A/N: Sorry for this being a late chapter. We went through a 2-week heatwave, with temperatures reaching mid 40c, which I believe is around 100F. Every time I sat down to write, I would be drenched in sweat and my brain was like, nope.
I knew I didn't want to write about the main villain teams, as many journey fics use them. Instead, I figured I would use hunter groups to hunt down the Legendary Pokemon of the region.
Anyways, I got a lot of writing to catch up with, so I'm currently writing the next few chapters. I did mention we will see what Misty has been up to, so expect that next chapter.
Pokemon Journey: Indigo League
Chapter 17: Trouble at the Plant (2)
Squirtle's light ends just a split second ahead of Eevee's. Standing in Squirtle's place was a bigger version of Squirtle. His tail is bigger and fluffier, his ears are fluffier as well. He sprouted small teeth, which gives it a fang aesthetic.
"Wartortle!" Wartortle shouts, planting his foot on the ground, glaring at the Raticate.
Beside Wartortle, Eevee's eeveeulation stops. Standing in the place of Eevee is a sleek black body Pokemon with crimson eyes. Her ears are long and pointy with a yellow band around each one. In the middle of her forehead and her legs are yellow rings. Her tail is also long and bushy with another yellow band around it.
"Umbreon!" Umbreon growls, eyeing the Arbok before her.
Brandon and Ava watch in awe at their new Pokemon. Brandon resists the urge to pull out his dex and refocuses on the trainers in front of him.
"Wartortle, use water gun!" Brandon shouts, pointing at the Raticate.
Wartortle opens his mouth but instead of water gun, Wartortle sends out watery rings. Brandon instantly recognizes the attack, from his battle with Misty.
"Raticate!" Raticate shouts out in pain.
"Great job Wartortle!" Brandon says, praising his newly evolved Pokemon.
Beside him, Umbreon snarls at Arbok, who reels back in pain and hisses at Umbreon.
"I'm proud of you Umbreon," Ava says proudly. "Now, use quick attack!"
Umbreon began running right at Arbok, picking up speed with each step before slamming into the snake Pokemon. Arbok hisses in pain as the 6 people all pull out their Pokeballs, joining the fight. Soon, Wartortle and Umbreon are glaring at a team of Raticate and Arbok.
"We have to face them all?" Ava asks Brandon, though not taking her eyes off the Pokemon in front of them.
"Yeah, but we will do it together," Brandon nods, also not taking his eyes off the Pokemon. He unclips another Pokeball. "I know Bill said not to damage the servers but..."
"We might need to," Ava finishes his sentence, also unclipping a Pokeball. "Ready when you are."
Suddenly, a bright light flashes, causing Brandon and Ava to cover their eyes. But they heard bodies fall to the ground, though they still couldn't see anything. As the light fades, they peer around them and seeing that their opponents were asleep. Confused, they look around the room, not seeing anyone but Brandon suddenly feels a chill running down his back. Behind them, Bill smiles.
"Thanks for the assist," Bill calls out, keeping an eye on Jolteon.
"Who are you talking to?" Brandon asks, still not seeing anyone around.
"Why not show yourself?" Bill calming asks.
Popping in front of Brandon, who shrieks and quickly backs up, is a dark purple Pokemon with a roundish body. Its eyes shone a red color with pointed ears. This Pokemon started to laugh. "Gengar."
"Now, Gengar, that wasn't nice," an elder voice speaks out, stepping into the light. She has grayish, blonde colored hair, wearing a purple dress with a white apron. She also has a walking stick.
"Gengar," Gengar shrugs, vanishing from sight and reappearing by this woman's side.
"Sorry about that lad," she says, stepping forward. She pokes one of them asleep bodies with her stick before walking towards Bill. "Officer Jenny is outside. Whatever you need to do, you should have some time right now."
"Appreciate it," Bill says gratefully. He looks at Jolteon and nods. "Jolteon, we need a little more power please."
"Jolteon!" Jolteon cries out, sending another electric attack into the servers as Bill quickly types away.
"Thank you," Brandon says, clipping his Pokeball back onto his belt.
"Yeah, thank you," Ava says, also clipping her Pokeball on her belt. "To be honest, I'm not sure how well we would have handled all 6 of them."
"Anytime dears," she says. "Gengar, mind helping Jolteon?"
"Gengar," Gengar replies, folding its arms and shaking its head no.
"The sooner we can get the power back on, the quicker we can go for ice cream," the lady points out. Her lips curve into a smile, as Gengar sighs and joins Jolteon. "Thank you, old friend."
Brandon finally pulls out his dex, scanning all the new Pokemon around him, starting with Jolteon.
