Chapter Sixteen
Tall Towers and Kick-Ass Gifts

Previously:
They packed up their stuff, finally getting ready to continue down the road. As they walked, Tony looked up at the sky, and nodded to himself.

As they walked, Lloyd suddenly pulled out a shiny blue disk. "Check it out." Lloyd said proudly, "It's the HM surf!" Johnny and Tony stopped to look at each other, and Johnny clapped Lloyd on the back, "Your not useless after all." Johnny said, and Lloyd looked deflated.

They spotted a pair of people arguing ahead of them, one of them large and dressed in red, the other in normal clothes.

"Isn't that the…uh…Fred Nora guy?" Tony asked, and Lloyd shook his head, "No, he's Frank Nova, and that is him." He corrected.

As they approached, Nova looked at them angrily, "Look, if I beat this guy, can I stay in Team Magma? Please?" He begged to the other man, who sighed, looking Johnny over, "Why him?"

"He has 5 badges!" Frank cried, and the man's eyebrow rose, "ok, fine, beat him and you can stay.

"Alrighty! Ill fight you two on two!" Frank yelled, his pokeball out and Johnny looked ready to fight at this turn of events.

Johnny's Electrode, now too big to be on his belt, came out of his pokeball, facing Frank's White beast. It's long nine tails swished behind it and it took a fighting position.

"That's a pretty powerful pokemon…when did you get that?" The man asked, and Frank shrugged.

The Ninetails jumped forwards, but the Electrode rolled out of the way, and shot sparks at the fox. The Ninetails leapt over the sparks, and a series of blue flames shot out from each of its tails, heading towards the Electrode. The Ball rolled out of the way again, zooming across the ground. With a burst of electricity, it shot an electric bolt, striking into the fox. The fox jumped back, smoking, and launched a flamethrower, and the electrode zoomed right through it, unable to stop its speed. The electrode turned smashing into the fox, and sending it flying a few feet away, before another electric bolt lanced through the air, into the beast, knocking it out.

Growling, Frank released another pokemon, a large red slug with a rocky back. The Macargo stood on the ground, the grass beneath it smoking. Johnny recalled his electrode, and his Kangaskhan took its place.

The beast ran forwards, stomping on the grass towards the magma snail, which watched it approach. The Kangaskhan pulled back its fist, and drove it into the Macargo, who got pushed back, leaving a smoking trail. The snail struck back in the form of fire, the heat rippling out at the Kangaskhan, burning into it. The Kangaskhan roared, and it began to pummel the snail, its Comet punch hitting over and over, before it picked the snail up and tossed it.

Or, he thought he tossed it, the snail remained stuck on its arm, the magma burning its hands. The Kangaskhan smashed the snail into the ground until it let go, and then kicked it, sending the snail unconscious. The Kangaskhan checked its pouch to make sure its baby was okay, before nursing its own burn wounds, Johnny recalling it.

"I lost?" Frank asked, recalling his Macargo glumly, but the man grabbed Frank by the arm, "What other pokemon do you have?"

As frank started to answer, the man looked at all three of them, "Move along punks, or I'll call for backup." He said, and our heroes walked past them. They walked on, fighting battles and talking, before they walked across the docks.

Lloyd suddenly stopped them, "We should go to Celadon first." He said, and Johnny moaned.

"Why?" Tony asked, and Lloyd responded, "I want to buy a thunderstone and evolve my Pikachu."

Tony looked at Johnny, and he sighed, "How we gonna get there?"

"Tony's Pidgeot can get us there!" Lloyd said, and Tony nodded. They all got on the large bird, which cawed in annoyance at the weight and they made their way shakily to celadon. While Lloyd went Shopping for the stone, Johnny greedily bought as many TM's as he could, grinning happily, "I guess stopping by wasn't such a bad idea after all."

They walked outside, and watched as Lloyd placed the stone in front of his Pikachu. The small electric rodent moved closer, and sniffed it cautiously. It looked up at Lloyd, who nodded, before it hesitantly touched the stone. The familiar evolutionary light enveloped the Pikachu, and when it vanished, the stronger, bigger Raichu stood proudly, and Lloyd recalled it.

