Team Magma member who was terrorizing the the hostage. No sooner did our eyes lock did my mouth split into a wicked smile. The grunt who I remembered for bullying the Devon corp scientist in Petalburg woods instantly dropped the old man.

"Well, well..."I announced while cracking my knuckles. An involuntary laugh came out of me. There may have been the feeling of bloodlust, but I was barely aware of it. Noticing the now hostile atmosphere though, Ty subtly switched off the camera.

"Oh well, lookie here. It's a small world after all ain't it? But its about to get larger for you after I kick your ass down a couple of notches!"

"Gah! Stay away from me!"

The coward half ran and stumbled towards his cohort; who gladly shielded him as he stepped forward to face me. "Alright kid! The grown-ups are busy so-UGH!"

My hand came forcefully against the side of the Magma grunt's face. Making him smack down hard on the floor; diffusing the minor obstacle. The cameraman Ty now looked more uncertain by my choice of tactics, but didn't say a word. Gabby nearly squealed from all the exciting things that were happening. I didn't care what they thought though, all that mattered to me was getting information, even if I had to slowly beat it out of him!

"Since you decided to save yourself for last..."I said while seizing the front of the scared grunt's shirt with both hands. "…tell me who your boss is and where he's hiding or else I'll start re-arranging your face!"

Normally,if Brendan had been here, that situation wouldn't have happened. He had more clever ways that didn't involve physical torture. Without his logical restraint, all bets were off.

The grunt didn't respond; he could only whimper with terror. Oh well, I did warn him.

With an eager fist, I aimed it at that pathetic face he was making and launched. It never landed however; something held me back by the wrist just before it hit. The surprise of the restraint had been enough for me to lose my grip of the fortunate soul and let him back away with relief. I quickly locked my gaze on the interrupter.

"I think that's quite enough child,"

The person who was responsible for stopping the beat down was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. His dark grey eyes were filled with heavy feeling of superiority and unshaken self-confidence; though they were aided by large glasses. His firey red hair had been neatly combed back to give him that sophisticated look. While his face as a whole presented him to mean serious business, his outfit was a whole different story. It looked like he was the mastermind behind that sweater onsie trend in the Team Magma organization, but what made him stand out was the large red coat he wore with the small team emblems on each side. Overall, I had the urge to give him a swirly at first glance than to respect him.

"So...you're the one who defeated all of my employees. And based on what my men told me from their previous ventures, you must also be the one who thwarted my plans in Petalburg woods and Rustboro city. Despite the mild frustrations I felt at the time, it is quite a remarkable achievement,"

Wait? Was he giving me a compliment? I responded to this in the usual fashion.

"Fuck you!" I exclaimed while I attempted to punch him with my free hand. He easily dodged the attack and twisted my arm in a way where he was now standing perfectly behind me; forcing the appendage against my back.

"Since I have a moment to spare, allow me to enlighten you of what the purposes of the Team Magma organization is about. You see child, humans have been the dominant species of the planet for some time and their ability to think for themselves and create is astounding. You may consider me a servant of the people; someone who wishes to progress humanity. Someone who wants to encourage them to continue to exercise their creativity. Much like yourself, we are both lovers of our kind,"

What, so he was some glorified humanitarian wannabe? That was a very hard, bitter pill to swallow. In fact, I think that I'm choking on I from all the big words and glossy lies he put in it. There was no way that a leader who lets innocent people get taken advantage of by his own men could hardly be considered a helper of the people.

"I'm supposed to believe that bullying scientists, taking people hostage and tormenting old men is what you call helping humanity's progress?"

"Minor prices to pay I must admit. Tarnishing my name is acceptable to me as long the outcome of the results are fulfilled,"

"And that is?"

"I could tell you...but your lack of perspective and closed mind wouldn't understand. However, you're more than welcome to chase after me like some romanticized heroine," he taunted cooly before releasing my arm and taking a step back.

