Chapter 3

Black Jack, Alice, Jerry, Ash and Pikachu were in the corridor when the big man told them about the possible suspect Team Ocean.

"And why them? Why not Team Missile?" Ash asked still angry at the kidnappers.

"Team Missile?" Jerry asked Alice with curiosity in his tone.

"You heard about Team Rocket right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, they got disbanded or something right?" Jerry asked, knowing about Team Rocket being a criminal organisation.

"Well, Team Missile's like them but their technologies a lot better."

"Explain?"

"I was once captured by them and I noticed they had this special gadget to control legendary pokemon like Ho-oh and Lugia. But Uncle Jack and Ash dealt with those bad guys and we were set free after that."

Jerry's face showed an impressed expression while Black Jack was telling Ash his answers. "If memory serves me correctly," Black Jack said. "Team Ocean did mention that they plan to find a bunch of water pokemon masters to take over the world. And after what we have done to Team Missile, they would think twice before messing with us."

Pikachu leapt off Ash's head as Ash stormed towards him and grabbed him by his neck collar of his jacket, pulling him closer. "Why didn't you tell me?" Ash snarled.

"I was hoping they would see sense," Black Jack replied evilly with narrowed eyes. "Now let go of my jacket, Ketchum."

"Why?" Ash snarled, letting his anger take control. "What are you going to…"

Black Jack quickly responded by knocking his hands away and grabbing him by the neck. He then proceeded to harshly push his rival onto the wall still holding him by the neck, threatening to choke him.

Realising the danger, Alice and Pikachu came between them stopping the fight. "Uncle, stop!" she said loudly. "This is a Pokemon Centre! We don't want anyone else hurt right now! Aren't you two friends?"

Silence followed with Ash and Black Jack continuing to stare at each other with anger in their eyes. A moment later, Black Jack spoke. "We're not friends," he said answering Alice's question. "But seeing him as someone in my league, I respect him.

"But a little warning, Ketchum," he continued. "If you value your neck, don't ever do that or ask me that question."

He released his neck and slowly walked out of the corridor. Ash let out some deep breaths, trying to calm himself down while Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder and placed his paw on his friend's head comforting him. "I got to call home," Ash said as he walked out of the corridor.

Alice let out a small sigh, relieved that they didn't have to fight. "Man, that was something," Jerry said. "That was brave what you did there Alice."

"I'm used to it," Alice said putting on a small smile. "Uncle Jack gets into fights all the time."

"As if I didn't know that."

They then heard a small beep coming from the operating room signalling that the operation was over and the nurse came out of the room. Alice walked up to her. "How is she doing Nurse Joy?" Alice asked, hoping that the Dragonair would be fine.

"There's no need to worry now," Joy said in an assuring tone. "Even though she's been beaten badly, she'll be fully recovered by tomorrow morning and will be released by then."

Alice let out a small sigh of relief after hearing that news. "Thanks Nurse Joy," she said. "I don't know how to repay you."

"It was nothing compared to how you saved the trapped and injured while the village was on fire."

"That reminds me. How come those thugs set fire to it?" Jerry asked. His eyes then widened with shock and despair. "Wait… they… didn't take the food, did they?"

"Well…" Nurse Joy said worriedly but Alice stopped her by holding her hand out.

"I know that tone! They did! Didn't they?" Jerry yelled with tears forming in his eyes. He then started wailing as he rushed out of the corridor.

"He hasn't eaten since last night," Alice said as she placed her hand on her forehead in embarrassment. "Still, it's a good thing we're getting the guys healed. I'll stick around and help you out Nurse Joy. I can see that you got a lot of work to do."

"Thank you," Nurse Joy said with a nod. "Right now, we need all the help we can get."

Alice looked at the Dragonair and smiled, happy that the blue dragon would be completely healed the next day.

Night time. Black Jack and his pokemon were walking around in separate ways inside the village. Each one of them had a torch and a walkie-talkie each to see in the dark. They were on a night watch, protecting the villagers by looking out for intruders. "(Some guys are fine after getting some medical attention, but the Centre and hospital's still got a lot of work to do)," Tyranitar growled to himself, reminding himself about the day's events as he leaned on one of the burnt houses. "(A lot of food will be arriving tomorrow morning. That should put Jerry's head at ease)."