They left Celadon from the right, entering the guardhouse leading to Saffron. Upon entering the building, they spotted the guard, who was sitting looking very bored. He didn't even flinch when they entered. As they tried to pass, he lazily pressed a button and a gate closed in front of them.

"Sorry, no ones allowed in." The man muttered.

"What? Why?" Tony demanded, and the man ignored him, staring blankly into space, "I'm sooo thirsty…" He muttered, his head falling on to the counter. Tony looked at Johnny and Lloyd, and pulled something out of his backpack. When the man at the counter looked up again, a water bottle was one the counter in front of him.

"Ah!" the man gasped, grabbing the bottle and noisily gulping it down, "Whoooo! Thanks guys. That hit the spot! I know, to repay you, I'll let you through, and tell all the other guards about your heroic deeds!"

"Uh...sure…" Tony said, as they walked past the guard who had opened the gate and was weeping in joy.

Saffron city was big, if not bigger than Celadon city, with a huge tower protruding from the center, the large red letters of "Silph Co." Smoke billowed from the tower, disappearing into the sky, but it looked as though the shades on every window were shut.

Tony was about to comment on the windows, but Johnny had already spoken up, " First stop, the Gym!" And with that, they trotted across the ground. A man in a rocket uniform stood in front of the gym, and when he spotted them, he pulled a picture out of his pocket.

"Hey hey hey!" he yelled, putting his arms out, stopping them, "You aren't allowed to enter!" He showed the picture, one with all three of them walking out of the Game corner, their faces clearly visible, "Your all wanted by the leader of Team Rocket. Your lucky im a nice guy cause with one push," he said, showing them his watch, which had a large button on it, "I could call every Rocket in a 15-mile radius to me!"

"Whatever." Johnny scoffed, as they walked away from the gym.

"Now what?" Lloyd asked, and Johnny's eyes shifted back and forth.

"Oh great, what half-assed plan do you have now?" Lloyd asked, and Johnny grinned, "The Silph Co."

Lloyd looked at the tower, and spotted a rocket, who should've been guarding the tower, asleep leaned up against the tower with his hat lowered over his eyes in an attempt to look like he was doing something.

"Let's look around town first!" Tony said, and Johnny nodded, "We should check every house for information on this place."

When they returned back together, they found out that about a week ago the Silph Co. was stormed, the Rockets flooding the City overnight. They all approached the tower and snuck into the building.

They were surprised to find Andrew standing in the building, waiting. When they entered, his eyes widened only slightly, and he coughed.

"Andy? What are you doing here?" Johnny asked, and Andrew shot him a sharp look, "The name is Andrew boy, don't forget it. Its none of your damn business what I'm doing here anyway."

"Geeze, calm down." Johnny said, and Andrew looked at him, glaring. He took a step forwards, his hand raised in a fist when the elevator opened up, and jess walked daintily out of it. She stopped mid step when she spotted Tony, Johnny and Lloyd. She quickly regained her step, slipping something into her bag as she approached.

"Hello Tony, Johnny, Lloyd, what are you three doing here?' She asked, shaking her head quickly, "Oh, never mind, its good to see you guys bonding, Andrew's such a negative person." She said happily and Andrew muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, this place is stupid, it's full of Team Rocket members." She said, hooking her arm around Andrew's and pulling him towards the door. As they left, Tony could hear "I swear, one of these days…" Before the doors slammed shut and the talking faded.

They entered the elevator, and as they piled in, Johnny pushed Lloyd, and he hit the button. "Floor 5." The female voice said, and Johnny swore.

When the doors opened, they exited, walking slowly. Someone suddenly walked out from a cubicle. He was dressed in a lab coat, and reading a manual as he walked. Our heroes jumped behind a bush, but it was too small for all three of them, and the scientist spotted Lloyd.

"Hey!" he said in a squeaky voice, "Your not allowed to be here!" He released a pokemon, a Magnemite, and demanded Lloyd come with him. Lloyd responded by releasing his Charizard, which growled quietly. The Great dragon rushed forwards, spraying flames at the steel type as it went. The Magnemite was defeated quickly, part of its steel melted.

