Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Twelve

Vs. Shocks

Charizard flew over the last stretch of Mount Moon and began to slowly glide down, travelling another several hundred meters past the mountain before skidding to a halt on the ground. Charizard stopped in an upright position, allowing Rina and Ashley to hop off his back.

"Thanks Charizard, we can walk from here." Ashley said to him, patting him on the back. She took Charizard's pokeball in hand, preparing to recall him.

"-Not like I was taking you any further anyway.-" Charizard replied gruffly before being recalled into his pokeball.

"Charizard still doesn't seem to like you..." Rina noted a bit sadly.

"I'm just glad he'll listen to me a bit, honestly. Maybe by the time he evolves he'll...warm up to me?" Ashley grinned at Rina. Rina rolled her eyes at Ashley's obvious attempt at a pun.

Safely on the ground now, Rina took a pokeball from her belt. Ashley, realizing what she was doing, followed suit. Rina released Pippi from the pokeball she grabbed, and Ashley released Bulbasaur from her's. They had kept them in their pokeballs to make the flight easier on Charizard.

"-Past Mount Moon already?-" Bulbasaur said as he noticed the mountain behind them. "-What'd you do, teleport?-"

"Charizard flew us over." Rina explained to Bulbasaur, smiling.

"-Huh. Go figure.-" Bulbasaur gave a light shrug. "-Seems to be awfully helpful all of a sudden...-"

"Hey! I bet Sarge would like to be out of his pokeball here!" Rina unclipped Sarge's pokeball from her belt. "This was where I caught him afterall..." Rina held up the pokeball and released Sarge. The Sandshrew immediately glanced around curiously and recognized its location.

"-My old stomping grounds...-" Sarge said fondly. "-Is there a particular reason we're here?-"

"We're just passing through." Rina informed him.

"-I see...-" Sarge nodded to Rina. With three of their pokemon now following along with them, the two girls continued towards Cerulean City. It wasn't much further, and would only take them half an hour or so at most to get there. However, they would have one more distraction before leaving Cerulean.

As they reached the tall grass near where Rina caught her Sandshrew on their first pass through, Sarge came to a stop. When she realized Sarge wasn't following them, Pippi stopped as well and tugged on Rina's pant leg to get her attention. Sarge's ears were perked up, listening intently to his surroundings.

"Sarge? What is it?" Rina asked her pokemon. Ashley and Bulbasaur finally stopped as well when Rina spoke up. Pippi's ears perked up as well as she tried to pinpoint what Sarge was hearing.

"-I hear movement...in the grass...-" Sarge said quietly in response, glancing off to his left. "-A pokemon is sneaking up on us...-"

"-Yeah, I hear it too!-" Pippi shouted. Sarge shot her a glare. Both pokemon could tell whatever it was had stopped now and was hiding in the grass nearby. Pippi covered her mouth with her small paws when she realized her mistake.

"-I will handle this. Rina, be prepared for a battle.-" Rina nodded, and Sandshrew ran off into the grass to find his target.

"Ok, I'm confused. Whats going on, here?" Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow at Rina.

"Pippi and Sarge heard something moving in the grass." Rina explained to her. "Sarge is going to investigate."

Suddenly, a purple snake pokemon came into view as it was tossed onto the path in front of Rina and Ashley a good 30 ft ahead. The snake hissed angrily and searched around for something. Sarge came out of the tall grass next, twenty feet away and putting itself between the trainers and the wild Ekans.

"-We meet again, foul snake.-" Sarge said bitterly to the wild pokemon.

"-I thought for sure I had seen the last of you, hssss.-" The snake pokemon replied, narrowing its yellow eyes at Sarge. "-You were foolish enough to allow yourself to be caught by a child trainer, hssss. I had assumed you would be long gone, hssss.-"

"-Your days of attacking passing trainers ends now, Ekans...-" Sarge glanced back towards Rina. "-Rina, are you ready?-"

"Ready when you are!" Rina replied, smiling widely.

