First, a big thank you once again to Shadow Serenity 57 for the helpful review! I can assure you that there'll definitely be a background story on how she got the Chimchar, but it will be in the next chapter, so hang on tight! :)
Team Rocket was planning to catch up to Ash and his friends by crossing the mountainous region of Mt. Coronet. Jessie knew that they would be heading to the location of the next Pokemon Contest, which was in Solaceon Town.
"So, where are we heading again?" Lana asked as she walked slightly behind them. She had so many questions for her newfound friends, but she didn't want to annoy them by asking too many at a time.
"Solaceon Town." Meowth answered without turning back to face her.
"Oh... and we'll have to go through Mt. Coronet, huh?" She exchanged a nervous glance with Raichu that went unnoticed by Team Rocket.
"It's the fastest shortcut." James added with a nod.
Lana remained quiet for a moment, remembering something that happened a few years ago. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts, reminding herself that Mt. Coronet was a huge place and it wouldn't be very likely that she would run into someone from her past. She decided that enough time passed to ask another question.
"If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me more about your organization?" At the same time, she noticed Raichu was a little tired, so she picked her up in her arms.
"Well, I do mind!" Jessie shrugged, noticeably annoyed with all of these questions. James just laughed it off, muttering something along the lines of her being tired as an excuse.
Meowth suddenly spoke up. "Team Rocket... Well... Our organization deals with... uh... Pokemon. We catch 'em and bring them to the Boss." His speech was slow, as he was trying to think of a way of keeping Lana on their side without having too many lies to remember. "We're always on the lookout for strong pokemon."
The talking Pokemon approached Lana and now walked next to her as he continued his explanation. In front of them, Jessie and James were trying to walk casually while they listened in on what was being said. "I'll let you in on our next plan. We're trying to catch a strong Pikachu that travels with the twerps."
"Twerps?" Lana spoke up, starting to feel uneasy about where this was going.
"Oh, that's our codename for a specific group of trainers." He answered nonchalantly.
"Wait, you want to steal a trainer's pokemon?" She asked and stopped walking. Raichu jumped down from her arms and stood defensively in front of Lana.
"No, no, no. You've got it wrong!" Meowth waved his paws in front of his face. "We're the good guys! The twerp... uh, he got Pikachu illegally! He stole it from us!"
Lana shifted uncomfortably as the information sank in. Seeing that she was thinking about it made Team Rocket inwardly breath a sigh of relief. "But why did he steal Pikachu in the first place?"
"Because he can, that's why!" Jessie angrily waved her fist as she joined the conversation. "He's always been interfering with our plans! He and his pokemon have sent us blasting off more times than I could count!"
After a moment of silence, Lana was still unsure about what to do. "If you get Pikachu back, what will you do? You won't do experiments on it or anything like that?"
"Of course not, wherever did you get an idea like that?" Jessie now used the sweetest voice she could muster. "Pikachu would be the Boss' prized pokemon! He would treat it like anyone on his team."
"Hmm... I guess that sounds alright then." Lana mentioned and slowly started walking in the direction again.
"Rai-rai... Chu?" Raichu asked as she looked up at her owner.
"What do you mean, this sounds familiar?" Meowth asked, having heard what Raichu said. Jessie and James both turned their attention to the teen in their midst.
"It's nothing!" Lana said in a hurry. She pet Raichu on the head as she kneeled down to be face-to-face with her pokemon. "Right, Raichu?"
Raichu was only confused for a moment, but then nodded and scratched behind her ear as she smiled. While it was suspicious, Team Rocket was glad when they heard what Lana said next.
"Come on, we've got a Pikachu to save!"
In the distance, a scientist was sitting at a computer analyzing his most recent data. He was bald and wore thick round glasses that accentuated his big eyes. His white lab coat was a sharp contrast to his black pants. As he typed, he heard a knock on his window. Looking up, he noticed a Zubat.
"What is it?" He asked once he opened the window.
The pokemon flew inside and motioned to a wall where there were numerous tiny photos of pokemon. With a shrill screech that almost broke all of the glass in the room, the Zubat angrily flew from corner to corner.
"Have you heard it?" The scientist asked with furrowed brows. The pokemon nodded and kept flying around. "The one we lost... We'll get you back little one..."
He smiled and adjusted his glasses. "Take 126b with you. It'll be easier to locate them."
~It's only a matter of time now.~ He thought.
After running into yet another flock of Zubats at the entrance of a cave, Team Rocket decided to take their hot air balloon to speed up their pace. Lana watched in awe as they went up higher and higher into the sky. As beautiful as it was, she couldn't help but clutch onto the side railing out of fear.
"It's alright, you'll get used to it eventually." James said when he noticed her rigidness.
~I hate heights, I hate heights...~ Lana thought. She was never up this high and the apparent fragility of the hot air balloon didn't help calm her down.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jessie exclaimed that she saw their target. She handed over her binoculars to James who then passed them to Lana after having seen the Pikachu.
