It had been about twenty minutes since the gang had run into Zach and they were still on their way to the next town to rest up and heal their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, however due to her sprained ankle Christie was trailing behind the others because she was doing her best to avoid putting any more pressure on her ankle.
"How are you holding up Christie?" Steve asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Christie who was still hobbling along behind them. "I mean if you want to stop for a rest that's fine."
"Thanks but I've had enough of sitting on the ground for one day." Christie responded as she caught up to the rest of the gang. "How far are we from Terracotta Town?" Christie asked and Steve checked the map.
"If we hurry we should get their before the evening." Steve responded before sweat-dropping as Christie moaned in annoyance. "And I just remembered that it's still the early afternoon."
"I think we're too far from Pewter City to make a quick trip back to get her some crutches as well." Dalton added as he checked the map. "Sorry to say Christie but your options are looking pretty limited."
"As long as we stay far away from Karen I won't complain." Christie added with a frown before Steve slapped himself on the forehead. "Is that because Litleo's Dig accidentally caused my injury?"
"No but I guess it can apply." Steve admitted as he shook his head. "I'm surprised I didn't notice this sooner."
"Notice what?" Ann asked and Steve showed them the map.
"There's a fairly large village that serves as the halfway point between Pewter City and Terracotta Town just ahead, they have a Pokémon center too." Steve responded and Christie sighed in relief. "We might be able to get you some crutches to boot."
"Sounds like we're heading there then, what's the place called?" Christie asked and Steve looked at the map to make sure he had the name right.
"Karratas, it shouldn't be too far Christie." Steve responded and she sighed in relief again before following him with the others.
*meanwhile*
"Out of all the places for this thing to break down, we had to break down nowhere near any cities or garages!" Cassidy groaned as she tapped her foot against the ground, the car trip was going smoothly but the Team Rocket Duo's plan had hit a snag when the car had broken down just to the south of Terracotta Town. "Rust, can you get any cell phone reception?"
"It's Butch not Rust!" Butch reminded her as he gritted his teeth. "Hell Rust isn't even a name!" Butch added before shaking his head. "And no, I can't get any reception either. I'd suggest going into Terracotta Town but with the stunt we pulled back in Pewter City the local Police Force are probably on the lookout for us."
"That's a good point." Cassidy nodded in agreement with a frown. "How soon can you get the car ready?"
"Sorry but this really isn't my field of expertise and like Bobby said, there's no reception out here." The grunt responded and Butch face-faulted.
"I just said that my name is Butch!" Butch said as he got back to his feet.
"But there is a large village to the south of here." The grunt added as he ignored Butch. "You should be able to avoid the police there and get a message to headquarters."
"Give me the coordinates." Cassidy instructed him and the grunt nodded before handing them over. "That's not far from here, Travis we're heading to Karratas Village!"
"That doesn't even rhyme with Butch!" Butch responded before following her.
*later on*
"Okay, we're here." Steve commented as they reached the village and Christie sighed in relief, as Steve had said earlier the village was pretty large and had all manner of shops dotted around it and, to their relief, they quickly spotted the Pokémon center. "Not long until you can take it easy Christie."
"Thank god for that!" Christie responded with a grin as the group made their way into the village however there was one thing she noticed as she looked around. "Am I the only one who finds the fact that this place is deserted kinda weird?"
"No, I noticed that too." Steve nodded in response. "And it is weird I mean this place looks like it has a pretty thriving community."
"Maybe it's a bank holiday or something?" Dalton responded with a shrug as the group neared the Pokémon Center, however out of the corner of his eye Dalton noticed some movement between the stores. "Guys, I don't think this place is deserted."
"Yeah, I know, we're probably the only sign of life around here at the moment." Ann responded and Dalton shook his head.
"I meant besides us!" Dalton responded before spotting some more movement and hearing some footsteps coming towards them. "Okay, I can't be the only one who hears those footsteps."
"Nope, I hear them and I can see the source." Steve responded and Dalton looked up seeing a small group of villagers, mostly adults, approaching them. "I was beginning to think that this place was deserted." Steve commented as the other group approached them.
"Are any of you kids Pokémon Trainers?" The leader of the other group, a tall man with short, balding grey hair and blue eyes who was wearing a nice suit, asked whilst ignoring Steve's comment and they all nodded. "That's wonderful, we need your help."
"Help with what?" Steve asked and the adults looked concerned. "Look, we need to heal up our teams at the Pokémon center and Christie here needs to rest her injured ankle so could we discuss this inside?"