"-Then, as my trainer, you may call the shots.-" Sarge turned his gaze back to Ekans. "-Ekans, you will be caught by this very same trainer, I promise you this...-"

"-We shall see, hssss!-" Ekans shot back before charging towards Sarge, moving as quickly as it could while slithering across the ground. As soon as Ekans was near Sarge it lunged at the ground pokemon and began coiling its body around him.

"Sarge, quick! Use Defense Curl!" Sarge quickly curled up into a ball before Ekans could tighten enough to prevent Sarge from moving. Curling up in a ball did nothing to help Sarge, however, as Ekans was still wound tightly around it and preventing it from moving or even uncurling.

"Wait, what just happened here?" Ashley asked no one in particular, blinking in disbelief at the battle taking place. "We're walking along and then all of a sudden Rina's Sandshrew finds an Ekans and now Rina's battling it with Sandshrew? This came out of nowhere!"

"-I wouldn't quite say it came out of nowhere...-" Bulbasaur corrected her.

"-Yeah...me and Sarge could hear it coming, remember?-" Pippi added.

"I really should have thought this out more!" Rina thought, looking on nervously. "Sarge doesn't have any room to slip out, like I thought he would. He's trapped by Ekans now! Isn't there anything I can do?" Rina looked to Pippi briefly but quickly turned away and shook her head.

"No! Sarge obviously knows this Ekans! I'll beat it somehow without using any other pokemon!" Rina thought determinedly. "Ok, Ekans has a tight grip on Sarge, but maybe he can still try to wiggle free anyway? If Sandshrew can move up a bit then I think the pressure Ekans is putting on him should push him the rest of the way..."

"-You are finished now, 'Sarge', hsss...-" Ekans hissed at Sarge, pressing tightly around his curled form. Ekans was actually doing very little harm to Sarge, though, even with the immense and constant pressure.

"Sarge, try wiggling free!" Sarge tried to wiggle from out of Ekans grasp. Although Sarge's body was smooth while curled up, it wasn't smooth enough. The friction from Ekans body was preventing him from moving much at all.

"-You see!-" Ekans snickered at Sarge. "-You can't get free. You're faith in your trainer will be your final downfall, hssss!-" Ekans raised its head over and opened its mouth, coming down towards Sarge and bitting into his backside. Sarge grunted in pain, but that was about all he could do.

"That didn't work..." Rina thought with a frown. "Sarge, try uncurling and overpowering Ekans!" Sarge pushed back against Ekans as hard as he could, actually managing to uncurl his body a bit but still wasn't gaining much ground. However, it was enough for Sarge to try to get his claws positioned towards Ekans. Sandshrew then relaxed, allowing Ekans to push back against Sarge's claws

"-GRAHHHHHHHHHH!-" Ekans cried out in pain, his mouth releasing Sarge and his body's grip on him loosening enough fro Sarge to jump free.

"Great job, Sarge! Now, attack Ekans with Metal Claw!" Sarge landed just outside the ring still formed by Ekans body. As Ekans turned a cold glare on Sarge it was met by his steel claws, raking Ekans across the face. Ekans hissed and recoiled in pain from the strike.

"-You will PAY for that!-" Ekans hissed at Sarge.

"Ok! Follow up with Scratch!" With the metal on his right claws fading, Sarge followed up with a strike from the left. Ekans reeled back again as Sarge's claws struck it, this time from the other side. Ekans hissed and shot a glare back at Sarge. Suddenly Sarge felt his body grow weak and collapsed onto one of his knees, struck by a paralyzing glare.

"-A curse on you and your dirty tricks...-" Sarge grumbled. He tried to stand up but was having trouble. His body was completely wracked with paralysis.

"-I'm not finished yet...-" Ekans grinned, revealing his fangs dripping with venom. Ekans lunged forward and bit onto Sarge's arm, injecting the ground pokemon with venom. Sarge winced and cried out in pain as the wild Ekans latched onto him again.

