The Lake Rage Mystery, Chapter 40
Dusk was starting to set in as I approached Mahogany Town, and with it a slight chill in the air. I quickly realized how badly I needed a change of wardrobe. Unfortunately, I was stuck with my clothes until I went back to Olivine City, at least. Vulpix ended up lucking out because of all this, though. In an effort to stay warm, I carried her around in my arms, using her body heat to keep my chest warm.
As I came up to the outskirts of the town, I noticed a few people walking around in black overcoats. I knew it was a bit chilly, but those get-ups were a bit much even in the dead of winter. Still, I tried to keep my eyes on the road ahead, until one of the shady people walked up to me.
"Hey kid," he said in a hushed tone. "Want to buy something?"
The man undid a button on his overcoat, and swung it open. Hanging off the inner coat were a few items I had seen personally not too long ago. I had to keep myself from gagging at the sight.
"Slowpoke Tails, only ¥1,000,000. You'll never find a better deal for one of the most sought after condiments or fishing lures in the world."
"Oh god," I managed to say, covering my mouth. The man noticed my reaction and quickly covered up the tails. He opened the other side of his coat instead, and now there were a bunch of strange candy bars hanging from his coat.
"How about a Rage Candy Bar? A specialty of Mahogany Town, only ¥300! What do you say, kid?"
Before I could answer this time, someone else in a black overcoat walked up next to me. I looked up at the person, but didn't recognize him right away.
"She's not interested. Get lost." He said coldly.
"Whatever, boss," said the first salesman. He packed up his portable shop and walked off. The other man turned to me and pulled down the collar of his overcoat.
"Lance!"
"Good to see you again, Star," said the now recognizable League Champion. He quickly concealed his face again. "Follow me to the Pokemon Center."
I did as he instructed, and walked closely behind him through town. Other than a few houses and the easily identifiable gym building, there was nothing more to the town. And yet, for such a small town, there were people in black overcoats all over the place. And if Lance was here, I knew that could only mean one thing: Team Rocket.
Once we were inside the Pokemon Center, I left my Pokemon with Nurse Joy for a quick check up, then joined Lance in the lobby. He removed the overcoat so we could talk face to face.
"Seems we keep running into each other," he started.
"Well, we didn't run into each other in Goldenrod City," I said, remembering that crazy rescue mission I was a part of.
"I had a feeling that might've been you. There were rumors of a girl and a fire type Pokemon, but no one had any specifics."
"Yeah, that was me. Lance, is Team Rocket here, too?"
"Yes," he said, before looking around the center. He lowered his voice before continuing. "I don't know what they're up to, though."
"And the people in the overcoats?" He nodded.
"Rocket grunts. Seems they're trying to fund the organization with Slowpoke Tails. I heard rumors that their operations in Azalea Town were cut short after the town fought back." I could've pitched in and taken credit for that as well, but went against it. Didn't want to seem like I was working harder to stop Team Rocket than he was.
"But a million bucks? Are those tails worth that much?" It all seemed like a scam to me.
"Slowpoke Tails can be worth quite a lot, but I don't think many people would pay that much for them so willingly. It's almost much easier to raise a Slowpoke and harvest your own tails."
I felt my stomach do a backflip, so I instinctively covered my mouth.
"A Slowpoke's tail is quite special," Lance continued. "The Pokemon uses it to fish for food, so it is packed with this strange substance that acts much better than any lure humans have ever invented. A single tail used as bait for fishing can double, even triple a haul on a fishing expedition."
At this point, Nurse Joy returned with my Pokemon. Though I was ready to follow Lance, he told me to stay put and get some rest.
"But I want to help!"
"And I'll welcome it, but you should get some rest tonight. I'll do some recon overnight, and come by to pick you up soon as I know where Team Rocket is holed up."