"They're taking a break, so now's our chance to grab Pikachu!" Meowth jumped up temporarily and made the aircraft shudder for a moment. Team Rocket lowered their balloon so that they wouldn't be seen from the distance. As their altitude decreased, the teen eased her grip and started thinking about what they were going to do next. Was it really the best thing for Pikachu?
Ash, Dawn and Brock had been walking down the road headed to Solaceon Town. The contest there was still a couple days away.
They decided to take a break for lunch and were now enjoying their meal.
"You know Ash, after that last battle, Buizel would need to work on its speed." Dawn mentioned between taking bites out of her sandwich. Their pokemon were scattered over the open area, some eating closer to their trainers and some chatting with the other pokemon. Pikachu was sitting next to Chimchar and Buizel.
"Really? I thought Buizel was awesome! We just need to work on the attack succession." Ash replied with his mouth full.
"I'm just saying, I think Buizel-"
"Thanks Dawn, but we traded our pokemon. I don't tell you how to prepare Aipom for contests." Ash smiled and kept on eating. Dawn shrugged and turned her concentration to Piplup who was eating right next to her.
"Now, now... You two both care for your pokemon. You'll each bring out the best in them." Brock spoke up as he pet Happiny on the head. The little pokemon smiled and jumped up.
"You're right-" Dawn started, but was cut short.
"Pikapiiii!" Pikachu shouted out when it was grabbed in a special net by Team Rocket. They were standing in their hot air balloon which was still up in the air, though much lower than previously.
"Team Rocket! Give Pikachu back!" Ash yelled and ran towards the balloon. Pikachu tried to use Thunderbolt, but its electricity stayed contained in the net.
"Who's that?" Dawn asked when she saw someone new standing in the hot air balloon.
"No time for a motto chum, we're best to be off now!" James waved as the balloon started flying farther away from the group of trainers.
"Chimchar, use Ember!" Ash called out and watched as the little fire pokemon shot balls of fire out of its mouth towards the hot air balloon.
"Let's show your Protect!" Lana sent out her own Chimchar. She instantly held up her front paws and a light green aura appeared. The fireballs were stopped by the barrier, preventing anyone behind the pokemon from being injured. "A battle, huh?" She asked and motioned for the balloon to fly lower. After some hesitation, they set down so that Lana could get out. Team Rocket kept Pikachu close to them as they stood behind.
"My name's Lana." She mentioned and noticed her Chimchar climb up on her head, not wanting to battle another Chimchar. "Oh, you're sitting this one out?"
Seeing that she was distracted, Ash told Chimchar to Dig. The monkey pokemon dug his was underground and disappeared. Raichu jumped out and stood next to her trainer, trying to see from which side Chimchar would attack.
Suddenly, Ash's Chimchar dug out behind her and lunged at Team Rocket. As commanded by its trainer, the fiery pokemon used scratch to cut the net where Pikachu was held. Once Pikachu was free, it ran away from Team Rocket who were getting ready to send out their own pokemon. Before they could react, Ash told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt.
Surprisingly for Lana, the Pikachu turned to Team Rocket and jumped into the air while sparkling. In an instant, it shot a bolt of lightning at them. Raichu jumped in front of them and took the hit, not minding the electricity that it absorbed.
"Both Pikachu and Raichu have the hidden ability called Lightning Rod. It draws electrical attacks from other pokemon to themselves." Brock noted, explaining it to Dawn.
"Seriously? You'd use a Pokemon to attack people?" Lana asked Ash. As she did, all of the trainer's pokemon gathered and were ready to attack too.
"Uh-oh, it's time to go." Meowth said and, agreeing, Jessie sent out Seviper to use Haze. Smoke emerged out of its mouth and instantly covered the entire area.
Coughing, Lana felt two hands pull her back towards where the hot air balloon previously was. She held onto Raichu and Chimchar as she walked to make sure she wouldn't lose them. Once everyone was in and the aircraft started lifting them into the air, she smiled at her new friends.
"Thank you for not forgetting me out there." She said. She still couldn't believe how trainers could tell their pokemon to hurt people. She only knew one person so far in the past who has done that and he was evil to the core.
"We're a team now." Jessie explained.
"We look out for each other." James added, completing her sentence.
"Wobba-Wobba!" A tall blue pokemon emerged from a pokeball on its own and lifted one arm to its head. Its smile distracted Lana temporarily from what was happening with the so-called "twerps".
Down below, the smoke was cleared by Ash's Staravia using gust. Ash, Dawn and Brock saw Team Rocket's hot air balloon flying off into the distance.
"Oh no you don't! Staravia use Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted. Staravia flew up behind them and streaks of light surrounded its body. As both its speed increased and the intensity of the light, the pokemon burst through the hot air balloon.
In an instant, the balloon exploded, sending everyone flying off. "We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket screamed. Lana closed her eyes as she held onto Raichu and Chimchar with all of her might.
"If this ends here, might as well be with my Pokemon." Was the last thought she had as she continued to soar through the sky.
So much could be resolved with a few clear conversations... :P Either way, I hope my writing was a little more clear with the battles and all. More will be revealed in the next chapter, so stay tuned! As always, R&R helps me improve and write faster! *Hint Hint*