Divided we Stand
by CidGregor and Dragonshadow
Chapter Three: Pallet Town Showdown
The field behind Professor Oak's lab was eerily silent. All of the Pokémon who had been watching from the forest seemed to have vanished back into the trees. Even the wind had fallen deathly still, watching Ash and Gary face off against the short line of strange, black-clad men and women in front of them, peering out at them from behind full facemasks. Their Pokémon stood in front of them, watching the two trainers with sharp eyes that would detect any untoward movement.
"You're under arrest. Forfeit your Pokémon and come with us," The man in front of the line spoke with a deep, commanding voice.
"Oh yeah? And just who are you?" Gary demanded of them. "You don't look like any police I've ever seen!"
"We're what you might call the latest branch of the police department. A Pokémon emancipation, nullification, and imprisonment squad," the group's front-man said with a sneer.
"I-imprisonment?!" Ash echoed. "You can't lock up our Pokémon!"
"We can and we will," the man snarled. "You are both in direct violation of the Silph Act, and are under arrest for illegal Pokémon battles. We won't ask again. Hand over your Pokémon and come quietly, now."
Pikachu and AshTwo came back together between Ash and Gary, standing side-by-side and facing this new threat with sparks flying between them. Ash exchanged a calm glance with Gary, who seemed to have a cocky smirk already on his face. He nodded slightly and turned to face forward again.
"I don't care who tells me to do it, I'll never give up my friends," was all Ash said before throwing his hand forward.
Ash and Gary shouted in unison. "Thunder Wave!" The two Pikachu between them squealed as lightning flared from their cheeks, flashing out across the field in an expanding field of energy. It swept over the Pokémon and trainers, surging through their bodies painlessly, but still giving their muscles a sudden, unexpected workout. They fell twitching to the grassy field, unable to control their own limbs.
"Let's go!" Ash whirled to run inside, and promptly slammed headfirst into the massive, barrel chest of a four-armed Machamp standing right in front of the laboratory door. Ash slowly looked up at the Pokémon's red eyes, then let out a high-pitched shriek as a tremendous impact sent him flying through the air like a missile.
"I got you Ash!" Gary jumped into his path, letting Ash slam into his chest, knocking them both to the grass in a wild tangle of limbs. As the two boys struggled to get up, they saw their two Pikachu rush to slide in front of them, facing the approaching Machamp.
Ash pushed himself to his feet. "Okay, Pikachu! We can take this!"
"Ash!" Gary yanked on his sleeve and pointed toward the paralyzed Pokémon and their trainers, who were beginning to recover from the Thunder Wave one by one. "I don't think we can win like this. We have to get out of here."
"What about my mom? And Professor Oak, and Brock?!" Ash exclaimed.
"They're not the ones who're going to get pounded, they must have escaped by now. Come on!" Gary turned to run from the group of trainers and Pokémon. "AshTwo, this way!" Gary's Pikachu squealed and turned to follow him quickly.
"Pika?" Pikachu looked up at Ash quizzically.
Ash growled, then nodded and turned to run. "Come on Pikachu!" He felt Pikachu's light body land on his shoulder a few moments later, clinging to his neck as he followed Gary erratically across the field.
"We need speed!" Gary pulled out another Poké Ball and threw it on front of him. "Let's get out of here, Dodrio!" The ball opened with a flash and the giant bird-Pokémon appeared beside him, its three heads squawking at one another while its long legs easily kept up with him right out of the ball. Gary leapt at the Pokémon, swinging his leg over and mounting with an ease that came only from long years of practice. AshTwo leapt up onto the bird's back, then up onto Gary's shoulder.
The Pokémon swept over to pick up Ash, who swung onto the bird's back with Gary's help before it really began to pump its legs. They nearly flew across the field, though a glance back warned Ash that several of the trainers had mounted their own Pokémon, and were moving to keep pace with them before they disappeared into the dense forest off the beaten path.
"We've got to go faster!" Ash shouted, still able to hear some of the other Pokémon tromping through the forest behind them. He shouted in surprise when a small burst of fire flew right past his head, detonating against one of the nearby trees with a thunderous crash. "Faster! Faster! Faster!"
"I don't see YOU busting out a Pokémon we can ride out of here! Dodrio's doing her best!" Gary snapped back irritably. They weaved through the trees, avoiding bursts of fire and even a few boulders and icicles that flew at them from their pursuers.