The Koffing that came next was defeated fast too, the Charizard ending it with a powerful Wing attack. The second Magnemite was defeated the same way as the first one. The scientist sent out his last pokemon, the Weezing. The Charizard snorted, and ran towards the cancer ball, grappling on to it. The Charizard ran holding the Weezing, straight through the glass windows, Taking to the air. The Charizard did a loop, the Weezing spewing gases forth, before the Charizard flung the Weezing to the ground. Landing back through the glass it broke, the lizard yawned sleepily, Lloyd recalling it. The scientist cried out loud, running to the elevator to get his Weezing.

They kept moving; avoiding the small flames left by the Charizard's tail, and found another rocket. He responded quickly, releasing an Arbok, which glared at Johnny. Johnny caught the gaze, and his muscles involuntarily froze up, immobilizing him. Lloyd was about to release a pokemon, but the Arbok's strong Tail lashed out, knocking the Pokeball from Lloyd's hands. Tony pulled his Pokeball free, and his Persian came free. The cat hissed, and leapt at the Arbok, slashing into it. The Persian jumped back, and attempted to lunge forwards at the Arbok who was moving to dodge it, but the Persian stopped, feinting the attack, before the Persian jumped at the cobra. The Arbok, who was in mid dodge, couldn't maneuver enough to dodge the attack, and it got hit dead on.

"Ok! Another Faint attack!" Tony yelled, and the Persian did just that, striking the snake down. The Rocket recalled the Pokemon, and Johnny snapped up, back to normal. The rocket ran from them, and Tony spotted a Yellow square on the ground.

"What's that?" Tony asked, and Johnny shrugged. Lloyd suddenly came running forwards, his pokeball in hand, and tripped, falling into Johnny and Tony, pushing all three of them on the square. They suddenly glowed, and Tony felt all tingly. Looking at Johnny he saw him transparent. Tony gasped, and looked at his own hands, and they were also transparent. When they returned to solid, they all tumbled forwards in a different room. They couldn't help falling, landing in a pile on the ground.

"What the hell?" Johnny yelped, pushing Lloyd off of him, "What's going on?"

"New technology." Lloyd said, standing up, and Johnny and Lloyd looked at him, "I read it in a pamphlet a long time ago. These floors are powered using psychic pokemon, and they move you between spaces. Sabrina's gym has them too."

"Wow…" Johnny said, and Tony walked over to another yellow pad, "Stay here, I'm gonna see what's on the other side." Tony said, stepping hesitantly on the pad, the tingly feeling overcoming him again. He emerged into a room, and a rocket was looking away from him, on the other side of a table. Quickly ducking down, Tony landed on the ground, hiding behind the table. Suddenly a glint caught Tony's eyes, and he spotted a small keycard on the ground. The Rocket was mumbling to himself, and Tony snuck forwards, towards the key.

"Huh? Where's the keycard?" the rocket asked, looking around, and Tony stopped, as the rocket spotted the card, walking towards it. As he stepped closer, another voice, female, suddenly rang out.

"Rick?" she asked hesitantly, and the man stopped. Tony saw his feet turn to face the voices direction, "What is it Heather?" Tony quickly crawled forwards, snatching the card and crawling back to the pad. As he crawled he heard the girls voice again, "Rick, hurry up, or I'll start by myself." The voice said seductively, and Tony's eyes widened, "Just a sec Hun." He said, and the last thing Tony heard before he crawled onto the portal was, "What the hell? It was just here!"

When Tony emerged on the pad in front of Johnny and Tony, he was still on all fours, the card in his fist.

"There were two rockets on the other side, but I did get this!" Tony said, flashing the key, and Johnny scowled, moving forwards, "What? Lets get in there and battle those Rockets, my pokemon are itching for a battle." Tony stuck his hand out in front of Johnny, stopping him.

"Trust me, you don't wanna go in there." Tony said, and Johnny looked curious, but nodded.

Lloyd snatched the card from Tony's hand. "Lets see what this card can do!"

Our heroes battled their way through nine floors, emerging to a room with a Silph Co. employee in it. He thanked them for helping get rid of the rockets, and offered them a bed to rest in. After staying the night in the room, healing up, our heroes stood in a circle.

