Divided we Stand
by CidGregor and Dragonshadow
Chapter Four: Thinning the Ranks
"How many did we get…?" Gary probed, looking at the pile of Poké Balls laid out on the back seat of the jeep between the two boys.
Ash looked over them as well, separating them out into still smaller piles; one for his own Pokémon, one for Gary's, and one for the few wild ones that had been quite willing to be captured by the two boys instead of their attackers. All in all, it wasn't very much.
"Not counting Pikachu and AshTwo," he said, gesturing at the two Pokémon on their shoulders, "we have twenty. Nine of yours, six of mine, and five wild ones…"
"That's it…? Twenty…?" Gary echoed. "I've got over a hundred other Pokémon at that lab…are you saying they're ALL…?"
"Looks that way," Brock added grimly from the driver's seat.
"This is bad…" Ash murmured, hanging his head. "Really bad…"
"Pikaaa…"
The threesome of teenagers had sped as far away from Oak's Lab as they could get without drawing any more attention, and were now parked well off-road, hoping against hope that they were far enough away from the main routes to not be seen through the trees, because there was no way they were getting the jeep any deeper into the woods without getting it hopelessly stuck there. Fortunately it seemed their attackers weren't pursuing them any longer, at least for the moment. They were probably much more interested in rounding up all of the Pokémon that Professor Oak kept there.
That thought burned painfully in the thoughts and hearts of the two Pallet trainers. They'd managed to save a few of their Pokémon companions, yes, but so many more of them were still back there, left behind to endure God only knew what kind of treatment at the hands of those strange people in black who claimed to be police. It made their blood boil to think of those awful people rounding up the Pokémon that they'd spent so long raising and befriending…but the anger was no match for the guilt that weighed on them as well. Guilt over running away. Guilt over not staying and fighting back. Guilt over not saving the rest of their friends, and instead leaving them to be captured…
"We should have stayed…" Ash said, barely above a whisper. "We could have saved more of them…we could have…we could have…"
"You would have been arrested, Ash," Brock reasoned. "All of you would have been. That police force had you outnumbered ten to one. There was no way you could have fought them all off in that kind of confusion. You did the best you could…"
"Then why do I still feel so lousy…?"
Brock sighed slightly. "I know it hurts, Ash, believe me. You want to do everything you can for your Pokémon. But back there, that wasn't the time. There was nothing more you could have done without getting yourself caught too."
"He's right, Ash," Gary agreed. "Dodrio barely got us out of there as it is. If we'd loaded her up with much more weight she might not have been able to get over that fence and let us escape."
"…I guess so…" Ash admitted.
"And if they think we're just gonna sit around and mope about it until we get caught, they're dead wrong," Gary added. "We're gonna find those guys, and we're gonna get our Pokémon back again in no time!"
"We…we are?" Ash stammered.
"Of course we will!" Gary insisted, pumping his fist. "We'd be pretty bad trainers if we just let a bunch of bullies steal our Pokémon away from us!"
"Yeah…yeah, you're right, Gary," Ash nodded his agreement. "We'll find our friends again, I know it!"
"Guys, I know you care about your Pokémon a lot, but think about this for a minute," Brock interrupted. "This isn't like fighting off Team Rocket. This is a new branch of the police force. Those guys are the law now, and they're doing their jobs."
"But I thought it was just temporary?" Gary wondered out loud.
Brock shook his head. "Professor Oak told me before we escaped…that thing we saw on the signpost at the edge of town, the Silph Act? It's a law to make the ban on battling permanent. And it passed."
"What?! No way!" both boys exclaimed.
"It's true. And those people that attacked us are the special police force that the Silph Act established. It's their job to take all trainers' Pokémon into custody and enforce the new law."
"Well it's a horrible job and an even worse law!" Ash countered defiantly. "How could the Pokémon League agree to something like this? How could ANYONE agree to it?!"
"I agree, it's pretty suspicious," Brock admitted. "But it's still the law right now. If we don't follow it…"
"Then the world is going to see us as criminals," Gary finished for him, catching on. "Yeah, well, if having Pokémon is a crime, then why do those police get to have them? They don't have to follow their own laws, is that it?"
"And what about the Pokémon themselves?" Ash added. "They didn't do anything wrong, and THEY'RE the ones getting rounded up! It's completely unfair!"
"Not to mention discrimination against Pokémon," Brock agreed. "They're being confiscated and sent who knows where, just for being Pokémon."