"I understand, thankfully the village's nurse joy hasn't abandoned the area and we have a trained nurse among our group." The leader responded as he motioned to the woman before following the group inside and once their teams were handed over to Nurse Joy for a check-up they sat down in the cafeteria. "Why don't we start from the beginning, I am Michael and I'm the mayor of the village."
"I'm Steve, she's Christie, he's Dalton and she's my younger sister Ann." Steve introduced the group as the nurse helped Christie put her injured foot up on a stool. "We were on our way to Terracotta Town but her ankle was hurting a lot so we stopped here."
"I can understand that." Michael responded with a nod. "I'll cut to the chase, this village has been plagued by wild Pokémon in recent weeks and it's been affecting business."
"Wait, another one?" Steve asked and Michael looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I caught the Skarmory that was terrorizing trainers in the area outside of Pewter City."
"I had heard of that, but these Pokémon have been targeting this village specifically." Michael explained before picking up a Pokeball. "We know what the Pokémon are as well I was able to catch their accomplice." Michael added before opening the Pokeball and a Growlithe emerged from the Pokeball.
"Hey, he's cute!" Christie said with a smile before pointing her Pokedex at the dog like Pokémon.
"Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon, very friendly and faithful to people, it will try to repel enemies by barking and biting." Christie's Pokedex entry read out and Michael chuckled as he patted the Pokémon on the head.
"Yes and he packs a punch too." Michael responded with a nod. "But the other Growlithe are much stronger than he is."
"Hold on, I have a question." Dalton chimed in with a frown. "Growlithe aren't really known to be Pokémon thieves, hell the police use those Pokémon the most, what makes these Growlithes different?"
"And whilst we're at it, I have another question." Steve chimed in with a frown. "Why are you coming to us for help? Your village obviously has a few Pokémon trainers among its population."
"We do but we aren't very strong trainers." The woman that was tending to Christie's injury chimed in. "Michael's the best trainer but he only has three Pokémon, all low level."
"As for the first question, we don't know." Michael added as the Growlithe lay down on the ground. "But we have a theory, they were abandoned by their trainers and have been attacking the village to survive, when I caught Growlithe here he was in bad shape."
"Like he had been abused by his trainer?" Christie asked and Michael nodded. "There had to have been a few trainers to have passed through the village before us, why didn't you ask them?"
"We weren't able to find most of the trainers but we were able to stop two." Michael responded as he shook his head. "First there was a young lady around your age with long black hair but when she heard that we had been plagued by Pokémon thieves she refused and stormed off as soon as her Pokémon were healed."
"Let me guess, big, plastic breasts, crop top, trench coat, waist length hair?" Christie asked and Michael nodded. "Was her name Karen?"
"Yes and she was very rude." Michael nodded and Christie frowned. "Do you know her?"
"Yeah, we've bumped into each other a few times, she Steve's ex." Christie responded with a nod. "And to be fair I don't blame her, she was robbed by Steve's Skarmory before he caught it."
"I suppose that's understandable but if she had explained it rather than tell me to, pardon my language, fuck off, I would've understood." Michael responded and Steve shook his head.
"Dude, we swear like sailors, you don't have to censor yourself around us." Steve responded and Michael shook his head. "If you were doing it because of Ann, I was pretty much her dad whilst we were in foster care, well until we were adopted that is, so she's used to it."
"Sorry to hear that you grew up in such a rough situation." Michael said and the trainers winced.
"Trust me growing up in foster care was the least of their troubles growing up." Christie responded and Steve and Ann nodded.
"Ever hear of the serial killer/rapist Ed Bishop?" Steve asked and the adults nodded. "He's our dad." Steve added and Michael's eyes widened. "Don't worry. I haven't killed anyone but….."
"Wait, you never told me that!" Dalton pointed out and Steve winced.
"I'll go into detail later." Steve whispered to Dalton before turning to Michael. "As I was saying, I haven't killed anyone but knowing that he's my dad has led me to have some nasty nightmares."
"I can only imagine." Michael said before shaking his head. "How about we change the subject?"
"Agreed, so who was the other trainer that passed through?" Christie asked and Michael frowned.
"He was a tall blonde male but he kept flirting with our daughters rather than pay attention to us so we gave up, he left once his Gyarados was healed." Michael explained and Steve frowned.
"Early twenties, doctor's jacket, jeans and t-shirt, introduced himself as a medical student called Zach?" Steve asked and Michael nodded. "Yeah, we bumped into him as well he treated Christie's injury whilst flirting with her."