There was no point in arguing with Lance over this, so I nodded and let him be on his way. The thought of chasing after him crossed my mind, but the truth was my eyes were tired. I really could use some sleep, and Vulpix was already yawning herself. Lance wouldn't leave me behind, not after all the help I had provided him in the past.
With that thought in mind, I made myself comfortable on the couch in the lobby, with Vulpix on my lap. It didn't take long for sleep to settle in.
~o~
"Star, wake up."
I felt someone shake me gently, rousing my from my sleep. The voice was muffled at first, but I was certain it was Lance. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and put my glasses on. It was Lance alright, but I could hardly make him out in the dimmed lighting of the center. A quick glance behind me, and I realized it was still dark out.
"I have discovered where Team Rocket is hiding," he whispered to me. I stretched a bit before answering.
"What time is it?" I asked groggily.
"It's almost sunrise. We should hurry, so we can get to the lake before anyone sees us."
Since Lance was clearly in a rush, I nodded silently and followed him out of the Pokemon Center. Vulpix was still being lazy, so I had to carry her along the way. We left Mahogany Town and headed north, along Route 43. According to my map, Route 43 connected to only one locale, the Lake of Rage. Local legend stated that the lake was formed by a bunch of Gyrados long ago, hence the name.
Route 43 was uneventful, which was probably for the best. Along the forested road, I noticed a few 'outposts', where people were camped out in waiting. Lance mentioned they were roadblocks manned by Rocket grunts, to make sure no one interrupted their operations at the lake. When I asked him what exactly they were doing up there, he remained silent. Either he didn't know, or he didn't want to share.
Once we got to the lake, we were both surprised to find a number of people there. They were all looking out to something splashing about in the water, which in the dim morning light was hard to make out as anything other than a Pokemon.
"Star, ask around and see what's going on. I'll start looking for Team Rocket's hideout here."
"I thought you knew where it was?"
"I learned it was up here by the lake, but I'm not sure where. I'll find it, you gather intel from the locals on what's going on in the lake."
"Got it!"
Lance ran off to the other side of the lake, headed first for the lone house by the water. I looked down at Vulpix, who was looking a bit uncomfortable, even annoyed by something in the air. Guessing it was just small bugs buzzing around, I left her by the water as I started questioning the people around the lake.
"Excuse me, what's going on here?"
"You just got here? There's this strange Gyrados swimming in the lake! Look!" The man pointed out to the splash in the center of the lake. I focused my vision, trying to make out the Gyrados in the poor light and through my rather dirty glasses. There was something large out there in the lake, but I still couldn't make it out.
"What's so strange about the Gyrados?" I asked, taking off my glasses to wipe them clean.
"It's bloody red, that's what!" My eyes popped open.
I put my glasses back on, and leaned in closer. Sure enough, now that I could see a bit better, I made out the large red Pokemon, flailing about in the water like it was in pain. I reached down to pick up Vulpix, who was trying her best to keep something out of her ears. There was something in the air around here, and only the Pokemon could tell what it was. I ran after Lance, who was just exiting the house by the lake.
"Find something, Star?"
"Lance, there's a red Gyrados out in the water!" I pointed towards the lake, but Lance didn't look surprised.
"I heard from the man that lives here. He said it showed up a few days ago, along with this annoying sound only his Golduck can hear. Whatever it is, it seems to agitate the Pokemon."
"So that's why," I said, hugging Vulpix in my arms. "Vulpix can hear it, too! She's been trying to keep it out since we got here."
"It's most likely Team Rocket's doing. Star, you get Vulpix to lead you to the source of the noise, I'll deal with the Gyrados before it becomes anymore violent."
Lance released his Dragonite, jumping onto its back. The orange Pokemon flew over the heads of the people looking out to the lake, leaving me to my task. I put Vulpix down, and forced one of her paws away from her ear.
"I know you don't like this sound, but I need you to lead me to where it's coming from. Can you do that for me, Vulpix?"