The boys nodded in unison, all of them coming to a similar conclusion. Now that they had the time to stop and think about it, the conditions of this new law just kept getting more and more suspicious. Something was definitely fishy about it all, and if they had any hope of getting back their captured Pokémon, they needed to get to the bottom of it, somehow.
"Looks like the coast is clear," Brock spoke up a minute later, starting the Jeep again. "C'mon, let's get moving."
"Why, where are we going?" Ash asked.
"Pewter City. Professor Oak said that on top of everything else, Kanto's Pokémon Gyms are being targeted too. They're all going to be demolished."
"What?! No way!" Gary shouted. "Those have been around for decades!"
"I know," Brock said grimly. "But they don't seem to care. They've already destroyed Misty's Gym…"
Ash felt an extra-unpleasant jolt in his heart at that. "Misty's Gym is…?! But…is she okay?!"
"I don't know," Brock said. "All I know is that the demolition crew is heading straight for Pewter City. I have to get there first…that's my family's home…"
"But what about Misty?!" Ash demanded. "If she didn't come to meet us in Pallet Town, then she might be in trouble!"
"Please, Ash," Brock said firmly. "My family might be in just as much trouble…I'm not going to pass right by Pewter without stopping. I have to help them. After that I promise we'll look for Misty, but…I'm sorry, I need to put my family first…"
Ash hesitated for the barest of moments, but nodded along. "Okay…you're right…we'll make sure your family is okay first…"
"Thanks, Ash…" Brock said with a relieved sigh, kicking the Jeep into gear and driving out of hiding, toward the road.
"Don't worry, Ash…Misty's tough as nails, I'm sure she's just fine," Gary assured his friend.
Ash nodded slowly, trying to calm the sudden, unique kind of tension in the pit of his stomach that he only seemed to feel when Misty was in trouble.
"Yeah…" he murmured. "…I hope so…"
From the two Poké Balls thrown by Jessie and James, a pair of Pokémon appeared who were all too familiar to May and Misty. The one thrown by Jessie formed into a black and violet serpent that even while coiled up was still as tall as Jessie herself. The one thrown by James coalesced into a bright green plant-like Pokémon that looked more like a Venus Fly Trap than anything else, and the moment it was free it whirled and clamped itself affectionately over James' upper body.
"Seviper, Poison Tail, now!"
"Mmpphhh! No, Carnivine, Bite them, not my head!"
The two Rockets' Pokémon pounced on their masters' orders, Seviper swinging its wicked tail blade at Misty's Staryu, while Carnivine charged at May's Glaceon with huge, chomping jaws.
"Dodge it, Staryu!" Misty shouted.
"You too Glaceon!" May echoed.
The girls' Pokémon complied instantly and sprung away from the incoming attacks without a scratch, leaving Seviper's tail bouncing harmlessly off a rock and Carnivine's jaws clamping at empty air.
Misty let out a quick sigh of relief as she turned to glare at Team Rocket. "Can't you go bother someone else? We don't want to fight with you right now, we have bigger things to worry about!"
"All the more reason for us to rain on your parade!" Jessie answered with a gaudy laugh.
"Grrr! I knew you guys were low, but I didn't think even YOU would be this low!" May shouted angrily.
"Why so surprised? A time like this is a perfect opportunity for us!" James announced. "Terrified and distracted trainers all over the region are ripe for the picking!"
"An' we decided to pick on youse twos foist!" Meowth added.
"Nnnhh…" Misty growled, turning to May. "Looks like we have no choice…"
May nodded her agreement, and turned her attention to the battle. "Alright Glaceon, let's end this fast! Ice Beam!"
Glaceon gave a melodious cry of response and opened its jaws, unleashing a bright blue beam of freezing cold energy at the attackers, but Seviper and Carnivine dodged just as easily, and came straight at Glaceon together, both with snapping jaws.
"Help out, Staryu! Water Gun!" Misty shouted. Her Staryu sprung into action immediately, angling two of its arms forward and firing a powerful stream of water at a right angle to Seviper and Carnivine's charge. The two forces intersected bare inches in front of Glaceon's nose, but the ice Pokémon was left unharmed, and the Water Gun attack slammed the attackers into a nearby tree instead.
"Thanks, Misty, Staryu! Now, Glaceon, give 'em another Ice Beam!" May ordered. Glaceon cooed again and obeyed, another Ice Beam bursting from its mouth, and this time the soaked attackers took the hit full force. The water around them froze instantly under the extreme cold, sealing them neatly inside a solid block of ice and rendering them immobile.