"Well, to his credit he did a good job treating the injury." The nurse commented as she observed the injury. "Okay Christie, good news is that the sprain isn't severe so you should be walking okay by tomorrow."
"That's a relief." Christie responded with a grin. "I don't know about you guys but I'm willing to help them."
"Yeah but it's obvious to me that we're going to have to capture the Growlithes to save the village." Steve responded with a frown. "I just caught a Skarmory so I don't want to catch another Pokémon just yet."
"And my Mankey was my most recent capture so I'm out to." Dalton added as they turned to Christie and Ann. "Looks like it's up to you girls."
"Well, I had to start sending Pokémon to Professor Oak's Lab eventually." Christie nodded in agreement and Ann did likewise. "When do they normally attack?"
"Hold on, you're still waiting for your Pokémon to come back from Nurse Joy and your ankle's still hurt." Steve pointed out with a frown.
"She'll be fine they don't normally start their big attacks until the evening, a couple of hours from now." Michael explained and they grinned at that. "But I have to warn you two girls, these Growlithe are smart."
"How smart are we talking here?" Ann asked as she glanced towards the booth where Nurse Joy and her Chansay where hard at work.
"Smart enough to evade capture by several trainers." Michael responded and Ann frowned at that. "They have been known to travel through the alleyways to avoid detection, the only reason I was able to catch Growlithe in the first place was because he had gotten his leg caught on some litter and that was the only way to free him."
"Now that you mention it, I think I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye before we bumped into you guys." Dalton chimed in as he thought back to earlier that afternoon. "Was that the Growlithe?"
"It almost certainly was we've heard the same story from other trainers including the two trainers who were here before you were." Michael responded before Nurse Joy approached the group.
"Your Pokémon have been given a clean bill of health." Nurse Joy told them and the four trainers grinned before standing up, though Christie did so gingerly because of her injury, and went to collect their Pokémon.
"Ann, you got a sec?" Christie asked and Ann turned to her. "If we're going to pull this off we need a plan of attack, especially if these Growlithe are as smart as Michael says they are."
"I was just thinking the same thing." Ann responded as the two girls got their Pokémon back from Nurse Joy. "You have any ideas?"
"No but I was thinking we could have a brainstorming session to come up with some." Christie responded and Ann grinned in response clearly liking the idea.
"Well it looks like we'll be spending the night here so why don't we ask Nurse Joy to let us have a room to ourselves?" Ann offered and Christie nodded in agreement before the two girls started walking back to Nurse Joy's booth.
*later on*
The gang had been settled into rooms at the Pokémon Center by this point and whilst Christie and Ann had primarily done it so that they could formulate a plan Steve and Dalton had done it so that they would have a place to sleep that night, it was now Evening and the two girls not only had a plan in mind but had asked Michael to let them know when the Growlithes would attack.
"Okay, so I'll use Eevee and you'll use Greninja." Christie decided as she sat down on the bed. "At least with Greninja you'll have a type advantage."
"Yeah and since the only Water Type you own is Magikarp Eevee is your best bet." Ann nodded in agreement as she started to plan her attack. "So the plan is to corner them and to force them into a battle?"
"Considering that Michael's Growlithe got caught after he got his leg caught on some litter I think the remaining Growlithe will be careful enough to avoid it all together." Christie responded after a moment of thinking and Ann nodded realizing she had a point. "We'll have to be quick though, Growlithe are small, agile Pokémon so they will be hard to corner."
"I have my Alakazam to help out there." Ann responded as she held up her Alakazam's Pokeball. "He will be able to form a barrier near the entrance of wherever it ends up."
"Err yeah I don't exactly have any Psychic Types so I guess I'll have to improvise instead." Christie responded with a frown, before Ann could respond there was a knock at the door and Christie stood up gingerly before walking over to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's Michael, can I come in?" Michael's voice rang out and Christie opened the door. "I hope you girls have formed a plan because the Growlithe have started their attacks."
"You ready Ann?" Christie asked as she glanced over her shoulder and Ann nodded. "Let's go!"
*meanwhile*
Whilst the village had been deserted earlier in the day it was now bustling with activity as the shops where now occupied, among the shoppers where Christie and Ann who were on the lookout for Growlithe.
"Have you seen the Growlithe?" Ann asked over the earpiece that they had been provided by Michael and Christie shook her head.
"Haven't seen them yet but I'm keeping an eye out." Christie responded as she looked at some of the stands near where she was standing. "What about you?"
"No luck here either." Ann responded with a frown. "Well Dalton and Steve are on the lookout as well so we've got our basis covered."