"Sarge, use Metal Claw again!" Sarge flexed the claws on his left hand again, giving them a metallic appearance as he did. With his claws now covered in metal he slashed at the side of Ekans' head, causing the snake pokemon to let go of Sarge's arm and recoil in pain. Ekans hissed at Sarge but said nothing. It was starting to look fairly tired and was taking deep breaths.

"I think Sarge wanted me to catch this Ekans for some reason..." Rina thought to herself, reaching back and feeling around for the side pouch of her backpack. She opened it up and retrieved a pokeball. "Well here goes nothing..."

Rina lobbed the pokeball at the weakened Ekans. The pokeball bounced off its body and opened up, firing out a red beam that pulled Ekans into the ball. The pokeball closed around Ekans and then dropped to the ground, beginning to roll around as Ekans tried to break free. It would never get the chance, however, as the pokeball soon locked tight with Ekans inside.

"Alright! We got it!" Rina cheered excitedly.

"-It was far too easy...-" Sarge stated quietly.

"You caught it too? Now I'm really confused..." Ashley scratched the back of her head, staring in bewilderment.

"Sorry Ashley..." Rina smiled sheepishly. "I'll explain what happened along the way..."


With the distraction of the wild Ekans out of the way, Ashley and Rina continued off towards Cerulean City. Along the way, Rina quickly explained to Ashley what the situation with Ekans was.

As soon as they had reached the city, the two girls split up. Rina headed off to the pokecenter to heal her pokemon, but Ashley didn't see the point as she had just done so and hadn't been in any fights. So instead, she went to the store. Inside the store, Ashley went straight for a wall rack displaying several hats.

"I can't believe I'm buying a hat for a pokemon..." Ashley thought to herself. "This would be easier if I could let Poliwag out of his pokeball to look, I guess I'll just have to choose something I think he'd like..."

She cast her gaze up and down the rack, looking over the assortment of hats. It was only a small rack, so she was hoping to just find a hat quickly to keep Poliwag happy at least until she got to Celadon City. Whether or not she'd need to pick up another there would depend entirely on how much Poliwag liked the hat she'd get him. The department store in Celadon would have a much larger selection.

"I wonder where he would have gotten the idea of wearing panties as a 'hat' anyway?" Ashley wondered. "Even if he saw his trainer wearing them, they wouldn't have been on her head...I hope..." Ashley looked over the selection again and sighed. Based on Poliwag's habits, a toque would have been perfect. However, there weren't any. In fact, most of the hats were baseball hats.

"Well lets just try something white and see how Poliwag likes that..." Ashley muttered, her cheeks darkening slightly as she took a plain white baseball hat from the rack. She grabbed a few more items, including pokemon food and a few pokeballs, and headed for the checkout. Once all the items were paid for she left the shop and stopped just outside.

"-About time. What'd you get me?-" Bulbasaur asked Ashley when she came out of the store.

"Bulbasaur, you know full well I can't understand a word you say..." Ashley replied, walking past him and taking Poliwag's pokeball from her belt.

"-Of course I know that. Just makes it easier to mess with you.-" Bulbasaur said with a wide grin.

"Poliwag, come on out!" Ashley called out, ignoring Bulbasaur. She held up the pokeball and released Poliwag from its confinement. The small water pokemon appeared next to Bulbasaur and peered about curiously and taking an interest in all the people walking around.

"Poliwag!" Ashley called out her pokemon's name sharply to get his attention. Poliwag turned and looked at her expectantly, at which point Ashley held out the hat to him. Poliwag looked at the hat curiously, not immediately recognizing it as such.

"Its a hat." Ashley explained to him, once she realized he wasn't catching on. Ashley held it out to Poliwag and placed it on his head. "See?"

"-Hat!-" Poliwag chirped happily, smiling as he looked up at the beak of his new hat. It was a bit loose, but Poliwag didn't seem to mind.

