Flinky: Hello world. Flinky is back. I think I can do weekly updates again.
Red: Finally. It's been so long.
Flinky: Now I have a regular review from U.N. Owens. For the fourth wall breaks, I had a feeling that I may have overdone it in the last chapter. I also thought that it would make them seem funnier, which is part of this story's purpose, but I'm still new to this (even after the 50,000 word mark) and will keep that advice in mind as I write future chapters.
Flinky: On another note, we now have more than 10 followers! For most writers that's not that good but I'm happy about it.
Red: I'd like to thank Flinky; Arceus, who sent his only-
Flinky: Enough religious talk. On with the story.
Or, I would have liked too.
Down the road was a Team Rocket helicopter, with mounted guns. You know how I said earlier that they're not kidding around anymore? I think this is a good example.
"Get to cover!" I yelled.
Lyra was already in Johto, so that meant one less person to have to hide.
A voice came out of the helicopter.
"Insurgent group number 0013. We would like to ask that you surrender yourselves and any stolen goods before we open fire. We know you are here. You have 60 seconds to comply."
You know, after careful consideration, I'm going to stay hidden. The same goes for everyone else.
"30 seconds before fire."
You know, this is a bit strange. They have tried to kill us without any warning in the past. What makes this different? Maybe… It's the stuff we took. They either have to recapture Zapdos or take it back from us. Not to mention the Pokéball, which I would like to take a look at later.
"15 seconds before fire."
I know I should be focusing on how to deal with their weapon, but I can't help but wonder. There are at least 12 other resistance groups if we're 13, right? I know about Team Aqua, and Team Magma is probably on the list too, but that leaves 10 others. Unless they count our Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh branches as different groups. Then there are still 7.
"Five seconds before fire. This is your last chance."
No one moved. I had my hand on Omni's Pokéball.
"Beginning assault."
Their guns started firing.
"Omni, Protect!" I called.
She put up a barrier protecting me. The others were still behind cover.
"Red, I can hold it for about a minute."
"Okay, hopefully that's enough."
I paused for a couple seconds thinking about what to do. I couldn't shoot down the heli, hiding isn't a permanent solution… damn, this isn't going well. I could have Omni attack the chopper at the expense of losing the Protect. That seems like the best choice.
I jumped behind a rock. The heli was adjusting it's position so it could get me.
"Omni, when I say, I want you to drop the Protect and hit the chopper with the best Hyper Beam you got."
"I can do even better," she telepathized (is that the word for it?) with a evil grin.
"Do it," I said, wondering if I just made a horrible mistake.
She flew up and began charging it.
"FRENZY HYDRO BLAST BEAM!"
Yep. This was a bad idea. That name was horrible!
On another note, Omni fired a Hyper Beam with individual streams of water, vines, and fire circling around it at the heli. I almost felt bad for the grunts when the chopper went down. Almost. I sorta hope they survive just for publicity purposes.
"Guys, it's down."
Leaf, Michael, and Blue revealed themselves.
"Red, this has got to be your biggest achievement," Leaf said.
"Omni did the work. The only thing I'm going to need to do is find a better name for the move."
"I...take...offence...to...that…"
I looked at Omni. She was tired but seemed to be happy. I forgot how Hyper Beam makes you immobile for a while. Even a legendary can't shake that off.
I returned her and looked at everyone.
"How does camping out sound?" I asked.
It didn't take long for everyone to get settled. Meanwhile, I looked at my stuff. The syringe seemed useless, since there is nothing inside of it, but it could make a good decoy if they ever come after Zapdos' DNA thingy.
Then there was the object of interest. The Pokéball. I pressed the button and it expanded like normal. While I was fiddling around with it, Blue noticed and his eyes widened.
"Red, do you know what that is?" he asked.
"Uhh, no," I admitted.
"That's a Master Ball. This Pokéball can catch any Pokémon without fail. Dad taught it to me before… you know…"
I stopped Blue, knowing this was a soft spot for him.
"Any Pokémon?" I asked.
"Yea, even legendaries. I don't even think Arceus is safe from it."
"Well, I stole it from Team Rocket."
"Wait, Team Rocket had it?"
"Yea, ohhh…" I said as the realization dawned on me. "That, that's a problem."
"Uh huh."
"Guys, we have to talk," I called to everyone.
Once everyone was close enough, I began relaying what Blue said.
"Team Rocket had at least one Master ball, but now it's in our possession. However, if they have multiple, then we're in deep trouble. They can catch legendaries, and that's going to be a pain to deal with."
Michael said "Imagine if they had a Snag Machine too. Then, it'd be even harder to deal with them. Speaking of that…" He pulled out his phone (I think it's a Pokégear but I don't know) and dialed someone.
