Rocket Hideout

Zoey and Charmeleon were headed towards a Pokemon Center, when Zoey noticed a casino. It was very flashy and it attracted a lot of attention.

"Oooh! I wonder what's in there?"

"Char!" The lizard put her hands on her hips.

"What?"

"Charmeleon char mele char!"

"I'm not gonna gamble!"

"Char meleon char!!"

"Yes I know what casinos are for…but I just wanna look…"

Charmeleon sighed. Then she noticed a sign outside the door. She scanned its contents with her eyes and a frown enveloped on her face. "Char…"

"What's wrong?" Zoey looked at the sign. "No Pokemon allowed? Man…that means you're gonna have to return into your Pokeball…but, you don't mind right?"

Her Pokemon shook her head.

"Ok. I promise I won't be long." The girl took out Charmeleon's Pokeball from her belt and returned her. Then she put it back, and walked in through the glass doors.

--

It was just as Zoey thought. The casino's walls were a reddish color and the carpet was too. Slot machines were in neat rows of ten and many people occupied the seats. There were also other gambling activities, but Zoey was only interested in the slots.

"Wow! That looks fun! I wonder where I can get some tokens…" She noticed a counter towards the back.

"Excuse me," she said to the lady. The woman turned around, and a man stood next to her. He eyed Zoey with interest.

"Yes, how can I help you?" said the man.

"I would like some tokens please."

"How old are you?" asked the woman. But the man shooed her away and said "Just go get her some tokens."

Zoey watched as the lady got some tokens out of a shelf and placed them in front of the young girl.

"How many would you like?"

"Just a few…I'm not gonna stay long."

The woman took out a handful and gave them to Zoey in a coin case. She was about to tell her the price, but then the man said "This one's on the house kid."

"Thanks!" Her face lit up with joy as she ran to a vacant slot machine.

"She was supposed to pay for those moron…the boss doesn't want you giving free tokens."

"Oh, she won't get them for free…she'll pay in due time." He gave a mischievous smirk.

"I have a feeling that her payment won't be in money…"

--

Zoey had put in a token and pulled the lever. "Ok, the trick is to get three sevens in a row. Hmm…let's see if I can do it."

She pressed the button on the machine and it stopped the first column. A seven. Then the second column. Another seven.

"Yes…yes…"

The third one stopped, and it was the last seven.

"YES!!"

The winning sound came out of the machine, and tokens poured out of it. People looked around to see Zoey beaming. Some of the adults became jealous and glared at her as she put the tokens in the bag.

"Well, I promised Charmeleon I wouldn't be long. So I better get my prize and get the heck out of here."

As she was walking back to the counter, she noticed a suspicious character leaning against the wall. He looked around, despite the fact that this part of the casino was almost obscured from vision thanks to the many potted palm trees.

"Um, excuse me sir?"

"Huh?"

"Are you looking for somebody?"

He looked at her. "Get lost girly." There was a beep in his ear. It was a signal.

"Look kid, if you're looking for the prize counter, it's outside this building, next to this casino. I gotta go somewhere." He walked away, hands in his pockets.

"Well, at least he was helpful. Oh." She noticed that a poster was bent. "It was probably like that because the guy leaned against it. Better fix it up."

She dropped the coin case and began evening out the poster, when she felt something round and hard behind it. "Huh?" She lifted up the poster and found a button on the wall. Curiosity overcame her and she pressed the switch.

A piece of carpet rolled out of the way and a door opened up from four large tiles. Zoey looked at the new opening.

"Woah…a secret passage!" She looked around. "Well…can't hurt to check it out right?" Zoey walked down the stairs and into the new passage, unaware that she left her coin case outside.

The secret floor opening closed.

--

Zoey looked around and saw the whole place was made out of metal, small machines here and there. A few people in black outfits roamed around with red capital R's on them.

"Team Rocket!" gasped Zoey. But she quickly covered her mouth because one of the Rockets heard her.

"Intruder!"

Zoey looked for a way out, but she had wandered from the door and didn't know how to get back. So, she found a vent in the wall above a stacked column of large cardboard boxes. She climbed the column and took off the covering from the vent and crawled inside. She put the covering back in place. She saw Rocket members below her rush around, searching for her.

She gave a sigh of relief. "Well, I can't go back down…I'll get caught. I guess I'll just have to follow this vent and see where it leads."