A very smart move on his part, because I quickly whirled around in a wild attempt to deck him. The frustrations were real as I found myself hitting air. Chirpie however was more lucky in his attempt as he lunged for the Team Magma leader and latched onto the bottom of his coat. His legs flailing while keeping a firm hold on the fabric. The man looked at the attack as if it was a mere joke.

"Oh no, a torchic of mass destruction. I fear if let it have at me for too long, I will die from the adoration. I could only wonder how I will solve this issue,"

With that, he dug into his coat pocket and produced a teddyursa shaped cookie. The man then casually waved it at my bird until it stopped hanging on and had its undivided attention to him.

He threw a few feet away from him and Chirpie pursued the treat. What the hell, man?! I couldn't believe that my Pokémon got so easily swayed by a cookie! That was too embarrassing for words!

The Team Magma leader checked his watch and adjusted his glasses before ordering the shaken up grunt to pick up his knocked out team mate. Hey! Nobody's gonna be escaping May Maple's wrath unscathed!

I went again for the three with upmost fury. In a weird twist however, the boss had simply held up his hand in front of him when I got close enough and sighed with slight disappointment. Strangely, I promptly stopped. Definitely one of those weird moments in my life.

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm on a tight schedule. Without those parts I needed from the good Captain Stern over there, I'll be more busier than I intended. Consider yourself honored to be graced by the presence of The Great Maxie,"

With that, he and his flunkies left. The most concerning part about his exit (other then all of us standing there watching him leave like idiots) was the lack of urgency, and unchallenged classy pace that wasn't dared to be interrupted by any opposition. If he wasn't so bothersome like a rock in a shoe, I would have thought he looked kinda cool.


After realizing the parts Maxie needed were in my care, I handed them over to Captain Stern with much gladness. Gabby and Ty were arguing amongst themselves about the last bit of the feed being turned off. According to the cameraman, I was 'too violent' for live audiences.

Wrumple got freed by Chirpie and as compensation for being imprisoned, took the little ship model as a keepsake. I put her back in her ball and we all went downstairs. Chirpie happily walked alongside me as it greatly anticipated the victory meals that followed after a big fight.

However, it would have to wait. For when we all were close to the entrance, the doors suddenly bursted open. Coming through them were five uniformed police officers with large arcanines bravely moved forward to greet us. Wow, these guys were so late!

"It's about time you showed up!" I growled with frustration at their tardiness. "Actually, you're late! Very late! The Team Magma boss le-"

"Excuse me little girl, but are you May Maple?"

"...yes, but what does that have to do wit-"

"Someone's been looking for you, miss! They contacted us as soon as they realized you were lost! Come with us!"

There was little room for any argument in the matter as I was taken away. Chirpie was picked up by the back of its neck by one of the police officer's large dogs. It chirped rebelliously, but to no avail. Meanwhile, I wasn't so much as inwardly complaining about their enthusiasm of searching for missing people, but the other aspect of their occupation was laughable at best! No wonder people like Maxie could get away with stuff! These morons were aweful at their job!


Some time later, we reached the police station and I was marched into the waiting area. Unfortunately for me, the one who was looking for me had also been there; waiting for me with open shirt buttons.

"May my darling student! There you are! I was so terribly worried!"

Oh no.

My body grew stiff at the sight of prince-like Sycamore. His handsome smile made me grow nervous. There was nothing I could do to escape his ever watchful eyes now that I was back in his vicinity.

When I got nudged close enough, he pulled my body towards his partially buttoned chest. My face burned as I could feel the smooth, warm skin of his toned torso against my cheek. Once again, the short-sighted police couldn't see the obvious wrong picture in front of their eyes. To add to the boldness, he began to stroke my head.

"I am so relieved that you are safely back within my cares! You poor thing; you must have been so frightened and lonely. Do not worry though, I shall take great pains to make sure that I will NEVER lose you again!"

*Continued in Chapter Ten*