"Hey, professor, how are you?... Yea, it's fine on this end. Look, I'm sorry to do this, but you have to destroy any Snag Machines you have laying around…. We just found out that Team Rocket has Master Balls. A Snag Machine and a Master Ball is a bad combo… Alright, thanks."
"Who was that?" Blue asked.
"Professor Krane. He's back in Orre. He invented the Snag Machine on my arm."
"Okay then, whatever. I think we should start moving to Lavender again," I suggested
"Right!" everyone said in unision.
Again, we set off to Lavander Town. Hopefully, we don't have to stop another crisis with a legendary.
The rest of the trip was boring. I did look at the Master Ball some more, and found out it was broken. Of course.
Finally, we reached Lavender town. it seemed very welcoming, with fog and a large tower with dead Pokémon.
"Okay, guys, team meeting," I called.
Everyone gathered around me.
"Now, to my best knowledge, this place is run by the other Blue. He works for Team Rocket willingly. However, it shouldn't be as bad as Vermillion citizen-wise."
"How do you know this?" asked Blue. "I know I told you about other Blue running it, but how did you find out about the citizens?"
"Well… my grandfather lives here," I admitted. I don't like most of my family, but Grandpa is an exception. "When I was younger, he told me about how much the town cares for Pokémon, leading them to hate Team Rocket. I don't think that's changed in the 3 years since, especially with what we're doing."
"What's his name?" Leaf asked.
"Urwin Fuji, aka Dr. Fuji," I said.
"Your gramps' is a doctor too? Wouldn't have guessed that…" Blue said.
"Well, he mainly studies Pokémon biology. He loves Pokémon. A lot."
"Do you think he could help?" Michael asked.
"Probably. He's well-respected in the town. Especially since he maintains Pokémon Tower."
Blue started softening up again. I really have to figure this out.
After that, we crashed.
At morning we ate breakfast and packed up.
"Well guys, we still have to focus on how to free the city. No matter how many citizens are on our side they can't battle grunts that well. We need to be the main attackers in this mission. Now, what I have in mind for Blue's tower is this: we go in, take out Blue, gain control of the tower, and there we can control the flow of the city. We'll go from there."
"Sound good to me," Michael said.
Leaf said "You make it sound much easier than it will be. But I'm still in."
"One complaint," Blue said. I was about to shut him up when he said "It's a real one. OG Blue was a Kanto Champion. Beating him isn't going to be that easy."
"True," I said. "But we have an advantage. Numbers. Before, we had to play fair to free the person from Team Rocket. Now, our only goal is to render him incapable of fighting back. As much as I'd hate to do it, we can, and probably will, use every dirty trick in the book."
Leaf said, "So basically pull a Team Rocket on Team Rocket. Sounds like fun."
"Alright, fine," said Blue. "What's the plan on getting in though?"
"How do you guys feel about an airdrop?"
Blue had his Fearow fly us up to the roof, one at a time. I wish I could use Omni but she explained a few chapters ago why she couldn't help.
Once we were up it was my turn. Ignite melted a hole through the roof. At that point, we were giving up any stealth we had.
"You know guys, this is the first time we're all attacking together," I said.
"Yea, you're right," Leaf said. "You need to let me come more often."
"Well, let's do it!" I exclaimed.
"Char, Charmeleon!"
Looks like our hole is ready. Before anyone moved, I threw a rock down and heard a lot of gunshots. They definitely know we're here.
"Leaf, you're up."
She had her Ivysaur send a Sleep Powder down the hole. There were lot's of thumping noises, so I assumed we were safe.
I jumped down first, followed by Leaf, then Michael, and Blue was last.
The first thing I heard was "Don't move." Then, I saw a large Arcanine with an orb of fire in his mouth. That seems pleasant. Not to mention he has a shadow aura around him. Finally, I saw OG Blue. He hasn't changed since I ran into him at Cerulean. There were also unconscious grunts all around.
"You know, you could have gone through the front door. I had everything planned, with traps and grunts. That would have been much more fun," OG Blue said.
"Because you know how much we trust an unlocked door to a Rocket command center."
"No matter. I'm here to kill you four anyways," OG Blue said.
I just looked from Arcanine to Blue. "You could have just killed us with him."
"No, it would burn you. You need to be killed."
Just then, a phone rang.
"Oh Arceus. Arcanine, roast them if they move as much as a foot."
He exited the room and presumably started talking to someone.. Well this was our chance.
I whispered to Blue "Send out Wartortle and we'll knock Arcanine out."
"Won't he kill us?"
"We'll die no matter what if we do nothing."
I sent out Driver while Blue released Wartortle, yet Arcanine didn't do anything, and I know why. Michael knows too. Arcanine is a shadow, and obeys all trainer orders literally. When Blue said "Move a foot," Arcanine was looking out for us moving our feet, not all movements.