"What now? We can't get anywhere else." Lloyd asked, and the man who gave them the rooms interjected, "Um…sorry, but have you seen our boss?"

"Um, no…is he on higher floors?' Johnny asked and the man nodded, "Please check on him, go to the third floor, a teleport pad will take you to him."

Johnny nodded, and Tony put his hand on the fellows shoulder, "I swear I will make sure your boss is ok!"

They followed the man's orders, taking them to the floor. A single pad stood in front of them, right where the man described. Tony stepped in front of the pad, telling Johnny to wait for him to return, in case it was dangerous.

The room Tony entered was small, with a man standing looking worried. As Tony entered, a figured suddenly appeared transparent on a pad across the room. The ever-infamous Rival of Tony emerged from the pad.

"Well well well, if it isn't little boy blue." Gary smirked, and Tony shook his head, "Gary, that doesn't even make sense."

"It doesn't have to." Gary shot back and Tony rolled his eyes, "What are you even doing here? This is a crisis situation!" Tony asked, and Gary shrugged.

"I came to see if I could help out. Whadda say we have ourselves a battle?" Gary asked, fingering his pokeball.

"How is that gonna be helpful?" Tony asked, and Gary shook his head, "The boss of this operation is after that pad, I say the winner of this battle gets to fight him."

"Fine, if it'll shut you up, I'll kick your ass again." Tony growled, releasing his pokemon, to counter Gary's.

Gary's Growlithe stood proudly, but whimpered when Tony's Blastoise appeared, roaring. The cannons on the Blastoises shell were inside, and the Blastoise steadied itself. With a metallic clang, two spots on the back of the Blastoises shell opened up, and the metal cannons pushed out. With a satisfied snarl from the Blastoise, the Cannons tilted towards the firedog, and it tried to dodge, but one pinpoint shot of water blasted it to the ground, where its sprayed until the dog couldn't stand up. Gary recalled his Growlithe with a growl, and released a pokemon Tony hadn't seen before.

The small yellow spiky pokemon hissed at the Blastoise, who titled its head. The Jolteon leapt quickly, running on the side of the wall towards the turtle. The Blastoise tried to shoot it, but it moved too fast, landing on the Tortoises back. With a jolt of electricity, the Jolteon sent the Blastoise to the ground, the super effective attack knocking it out in one hit.

Tony grimaced at the electric pokemon that could potentially wipe out his own team. He sent out his only pokemon that could withstand an electric attack. The Persian wearily eyed the Jolteon. The two pokemon probably remembered their last fight, back when they were unevolved, and were determined to fight it out.

The Persian rushed in, feinting again, attacking when the Jolteon couldn't dodge. The Jolteon recovered from the attack, and launched a flurry of sparks, ripping into the cat.

The Persian ran fast, avoiding another spark, sliding across the ground, slashing the Jolteon right across the face. The Persian quickly jumped back, avoiding the Jolteon's retaliation. With another hit, the Persian sent the Jolteon across the ground.

Recalling his Jolteon, Gary swore, releasing his next pokemon. The humanoid pokemon stood, holding two spoons, and glared at the Persian. The Alakazam started floating, levitating above the ground. The Persian jumped to the side, and Faint Attacked, striking the Alakazam harshly. The Alakazam reeled back, and launched a flurry of psychic attacks, assaulting the Persian's body and mind. After the attack, the Persian struck true with another Faint attack. The Alakazam teleported above the Cat, and used its mind to fling the cat towards the wall. As it flew, it launched a shockwave from its red jewel, nailing into the Psychic.

Both pokemon fell unconscious, and Tony sent out his Gyarados, and Gary countered with his own Gyarados. The seriousness of Gary's great dragon countered the happy-go-lucky personality of Tony's. The two dragons rushed forwards, their heads scraping the ceiling. They rammed into each other, both biting into each other. Gary's Dragon glowed Bright red, and it blew purplish flames all over Tony's. Tony's Gyarados decided not to use Dragon Rage, and instead trashed, smashing into its stern counterpart. AS they two beasts rumbled, Tony's ended the fight brutally, smashing the other Gyarados down with its tail, holding it.