She instantly, covered her ear again, but one look at me directly in the eyes and she was ready to follow orders. Barking a few times, she ran ahead, away from the crowd and towards the mountainside north of the lake. I ran after her, taking one more look towards the lake. I saw Lance fighting the red Gyrados, and wondered just why it was red in the first place. Vulpix stopped at the base of the mountain, scratching at the wall for a moment before she covered her ears again. I felt the rocks for a moment, noticing that a small portion of it felt fake, like plastic.
Like any hidden base, I knew there had to be a secret lever or button to get the door open, so I started feeling around for one. After a few minutes of searching, I felt someone walk up behind me.
"Did you find anything?" It was Lance.
"There's a door here, but I don't know how to get it open." Lance walked up to the wall, feeling for the fake rocks. Once he measured out the width of the door, he stepped back, and released his Dragonite.
"Dragonite, open this door."
The large dragon nodded, and positioned itself in front of the hidden entrance. It sized up the entrance, and latched onto either side of the fake portion of the wall. With one swift motion, he snapped the plastic veil off the door, and tossed it to a side. Behind it was a metal door, the large red 'R' plastered over it.
"We're just going to break in?" I asked, not sure if that was the smart thing to do. "Wouldn't it be better to try and open the door quietly?"
"Smash it open, Dragonite." Lance ordered, almost as if to spite me.
The orange critter took a step back on its right side and leg, and delivered a powerful punch to the door, snapping it off its hinges. An alarm started blasting through the halls inside the base, which somehow finally allowed Vulpix to release her ears.
"We'll force our way through. Whatever that noise was that was angering the Gyrados and your Vulpix, we had to stop it as soon as possible. Let's go!"
I followed Lance through the door, but quickly the hall split in two. Lance pointed down one of the corridors.
"I'll go down this one, you take the other. We're looking for some kind of power generator, yell if you find it!"
Lance ran down the hall, though he was quickly stopped by a pair of grunts. He could hold his own, so I ran down the other hallway. As I turned a corner, I ran into a grunt myself, knocking us both to the ground. Vulpix leapt between us, and started barking at the grunt. Once our eyes met, the grunt couldn't believe who he was seeing.
"You! How is it you keep finding our bases?" Every grunt looked the same to me, so I couldn't be sure from where I met him.
"Just get out of my way, and I won't have to hurt your Pokemon," I told him. He reached for his Pokeballs, releasing two critters at once. One was a Raticate, and the other was a black bird whose feathers looked like a hat on its head. I pulled out my Pokedex on the spot.
"Murkrow, the Darkness Pokemon. Feared and loathed by many, it is believed to bring misfortune to all those who see it at night."
"Raticate, Super Fang! Murkrow, Wing Attack!"
"Vulpix, Quick Attack!"
Both his Pokemon rushed Vulpix, but they just barely missed Vulpix as she vanished. I reached for Ariados' Pokeball, evening the playing field once he was out. Vulpix reappeared behind the Raticate, knocking it towards Ariados.
"Ariados, Poison Sting! Vulpix, Ember!"
Ariados spun around and caught onto Raticate with his legs, locking the Pokemon in place for the attack. Vulpix used the trapped rat Pokemon as a springboard, and leapt high into the air. She spun around, raining down the embers on both opposing critters.
"Raticate, Quick Attack! Murkrow, Pursuit!"
"Ariados, String Shot!" Vulpix, Quick Attack!"
The wave of commands wasn't confused by the Pokemon, and they all sprung into action. Both Raticate and Vulpix vanished from sight, while Ariados sprayed the sticky web all across the hallway. Murkrow also vanished in a flash of feathers, leaving only Ariados in the hallway for a moment. Raticate was the first to reappear, slamming into Ariados regardless of being slowed down by the white web. Right after, Vulpix showed up, forcing Raticate into another mass of web on the ground. Finally, Murkrow showed up, pushing Vulpix herself onto some of the web.
"Ariados, String Shot on that bird!"