"Well you seem to like it at least..." Ashley said to him. Poliwag nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Well since thats done with, lets go meet up with..." Before Ashley could finish, the sound of electricity filled the air accompanied by a brilliant flash nearby.

"What was that!?" Ashley shouted in surprise. Looking in the direction of the sound and light, she saw a familiar building. "That came from outside the Cerulean City gym!"

"-So someone is battling outside the gym and using an electric pokemon, whats the big deal?-" Bulbasaur rolled his eyes. "-Seriously, it doesn't mean a damn thing...-"

"-Big light...-" Poliwag noted curiously, following Ashley's gaze. It was too short to even see the gym though it looked anyway.

"Come on! Lets go check it out!" Ashley ran off towards the gym, with Poliwag and Bulbasaur following behind her.

"-Is there REALLY any point to this?!-" Bulbasaur growled in annoyance. As they made it around a building leading over to the street the gym was on, the group spotted the source of the electric attack. A Jolteon with a slave collar, and the Grand Hunter Shocks standing behind him. Both had their backs to Ashley and her pokemon. Across from them was Misty and her Starmie, which looked like it was in pretty rough shape.

"-On second thought...I think this will be worthwhile afterall...-" Bulbasaur narrowed his eyes at the enslaved Jolteon, remembering how he was barely standing after just a single Thunderbolt attack. Bulbasaur now looked forward to a chance to get back at it. Bulbasaur took a step towards Jolteon, but was quickly pulled around the corner by Ashley.

"We can't just rush in there without a plan..." Ashley said to Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur shot her a glare, but Ashley remained firm on her stance. "Look, I want to get back at them just as much as you do, but I don't want Shocks to get the chance to run away."

"-Fine...I guess you have a point...-" Bulbasaur muttered bitterly.

"Poliwag, its too dangerous for you out here now. I'm going to return you to your pokeball." Poliwag nodded in understanding. Ashley held up his pokeball and recalled Poliwag into it, taking his new hat with him.

"Now its time you and your Starmie parted ways!" Shocks announced to Misty, taking a folded metal collar in his hand. Shocks gave the collar one good toss, sending it like a frisbee towards Starmie.

"Starmie, Swift attack!" Starmie intercepted the collar with a ray of star-shaped burst. The collar was knocked aside, but was largely undamaged.

"Still has some fight left in it, eh?" Shocks said with a grin. "Jolteon will soon take care of that. Thunderbolt, take it down!" The fur on Jolteon's body bristled and sparked with electricity. A bolt of lightning shot out from Jolteon's body, moving across the ground towards Starmie.

"Starmie, Rapid Spin! Get out of the way!" Starmie began spinning the back of its body to try to fly out of the way, but it wasn't able to move at all. It was clear that Starmie wouldn't be dodging the Thunderbolt attack. Fortunately, it wouldn't have to. A small brown ball rolled in front of Starmie and uncurled as a Sandshrew stood in front of it. The Sandshrew took the attack head-on, its own body discharging the electricity harmlessly into the ground.

"What?! Who dares to get in my way? Show yourself!" Shocks growled, looking around for his attacker. Spotting a flash of movement he looked to his left. The blur moved past him, becoming visible as it grabbed the smokeball from his belt. The pokemon, a Pichu, landed on the ground and scampered off towards an alley down the road from Ashley.

"Jolteon! Get the ball back!" Shocks angrily commanded his enslaved pokemon. Jolteon turned around without a sound and charged towards Pichu. The Pichu used a Quick Attack to make a sudden jump closer to the alley and rounded the bend. Jolteon was quickly gaining on it, but another pokemon came out of the alley to intercept Jolteon. The pokemon was a Clefairy that opened with a Sing attack, quickly putting Jolteon to sleep.

"Sandshrew...Pichu...Clefairy..." Ashley listed off the pokemon that had appeared so far in her head. "Those are all pokemon Rina has...could she be doing this?" Ashley soon had her answer as Rina stepped out of the same alley down the road, standing behind her Clefairy.