Ash gasped when something hairy, pig-faced and mean looking fell out of the trees above them, but the two Pikachu reacted with lightning reflexes. They leapt into the air in unison, their tails pulsing with a silver-tinted shine as they both slammed into their attacker. With a metallic crack, the attacking Primeape flew off to one side, slamming into the side of one tree with a sickening crunch and quickly vanishing into the bushes behind them. Ash looked back for a while, wanting to make sure it was okay, but he could see one of their pursuers riding a sleek black Pokémon with a bone-like cage around its canine flanks getting closer by the moment.
Suddenly Dodrio broke through a thick bush and emerged again into one of the many rolling fields of grass behind Professor Oak's laboratory, picking up speed on the more even terrain. Ash could see Pokémon running across the field away from the chase, many of which belonged to Ash and Gary. Ash gritted his teeth at the sight, realizing that running now would mean leaving them behind and at the mercy of these kidnappers.
"Gary, we have to get the Pokémon out of here too!" Ash shouted.
"Are you nuts? We wouldn't make it!" Gary's Dodrio veered to the side suddenly, its three heads ducking and darting as its feet slipped across the dirt. Gary and Ash narrowly ducked low enough to avoid the blast of fire that flew right over their heads, igniting the grassy field nearby. Dodrio managed to lurch back to its feet with its forward momentum and keep running, though the brief pause had given several of their pursuers time to catch up.
"If we don't, they'll be taken by THESE guys! We can't let that happen!" Ash shouted back, but was cut off as a jarring screech erupted from the air above them, and a massive, black-winged bird arched down through the sky toward them.
"Pikachu!" Both of the Pikachu leapt up into the air over Ash's head, lightning flashing from their bodies. The crack of energy slammed into the large bird, knocking it off course and sending it sailing over the flightless bird to come down on the ground with a sickening "thump". Its rider flipped to the grass beyond, dazed from the blow while Gary and Ash continued onward.
"Come on, Gary!"
Gary growled for a moment, then pointed to the side. "Come on Dodrio, let's round up the ones we can find!" Dodrio's three heads squawked and it skidded across the ground for a moment, trying to reorient itself. The Houndoom who'd been following them came up on their side in the moment they were stopped, but another surge of lightning from the two Pikachu sent it flying back to the ground with its trainer struggling to hang on.
Ash reached into his backpack and pulled out all of the Poké Balls he could find, while Gary lead the Dodrio toward the innocent Pokémon and the two Pikachu took up positions on Ash's shoulders, sending flashes of lightning after any attacker who got too close. Beams of piercing red light cut through the air as they passed, snapping up any Pokémon they happened to pass on the way. One after another Ash snapped up the Pokémon who belonged to both him and Gary, along with a few who were unfamiliar, but who seemed very willing to come with them rather than be at the mercy of these strange invaders.
"Is Dodrio slowing down?" Ash asked when he realized they were starting to drag.
"She's not used to carrying this much weight. We've got to get out of here."
"But there are still Pokémon we haven't found!"
"We'll have to come back for them if we can. Dodrio, let's get out of here!" Gary shouted. Dodrio's three heads bobbed in unison, each heaving for breath as it turned to run full speed toward the chain-link fence at the edge of the Pokémon reserve. The Pokémon lowered its heads as it charged forward, not even beginning to slow down as they approached.
Suddenly a jeep skidded to a stop on the street just beyond the fence, and for a moment Ash thought they should turn around, but then he realized Brock was in the driver's seat.
"Guys, come on!" Brock waved them toward him. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Do you think Dodrio can make it?" Ash asked doubtfully, looking up at the ten-foot high fence.
"You bet she can! Show him what you're made of, Dodrio!" Gary replied confidently, patting his Pokémon's flank. The bird rushed straight up to the fence, then threw itself up right before it hit the chains. Its legs slammed into the fence, grabbing hold and using its momentum to sprint straight up the fence while Gary, Ash, and the two Pikachu held on for dear life. Ash swore there was no way they would make it all the way up, but moments later the Pokémon was falling down the other side of the fence and landed in the back of the jeep with an impact that nearly sent the vehicle flying to the side.