Zoey crawled through the many passages of the vent, feeling cold. "Darn me and my short skirt…I should of bought a longer one…I just hope my panties aren't showing…or am I just growing taller? Hmm…"

The girl continued crawling through the vent, not knowing where she was going at all. Occasionally she'd come near an air-cooling fan that would blow her hat off, and then she'd have to retrieve it, but then her skirt would blow in the wind, causing her rump to get cold. She hated crawling in here…

"Ugh…when am I gonna find an exit? Every time I try, I see a Rocket on the other side. I do not wanna get captured by one of them. Maybe I shouldn't of come down here…"

Zoey was getting tired of the cold metal against her knees and the limited amount of personal space. But her troubles were over when she saw another vent and peered through it to find no Rockets around.

"Ok, I think I'll be safe here…"

She removed the vent covering and got down slowly, but then lost her grip and fell down on her bottom. She rubbed it.

"Ow…my butt…why am I so clumsy?"

She stood up and evened out her skirt and straightened her hat. Then she looked around and found that she was in an office room of some sort. There were papers on the table.

"Hmm? What's this?" She picked them up and scanned the paper. It was Pokemon info.

"These are statistics showing Pokemon data…and…there are also some from the Jhoto region."

She looked at the other pages. "And…oh wow…some even from the Hoenn and Sinnoh region too!" There was a map on the wall.

"This is the Kanto region…and West of it is the Jhoto region…below it…is the Hoenn region on a whole other continent…and above the Jhoto and Kanto region is the Sinnoh…" Zoey saw another land East of the Kanto region.

"Huh? I've never heard of this place before…Orre…" Then to the far West of the Jhoto region, another land was there. "The…" She looked at the name below it. "The Fiorre region…Oh my gosh…are these all the Pokemon lands? Our world…is so huge! But…why does Team Rocket have a map of all the regions? Surely they don't plan to control all of this…I mean, there are other evil organizations…Mom told me about Team Magma and Team Aqua…then there's Team Galactic…and from Officer Jenny…I heard a new organization sprouted…but I forgot what it's called…Hmm…Pokemon Rangers are also supposed to be in one of these lands…but I forgot which one…"

Zoey put down the papers and walked around the room, looking at different maps that were laid out on tables and more Pokemon statistics. That's when she noticed a Pokeball on the main table.

She picked it up. "I wonder if it has a Pokemon inside…Well, I hope so." Zoey threw it and the Pokeball opened up, materializing into the creature that resided inside.

It was a brown furry Pokemon, that seemed to be a combination of a fox, cat, rabbit, and dog, but mostly a fox. She had a mass of beige fur around her neck with two long fox-like ears from her head and a fluffy tail.

"Eeevee!"

Zoey smiled. "Aww, she's so cute!" The Pokedex was taken out. "Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Eevee is a rare Pokemon that adapts to harsh environments by taking on different evolutionary forms. Currently, it has seven."

The girl put the Pokedex away and walked towards Eevee, who looked a little frightened. Her ears folded downwards and she shook. Zoey picked her up and held her. Eevee's fur was very soft.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Zoey said. She hugged Eevee, who was now calm and rubbed her head against Zoey. She had never been so loved before. The Pokemon licked the girl.

"I wonder…" though Zoey. "Eevee, what are you doing here in the Rocket hideout?"

The little fox looked sad. Zoey noticed some papers where the Pokeball once was. She put Eevee down on the table and read the documents.

"How horrible! You were stolen! And…wow, you're so young! Just a month old! Oh, you poor Pokemon…"

Zoey read Eevee's stats that were printed on the document. "A Normal type…hmm…your strong points are offense, speed, and defense against non-physical attacks…You know so far Quick Attack, Bite, and Swift." The girl put the papers down and petted Eevee, who wagged her bushy tail.

There were sounds coming from the other side of the door. "Yeah, I left the Pokeball in here."

Zoey quickly returned Eevee and put the Pokeball on her belt subconsciously. She looked for a way out, but saw that there were no columns this time for her to climb back up on the vent.

"What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?!" Her pleads were answered when she saw a locker in the corner of the large room. She opened it and squeezed inside, shutting the door behind her. It was a good thing the lock was broken, or else she would of gotten stuck in there.

The door opened and a man and woman stepped inside the room.

"Well, where is it?" asked the woman. "This is the boss's office and you said you left it here."