He began walking around to look for possible intruders, ready to fight them if necessary… or when. He sensed a familiar presence nearby and turned his attention towards it. It turned out to be Ash, who had a torch of his own and a look of sadness on his face as he looked down on the ground. Pikachu was riding on his shoulder. Neither of them could sleep because of what happened to Misty.

"(Hey Ash)," Tyranitar growled.

"Hey Tyranitar," Ash replied in a down tone, as did Pikachu but in his own language. "Can we hang around with you tonight?"

Tyranitar nodded, allowing them to patrol around the area with him. They were silent for a number of minutes as they walked until Ash broke it. "Sorry about what happened back there with Black Jack," he said. "I hope he didn't take it the wrong way."

"(If I was you I wouldn't threaten him like that)," Tyranitar growled. "(But on the other hand, Jack knows what you're going through with Misty being captured. Remember what we did to Mane when he captured Black Jack's family)?"

"Yeah," Ash replied tonelessly.

"(How's the family taking it)?"

"Misty's sisters were in tears when I called them. They said the police are currently looking for clues in the gym while protecting them under high security. They kept on asking me what we're going to do about this. You and the other guys can stay but I decided to cut my trip short and head back home, in case they need me."

"(Any clues from the police)?"

"No. Not at this point."

They both continued walking together looking for intruders. As they came next to next to a corner of one of the buildings, Tyranitar stretched his foreleg out towards that corner and grabbed a suspicious character. He dragged him and held him closely face-to-face, much to Ash's surprise.

Tyranitar glared evilly at the intimidated grunt while growling. "He says that you were so nervous that he heard your heart beat," Ash said, translating for Tyranitar. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing much," the grunt said nervously.

As Ash looked on at the situation, Pikachu sensed another intruder coming. He quickly turned around and saw another grunt coming towards him with knife. He instinctively leapt towards him but he was prepared as he aimed towards Pikachu. But he felt a kick in the gut from Ash, who also heard him coming, and dropped the knife to the floor. "Pikachu! Use your Iron Tail!" Ash ordered. Pikachu's jagged tail glowed energetically as he slammed it onto the grunt's head knocking him down, giving Ash the advantage to hold him down.

"(Been training yourself, I see)," Tyranitar growled after observing what Ash and Pikachu did.

As Ash held him down, he looked up at Tyranitar who was still holding the first grunt and smiled, taking the remark as a compliment. He then saw a third grunt standing on the rooftop of the burnt building behind the green dinosaur looking down at him. The grunt quickly leapt towards him. "Tyranitar! Look out!" Ash yelled warningly.

Tyranitar reacted quickly as he turned towards the grunt jumping down and caught him by the throat, choking him simultaneously. He evilly glared at him while letting out a monstrous growl at him.

"Nice to see you 'drop in'," Black Jack said commenting on the third grunt as he walked into the scene catching everyone's attention. The first grunt gave a nervous laugh in response. "Laugh it up punk. We're taking you to the police station and we'll interrogate you boys in the morning."

He looked down at Ash who was holding down one of the grunts. "Black Jack…" Ash said. "I'm…"

"No need," Black Jack said lowering his head. "I know."

The next morning, Black Jack and Ash visited the grunts after spending the night patrolling the village area. Ash originally planned to go back home in his home region of Kanto to visit Misty's sisters but he decided to stay a little longer because he may get some answers from the grunts. They were given the permission from the police to interrogate them. They sat down in the cafeteria of the station and had a cup of coffee and a number of pancakes each.

"We're gonna give you boys a new role," Black Jack said after eating some of his pancakes. "You're going to be our informants."

"And the part of that role is that you guys are going to tell us everything you know about Misty's whereabouts," Ash said suspiciously. "And with absolute truth."

"You want the truth?" one of the grunts asked confidently. "You're not gonna handle it but we don't know where she is."

Ash took a photo of Misty out of his pocket and showed it to them. "We all know what she looks like," the other grunt said. "We saw her in newspapers and TV sets."

"Y'know, Ketchum," Black Jack said after taking a sip of his coffee. "In times like this I like my coffee hot."