"I hope so." Christie responded before spotting a Pokeball shop nearby. "You'll have to excuse me Ann I'm going to stock up on Pokeballs at a Pokeball shop I found."
"That sounds like a plan Christie I may stop by that shop as well." Ann responded before hanging up and Christie entered the shop, it wasn't very busy but she saw one person she recognized. "Hi Michael, I'm just here to stock up on Pokeballs."
"That's a good idea." Michael nodded in understanding as Christie made her way to the counter. "How's your ankle? I noticed that you're no longer limping on it."
"It's definitely feeling a lot better." Christie responded as she paid for the Pokeballs using the prize money from her recent gym battle and put them in her backpack. "Has there been any sign of the Growlithe?"
"I haven't seen them yet, no." Michael responded as he shook his head but before Christie could respond Ann's voice rang out over her earpiece.
"Christie, I've spotted one of the Growlithe and I'm going after it." Ann said and Christie nodded as he made her way out of the shop and looked around. "I don't see the other one but I doubt it's that far away."
"I'll keep my eyes open." Christie responded before hearing some pots crash and looking up seeing a dirty looking Growlithe running from a pottery shop. "I see it let's hope I don't aggravate my ankle injury by chasing it." Christie said into the earpiece before taking off after the Growlithe.
*meanwhile*
"Man that thing's fast!" Ann grunted in annoyance as she chased after the Growlithe that she had spotted, the Growlithe had led her down an alleyway near the Pokémon Center and Ann was having trouble keeping up with it. "Still, he may be fast but I doubt he can run forever….." Ann's train of thought trailed off when she saw the Growlithe in a dead end of the alleyway trying, in vain, to reach an open window. "You have nowhere to run Growlithe, Greninja, go!" Ann tossed the Pokeball and her started Pokémon emerged from it ready for battle.
"Growlithe!" The Pokémon growled before letting lose with a Flamethrower.
"Not much room to dodge, that just means I'll have to put out his fires." Ann thought before turning to Greninja. "Greninja, Hydro Pump!" Ann commanded and the Water Pokémon let loose with the attack extinguishing the flames and hitting Growlithe, but despite the type disadvantage the Growlithe fought to stay on his feet before charging in with a Take Down. "Greninja, dodge it by leaping onto the wall!" Ann commanded and the ninja Pokémon did just that leaping out of the way of Growlithe's Take Down and attaching himself to the wall.
"Growlithe!" The puppy Pokémon growled before letting lose with another Flamethrower, this time Greninja dodged it by leaping off the walls and over the Growlithe.
"Greninja, give that dirty Pokémon a bath with Hydro Pump!" Ann commanded and the Water Pokémon did as it was commanded letting lose with the Hydro Pump before the Growlithe could move out of the way, this time despite its best efforts the Growlithe stayed down. "Okay and now's my chance to capture that Growlithe! Pokeball, go!" Ann tossed the empty Pokeball at the Growlithe capturing it. "I caught a Growlithe!" Ann exclaimed happily as she picked up the Pokeball. "That makes Growlithe my sixth Pokémon overall and the second I caught in Kanto, wonder how Christie's doing?" Ann wondered before putting her hand to her earpiece.
*moments earlier*
"Come on, where is that damn thing?!" Christie thought as she ran through the backstreets of the village, like Ann the Growlithe was leading Christie on a chase but this one was leading her towards the residential area of the village, eventually she found the Growlithe having stopped and turned around to face her pursuer. "Why are you doing this Growlithe? Was your last trainer that bad?" Christie asked only to barely dodge a flamethrower from the female Growlithe. "Okay, looks like negotiations out of the picture, that or I hit a nerve, Eevee, go!" Christie tossed the Pokeball and her Eevee emerged from it.
"Growlithe….." The puppy Pokémon howled before charging towards Eevee with a Tackle attack.
"Two can play at that game! Eevee, use Tackle!" Christie commanded and Eevee charged towards the Growlithe at high speed, both Pokémon collided with each other but they were able to maintain their ground. "Seems Eevee and that Growlithe are pretty even but I'm not going to let that stop me! Let's hope the move I taught Eevee earlier works!" Christie thought before pointing to Eevee. "Eevee, use Attract!" Christie commanded and Eevee winked suggestively at the Growlithe at she charged at him, however she stopped right in her tracks as the move proved effective and Growlithe stared at Eevee with hearts in her eyes. "All right, here goes, Pokeball, go!" Christie tossed the Pokeball at the Growlithe who didn't realize what was happening until it was too late, despite that the Growlithe offered little resistance and was quickly caught. "I caught a Growlithe!" Christie exclaimed happily before blinking in confusion as the Pokeball disappeared in a white flash of light. "It looks like she's on her way to Professor Oak's Lab."
