The Radio Tower Situation, Chapter 31
Don't these Rockets ever give up? It was starting to feel like everywhere I went, there they were causing some sort of trouble.
This time, I don't know what this group was even thinking. The Radio Tower was packed with Pokemon trainers, so even if everyone of the dozen grunts released their Pokemon, there would still be enough people around to fight them off effectively. Since Vulpix was already in my arms, I stepped forward, followed by a few others around me with Pokeballs at the ready. The grunt who announced his entrance just snorted at us.
"Every Pokemon trainer in the building will quietly walk out of here right now." He said calmly. The group of grunts behind him shifted around a bit, and out came a little girl with a Pokemon behind her. The Pokemon was a Scyther, a large bug type with sharp blades as forearms. And it held the little girl hostage before everyone there.
"If anyone tries anything funny, her life will be on your hands. Do I make myself clear?"
There was a general air of frustration around us. I knew I'd never do anything to risk that little girl's life, so I was among the first of the trainers to nod silently. The grunt smiled coldly at us, and the group spread out to round up everyone on the first floor. Little by little, they shuffled us out of the Radio Tower, until the only people left were the workers on the first floor. After that, the doors were closed.
By this point the Goldenrod Police had arrived on the scene, and several trainers began sharing information on what had happened. I walked away from the crowd myself, trying to think of a way to sneak back into the building to help free that little girl. It was then that I ran into Luke and Amy again.
"Quite a predicament, isn't it?" He said, leaning against the wall of the tower.
"I never thought Team Rocket would be crazy enough to storm a building like that," I said. "Or that they'd do something so evil as take a girl hostage like that!"
"The police are here now. I'm certain they'll resolve everything."
"Do you really think so?" I looked at Luke. His expression reminded me of David's in a way, only I was sure he wanted to help save the girl as much as I did.
"Something about all this has been bothering me since they first told us to leave," he continued. "Why didn't they take our Pokemon?"
Now that he mentioned it... why didn't they? In every run in with Team Rocket I've ever had, the first thing they did was take people's Pokemon. Actually, that seemed to be their primary goal in every situation. But here, they just told everyone to leave.
"You're right. So you think they want something else in the tower?"
"Actually, I think we may be hearing what it is they wanted right now."
Luke turned to the crowd near the entrance of the Radio Tower. Many of them were listening to something on their Pokegears, so I turned mine on and started shuffling through the frequencies. On every station originating from the Radio Tower, there was a message being aired from the grunts.
"This is a message from Team Rocket! We have taken control of Goldenrod City's Radio Tower, and demand that the Elite Four surrender their prized Pokemon immediately! If you don't comply, we will be forced to use our Pokemon on the employees of this tower."
The message looped after that. I looked at Luke, who was looking more and more worried.
"Guess their goal was capturing more Pokemon," I said to him. "They just wanted the best Pokemon possible."
"Even if the Elite Four were to comply, they'd take some time to arrive from Indigo Plateau. There may still be a chance to help." Luke took Amy and asked me to follow him.
"Where are we going?"
"I know another way into the Radio Tower. If we're lucky, they won't have it blocked off or guarded."
~o~
Luke's plan, as it would turn out, was to sneak into the tower via an underground entrance. Like any other building, the Radio Tower's electricity was routed through tunnels underneath Goldenrod City. And all these tunnels were accessible through a different location in the city. And as it just so happened, Luke knew how to get in.
We arrived first at the bullet train station on the other side of the city. Despite the situation at the Radio Tower, life seemed to go on like normal elsewhere in the city, with people coming and going at the station. Luke led me through a door clearly marked 'No Entry Permitted', and we were in a hallway that broke off in three directions. I remained silent the whole time, letting Luke dictate where we'd be going. Not like I had much to add, only a lot to ask.
We arrived at a door eventually, which was locked tight with quite a large padlock. Luke cursed under his breath, but I didn't say anything about it. He turned to me and sighed.
"Looks like we'll have to change the plan slightly."
"What do you mean? Can't we just break the lock and get in?" I was pretty sure Primeape could manage it. Or rip the door off its hinges easily.
"We can't risk it. If the grunts hear us trying to break in, they might make good on their threat to harm the hostages. We can't risk that." Luke had a point.
"So what are we going to do?"
"Do you have any psychic Pokemon?" His question came out of no where for me.
"No, I don't. Why are you asking that now?"
"Then do you have any Pokemon that can use Hypnosis? We need to be able to put the grunts to sleep in case of an emergency." I quickly caught on to what Luke was planning. I reached for Clefairy's Pokeball.
"I have a Clefairy, and she can use Sing! Will that help?"
"Not what I had in mind, but it'll do. However, I'm afraid it'll only be you and Clefairy going in."