"Get him!" Both Blue and I ordered. Again, the shadow didn't do anything since it was without trainer command. I hope OG Blue didn't notice us.
Eventually, Arcanine was knocked out. Michael caught it with his Snag Machine, and we all hid with a set Pokémon.
"Alright, sorry, some Fuji person tried sneaking into Pokémon Tower. Again. Hey where are you guys? And where's Arcanine?"
I gave the signal and we all charged. Ignite and I took off Blue's belt, Michael and Espeon knocked him out, Leaf and Ivysaur tied him up, and Blue got to work on dividing the grunts.
Everything was going well so far. Well, not exactly. We were off to a shaky start. But now we're relatively safe.
"Okay, what's the plan now?" asked Leaf.
"You and Michael will send orders to the grunts to separate them. Their advantage is numbers, so if we divide them we can take out their force."
"But what will knocking them out do?" Michael asked.
"They won't have anywhere to heal their Pokémon, so they'll be forced to leave the city."
"Red, it's not that easy anymore. If these guys are an example." He gestured to the unconscious grunts on the floor. "They'll have weapons. It's a lot easier to get ammo than a Pokémon center for these guys."
Well, that's true. We don't have a way to stop them without… killing them. But I am not going to go that low.
"Red, take a look at this," Michael said, interrupting my train of thought.
It was a monitor with locations on all the grunts, but there seemed to be a lot in the tower's armory.
"What's this supposed to be?" I asked. "It's just a map of the grunts."
"It's not grunts, it's weapons." He pulled up a settings window with choices such as "Allow full-auto", "Send message", and my favorite, "Disarm all weapons".
"I like it," I said. "Write a BS message about why the guns need to be deactivated, and then deactivate them. Make sure it's signed from Blue."
"Got it," Michael said. "Ugh, it's password protected. Maybe a trojan could…"
Michael started droning on, and I stopped paying attention. Next issue is singling out the grunts so we can render them defenceless.
I'm not that much of a computer guy, but I can do some stuff, like find the panel that was directing where the grunts were to go. I'm not going to start until Michael is done with the weapons.
-Team Rocket Guard Barracks-
"Hey John, did you get the alert?"
"What?"
"The guns are being deactivated because it further convinces the public that we're the bad guys."
"I wonder if this is a rebel attack…"
"It reads '-Blue' at the end."
"Oh, then it must be legit."
-Red's POV-
"The weapons are down. What now?" Michael asked.
"Blue, Leaf, and I will take out the grunts individually while you stay up here and watch OG Blue. You also need to separate the grunts into groups of one or two."
"Shouldn't I have another person here just in case?"
"Just have your Pokémon watch Blue."
"I guess…"
"Now the rest of us will head out."
Ignite melted a hole for us to climb out of. There are now two large holes in the top of this tower. I wonder if anyone below noticed…
Leaf's Ivysaur used Vine Whip to lower us safely to the ground. From there, we used our Pokégear's to ask Michael where the grunts were being sent. We split up to deal with them individually.
After a couple hours of grinding surprised grunts, they were down. Leaf, Blue, and I met back up outside the tower. We went in to see Michael casually sitting in a swivel chair.
"Took you a while," he said.
"You were supposed to send them to us."
"Fair enough."
"Now, that the grunts are down, time to shut down their facilities," I said.
"Right."
Michael began pressing what seemed to be random buttons while we were standing around awkwardly.
"Okay. Facility is down and grunts are discharged," Michael reported.
"Good. Now, what are we going to do with the other Blue?" Leaf asked.
"We could lock him up," Blue suggested.
"Remember what happened last time?" I asked. When we locked Blue away before he escaped with the other Red, which led to us getting captured and Leaf serving them for a while. "I got one idea, but it's not the best."
"What?" asked Micheal.
"I think Omni can do the same thing that Team Rocket does."
Leaf and Michael got it, but Blue was clueless.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Omni can brainwash him."
"Red, I'm okay with that idea, but just give it some thought first," Leaf said. "This is part of the reason why Team Rocket is bad. By doing this, we're sinking to their level. This will not go over well in the more dominated areas."
"Maybe… You know, I have another idea, and it involve our Blue," I said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We dress up Blue to make him look like the Rocket one and if Team Rocket comes to save him, we'll give them our Blue. By the time he escapes and is found out, we can transfer this Blue to Celadon or Pewter, so Team Rocket won't know where he is."
"I like it," Michael said. "But Blue should be the one to decide."
"Hmm… Red, I know we have never exactly liked eachother, but I'm going to trust you. I'll do it. But there's one thing I want to do first."
"What's that?" I asked.