Gary's Pidgeot flew through the small room, and Tony's Gyarados was confused from its thrashing. The Bird flew in, raking the Gyarados with its talons. The beast roared and tried to bite, only clipping a few feathers from the bird, before it wing attacked the Beast, knocking it out.

Tony's own Pidgeot stood on the ground, watching Gary's bird. Tony's Pidgeot suddenly took flight, right as Gary's rushed in, scratching the ground. With it's back turned, Tony's Pidgeot struck, clawing and raking, while Gary's tried to get it off it's back.

They tumbled through the air, and Gary's Pidgeot flapped, sending feathers through the air, spiraling around Tony's Bird. Tony's bird Flew upwards, out of the cloud of feathers, before spiraling down towards Gary's Pidgeot. Gary's bird flapped, rocketing upwards, and the two birds flashed by each other. Tony's landed on the ground, feathers floating off of it, and Gary's kept going, crashing into the wall, knocked out.

Gary recalled his pokemon without a word. He brushed by Tony's Pidgeot, then by Tony himself, not saying anything. Feathers flew up where he stepped, and he exited via warp pad. Almost directly after he left, Johnny and Lloyd appeared.

"What was Gary doing here?" Johnny asked, and Tony shook his head, "Long story." Healing up his pokemon with items, the man, who had been cowering in the room walked up to Tony.

"The-That was amazing. I want you to have this…because I know your helping us out." The man said, handing Tony a pokeball.

Tony looked up, "What is it?" He asked, and the man pointed at the ball, "It's a Lapras, very rare, they are found only in some Ice Cave on some island somewhere." The man said, and Tony thanked him. All three of our heroes stepped forwards, and they found themselves, facing a Rocket guard.

"Hmph, you're not going any farther." He said, his Cubone standing guard. Lloyd released his Marowak. The two pokemon rushed at each other, and in a quick display, the senior easily defeated the junior. The rocket sent out another pokemon, A Marowak, who readied its bone. The green Marowak Lloyd owned rushed forward's again, and they clashed, bone on bone, in a manner like sword fighting. The Green Marowak struck the other one again, sending it staggering. Using that time, Lloyd's Marowak brought its bone crashing down on the other one, cracks appearing in its skull, as it fell back. Before the Rocket could recall it, Lloyd's Marowak, in a cruel demonstration, swiftly snapped the unconscious Marowaks bone. The Rocket sent out his last pokemon, A Drowzee, but it was defeated quickly, the Marowak holding its bone across its throat, choking it until it fainted.

They pushed open the doors to find three people. A large man sat on a couch, another man in black sat in front of him, talking. A pretty woman stood next to the large man, and he looked at our heroes when they entered.

The man in black turned to look at them, and the scowl he wore deepened. Standing up, he walked across the table, looking at them.

"You again? I guess youngsters these days can't keep out of adults business." Giovanni said, his Cigar smoking in the light.

"Help us please!" The president called from the couch, and Giovanni turned, "Quiet down Mr. President." Giovanni turned back to our heroes, but the President wouldn't give in, "Help!" he cried again

Giovanni turned snarling, and threw his Cigar at the man, "Shut up!" It landed on his chest with a burst of ash, and the President brushed it off panting.

"Come on you coward, fight!" Johnny yelled, and Giovanni eyed him, "No…not you, I want to fight him, he looks weak." Giovanni said, pointing at Lloyd, who looked panicked.

"Yes…you'll do nicely for some quick stress relieving." Giovanni, said, releasing his pokemon, a large spiky creature, A Nidorino.

Tony sent out his Marowak, and it launched its bone out, hitting the Nidorino. As they Nidorino stumbled back from the super effective hit, the bone spun back, striking a second time, the Marowak catching it effortlessly. The Nidorino rushed forwards, skidding next to the Marowak, before it flung its back legs outs, nailing the Marowak, with both feet. The Marowak slid across the ground, and lifted itself up with its bone. The Nidorino charged, but The Marowak, dodged sideways, bring its bone down on the Nidorino' s head. The Nidorino fell down and didn't get back up.

The Rhyhorn that came next snorted, before charging at the Marowak, who jumped out of the way. The Marowak landed, looking tired, breathing heavy. A heavy, loud, gurgling noise arose from the Rhyhorn's Belly, and it opened its mouth. Rocks flew from its mouth, nailing into the Marowak. After 4 blasts, the Marowak crumpled to the floor.