Ash showed a puzzled look on his face, as if he was asking, "Why?"

Black responded by splashing it right into the face of one of the grunts. "Agh! My eyes!" The grunt yelled in pain as he quickly got off his seat holding with his hands over his eyes. Black Jack quickly followed the grunt, grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him back into his seat. "I'm blind! I'm can't see!" the grunt complained still with his eyes feeling sore.

Black Jack responded by backslapping in the face. The grunt became shocked from that hit. His eyes were still hurting but he was no complaining. "Hey! Cafeteria guy!" Black Jack called across the hall where a man dressed in his cafeteria uniform was working at the counter. "Another cup!"

He sat back onto his seat. "You see, boys," Black Jack said taking off his sunglasses, showing evil looking eyes. "Unlike those authority idiots you meet in places like this, I have my own ways of interrogation. So unless you want to know more about my interrogation skills firsthand, I strongly advise you to answer some questions."

The grunts nervously looked at both the violent Black Jack and the angered Ash Ketchum. Surely for them, this was not a good time for stalling. "Okay…" one of the grunts said. "I'll confess…"

Meanwhile in another location of the village, Salamence was patrolling through the streets, looking around for suspicious characters. "(Hi Salamence)," cooed a pokemon's voice from behind.

Salamence turned around and saw the Dragonair, the same Dragonair he saved the other day. After spending the night at the Pokemon Centre, she was more than fine to leave the place.

"(Hi kid)," Salamence growled with a smile. "(Good thing you're alive and well, huh)?"

"(For your information, just because I'm not a Dragonite, it doesn't mean I'm a kid)," she replied.

"(Sorry, I guess your cute looks fooled me)."

Dragonair giggled at that remark while blushing for a slight second. "(I was wondering if I can help patrol the village for a while. After all, you and your friends did rescue me)."

"(I see no harm in that… might be a little dangerous though)."

"(I've had worst)," Dragonair cooed putting on a cheery face. "(Stupid)!" she continued feeling rather embarrassed. "(My name's Aurora. What's your name)?"
"(I don't have a name. Just call me Salamence)."

Unknown to them, Nidoking and Feraligatr were spying on them behind a pair of trees. "(I'm telling ya, Feraligatr)," Nidoking growled quietly. "(This stinks)."

"(What stinks)?" Feraligatr asked.

"(Them)!"

Feraligatr looked at their direction and sniffed a big sniff as they walked off. "(I can't smell anything from them)."

"(That's not what I meant. Him, her… in love)" Nidoking growled, growling the last two words in a sarcastically loving, passionate voice.

"(I don't get it. First, we were picking on him for helping that Dragonair and now you're not liking it. What's the problem)?"

"(Think about it. If Salamence falls in love with that Dragonair and decides to stick with her, what would become of him and us)?"

Feraligatr thought deeply about the situation for a long minute. He soon realised what it would be like without him "(Oh)," he growled quietly in shock. It would mean that Salamence would no longer get any action plus Black Jack's team would be down from seven members to six.

"(What's going on you guys)?" a voice cooed calmly catching their attention.

They turned towards Sceptile and Glalie, both belonging to Ash. "(Salamence's… in love)," Feraligatr growled, still slightly startled of his realisation.

"(Feraligatr)!" Nidoking snarled. "(Don't go round telling other pokemon that)!"

"(And that's a bad thing because…)" Sceptile cooed in a puzzled tone.

"(If Salamence falls for that Dragonair, he'll stick with her and not with us)!" Nidoking growled.

Sceptile let out a small sigh. "(For pokemon that hanged around a lot more than Sceptile and me put together, you guys are a little dense)," Glalie cooed.

Nidoking's eyes widened, taking the remark as an insult. "(Excuse me)?" Nidoking growled daring Glalie to say it again.

"(Leave it, Nido. She's probably right)," Feraligatr growled.

"(I guess you guys don't like being lonely. I, on the other hand, am always lonely even when it's break time)," Sceptile cooed. "(Have you guys ever fallen in love)?"

"(No)," both of Black Jack's pokemon replied.