"Grrr…how dare you, you little twerps!" Jessie snarled.
"You can try as many times as you want, Team Rocket, but you'll never steal our Pokémon!" Misty insisted, and held out her Poké Ball. "Staryu, time to return."
"What?" May asked in surprise as she watched Staryu vanish into the Poké Ball. "We're not going to finish the battle?"
"No," Misty answered firmly. "They're beat anyway. Besides, we can't risk having our Pokémon getting tired or hurt. We can't go to Pokémon centers anymore, so no one could treat our Pokémon if something happened to them…"
May squeaked in surprise. "Oh my gosh, I totally didn't even think of that! You're totally right. Glaceon, return!" she insisted, and absorbed her friend safely back into its Poké Ball.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Jessie demanded furiously. "We have unfinished business!"
"This battle is far from over!" James agreed. "Meowth, use Fury Swipes to break the ice!"
"Heh-heh-heh-heh, with pleasure! MEOWTH!" the feline announced, his claws at the ready. He leapt at the block of ice, swinging wildly at it and breaking it apart piece by piece until, to May and Misty's horror, the Pokémon trapped inside broke the rest of the way out and stood ready for more, apparently no worse for the wear.
"Guess we're not done after all…" May murmured.
"Afraid not, m'dear," James said with a smirk. "Carnivine, time for a Vine Whip!"
"Carnivine!" it announced, its fingers firing out like tentacles at May.
May hurled a Poké Ball forward in response. "Go, Venusaur, show him a REAL Vine Whip!"
May's Venusaur burst out of her Poké Ball with a roar, twin vines immediately extending from within the enormous flower atop her body. Carnivine's own attack met Venusaur's in midair, the two sets of vines slapping away at each other like fencing opponents, neither able to get past the other's guard.
"Time to change it up, Carnivine! Sleep Powder!" James ordered. Instantly Carnivine retracted its vines and opened its enormous maw of a mouth, belching out a thick blue mist at May and Venusaur. May squeaked in shock, but it was all she had time to do before the mist passed over both of them, and a second later her eyelids felt like there was a fifty-pound weight on each of them.
"Mmm…nappy time…" she murmured, barely coherent, and toppled over, unconscious, on top of her Venusaur, who was now also fast asleep.
"Oh no, May!" Misty gasped. "May, wake up!"
"I'm afraid you've got your own troubles, little girl!" Jessie said with a laugh. "Seviper, let's squeeze the little twerp until she pops! Bind!"
Misty yelped in sudden terror and backpedaled as the snake-like Pokémon slithered straight toward her. On pure instinct her hand grabbed for a Poké Ball, any Poké Ball, and threw it forward. "Go! Stop Seviper!" she shouted in a panic. The Poké Ball hit the ground and burst open between Misty and Seviper, the energy inside rapidly coming together in the form of…
"Psyduck!" the little yellow duck announced, hands already holding his head.
"Oh NO, not Psyduck!" Misty groaned.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Is that the best you can do?" Jessie cackled. "Seviper, squeeze the life out of that shrimpy little thing!"
"Seviper!" the snake hissed, wrapping up Psyduck with its long body and squeezing tight.
"Psyyyyyyyy-yai-yai-yi-yai!!" Psyduck wailed in pain, his head feeling most of the squeeze.
"Nnhhh…" Misty grunted. "Come on, Psyduck, work that headache up! Your psychic power's your only hope!"
"Oh no, I won't fall for that one again!" Jessie announced. "Seviper, use Poison Fang!"
Seviper quickly moved to obey, and reared up high over everyone's heads, hissing dangerously.
"Psyyyy…?" Psyduck muttered weakly, dangling in mid-air from the tight grip of the snake's tail and looking back up at his attacker with a dimwitted stare.
"Seeeeeee-VIPER!" it snarled, it jaws opening wide and baring fangs dripping with venom.
"Psyyy!!" Psyduck's webbed feet kicked desperately at the air as the venom dripped on the body coiled tightly around him. To Misty it felt like they stared each other down for an eternity before suddenly the serpent struck like a lightning bolt. Psyduck's panicked yells gave way to yells of pain as the fangs ripped into his body and back out again just as quickly. A moment later Psyduck's cries grew strangely silent, even when Seviper dropped his limp body to the ground with an agonizing thud.