"What? Why? Can't you come in after me, and bring the rest of my Pokemon?" I couldn't help but feel Luke was making it harder than it could've been.
"Don't you remember? Amy isn't very strong, and she can only Teleport one at a time. If you keep Clefairy in her Pokeball, I'm sure Amy can manage to take you both." He did mention that the first time I borrowed Amy.
"Okay, so why don't you come along?"
"The more people running around in there, the more likely we are to get caught. And if we're caught, one of two things can happen. Either they take us hostage as well, or they kill some hostages." It always came back to the hostages. Having never been in such a situation before, I kept forgetting that anything could end up costing someone their life. That knowledge scared me more than anything ever had in my entire life.
"I don't know," I whispered to Luke, "What if this isn't such a good idea? What if they do catch me?"
"Star," Luke said, putting his hand on my shoulder, "you don't have to do anything if you don't want to. I am only trying to help, but if you aren't up to it, you can leave it to myself and the police."
Truth be told, I almost took him up on that and left. Maybe it was a well of courage I never knew I had, or maybe it was my adventurous nature exerting itself when I least expected it, but I didn't leave. I couldn't leave. Not after seeing the look of sheer terror on that little girl's face. Looking back, maybe I saw a bit of myself in her, and I couldn't just leave her behind. I had to try and save her. I clutched Clefairy's Pokeball tight.
"I'll do it," I said. "I'm ready."
Luke nodded, and handed me Amy. The Abra snuggled close to me, and within seconds I was blinded by the flash of light as we were teleported away.
~o~
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a different hallway. Amy instantly teleported away again, leaving alone in the passage. I released Clefairy from her Pokeball, and told her to keep her voice down while we were there. It probably would've helped if I had asked Luke were I'd be teleported to beforehand.
"Star, are you there?" I turned around, seeing a door behind me. The voice was familiar.
"Luke, is that you?"
"Yes. You're inside the Radio Tower now." I looked around again, seeing only that hallway leading to a staircase.
"You mean you just warped me to the other side of the door?"
"Yes. Any further in and I risked you getting seen teleporting in." Guess that made sense, but it still felt a bit overly built up, I guess.
"So, what do I do now?"
"Just climb up the stairs at the end of the hallway. From there, you should come out to the basement floor of the tower. You'll be on your own from there, Star. Stay hidden, and only tell Clefairy to use Sing so long as it knocks everyone out in the room. Do you understand?"
I did, but it didn't make this whole mission any less stressful. I could already feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead and my heart race.
"Y-Yes," I said, trying my best not to stutter.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of Vulpix and your stuff. I'll also work with the police to create enough diversions to help you along. Good luck, Star!"
With that, I heard Luke gather up my things and walk off. Now, I was truly alone. I took a deep breath, and turned around. I think I nearly wet myself when I realized there was a Rocket Grunt standing right before me. Before I could even let out a little yelp, the grunt hoisted me up by my neck.
"Trying to be a little hero?" He barked at me. His grip on my neck made it difficult to speak, but I managed to utter one word before he squeezed any harder.
"Sing!"
Clefairy obeyed right away, and started chanting a lullaby which echoed throughout the hallway. The grunt's grip loosened, allowing me to fall back down. He fought to stay awake, but within seconds he was knocked out cold. I coughed a little, trying to ease the pain on my neck. Clefairy stayed close, offering what little support she could.
"I guess that's one down," I said, trying to laugh it off. I looked at the grunt, who was sleeping soundly right next to me. "There's something strange going on here."
Giovanni was ruthless, that much I had witnessed with my own eyes. But on numerous occasions, I had seen how soft-hearted many of his grunts could be. In fact, very few of his underlings seemed to be completely on Giovanni's side regarding what Team Rocket did. But these grunts were not only just trying to take Pokemon, they were holding hostages and threatening to kill them. Even when I ran into him a second time, Giovanni didn't order someone to kill me. He knew I was a threat to his plans, yet he never went that far. It was then that I knew: these supposed Team Rocket members, weren't really affiliated with Giovanni.
Of course, this only made these imposter grunts all the more dangerous in my eyes. But I was already on the inside. I had to press forward and do what I could. I climbed the staircase, and slowly made my way into the next room.
Like Luke had said, it was the basement. It was filled with old boxes and papers, and I instantly noticed another grunt making rounds. I ducked under an empty box, and waited for the grunt to go asking for his friend who went downstairs. It didn't take long, either.
"Hey! You find anything down there?" I heard him say as he made his way towards the door, and closer to where I was hiding. I lifted the edge of the box slightly, and saw the grunts feet walk past me. I looked at Clefairy next to me and nodded.