"Jolteon, the Lighting Pokemon. Electric-type and one of the eeveelutions. If it is angered or startled, the fur all over its body bristles like sharp needles that pierce foes."
"Wartortle, The Turtle Pokemon. Water Type and the evolved form of Squirtle. It cleverly controls its furry ears and tail to maintain its balance while swimming."
"Umbreon, The Moonlight Pokemon. Dark-type and one of the eeveelutions. On the night of a full moon, or when it gets excited, the ring patterns on its body glow yellow."
"Gengar, The Shadow Pokemon. Ghost/Poison-type and the evolved form of Haunter. It is said to emerge from darkness to steal the lives of those who become lost in mountains."
"It was killing you to not do that earlier eh?" Ava teases him.
"Maybe," Brandon responds sheepishly.
"Gengar must be strong, if it can put 6 people to sleep," Ava points out.
The lady nods her head. "Gengar is my oldest and best friend. We've been through alot together."
"I'm Brandon and this is Wartortle," Brandon says, introducing himself and Wartortle.
"I'm Ava and this is Umbreon," Ava says, kneeling down to pet Umbreon.
"My name is Agatha," Agatha says. "And this is my Gengar."
Brandon's eyes go wide. "Agatha? As in the Agatha?"
"I think I'm missing something," Ava says, looking between them.
"Agatha is one of the Elite Four," Brandon explains before being interrupted.
"Was," Agatha corrects him. "I decided to retire. It's time someone else took over the reins."
"Thanks, Jolteon and Gengar," Bill says, reading the charts. "You two can stop. I got it this time."
"Jolteon," Jolteon nods.
"Gengar," Gengar nods as well.
After a few moments, Bill looks up and smiles. "Finally, this time, I know I got it."
"Great. Now what?" Ava asks.
"We let Officer Jenny deal with the rest. Come on," Bill says, attempting to lead them away. However, a large explosion erupts down the hall from them, rocking the hall and throwing them back, separating them. Bill and Agatha are near the door to get out, while Brandon and Ava are on the other side of the fallen debris.
"What the hell was that?" Brandon asks, rubbing his head.
"Brandon, Ava you guys ok?" Bill asks, shouting through the debris.
"Think so," Ava replies, rubbing her head as well. She gets to her feet, holding out a hand to help Brandon up.
"Good. Hang tight and we will get you out of there," Bill responds.
"Alright," Brandon says, accepting Ava's helping hand.
"We'll be right back," Bill says before leading Agatha out of the building.
"So now what? We just sit here and wait?" Ava asks, kneeling down to check on Umbreon.
"Do you have a better plan?" Brandon asks, helping Wartortle to his feet.
"Yeah. We found out what that explosion was," Ava suggests, standing up. Umbreon gets to her feet.
"Do you think that's wise? I mean, we aren't really equipped to handle it," Brandon asks uncertainly. Beside him, Wartortle nods his head, agreeing with his trainer.
"Bill said they are going to get help right?" Ava asks him. Once Brandon nods, she goes on. "Which mean help shouldn't be that far behind. We will be fine."
Brandon looks at Wartortle, who just shrugs. He then looks at Ava as he thinks it over. Finally, he nods. "Fine. We just check it out. Nothing else."
"Fine with us, right Umbreon?" Ava asks her partner.
"Umbreon," Umbreon nods.
The duo walks towards the source of the explosion, keeping to the shadows. Soon, they enter a hall with four doors on each side. What caught their attention though, was in the middle are workers, all tied up. They are surrounded by what appears to be gang members. And what appears to be the leader, trying to hack into one of the servers. Frustrated, the person grabs one of the workers, demanding they get inside. Yet, no sign of Zapdos.
"Hurry, you worthless bag," a male voice snarls, shoving the worker towards the controls.
Brandon looks at Ava and nods behind them. Quietly, they back up into the hall.
"Looks like we found the leader," Brandon whispers.
"We did, but I think we are missing something," Ava whispers back. She tries to look around the area but sees nothing.
"What?" Brandon asks quietly.
"First, no sign of the explosion in that room," Ava points out. "And we still don't know why Zapdos attacked us."
"True," Brandon responds, thinking. "They didn't seem to notice where the explosion came from."
"Which means, the explosion didn't come from this part," Ava replies softly, nodding her head.
"Alright, new plan then," Brandon replies. "We know where the leader is, so we should leave him for Officer Jenny. What we will do, is look for the source of the explosion."
"Sounds good," Ava says. "I guess we should head back to the way we came since I don't see any other hallways here."
Together, Brandon and Ava follow the hall back to the server room and spot a hallway that curves towards the right. They can see small wisps of smoke coming from that hallway. Nodding to each other, they slip past the still sleeping gang members and hurries down the hallway.