Zoey peered through the tiny slits on the locker. It's that woman from the counter…

"I did!" retorted the man. Zoey also noticed that he too was from the counter, and she felt like she had met him earlier than that…

"Man…where the hell is that stupid Pokeball?! I left it right here on the table!" He noticed the papers had been shuffled. "Hey…it looks like a little rat has been in here…"

The woman walked over to the table. "How would you know that?"

"These papers were stacked in a pile, but now they're scattered as if they were thrown in haste. Ruth, I have a feeling that somebody was here…and not a Rocket…"

"Adam…" began Ruth. "Don't jump to conclusions…"

"I'm not!" He sighed in frustration, but then looked at his partner up and down. He gave a smile and said "But…while we're here…"

"Don't even think about it. I can see the lust in your eyes."

"Fine. Be that way…"

"Seriously…can't you keep it in your pants? You're always messing around with one of the Rocket girls…not to mention other girls outside the organization…ranging from ages thirteen and above…you sick bastard…"

"Like you're one to talk…you haven't exactly been Miss Perfect…last I heard, you were out on the streets selling yourself before you joined Team Rocket."

Ruth punched Adam in the jaw. "And what? That doesn't mean I'll do the same here!"

The man just swiped away the spit from the corner of his mouth, and moved closer to Ruth. "You know you want me."

"And what if I did? That still doesn't mean I'll do anything with you…"

Zoey was getting uncomfortable with this as it was quickly turning into an R rated scene. I'm gonna be mentally scarred if they do anything that goes against everything I believe in…

"Well," began Ruth. "Anyway, here isn't the place…this is the boss's room and if he comes in here and finds us--"

"But he's not here. That's what makes it alright." He wrapped an arm around her waist, and kissed her. She returned the affection.

Zoey gagged and stuck out her tongue. That's so gross! Luckily, the door swung open and another Rocket came inside. "So there you two are…"

"Ah," said Adam as he removed himself from Ruth. "David! Where have you been?"

"I should be asking you the same thing. We got a report that an intruder was heard earlier. You haven't seen anything have you?"

"No, but when I came in here to get the stolen Eevee, she was gone, and the papers are all scattered."

David looked around. "No doubt about it. A little mouse has been scurrying in here…find her…"

"How do you know it's a her?"

"I saw her come in through the secret passage way from the casino when I was leaving…and I also saw a coin case right outside the floor opening...She should of just stood at the slot machine…"

"Oh, that little chick we ran into at Lavender huh?"

Zoey gasped silently. Then that guy was the man standing near the wall! And the other one was at the counter! I met them both at Lavender Town? Oh yeah! In the Pokemon Tower!

"Yes…her…the one you wanted to fool around with you sick jerk…"

"Anyway," said Ruth. "I think we should go and catch her."

"Alright. Come Adam."

"Yeah I'm going…"

All three exited the room and closed the door. Zoey gave a sigh of relief and walked out of the locker.

"So…they know I'm here…that means getting out is gonna be harder than I thought…"

--

Zoey walked out of the room but not before taking some random papers and stuffing them into her bag. She'd give these to the next Officer Jenny she saw. The girl peeked first, to see if any Rockets were around. Then she scurried to the staircase and walked up. There was an elevator, but she was sure that Rockets would be inside.

The young Trainer hid behind anything she could find when Rockets rushed by. Occasionally she saw a map on the wall, so she knew what floor she was on and memorized which direction to go in. There weren't that many floors because everything was underground, and you can only go so deep.

Zoey crept and sneaked her way around, glad that she hadn't let Charmeleon join her. That's when she saw another map, showing her that she was on the floor right below the casino.

"Yes!" She began to run, but then slid and hit the wall. She tried not to scream in pain. The girl looked down and saw panels with arrows on them. They were lit up in aquamarine.

"Oh great…these are sliding panels…how in the world am I gonna get to the other side?" She saw the staircase on the far end of the paneled floor. It seemed like it was taunting her.

"You can do this Zoey…" She stepped on one which slid her in the direction of the arrow. Sometimes she'd land on solid panels, which gave her a chance to look around and see which panel she'd step on next.

After about seven tries, she got to the other side. "I made it!" She began running, when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"There she is!"

Zoey turned around, and was scared to see Adam and David running after her. Ruth called after them and said "I'll alert the Admins!"

"Good," said Adam as his eyes glazed over at Zoey. "This will give us some time to have fun. Heh heh."

"Don't worry little girl," David said as he put his hands in his pockets. "It's not the kind of fun you're thinking of." He took out a Pokeball from his belt.

"No, I wanna battle her!"

"Fine. Just hurry up."