"(Then you ought to think about what Salamence is thinking, what he wants and all, not just yourselves. Take it from me; I fell for a couple of females. Ash and the other guys were understanding about them… only they fell for other males)."

Glalie turned around hiding her sniggeringing face. "(A couple…)" she thought cheekily. "(Up to Brock's number is more like it)!"

"(Nice story there Sceptile)," Nidoking growled while showing some deep thought. "(Now if only we were interested…)"

Sceptile's eyes narrowed, not liking Nidoking's remark. "(Know this. If you guys are really Salamence's friend, you'd do whatever it is to make him happy)," he cooed.

"(Hey, but what about us)?" Feraligatr growled.

"(Then you'd be happy that he's happy)," Sceptile cooed as he turned around beginning to walk away. He noticed that Glalie was still giggling. "(What are you laughing at)?" he cooed.

"(Liar, liar! Pants on fire!)" Glalie cooed loudly zooming away, leaving Nidoking and Feraligatr in puzzlement while Sceptile calmly followed.

"(What are we gonna do)?" Feraligatr growled.

"(We'll follow them)," Nidoking answered.

Feraligatr began walking in Sceptile's direction but Nidoking dragged him away by the paw. "(Not them! Salamence and that Dragonair)!" he growled.

Meanwhile, back at the police station, the Team Ocean grunts were answering several questions Black Jack and ash provided. So far, they admitted that they kidnapped Misty and other water pokemon trainers, much to Ash's dismay. "How did you guys find us?" Black Jack asked. "Were you guys following us when we were on a trip to One Island?"

"Yes, we've been following you a lot," one of the grunts answered nervously.

"Did you have anything to do with the burning village?" Ash asked, trying to keep calm.

"No, not at all."

"Do you have any suspicions of who might be behind it?"

"We suspect that Team Molten might be behind that," another grunt replied. "They often use fire pokemon to do their dirty work…"

After more questions were answered, Black Jack, Ash and the grunts were totally quiet. Black Jack snapped his fingers and a policeman walked through the open doors. "If you boys are lying to me, think only this," he threatened. "I'll be back to get you."

He looked up to the policeman and motioned his head to take them away. "Prison cell," he said.

The grunts stood up from their seats and slowly began to walk away with the policeman following them.

"Any ideas?" Ash asked after the grunts left.

"I think we'll do a little spying of our own," Black Jack replied.

"You're not going to crash in on their submarine are you?" Ash asked with concern. "That's where they're keeping Misty and I don't want her hurt."

Black Jack smiled a small smile. As much as he loved to physically dismantle his enemies, he couldn't allow the love of Ash's life to be hurt. After all, because of his rival's kind compassion, he'd do the same for him and his family… that's if any of Black Jack's enemies had the audacity to do so.

"Did someone say 'a little spying'?" asked a man's voice behind them. They turned around and smiled recognising the man who spoke.

Back at Nidoking's and Feraligatr's location, they had been following and spying Aurora and Salamence for a long while. As they came towards another corner they noticed the Dragonair coming close to Salamence's ear, close enough to whisper or something more, and had a suspicious feeling that they may be up to something. Then Salamence sensed their presence and turned towards them, making them panic and hide behind the corner where they wouldn't be seen.

"(Come on out you two)," Salamence growled knowing that they were hiding there. "(What are you guys up to)?"

Feraligatr and Nidoking came out of their hiding place. "(Um…we thought we smelled… cookies)," Feraligatr growled nervously before running away, dragging Nidoking along with him.

"(Who were those two)?" Aurora cooed.

"(They're… friends of mine)," Salamence growled feeling slightly embarrassed. "(Aurora)," he thought to himself. "(That name sounds familiar)."

"(So, are you free tonight)?" Aurora asked.

"(I don't know)," Salamence growled. "(I better tell Black Jack about… oh, here he comes now)." He noticed his trainer and friend coming towards them.

"Salamence," Black Jack said. "Glad I caught you. Tell the others that I will be taking a couple of guys to spy on Team Ocean and one of you has to stay in charge. We should be back here very late tonight."

"(Got it)," Salamence growled. "(Listen to this, Jack. I think we're going to protect more than the innocent around us)."

"What do you mean by that?" Black Jack asked.
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