The Gijinka Arc, Chapter 2: Vs Rattata
As they were about to leave, they heard a scream from behind. They turned around and saw a person, around their age, in a purple jacket which had holes ripped in it, pulling the hair of a young girl. There was a Team Rocket grunt standing behind him, with a smirk on his face.
Red stared at boy, at his ears and tail. Tail? He thought. "I think that's a Rattata." He whispered to Blue.
"Hand over your pokemon, and I promise I won't hurt you." He sneered.
The girl was sobbing as she sat on the ground. "N-n-no! I got Duey from my dad! I'm never handing it over!" She cried as she held a pokeball containing a doduo in her arms.
"Get her, Rattata." The Grunt folded his arms and ordered his pokemon.
"Hmph, then I'll just have to take it by force then." the Rattata let go of the girl, and turned around. "Tail whip!" He flicked his tail against the girl, and she flew to one side, landing on the floor with a thud.
"Hey!" Red shouted at the Rocket grunt, running over to the girl and helping her up. "Are you okay? He asked her. She merely nodded her head, and limped over to Blue.
"Try taking on someone your own size!" Red shouted at Rattata, and called Venusaur to the front.
"Oh?" Rattata turned around, his purple eyes staring right at Red. "A challenger, it seems. May I?" He accorded his trainer.
The grunt nodded his head.
"Double edge!" Rattata cried, and bent down, ready to strike.
"Saur.." Red started, but before he could give Venusaur any commands, Rattata collided into Venusaur with a resounding crash. Venusaur flew across the field, and collapsed in a pile. Red was shocked and just stood there, mouth open.
"Hahahaha!" The grunt laughed aloud, "Now you know the difference in power between a normal and a gijinka!" He said, picking up the pokeball the girl dropped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking this." He said, and left the scene, still laughing.
"I don't believe this," Red commented, "Saur, taken down by a Rattata."
"Me neither." Blue finally spoke, letting go of the girl. He went over to Venusaur's side, and touched Venusaur's skin. "Really hit hard, didn't he..." He mused to himself.
Red ran over to Venusaur, and took out a spraybottle from his backpack. "Here Saur." He said as he sprayed the potion over Venusaur's wounds.
"Let's go back to Professor Oak's lab, maybe he could shed some light on things." Red stood up and recalled Venusaur into its pokeball.
Blue nodded and started walking in the direction of Pallet Town. Red put his arms around Yellow and grinned.
"Cheer up! Everything's gonna be fine!" He told Yellow. Yellow nodded her head and followed them.
Back at Professor Oak's lab, the Professor and Pika were having tea and chatting on a couch.
"Oh you're back!" Oak said as he noticed the crew walk through the door. "Oh dear, Yellow what happened? You look pale!" He exclaimed, at the sight of the prodigious girl. Yellow just smiled back, and shook her head. Oak walked over to her and felt her forehead. "You're not feverish, thankfully. Could it be? Something happened in Viridian?" He questioned her, knowing full well her mysterious connection to Viridian Forest.
Yellow nodded her head, and sat down beside Pika.
"She's not surprised at Pika being human. Did something happen when you were out?" Oak asked, all the while looking at Yellow.
"Yeah, we were attacked by Team Rocket." Red said, from the Pokemon healing machine. "The grunt's Rattata took out Saur." He countinued, staring at Venusaur in its Pokeball. "Get well soon, buddy." He said, and walked back to the couch.
"Team Rocket? Weren't they supposed to.. wait, of course, the three beasts." Oak recalled the Deoxys incident, and the horror of having five Pokedex holders petrified.
"The grunt called his Rattata a 'gijinka'." Blue mused, "Gijinka in the ancient Johto language means anthromorph, by the way. Seems Team Rocket is involved in this somehow."
"That makes a lot of sense. If a gijinka Rattata is able to take down Saur in one hit, who knows what they're planning." Red exclaimed.
Professor Oak cleared his throat, patted Pika on the head, and started explaining, "In any case, whether this is Team Rocket's fault or not, we still have Pika's issue to deal with. Its, no, rather, his health is in top condition, and his ability to discharge electricity has increased more than fifty folds. In other words, Pika's power is now at least ten times as powerful as a level one hundred Raichu."