"Murkrow, Fly high!"
Before the Murkrow could take to the ceiling, Ariados blasted it with some more web, which managed to tangle its feathers and force it to the ground. Vulpix took this moment to break free of the web she was tangled in, while leaving Raticate locked in the sticky trap..
"Vulpix, quickly! Use Flamethrower!"
She forced herself up, and blasted the bird with the flames. Murkrow let out a small cry, then fell over. He was extra crispy at this point. The grunt recalled both his critters.
"You won't be so lucky next time, brat!"
He ran off past me, allowing me to keep trudging forward. I left Ariados out of his Pokeball, and scooped up Vulpix in my arms. Continuing down the hallway, I eventually came upon a large room with a huge machine in the center. Figuring this was the generator Lance was talking about, I screamed out his name before I ran inside.
The machine took up almost the entire room, with half a dozen glass rods sticking out from the sides. There were sparks of electricity in the rods, and hooked up to the machine were several large Pokeballs. I got close to one of them, and a pair of eyes instantly shot open. It was an Electrode. Ariados and I backed away, knowing full well that if the Pokeball shaped critter self-destructed, we'd both be in a world of pain.
"Star! Are you alright?" Lance ran into the room, his Dragonite close behind. It looked a bit tired, but still eager to battle. Lance examined the machine and the Pokemon hooked up to it for only a second.
"It's running off of electricity from these Electrodes. What do we do?"
"We have no choice," Lance said, pointing at one of the Pokemon, "We'll have to make them faint."
"What?" I looked back at the Pokemon, realizing they looked to be in some degree of pain. "Is that the only thing we can do?"
"If we try to remove them, they may self-destruct, and blow this entire base along with them. We can't take that chance, and we don't know if Team Rocket is sending reinforcements. If you can't go through with it, cover the entrance, and I'll take care of it."
"No," I said, looking back at the Pokemon. "It's okay. I'll help."
Lance nodded, and ordered his Dragonite to start hacking away at the first Electrode on the right hand side of the machine. I walked over to the left side of the machine, and ordered Ariados to use Pin Missile on the defenseless Pokemon.
His attack was spot on, and the Electrode fell on the spot. After unhooking the cables from its body, I moved on to the next one, and then the one after that. I'm afraid to admit, even to this day, how each time it got easier. I knew then, and of course today, that this really was the only course of action. It was as if Team Rocket designed the machine to cause the Pokemon pain regardless.
Once all of the Electrodes had been fainted, Lance asked me to step outside the room. He told me to wait just around the corner, and I heard as he ordered his Dragonite to blast the machine with a Hyper Beam attack. The explosion rocked the entire base, and any Rockets that were still in the base began a full scale evacuation. Lance ordered his Dragonite to take the long way around, while he led me with his Dragonair down the hallway I took.
Outside, we saw a few of the Rocket members make an attempt to flee the base, only to be caught by Ecruteak's police force. Lance had contacted them last night, and apparently at some point this morning before we entered the base. I stayed behind him the entire time, not wanting to make my face better known for helping Lance out all the time. It was that kind of fame that would only make me a target in the future.
"Star, take Dragonair and head back to Mahogany Town," Lance said, offering me his beautiful dragon type. "I'll stay here and inform the police of everything that happened."
"Are you sure?" It was a question of courtesy, more than anything.
"Yes. Dragonair can fly you back into town in no time. I'll meet up with you in the Pokemon Center."
I put Ariados back in his Pokeball, and picked Vulpix up in my arms. His Dragonair slithered between my legs, propping me up onto its neck in a swift motion. I held on tightly, and the Pokemon took to the air. Effortlessly, Dragonair swam through the sky, almost as if it were in water.
I looked down as we traveled over the lake, watching the police apprehend Team Rocket and the spectators from the lake. Magical though it all was, my thoughts were only on one thing the entire time.
The Pokemon that had been stolen from me back in Azalea Town.