"Go Brock, go!" Ash shouted. The screech of tires echoed through the air and they took off down the street moments before a wave of fire ripped through the chain-link fence, burning hot enough to melt the steel and the pavement on the street.
Dodrio's three heads heaved a simultaneous sigh as she collapsed into the back seat of the jeep, her heads dangling down toward the street in exhaustion.
"You did great, Dodrio. Thank you." Gary patted the bird's flank and took out his Poké Ball. "Rest up, you deserve it." The crimson light emerged from the ball, and soon the brave bird had vanished inside of its Poké Ball.
"What WAS all that, Brock?! Where's mom?! And Professor Oak?!" Ash demanded.
Brock didn't answer immediately, his eyes watching the road.
"C'mon, Brock, this is my grandpa we're talking about!" Gary added. "Where are they?"
"They decided to stay behind."
"STAY BEHIND?!" Ash burst out. "You mean they got arrested?!"
"No, they didn't fight back the way you guys did. They cooperated. They should be all right if they lay low for a while. But…"
"But what?"
"All the Pokémon that the professor was keeping there are being rounded up and taken into custody by those…people."
Both of the other boys jolted unpleasantly at that, exchanging a worried glance. A second later they both glanced down inside Ash's backpack, at the pile of Poké Balls that suddenly seemed pitifully small.
"…You mean…other than these ones we grabbed…" Gary trailed off, stunned.
"…Yeah. It looks like the rest of your Pokémon have all been confiscated."
Ash and Gary both stared at him for a long moment, like they didn't quite hear him, or didn't want to believe him. But as they chanced a glance behind them, and saw the pillar of smoke rapidly growing in the forest around Oak's lab, it was clear that Brock was right.
"Our Pokémon…" Ash whispered. "No…"
Mount Moon of course looked beautiful and romantic from a distance, that much was certain. It rose majestically above the hills around it, overlooking Cerulean City like a benevolent queen, and at night the moon cast light upon it in the most peculiar way so that the whole mountain seemed to glow a wondrous shade of blue.
But trudging up close and personal through its thick, bug-infested forests and muddy trails way off the main routes, Misty quickly decided it was not her idea of beauty or romance.
"Eugh…" she grumbled to herself, pulling her shoes free from a particularly thick mud puddle. "I'm never gonna get these stains out…"
It was late now, and getting later. The sun had gone down completely, and its last light was rapidly fading. She'd have to make camp soon, before the forest went pitch-black. Still, she pressed on through the thick shrub and mud, trying to get as much distance as she could before then. Part of her was driven to get to Pallet Town and meet up with Ash as soon as possible, but for the most part, she was downright afraid of stopping to make camp. Making camp meant starting a fire, and starting a fire meant that its light could be seen from a great distance away, and someone seeing her right now was the last thing she wanted or needed. But in what seemed like mere minutes she could barely see her hand in front of her face, and she knew she had to stop for the night.
A couple of minutes later she had a small fire going, offering much-needed warmth, and light to see by. She'd even managed to find a nice dry area to camp so she wasn't lying in the mud, though all that she'd managed to fit in her backpack as far as bedtime comforts was a small blanket. But despite her lucky find of a decent campsite way off the main paths, she couldn't enjoy it. She was far too occupied by her thoughts.
Things were going so wrong now…everything she knew was being systematically ripped away. As if it wasn't bad enough seeing her gym destroyed, or having Officer Jenny, a woman she'd known all her life, attack her in public while trying to take her Pokémon away. Now she was a fugitive from the law, too, having to hide from the main roads for fear of being attacked again by whoever might be tracking her. She felt confident that she could hold off one or two more attacks, but she didn't want to do that unless it was absolutely necessary. Her Pokémon were bound to get worn out or hurt by it, especially now that there were no rules holding them back, and there was no way for her to get them proper medical treatment anymore; she would almost certainly get caught if she tried to go to a Pokémon center.
If the Pokémon centers even existed anymore.
What a wonderful new world this was, she thought with a grim, dark chuckle.
A second later her thoughts were abruptly cut off by a sudden rustle in the foliage nearby, instantly putting Misty on alert. Her eyes squinted into the darkness beyond her firelight, looking for the source of the sound, while her hand found its way to one of her Poké Balls. She clicked it open, the burst of light inside forming into a brown, five-pointed star with a red jewel in its center.