"I want to visit my friend in Pokémon Tower. That's why I wanted to come to Lavender."
Then it clicked. Blue said he had a Raticate here, but if he's in Pokémon Tower… oh Arceus.
"Definately. You can go there once we're finished up here."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"You know, I don't think the public realizes there free yet," Michael said.
"Oh yea. Can you get the PA system running?"
"Already did. Just press this button and speak into this mic." He pointed at a green button and a mic built into the wall.
I pressed the button.
-POV Shift-
Dr. Fuji was just escorted from Pokémon Tower to his home for trying to break in. Usually, there would be grunts guarding his door so he couldn't leave, but for some reason there wasn't. He looked outside when he heard a different voice than normal come over the intercom.
"Hello citizens of Lavender Town. Many of you may have noticed a large lack of grunts in the city. We are here to tell you that this is a major issue… for Team Rocket. We are Poké Underground, and we have liberated this city from the control of Team Rocket. You are now free to do as you please, including catching and raising Pokémon. The one thing that we have to ask is that anyone does so assists if Team Rocket tries to recapture this city. This is the leader of Poké Underground, Red, signing off."
Fuji being surprised was an understatement, for a number of reasons. Team Rocket is gone. He can enter the tower and try to calm the spirit that he knew rested there. He could also restart his Pokémon orphanage. It was one of his favorite things to do before they came.
Then, there was the name. Red. He knew that there was a resistance group being run by a boy who looked like Red, but he didn't think it was his grandson, that is, until the announcement. His daughter loved Team Rocket so much, yet his daughter's son hates it.
He let out a small laugh. "This is going to make an awkward family reunion when the dust settles," he said, to no one in particular.
-Red's POV-
Well, that was settled. Now we were going to split up. Leaf and Michael needed to heal their Pokémon at the canter (and help it get started), Blue was going to the tower, and I wanted to see my grandpa.
I went down the streets with the little memory I had of the town. The last time I was here was about three years ago. I didn't have to guess for that much when I heard a familiar voice yell "Red!"
I turned around and saw my grandpa, just as I remembered him.
"Grandpa, how have you been?" I asked, overjoyed to be seeing him again.
"Good, just taking on the dictator and liberating entire cities -oh wait," he said, sarcastically. This is why I like him.
"Good one. Where's your house again?"
"Right this way," he said.
We walked back to his home and started to catch up with each other. I told him about my adventures from meeting Gold to saving Zapdos. He told me about the times he snuck into Pokémon Tower to make sure it stayed clean for the spirits. I have had my doubts about him meeting spirits but he doesn't lie about things like this.
"Just think. You're mom's going to hate both of us so much."
"Do you have her number? I want to see her expression when she sees that I did this."
"Yea, it's on the phone in the back."
"Thanks."
There was an old video phone with Mom's number on it, just like he said. I selected to call the number.
"Dad, why are you...Red. Why are you calling from your grandfathers phone? Did you become a guard or even better, an Admin so you get to travel? That would make you worth all the pain it was to raise you."
"I get to travel, but maybe not like you would think. Have you heard of Poké Underground?"
"Yes, why?"
"Compare the leader to me."
She took a couple seconds before the realization set in.
"You...You're Fire Red?"
"Yep. In case you didn't know, Lavender was just freed from Team Rocket."
"No no no no, my son...a rebel leader?"
Her look turned from sadness to anger.
"YOU ARE TRYING TO TEAR DOWN THIS COUNTRY! I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT! I FORBID YOU TO!"
"Sorry mom, you're not the boss of me any more. On another note, do you even know the main reason I'm doing this?"
It was supposed to be rhetorical, and she understood that.
"Team Rocket bans Pokémon. Humans and Pokémon need to work together, not be torn apart, like they want it to be. You won't understand though."
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! YOU ARE A DISGRACE!"
"Well, maybe, but among regular people, I'm a hero."
I ended the call after that. As I was walking out, I heard it ring one more time.
I picked it up and dad was on the screen.
"Red, I heard the conversation with your mother. Now, I want you to keep this between us. I want you to keep doing what you're doing. I know that you want to bring Pokémon back. And I know you will. But, if you ever feel like this isn't what you want to do, for any reason, don't hesitate to quit. Just do what you want to do, not Team Rocket or your friends, just you."
"Thanks dad." I hung up again. Well, looks like I've sorted things out with most of my family. Time to head to the center for some shut-eye.
Flinky: And that's it. Sorry about Mewtwo not coming in yet, but he will likely be in either the next one or the one after that.
Red: Spoilers.
Flinky: Come on. I foreshadowed it since chapter 1. Even though it wasn't until the last one where I confirmed it wasn't Mespirit or some other psychic who's name starts with an "M".