"What?" Red exclaimed, and hugged Pika tightly, "That means I can't use him in battles anymore?"
"Hmph, that's what you'd expect from 'the fighter', Red. Always thinking of his battles." Blue said, with a smirk.
Red just ignored Blue's comment, and continued hugging Pika.
"Pi, that hurts, Red, get off." Pika piped up, from under Red's strong grasp, trying to push his trainer off him.
Suddenly, Daisy burst into the lab. "Grandpa! Quick, turn on the TV! There's something you must see!" She said excitedly, reaching out for the remote control and jamming the on button so hard it got stuck.
With a click, Maryann, a reporter who played a large role in Hoenn's disaster a year ago, appeared on the screen, in front of a collapsed boy with butterfree wings and a dark purple short sleeved shirt over a white T-shirt, saying "As you can see, there have been countless phenomenon where Pokemon are gaining human characteristics, while still maintaining their Pokemon powers. No explanation has been given from Gym Leader Blaine, who has currently locked himself in his lab doing research. There have also been no discoveries from the Mossdeep Space Centre, which means this is unlikely to be another extraterrestrial phenomenon. Please stay tuned for further reports on the Pokemon Humanization phenomenon."
The television suddenly clicked off. "Ah! There, got it." Daisy held up the remote control, triumphant at fixing it, oblivious to the stares she was getting from the rest. "Oops." She said, and turned the television back on.
"...Get your fix at your nearest Pokemart today!" The advertisement blared. "Sorry..." Daisy apologized.
"It's alright, we've got the gist of it anyway." Oak replied, looking slightly worried. "So this is happening all over the world, huh?" He scratched his chin. "This definitely has Team Rocket written all over it."
Professor Oak walked over to the machine that contained all ten Pokedexes, and handed their Pokedexes back to them. "You'd better go investigate. We can never tell what Team Rocket is up to."
"But Prof, what about your research?" Red asked, looking at his Pokedex, the Pokemon encyclopedia they missed so much.
"My research can wait. You have to stop Team Rocket." Oak retorted, pushing them all out of the lab. "I'll try to find the cause from here." He said, before closing the door.
Standing outside the professor's lab, the crew was at a lost. They had their only lead: Team Rocket, an evil organization bent on controlling the world with Pokemon, which was supposed to have been disbanded years ago after the Masked Man incident in Johto. However, no one expected them to make another reappearance in the Sevii Islands just recently.
"Would Lorelei know?" Blue asked himself, recalling that the ex-elite four member placed a freezing spell on one of the three beasts, Sird.
"She broke out of it, when she attacked you." A feminine voice came from behind. They all turned around, and their eyes met with a slim girl, dressed in a lab coat, with her hair in two ponytails pointing upwards.
"Chris!" Red recognized the girl, who walked towards them, with a tray of pokeballs in her hands. "Long time no see!"
"We met yesterday, remember? Pallet Town's not exactly very big you know." Crystal said, opening the door with one hand, and balancing the tray of pokeballs in another. "Let me put this down first, I'll join you later." She closed the door behind her.
"Oh yeah..." Red said sheepishly, with one hand on his head. Blue put his palm on his face, and shook his head.
"Our best bet would most likely be to go to Celedon City, where their old hideout used to be." Blue took out his map, and pointed to the city.
"No," Chris came out of the lab, shaking her head, "They closed down that facility and built a legitimate game corner the last time I was there."
"I say we all go to Cinnabar and see good ol' Blaine! I'm sure he'll know something!" Red piped up, with a grin on his face.
Everyone looked at Red, shocked at his uncommonly useful comment.
"I second that." Blue added, "Blaine used to be part of Team Rocket, so I won't be surprised if he knows a thing or two."
Red called out Aerodactyl while Blue and Yellow let Charizard and Butterfree out. Crystal got on Aerodactyl with Red as she did not carry any flying pokemon on hand. Professor Oak looked on from his laboratory window as the pokedex holders flew towards cinnabar island.
"Please get to the bottom of this..." Professor Oak muttered, worried about all the pokemon in the region, and possibly the world.
TBC