"I'm not letting anymore of you hunters get away from me!" Rina declared to Shocks. "Whoever you are, we're taking you and your Jolteon down and then you're going to jail!"

"Real cute, kid, but you're out of luck if you think you're going to catch me." Shocks replied in an unamused tone. "Jolteon, awaken." The gems on the collar lit up, waking Jolteon from his sleep. His eyes snapped open and he quickly got back to his feet.

"We're not afraid of you!" Rina shot back. "Clyde, get ready and attack with..."

"Rina, wait!" Ashley cut her off. Rina was startled when she saw Ashley and Bulbasaur emerging from the alleyway just ahead of them. Ashley turned to face Shocks once she was out in the open, and Bulbasaur was facing Jolteon. The two of them were between Shocks and his Jolteon. "Rina, Bulbasaur and I have some unfinished business with this one, so we'll take it from here!"

"Ok...if you say so, Ashley. All your's then!" Rina nodded quickly and smiled back at her.

"-I suppose I will simply have to wait for my chance to get back at these hunters.-" Clyde said, rolling his small shoulders in a shrug.

"Ha! You again? Didn't you learn your lesson last time, girl?" Shocks taunted Ashley, grinning widely. "Jolteon here will toss your Bulbasaur aside just like he did then."

"We'll see about that!" Ashley shot back. "Rina, keep an eye on him while we battle Jolteon. We're going to do this the right way!" Rina nodded and circled around behind Ashley to keep an eye on Shocks while Ashley turned to face Jolteon with Bulbasaur.

"Ashley! Rina! Don't try to be heroes, he's too dangerous! Get out of here while you still can!" Misty called out to them, but her plea fell on deaf ears. Ashley and Rina weren't going anywhere.

"Suit yourself, kids." Shocks stated with a light shrug, folding his arms over his chest. "Jolteon, put them down. Attack Bulbasaur with Thunderbolt!" Jolteon quickly turned around to face Bulbasaur. Having had no command to do so, it had remained stationary all this time. Jolteon's fur bristled with electricity, which it then fired at Bulbasaur in a single bolt.

"Bulbasaur, take it and strike back with Stun Spore!" Bulbasaur took a direct hit from Jolteon's attack, wincing as the electricity coursed through his body. Bulbasaur had grown much stronger since the last time it faced Shocks' Jolteon, and as a result he simply shrugged off the bolt and fired a burst of spores from his bulb. The spores landed on and around Jolteon, and the electric pokemon staggered as he lost his balance momentarily.

"Can they really beat his Jolteon like that?" Misty wondered, cradling her weakened Starmie. "They could easily take him if they both attacked, but can Ashley's Bulbasaur take on his Jolteon alone?"

"Her Bulbasaur shrugged Jolteon's attack off so easily? But how?!" Shocks wondered, gritting his teeth. "Damn it! Whats with these trainers? One day you mop the floor with them and the next they're able to take it!"

"Jolteon, don't back down! There's no way it can survive another Thunderbolt!" Shocks commanded, determined not to lose after having beaten Ashley so easily the last time. Electricity danced through Jolteon's fur as it regained its footing, getting ready to attack Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, dodge it and use Poison Powder!" Bulbasaur watched Jolteon intently, waiting until just before Jolteon fired to roll to the side and charge forward. The Thunderbolt attack blasted the ground where Bulbasaur had been standing, leaving a scorch mark on the pavement. Bulbasaur then stopped only fifteen feet away from Jolteon and fired a burst of powder. The purple powder rained down around Jolteon like snow, inflicting poison as it touched the electric pokemon.

"Damn it! Even if I do beat her Bulbasaur, Jolteon will be defeated by any other pokemon they throw at it and it'll be all over for me! I gotta get out of this somehow..." Shocks shifted his eyes to look around. He was hoping to spot the pokemon that had run off with his smoke ball, but it was nowhere in sight. When his eyes fell back on Ashley and Rina, however, he suddenly had an idea and grinned wickedly.