"Christie, are you there?" Ann's voice rang out and Christie put her hand to her earpiece.
"Yeah, I'm here, my newly caught Growlithe just got sent to Professor Oak's lab." Christie responded with a grin. "What about you?"
"I just caught her partner in crime so this village should be safe for now." Ann responded and Christie grinned. "How about we meet up at the Pokémon Center?"
"I'll be there." Christie responded before removing her earpiece and grabbing Magikarp's Pokeball. "Sorry Magikarp but that Growlithe will be a lot more useful in battle and I don't think you'll be evolving any time soon." Christie apologized before making her way back to the Pokémon center.
*later that day*
"Yes Christie, I just got your Growlithe." Professor Oak said with a nod as he talked to her over the video phone at the Pokémon Center, Ann had already given her Growlithe and Greninja to Nurse Joy and she was in the middle of switching her Magikarp for the Growlithe.
"That's good Professor." Christie responded with a grin. "So was Michael's theory about her being abused by her last trainer true?"
"It seems to be the case as this Growlithe has certainly had a rough experience." Professor Oak responded with a sad sigh. "But some time among your party might do her some good."
"That was what I was thinking." Christie responded as she held up Magikarp's Pokeball. "I'm sending over my Magikarp, I don't think I have the patience to wait for it to evolve into Gyarados."
"That's understandable, especially since you're a rookie trainer." Professor Oak nodded in understanding as Christie put Magikarp's Pokeball into the transferor and Professor Oak did likewise with Growlithe. "Besides I've had a few cases where Pokémon under my care either evolve or evolve when they next get involved with a battle after being sent back to his/her trainer so don't count out Magikarp just yet."
"I won't Professor." Christie responded as Magikarp's Pokeball got sent over and Growlithe's Pokeball emerged in its place. "I've got Growlithe's Pokeball, what about you?"
"Yes, the transfer was successful." Professor Oak nodded in response. "So you are on your way to Cerulean City I take it?"
"Well we've got a few stops along the way first but yeah, that's where we're headed." Christie nodded in response. "Why do you ask?"
"One of my old friends is the gym leader there, be sure to give her my regards when you get there." Professor Oak responded with a nod and Christie nodded.
"I will, now if you excuse me I'm about to formerly welcome Growlithe to my team." Christie responded and Professor Oak said nothing before hanging up, Christie picked up Growlithe's Pokeball and let her out. "Welcome to the team Growlithe." Christie greeted the cleaned up Growlithe who barked happily at the site of her new trainer.
"Ann, Christie, your Pokémon are healed." Nurse Joy's voice rang out and the two girls got their Pokémon back from the nurse. "It's getting late so maybe you should stay the night."
"Well, we already rented a room to plan out our plan for dealing with the Growlithe so yeah, why not?" Christie nodded in agreement and Ann grinned at that. "We'll leave you boys to short out your living arrangements for the night." Christie said with a yawn as she walked up the stairs with her Growlithe not that far behind.
"Goodnight Christie." Steve called out to her before turning to Dalton. "Dude, I don't blame you but you're making it obvious that you're checking out her ass."
"Guilty as charged, besides you almost got her naked yesterday." Dalton pointed out and Steve frowned.
"Yeah and I would've done that and more if not for you." Steve grunted in annoyance before laughing nervously as Nurse Joy cleared her throat. "We'll have one room for two please!"
*meanwhile*
"Finally got some damn reception and the car won't be fixed until tomorrow afternoon!" Cassidy grunted in annoyance as she walked down the street, Butch had gone ahead to see if there was any Pokémon worth stealing but that left the two Team Rocket agents with not a lot to do. "Can this day get any worse?"
"Cassidy, I got some good news!" Butch said as he ran up to his female partner and Cassidy looked up. "You'd never guess who I saw at the Pokémon center."
"Try me." Cassidy responded and Butch grinned.
"I saw Steve and Ann Bishop alongside the girl with the Combusken and that other guy." Butch responded and Cassidy grinned at that. "I say we sneak in and steal their Pokémon at night….." Butch trailed off before yawning.
"Or we can get some sleep at a cheap motel and attack in the morning." Cassidy suggested and Butch nodded in agreement. "What do you know, this day may turn out great after all Botch."
"I know right!" Butch said with a grin before following her to the nearest motel. "Wait a minute, THE NAME'S BUTCH NOT BOTCH!"