Adam took out a Pokeball from his belt. "Golem, let's go!" His Graveler had evolved into his final stage.

"Gooolem."

"Nidorina, come on out!"

"Nido!"

"Golem, use Rollout!"

"Double Kick!"

Golem began to roll towards Nidorina, but then she kicked him hard like a ball, and he was sent rolling backwards towards the wall.

He got up slowly, but Zoey was too quick. "Water Pulse!"

Water materialized above Nidorina and shot at Golem, who got drenched with liquid. He fainted.

"Return!" he growled. "Stupid girl…"

"Let me handle this one now," David said. He through his Pokeball. "Golbat, teach her a lesson."

Out came a large bat with a mouth almost as large as his body. "Sqwwwe!"

Zoey took out her Pokedex. "Golbat, the Bat Pokemon. Once it starts sucking blood, it does not stop until it is full. It flies at night in search of prey. Golbat is the evolved form of Zubat."

"Return Nidorina." She put the Pokeball back on her belt and selected another one. Zoey looked at the Pokeball and then threw it. "Eevee, I choose you!"

Out came the little brown fox. "Eevee!"

Adam's mouth hung open. "That's the Eevee I was looking for! And that little punk stole her!"

David smiled. "The thief was robbed."

"Oh shut up!"

"Golbat, use Bite!"

Golbat dived towards Eevee, his mouth wide open to crunch.

"Eevee, dodge it!"

The little fox jumped out of the way. David thought it was weird how this Pokemon listened to Zoey without hesitation. She never listened to him or Adam.

"Golbat, use Screech!"

The bat Pokemon let out an eerie cry that hurt Zoey's ears and Eevee's. "Eeeee…"

"Now use Supersonic!" Golbat emitted a silent cry that echoed through Eevee's ears and caused her to become confused. She began to stumble.

"Bite, Golbat."

Golbat sank his fangs into Eevee, who cried. "Eeeeee!!"

"Eevee! Oh no!"

"Now, finish her off with Wing Attack!" Golbat slammed his wings into Eevee who was knocked out of the confusion, but got hurt in the process. She skid to Zoey's feet.

"Oh…Eevee…"

David smiled. "Adam, you have poor taste in Pokemon. This one is weak. No wonder she listens to a mediocre Trainer…"

Zoey clenched her fists. "Eevee is not weak! She's…she's just a young Pokemon! Barely born a month ago!"

"So you did read the documents!" Adam shouted as he pointed a finger. Zoey gasped.

"Oops…"

"Well," David said. "Now we really can't let you get away. Golbat, attack her."

Zoey was stricken with fear. Golbat charged at her and spread his wings wide. He slammed his wings into her, and she fell backwards.

"You…you would actually have Pokemon attack people?!" cried Zoey as she got up and held her arm. It hurt.

"Yes. How do you think we get what we want? By asking politely? Sometimes you need to get things with force." He pointed his finger at her. "Golbat, Bite."

Golbat glided towards Zoey, fangs ready to attack, when a Pokemon popped out of one of her Pokeballs. He jumped in the air, and slammed his bone right on Golbat's head.

"Cubone!" cried Zoey happily.

"Cu bone bone!" He landed on the ground, and stood in front of Zoey, protecting her and Eevee. The little Pokemon had sensed some comotion outside of his capsule and assumed that his Trainer was in trouble. He glared at Team Rocket.

"Hey, isn't that the Cubone we saw in Lavender?" asked Adam.

"Yes. And he seems to have a vendetta against us."

"Why wouldn't he?!" yelled Zoey angrily. "You killed his mother!"

"So?" said Adam. "Pokemon are tools that are meant to be used by us humans. That's why they exist."

"That's not true!" Zoey shouted. She was angry and sad at the same time. Looking at Eevee lying on the floor like that made her heart ache. "Pokemon are supposed to be treated with kindness and love! They're here to be our friends and companions, not tools of war!" She was in tears.

Eevee's ear twitched. She regained conciousness. "Eee...veee..."

"And you shouldn't use Pokemon for your dirty work!" continued Zoey. "That just proves you're cowards! You're hurting these innocent creatures who are forced to work for you! How could you sleep peacefully at night knowing that you kill countless Pokemon and are hurting their families and friends?!"

Cubone had never seen Zoey this upset. Eevee had never heard a human talk so strongly about a Pokemon's well-being. "Eevee..."

"Oh shut up already!" said Adam. "You're giving me a damn headache!"