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt! Attack the two trainers!" Ashley and Rina gasped in shock when they heard Shocks commanding Jolteon to attack them. Electricity charged around Jolteon's body and fired out in a single bolt towards the two girls. Bulbasaur tried to jump into the path of the bolt to intercept it, but was too slow.

"-Damn it!-" Bulbasaur growled, watching helplessly as the bolt continued towards its intended targets. Clyde suddenly jumped out from behind Ashley, putting itself between the girls and the incoming lightning bolt. A blue barrier formed around Clyde's body as it used Protect, defending both itself and Ashley and Rina from the attack. The electric attack struck the barrier and dispersed harmlessly against it.

"-Seems my prescence was forgotten, too bad for...-" Clyde turned back towards Shocks to see him charging towards Rina. He quickly bounded towards him, raising his fist and striking Shocks in the gut with a Pound attack just as he was reaching out to grab her. Shocks gasped as the wind was knocked out of him from the punch and staggered back, clutching his stomach.

"-As I was about to say...its too bad for you that I am still here.-" Clyde stood in front of Rina protectively, glaring at Shocks.

"Clyde...thanks. We owe you!" Rina breathed a sigh of relief and patted Clyde on the head.

"Damn it...that didn't work at all..." Shocks gasped out, still catching his breath.

"Even if you're going to try dirty, underhanded tricks like that, I'm still going to beat your Jolteon in a straight up battle!" Ashley declared to Shocks, her focus not leaving the area where Bulbasaur and Jolteon were. "Bulbasaur, lets not waste anymore time! Leech Seed, aim for the collar!"

"Maybe I was wrong about this one..." Bulbasaur thought as he turned back towards Jolteon. He fired a seed from the bulb on his back, aiming as Ashley had directed. The seed landed on the collar on the back of Jolteon's neck, sprouting vines to latch onto Jolteon with the seed itself still on his collar. The seed immediately began draining Jolteon's energy and feeding it back to Bulbasaur like a continuous but weak Absorb attack.

"Why is Ashley taking such risks to fight Shocks in a straight battle?" Rina wondered. "Does beating him mean that much to her and Bulbasaur?"

"Ok! Now, attack with Razor Leaf!" Ashley called out next. Even after having a Thunderbolt directed at her, she hadn't lost her pace. She was taking the battle in stride, as if it were no different than battling a gym leader.

"Jolteon...block with Thundershock..." Shocks commanded weakly, still hurting from Clyde's punch. Bulbasaur and Jolteon launched their respective attacks, Bulbasaur firing a barrage of sharp leaves and Jolteon firing a blast of electricity. The electricity struck the leaves and blasted them into pieces. The attack stopped when it struck the leaves as well, leaving both attacks effectively negated.

"Bulbasaur, Bullet Seed!" Bulbasaur and Ashley were quick to follow up on the blocked Razor Leaf with a Bullet Seed attack. Bulbasaur spat out several green seeds at Jolteon, four striking him in all. Each one landed a direct hit on Jolteon's face, and he staggered back as each one hit him until the last one knocked him off his feet. Jolteon slowly struggled to get back up, but the combined effects of paralysis, poison, and Leech Seed were weighing down on him.

"Now! Follow it up with another Razor Leaf attack while Jolteon's down!" Bulbasaur nodded and quickly fired off several sharp leaves from the base of his bulb. Jolteon was in no position to attack, and so the leaves went unhindered as they slashed across the electric pokemon's body. Jolteon growled and fell to the ground again, but this time hopped right back onto his feet. Though he looked like he could barely stand, he was ready to try one more attack. He waited only for the command to do so.

"Jolteon, take that thing down already! If Thunderbolt won't work, then use Shadow Ball!" A purple, shadowy ball began to form in front of Jolteon. When the ball reached its full size Jolteon made a quick, forward movement. The Shadow Ball attack was flung at Bulbasaur, striking him head-on. Bulbasaur recoiled back as the attack hit him, bursting on him and quickly dissapearing. Bulbasaur shook it off, though, and was ready for more.