Lloyd's next pokemon, his Primape, emerged from the pokeball. The Primape scanned the room, and spotted the Rhyhorn. In a sudden Frenzied Rage, the Primape launched itself in the air, landing on the Rhyhorn's back. The Primape beat relentlessly, knocking chips of rock and stone off. The Rhyhorn roared in pain as the pig monkey beat it. The Beast Finally fell, after the Mankey Chopped both it's hands down in a critical hit.

The Kangaskhan came out, and it roared loudly. The Primape roared back, and jumped at the Beast. While in Midair, the Kangaskhan smashed the Primape into the ground. The Primape got up groggily, but was swiftly punted into the wall. As it landed from the hit, the Kangaskhan grabbed it by its leg, and smashed it all around the room, before body slamming it.

Lloyd's next pokemon, his Charizard came out and roared. It blew a flamethrower at the beast, burning it, but it rushed through the flames at the Lizard, who jumped back, slashing with its claws. The Kangaskhan reached the Dragon, towering over it, grabbing it by the shoulders. Before it could do anything, the Charizard's wings beat the hands off of it, and then the fire lizard itself barreled into the Kangaskhan, breathing flames as it did so. The Smoking Kangaskhan fell to the ground, defeated and the Charizard roared in victory.

Giovanni scowled and released his last pokemon. The Nidoqueen stood still, eyeing the Charizard, The Dragon rushed forwards, claws gleaming, and the Nidoqueen suddenly shifted. With a quick movement, the Nidoqueen was holding the Charizard down. The Nidoqueen had the Charizard's wings in its grip, and was standing on its back tail. As the Nidoqueen started to pull on the Charizard's wings, and pushing down on its back, the Charizard suddenly disappeared. Lloyd recalled the Charizard, and sent out his next Pokemon.

The long snake-like pokemon unfurled through the air, flying through the room like it was water. It slithered over to the Nidoqueen, swirling around its head. The Nidoqueen tried to swat the wurm, but it was too high. It suddenly spun fast, and a burst of wind and dust flung the Nidoqueen across the room. It landed on its side, and the Dragonair acted quickly, slamming into the Nidoqueen. The Nidoqueen punched, nailing the Dragonair across its head. The Dragonair floated back, and breathed a bout of Purple flames. The flames only licked the Nidoqueen, and it got up slowly. The Dragonair suddenly stiffened, and it pulled its head back. It glowed bright white, and unleashed a mighty blast. The orangish beam that Tony could only describe as liquid light punched through the Nidoqueen. It blasted through the window as well, leaving a perfectly round hole. The Nidoqueen collapsed. The hyper beam died down, and the Dragonair drifted gently down, landing on the ground. Lloyd recalled it and Johnny looked at him, "How?"

Lloyd looked over at Johnny, "I just bought one, just like you."

Giovanni scowled again and recalled the defeated Nidoqueen. "Pathetic…absolutely pathetic…how?"

"Maybe you should try being nicer. Don't use your pokemon like personal slaves." Johnny shot at Giovanni, who shook his head, "No…that's what they are…they are slaves."

"Your wrong." Lloyd said, "The battle that just took place proved that."

"Nonsense…I'll be back, don't you forget it. This will be the last time you cross with Team Rocket. Next time…there will not be any battles…I'll have my pokemon attack you directly." A helicopter suddenly floated past the hole in the wall, and Giovanni ran past out heroes, leaping out the hole left by the hyper beam, and into the Helicopter, which promptly flew away.

The President waddled up to our heroes, and Lloyd scratched the back of his head, "Um…sorry about your window."

"Not a problem, thank you boys…thank you so much." The president said, shaking each of their hands, "Here…this is the only on I know in existence. Take it, its yours." The President said handing Lloyd a purple pokeball.

"Holy shit!" Johnny cried, and Tony took a step back. Lloyd gaped at the Master Ball he held, and the President laughed.

"Lets go guys, we got a Gym to beat." Johnny said, and our heroes nodded.

END
SUPER
COOL