She started singing softly, but still loud enough that the grunt could hear it. I noticed him stumble a bit, then fall over. I let out a hearty yawn of my own, but I was still wide awake. I could see why having a Pokemon with Hypnosis would be much better. Still, making due with my critter, I ran for the door leading up to the first floor.
Fortunately for me, the door was wide open, and led out to behind the counter where the employees worked. My small size came in handy now, as I could sneak onto the floor and not be seen by anyone. Most of the hostages were actually rounded up on this floor for some reason, with another five grunts watching over them. The Scyther was standing on top of a table on the far end of the floor, its eyes ever watchful.
One of the grunts was by the main entrance, talking with some of the police on the other side. That must've been the distraction Luke mentioned, and it meant that everyone's attention was on the conversation between the grunt and the police. I crawled over to the side of the counter, where the employees would leave from. I poked my head out slightly, to see who was sitting closest to where I was. As my luck would have it, it was the girl they brought in as the first hostage! The gears in my head started spinning, and I came up with the perfect plan. I whispered to get her attention.
She turned to me, and her eyes went wide. I made sure to keep my finger over my lips, so that she didn't say anything. She nodded, acknowledging my command. I looked past her, and didn't see any grunts nearby. I turned to Clefairy behind the counter, and told her to stay put for a moment. I then crawled a bit closer to the girl so that she could hear me.
"I need you to cry a little, then when the bad men get close, I want you to sing something to them. Okay?"
"Okay," the girl nodded. I crawled backwards back behind the counter. I gave her the signal to start crying, and she instantly turned on the waterworks. A few of the grunts took notice, and walked over to the girl.
"What's wrong with you?" One of them asked. She didn't say anything, and just kept crying. For someone faking, she really did it well.
"Kid might just be scared or hungry. Ignore her." Another said.
"Tell her to be quiet!" Said the one at the door. "If the police hear her, they'll stop talking and try something funny! We can't risk it now!"
The last grunt got closer to the girl, which meant it was time for her to stop crying and start singing. And sing she did, humming some sort of lullaby her parents probably sang to her before bed. I gave Clefairy the signal, and she started singing as well. The grunts started to drift in and out of consciousness, as did the Scyther at the other end of the room. Once the last of the grunts was knocked out, I sprung up from behind the counter and ran for the door. Once it was open, the police could storm in and secure the place.
But I had made one little mistake. I didn't make sure the Scyther had fallen asleep. Once the large green Pokemon saw me running for the door, it swooped in to stop me. I managed to dodge the swing of its sword-like arms, but it was now standing between me and the door. Clefairy jumped out from behind the counter, and ran to my side. I had one chance at this.
"Clefairy, Pound!"
My small critter rushed the Scyther quite bravely, but the larger Pokemon easily dodged the blow and moved in to counter. That was my chance: I ran ahead to the door, and fiddled with the lock. It was the longest few seconds of my life, but I managed to undo the lock and throw open the doors.
The police realized what had happened, and wasted no time swarming into the building.
~o~
I was resting easy at the Pokemon Center later that evening.
Once the police were in the building, my role in the rescue operation was over. They managed to evacuate all the hostages, and trapped the last few grunts upstairs. Though they threatened the life of DJ Mary, the grunts actually didn't have any Pokemon of their own to do battle or even harm Mary herself. As it turned out, they were former Team Rocket grunts, abandoned by Giovanni when they failed to accomplish one of his many schemes.
The police thanked Luke and I for helping out the way we did. We also both got a bit of a stern word from the chief about doing something so reckless. But since no one ended up being harmed, he let us off. After all, we were still the heroes of the day. Not that we'd get to indulge in the spotlight; the chief made sure to keep our involvement in the matter a secret. He didn't want either Luke or myself to become future targets. How protective of him, I guess.
In the chaos to follow, I got to speak with the little girl. Her name was Lucy, and she had been taken on her way to school that morning. The grunts didn't harm her, thanks in part to one of the grunts who was more sympathetic than the rest. I guess she was lucky after all. And seeing her reunited with her parents brought a tear to my eye. I made sure to call Mom myself shortly thereafter.
As for Luke?
"I'm off," he said flatly, carrying Amy in his arms.
"What? Just like that? Where are you going?"
"Wherever the road takes me. It was nice working with you, Star. You really proved something to me."
"What are you talking about?" I asked him.
"That if you think hard enough, you can solve some problems without resorting to needless battling. Just remember that for me, okay?" He ruffled my hair a little after saying that, making me feel like a little kid. I hated when people did that.
"It was nice to meet you, Luke. And thank you, for everything."
The next morning, I'd be off myself. I still had to meet up with Rebecca in Violet City, after all. And boy, did I have some stories to share with her once I got back!