"Bulbasaur, finish it off! Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur quickly extended his vines, moving them forward quickly and smashing Jolteon in the face with the tips. Jolteon staggered back and then collapsed onto his side. Jolteon showed no sign of movement, and the seed on his collar fell off as well. Jolteon was out cold, and Bulbasaur had emerged from the battle victorious.

"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Ashley congratulated him and then turned to face Shocks. "Now, as for you, looks like you're under arrest!"

"Damn it..." Shocks muttered, clenching his fists. He turned to run, but came face to face with Misty.

"You're not going anywhere." Misty said to him. "As gym leader of Cerulean City, I'm taking you in!" Misty's Staryu moved out from behind her, as did Sarge. They stood on either side of Shocks, ready to attack if he moved to flee. Misty reached into the pocket of her jacket, which she was wearing over her swimsuit along with a pair of shorts, and took out a cellphone to call up the police department.

"So I guess all thats left now is to free that Jolteon..." Ashley noted.

"-Uh...try again...-" Bulbasaur said to her, pointing to Jolteon with a vine as Ashley turned back around. The collar that had been around Jolteon's neck had come off on its own and he was slowly coming to.

"-Ugh...what happened to me?-" Jolteon muttered as he slowly opened his eyes and shook his head. "-Thats right...I fought that Bulbasaur and lost...and...-" Jolteon's eyes fell on Shocks. He let out a snarl as he recalled everything that had happened up until that point. He tried to move forward, eager to pay Shocks back for what he had done, but Jolteon barely had the strength to stand.

"-Damn you, Shocks...-" Jolteon growled, choking back a sob. "-Damn you for what you made me do! I'll KILL YOU FOR IT! If its the last thing I ever do, I'll KILL YOU!-"

"-I don't mean to be rude, here, but what did you do exactly?-" Bulbasaur asked him.

"-That bastard...-" Jolteon growled. "-That bastard...made me kill her...made me kill my own trainer...-" Bulbasaur was horrified when he heard this. Rina, who had heard the whole conversation, was left stunned.

"Rina, whats he saying?" Ashley asked Rina.

"How could he..." Rina said quietly. As she got over her initial shock she turned to Shocks in a rage. "HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH A CRUEL AND HEARTLESS JERK!? HOW COULD YOU ORDER A POKEMON TO KILL ITS OWN TRAINER?!"

"You don't seem to realize who you're dealing with, kid." Shocks replied coldly. "We have a reputation for being ruthless for a reason..."

"I've heard enough. You're coming with me, now." Misty snapped at Shocks, putting her phone away and grabbing him roughly by the arm. "Ashley, Rina, thanks for your help. I'll take it from here, but I'm leaving that Jolteon in your hands now. Take care of it..." Misty pulled Shocks away, leading him towards the police station with Staryu keeping an eye on him from behind.

"How could anyone...do something like that?" Rina sobbed, falling onto her hands in knees. Images flashed through her head of her parent's pokemon, slave collars strapped around their necks and being ordered to kill their own trainers just like Jolteon was.

"Rina..." Ashley couldn't think of anything else to say to her to comfort her at this point. She kneeled down next to her and pulled her into her arms in a gentle hug, letting Rina cry on her shoulder. Clyde and Sarge turned their gaze down sadly, feeling they could do nothing to help their trainer either. Ashley didn't notice Bulbasaur reach into her bag with a vine and pull out a pokeball.