"No! Psyduck!" Misty screamed, rushing to her Pokémon's side. He was lying still on the ground with his eyes closed, wincing in pain, but not the same way he did when his headache was getting worse, Misty noticed. He looked hurt...and bad.
"Oh no...Psyduck, speak to me...what's wrong?" Misty murmured worriedly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Jessie cackled. Your poor little Pokémon is poisoned!"
Misty gasped softly. "Oh, no...! No! Psyduck, no!"
"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do," James sneered. "The poison has already entered Psyduck's body. And it will slowly spread further and further, sapping up more and more of its energy until…"
Misty's expression went as pale as a ghost. "Oh God...Psyduck…"
"Guess youse twos better gets to a Pokémon center. Oh wait, that's right…you CAN'T!" Meowth sneered, cackling evilly as he mocked her.
"No…no, Psyduck, don't die…you have to hold on…" Misty whispered.
"Of course…there IS a way to save your precious friend…" Jessie began, slowly grinning.
"Wh-what? How? Tell me!" Misty cried out desperately.
Jessie held out her hand. "Give Psyduck to us."
"What?! No way!" Misty exclaimed vehemently. "Why would I do something like that?!"
"Rocket headquarters has its very own Pokémon treatment facilities. We promise your Psyduck will be well-cared-for," James said. "Of course, he would become ours for good, but at least you'd know he was safe and healthy again."
Misty clenched her fists tightly in fury. "You…!"
"But if dat don't appeal to ya, feel free to take it to a Pokémon center anyway," Meowth offered. "If it doesn't die before ya even get there, I'm sure those new police people waiting there for ya will really give a Ratatta's behind about whether yer precious Pokémon lives thru' da night or not. Heh-heh-heh-heh…!"
Misty paled slowly, her mind racing to think through all the possibilities before her, and to her growing horror, she began to realize that Team Rocket was right. She couldn't go to a Pokémon center, or she and Psyduck would be arrested, and if even Officer Jenny had turned against her, then there was no way that anyone would care if Psyduck was dying, if he even lived long enough for her to get to one in the first place.
"Tick tock, tick tock…" Jessie cackled. "Time's running out for your little friend…"
"…How do I even know you're telling the truth about your own Pokémon center?" Misty demanded.
"Please," Jessie snorted derisively. "Team Rocket has operated outside the law since before you were born. Our own Pokémon treatment facilities are a necessity."
"We promise Psyduck will be cured in a flash…unless you'd rather let the poor thing die than let him come with us," James probed.
The words visibly broke Misty's resolve. Her whole body jolted and then slumped, her head hanging. Of course she didn't want Psyduck to die. Anything was better than that. She refused to let her friends die. Which left her with the only obvious choice left.
"…Alright…" Misty conceded, picking up Psyduck. "…You win…just, please…please save my Psyduck…"
"Of course we will," Jessie insisted. "Now hand him over!"
Reluctantly Misty walked forward, her head down so that the Rockets couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes as she held out her arms, and laid the wounded Psyduck in Jessie's arms instead.
"And the Poké Ball," Jessie added.
Misty winced again, but handed Psyduck's Poké Ball over as well, her fists clenching again. "Now get out of here…go heal Psyduck, now…!"
"Pleasure doing business with you!" Jessie sang, a horrible grin on her face.
"Thank you for patronage with Team Rocket…" James laughed.
"And I'll just take DIS for our transaction fee!" Meowth sneered, picking up the Poké Ball that May had dropped earlier and sucking the sleeping Venusaur back into it.
"What?! HEY! NO! I didn't agree to that!" Misty shouted. "Stop!"
"Oh, you don't wanna pay da fee?" Meowth asked. "Well, we could always just drop off yer lil' Psyduck somewhere else…maybe over a river!"
Misty froze up again, trembling.
"Hah…dat's what I thought!" Meowth cackled, twirling May's Poké Ball on his finger. "Youse twoips have a nice day, now!"
A second later the three Rockets vanished into the woods, and overhead their victorious cackling could already be heard as they floated away in their gigantic Meowth-shaped hot air balloon.
Misty fell to her knees and stared after them helplessly, shaking. "No...Venusaur…Psyduck…" she slowly began to sob. "I'm sorry…it's all my fault…"
Authors' Notes (Cid): Sorry about the delay on this one. Took a big two-week vacation, part of which was to San Diego Comic-Con (fantastic event), so writing time was el zilcho for a while. Should be back on track from now on.
Comments and critiques welcomed and appreciated, as always.