"No! You don't know how much I hate Team Rocket! You guys steal Pokemon and even kill them! This poor Eevee! How could you take her away from her family when she just barely came into the world!? And Cubone! How could you kill his mother when she was trying to protect her child and willing to give her life for him?! You've caused a lot of trouble for all the innocent people and Pokemon! And you also caused my father and mother pain too! I hate all of you damn Rockets!"

David blinked. "So...then it's true...you really are the kid of Ketchum...interesting..."

The venomous smile he gave Zoey sent shivers down her spine. "Golbat, attack her again with Poison Fang!"

Golbat got off the ground and flew towards Zoey, poison dripping from his fangs. She was too afraid to move, but she didn't have to worry. Eevee shot out stars from her mouth that pierced through his hide. Cubone raced at Golbat and used a powerful Headbutt, knocking the bat unconcious. He was returned.

Eevee ran over to Zoey, Cubone not far behind. Both Pokemon stood gaurd in front of their Trainer, ready to attack.

"No...it's ok..." she told them. "We're not gonna stay here any longer. You guys did a good job." She got their Pokeballs and returned them back. Then she stood up and ran for the stairway. Adam chased after her, but David grabbed his arm.

"Let go of me!" he shouted. "She's gonna get away!"

"Don't worry. We'll see her again soon. But for now, we need to clear out this place."

"Why are you letting her off the hook?!"

"It'll be fun to watch her suffer as we hurt more people...and more importantly...more Pokemon."

"Oh, I see. I still don't know why the boss didn't promote you to Admin level."

"It's because I need a much more stronger Pokemon. I'm still searching for it."

--

Zoey ran to the Pokemon Center as fast as she could. She gave Nurse Joy the Pokeballs and healed them. Zoey sat down in the lobby, her head in her hands. She wasn't crying, but she was still a little shaken from the Rocket Hideout. These crooks actually attacked her with a Pokemon! She thought she'd never see the day when somebody would use a Pokemon to attack another person.

"Those poor creatures...do they even know they're being used for horrible things like that...? Oh...I wish I could help them...but I'm just a regular Trainer...what can I do?"

"Here you go," said Nurse Joy as she smiled, but then it faded. "Huh? What's wrong Zoey?"

"It's nothing..."

"Oh! You're hurt!"

Zoey looked at her bruised arm. "It's ok. I'm fine."

"Let me just treat it. Alright?"

The girl smiled a nodded. "Ok."

--

Zoey went to sleep that night and made sure her Pokemon were comfortable. She held Eevee in her arms, looking at the little fox. "Are you ok Eevee?"

The little Pokemon smiled and nodded. "Eee!"

She stroked her fur. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't of sent you out to fight...you got really hurt because of me..." Eevee looked at her new master and only cocked her head to the side. Then she smiled again, and licked the Trainer's cheek. "Eeveee!"

Zoey smiled. "Does this mean...you'll stay with me on my journey?"

Eevee cried happily and wagged her tail. The girl could only smile. "Ok...let's go to bed." Zoey cuddled Eevee in her arms, while the rest of the Pokemon rested on the other bed. Mostly Pidgeot since she was huge, but some of the smaller ones slept on Zoey's bed.

Charmeleon could sense that her Trainer was upset. Something had happened the whole time she was in her Pokeball, and her master hadn't said anything about it. But the lizard was going to find out. After all, she was Zoey's gaurdian and she needed to protect her.

It was a promise to May.

Hope you all liked this chapter. :D I know I did. Lol There will be another point, that is coming very soon, where Zoey will face Team Rocket again, and this time, she'll be helpless. It'll still be against these two Rocket crooks you just read about, and maybe the clumsy Jack and Jackie. XD But you're gonna have to wait and find out. Although, it'll give me encouragment if you sent in more reviews. I'll update faster that way. :D

By the way...I don't know if I spelled Fiorre right. That's the land where the Pokemon Rangers are. And the Orre region is from Pokemon Colosseum and XD. No that's not a smiley face. It's the actual name of the game...It's for Gamecube and that's where the Shadow Pokemon were created. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon whose hearts have been tightly closed, so they're blinded by what's right and what's wrong. They attack humans without hesitation, but eventually their hearts open up with the help of loving Trainers and they are themselves once again. I don't know if any of you have played it before, so that's why I'm telling you this.

Hmm...was David's Golbat a Shadow Pokemon? I don't know...maybe you'll find out later. :3