"-Look, Jolteon, I can't say I know how you feel, but I know you feel pretty cruddy at the moment.-" Bulbasaur said to him while retracting the vine holding one of Ashley's empty pokeballs. "-Ashley might not be the best trainer, but she's far from cruel. Her and Rina are making it their goal to take down the hunters. What do you say about joining us, as Ashley's pokemon?-"

Jolteon looked at the pokeball Bulbasaur was holding, giving it serious consideration. He saw how the two trainers handled Shocks and how Bulbasaur was able to fight him solo. Jolteon slowly rose on his feet and nodded to Bulbasaur. "-I'll go with you, then. The least I can do now is ensure no other pokemon, or trainers, will go through what I did...-"

"-Well then, welcome to the club.-" Bulbasaur held the pokeball up to Jolteon and used his other vine to press the button. The pokeball opened up, firing a red beam at Jolteon that pulled him in. The pokeball then closed and locked shut without any struggling from Jolteon, who was willingly going with Ashley and Bulbasaur.

"-RINA!-" Pippi rushed out of the alley she was hiding in, still clutching the smokeball she swiped from Shocks. She dropped the smokeball, leaving it rolling along the ground as she ran towards Rina and latched onto her side.

"-Rina! I don't want to be forced to hurt you! I don't want to fight these guys anymore!-" Pippi cried out, shaking Rina desparately.

"No...we have to..." Rina choked back a sob and lifted her face from Ashley's shoulder. "They can't be allowed to get away with that...I won't let them..."

"-But...but Rina!-" Pippi looked up into Rina's eyes, both of them fighting back tears.

"-Pippi, she's right.-" Clyde said to her. "-Though what they do is cruel, it is for that very reason that they must be stopped.-"

"-I agree.-" Sarge added. "-Those thugs have no honour. I will gladly see them brought to justice...-"

"-But...-" Pippi sniffed sadly. She realized now no one was going to change their mind.

"Ashley...sorry about this..." Rina quietly apologized to her.

"Don't worry about it, Rina..." Ashley replied, smiling lightly. "Sometimes you just need to let it all out like that..." Ashley looked back to where Jolteon had been, but saw only Bulbasaur. "Where did Jolteon run off to?"

"-I caught him in one of your pokeballs.-" Bulbasaur explained to her. He no longer had the pokeball, however. Since Jolteon was Ashley's seventh pokemon it was immediately sent off to storage.

"Bulbasaur said he caught it in one of your pokeballs..." Rina explained to Ashley. Both trainers finally got up and Rina rubbed her eyes on her sleeve.

"So then...where's the pokeball?" Ashley asked him. She mentally slapped herself when she realized the answer. "Right...Jolteon makes seven pokemon, so it was sent off to storage..."

"So what now then?" Rina asked Ashley.

"Another trip to the pokecenter, and then off to the Rock Tunnel I guess." Ashley replied with a light shrug. "If Misty needed us to go with her for some reason I'm sure she would have said so."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Rina took two pokeballs from her belt and turned to Clyde and Sarge. "Thanks for your help, guys! You two can rest now." The two pokemon nodded to her, allowing Rina to return them to their pokeballs. Rina placed the two pokeballs on her belt and picked up Pippi, holding her close to her like a baby and petting her lightly.

"Lets go then. I need to get my pokemon checked out now, and withdraw Jolteon. Then we'll head to the Rock Tunnel."

"We're not going to stay in Cerulean any longer?" Rina asked, blinking at Ashley in confusion.

"I think we've stayed here long enough..." Ashley replied, smiling sheepishly. It was because she lost her first match against Misty that they spent so much time in Cerulean.

"I guess you're right." Rina replied with a nod.

The two girls headed back to the pokecenter, with Bulbasaur following Ashley and Rina still carrying Pippi. It would be their last detour before they finally headed towards the Rock Tunnel.


Author's Notes: Really late with this one...going to have to try to get caught up again now. I'll have far fewer distractions now, aside from college. Though I'll be on a computer most of the time there anyway.

This chapter makes a lot more sense than my original, where they randomly decide to visit Bill and the battle between Ashley and Shocks takes place there. Rina also caught an entirely different pokemon than she was originally going to get in this chapter. She's still going to get that pokemon, but I had to change how to clean things up a bit.

Not much else to say here. Hope it was worth the wait!