"Staryu…" Misty whispered. "Be ready for anything…"
A few tense seconds of silence passed, Misty listening hard for any further sounds and Staryu standing ready. Then Misty heard the rustling again, straight in front of them and very close…too close for comfort.
Misty reacted immediately. "Water Gun, Staryu!"
Staryu leapt into action, aiming one of its points at the sound and firing off a powerful stream of water, but almost an instant later...
"Ice Beam!" another young, feminine voice cried out. Right on the coat-tails of the command, an ice-cold chill burst back through the brush, freezing the stream of water almost instantly and sending the fresh icicle thudding to the ground.
"Nnhh…" Misty growled. "Whoever you are, you can go right back where you came from! You're not getting my Pokémon!"
"Me?!" the voice responded, oddly familiar to Misty's ears. "You're the one who attacked first!"
"You were trying to sneak up on my camp!"
"…Wait a minute…Misty?"
Misty tensed further. "How do you know me? You sound familiar…"
The other voice, however, seemed to sigh with relief, and as Misty watched, a girl about her own height stepped out of the darkness, her clothes about as nature-worn as Misty's own, and her brunette hair tied into two bunches underneath a red bandana. Misty relaxed almost immediately and smiled at the sight of the friendly face, which she now recognized as May's.
"I knew I remembered that tough voice," May said with a somewhat humorless chuckle.
"Oh, May, thank goodness it's you," Misty said with a relieved sigh. "I'm sorry, I thought you were with the police…"
"Ditto…" May echoed, and glanced back into the bushes. "It's okay, Glaceon, you can come out."
A quiet, cool mewing answered her words, and an ice-blue Pokémon Misty had never seen before emerged from the bushes beside May. It walked gracefully on four legs, and peered at Misty with deep, darker blue eyes as it sat on its hind legs, looking almost regal. Misty could only assume this was Glaceon.
"Don't worry, she's very nice," May assured the other girl.
"I'm sure she is… " Misty murmured, and a second later she shook her head to clear it. "What are you doing here, May?"
"You tell me!" May answered, looking thoroughly bewildered. "One minute I'm minding my own business walking toward Pallet Town to meet up with you and Ash and everyone, and the next all these weirdos in black outfits come at me and tell me I'm under arrest for having Pokémon and start CHASING me! I finally lost them when the sun went down, but by then I was lost too, and…that's when I found you."
"I see…you haven't heard yet," Misty murmured.
"Heard what?" May demanded. "What's going on around here?"
Misty opened her mouth to answer, but froze when a trio of voices began a sudden, arrogant laughter.
"She really has no idea, does she, Jessie?" a male voice said.
"Not a clue in the world, James…" a female answered.
"Den maybe us three should be kind enough 'ta educate 'er. Meowth!" came a tough, feline third voice.
"Oh NO, not now…!" Misty groaned. "Not Team Rocket!"
Indeed, a woman with insanely long, red hair stepped halfway out of the shadows, side by side with a purple-haired man holding a rose. Both wore identical white uniforms with a crimson 'R' stamped on each of their chests. And between them stood a tan-furred feline walking upright on two legs, grinning evilly.
"Prepare for trouble, you lost little girl…"
"And make it double while we shatter your world!"
"Meeeeeowth, that's right!"
May narrowed her eyes at the trio, clenching her fists. "What are you talking about?"
"For your information, twerp, that little friend of yours is illegal to own now, along with the rest of your Pokémon!" Jessie informed her with a cackle as she pointed at Glaceon.
"What?!" May burst out. "Illegal?!"
"That's right, my dear," James confirmed. "Thanks to the latest laws, anyone in Kanto owning Pokémon now is an outlaw."
"'Course, dat don't make no difference if you're already an outlaw, like us guys!" Meowth added, and brandished his claws. "Da only difference is…no one's gonna come ta' yer rescue now when we swipe yer precious Pokémon!"
Misty growled furiously. "It figures crooks like YOU would take advantage of trainers being ripped away from their Pokémon! But we're not gonna let you have a single one!"
"Not a chance!" May chimed in.
"We'll see about that!" Jessie announced, and in one quick motion she and James had each launched a Poké Ball forward.
"Seviper…"
"Carnivine…"
"GO!!"
Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated, as always.