This hallway doesn't have anything special about it. It was just gray with no doors or windows. A single row of fluorescent tube lights is the only source of lighting, creating a somber feeling. Yet, they still follow the wisp trail, which leads to the end of the hallway. Closer to the end of the hall, the wisp gets bigger and strong until it suddenly became smoke. Pausing they look into the room.
This room, unlike the hall, was big and spacious. There were multiple computers lining the walls, with servers of all sizes behind them. Where bookshelves once stood, are now black spots on the walls. Said bookcases are in bits on the ground, with books and their pages scattered around the charred room. Some of them were starting to burn. However, what surprises them was what's in the middle of the room.
Both Brandon and Ava's eyes widen, seeing Zapdos caught in what appears to be a huge black cage that resembles a ball. Every time Zapdos tries to move, it would get zapped, causing Zapdos to cry out in pain.
"We found Zapdos," Brandon shouts, trying to clear the air. He looks down at Wartortle. "Can you put out the fire quickly? Try avoiding the servers if you can."
"War!" Wartortle nods. He opens his mouth and shoots out a small water pulse to quickly put out the fire.
"Thanks, Wartortle," Brandon says, coming up to Zapdos, examining the cage. "We will get you out."
"How?" Ava asks.
"Figuring that out now," Brandon replies, trying to find a weakness to it. Suddenly, a small shadow jumps onto Zapdos, stands there for a moment before jumping onto one of the bars, and fires off an attack, causing sparks to fly.
"What the...?" Ava asks in amazement.
"That's what caused the explosion," Brandon realizes. He walks up to the yellow spider Pokemon. "Hey there.."
The spider Pokemon looks up at him and bares his teeth before jumping back onto Zapdos. Brandon watches as this Pokemon jumps back onto one of the bars, sending an electric attack at it, causing more sparks. Brandon quickly takes out his Pokedex and scans the new Pokemon.
"Joltik, the attaching Pokemon. Bug/Electric-type. Joltik can be found clinging to other Pokémon. It's soaking up static electricity because it can't produce a charge on its own."
"That explains why Joltik keeps jumping onto Zapdos," Brandon remarks, putting away his dex. "It's trying to break Zapdos free."
"We need to help," Ava says, looking at the bars. The gears in her head are turning. That's when an idea pops into her head. "I think I got it. Growlithe, I need your help!"
"Growl," Growlithe says, looking at her.
"Brandon, I'm going to use Growlithe to heat one of the bars. Can you have Wartortle cool down that part and have Nidoran bash it?" Ava asks, looking at Brandon.
Brandon realizes what she is saying and nods. "Nidoran, come on out."
"Nid," Nidoran cries, appearing on the ground.
"Nidoran, we need to break these bars. Growlithe will heat one, Wartortle will cool it down and we will need you to break it. Think you can do it?" Brandon asks, kneeling down.
"Nidoran!" Nidoran nods.
"Go for it," Brandon nods at Ava.
"Great. Growlithe, use ember on the bottom bar," Ava instructs her newest Pokemon.
Growlithe opens his mouth and lets a small fireball fly, hitting the bar. Next, Wartortle quickly fires off a water pulse, cooling the bar. Finally, Nidoran slams her hind legs into it, bending it with a double kick. Joltik, realizing the plan, absorbs the electricity. They continued with the process and within ten minutes, they made a hole big enough that Zapdos was able to break free.
Zapdos stood before the two trainers, sizing them up before dipping its head in thanks. It cawed extremely loud, deafening everyone in the room, before extending its wings. It began to flap them, lifting off the ground and shooting out of the opening that no one seemed to notice when walking in.
"That was a mistake," a cold voice speaks behind Brandon and Ava, sending shivers down their spines. Nonetheless, they turn around, coming face to face with the leader. "Not sure how you got Zapdos free but you will regret it."
Behind the leader, stood his gang members. He apparently got what he needed through his face shows he's pissed. "My mother had to deal with annoying little pests, and it looks like it's my turn now. However, unlike my mother, I have standards. I won't fight kids, no matter how much I want to. However, my gang has no quarrels about fighting kids. So consider this a warning. Interfere with me again, and you will regret it!"
With that, he turns to leave through the back door. They heard some sort of vehicles starting up and leaving before another set of footsteps are heard. However, Brandon spots the Joltik on the ground, fainted from absorbing too much electricity. Bending down, Brandon scoops up the spider Pokemon, as Bill and Officer Jenny burst into the room.
"You guys alright?" Bill asks, taking in the damage.
"We're fine, but Joltik isn't," Brandon replies, indicating the Pokemon in his arms. "I need to get it to a Pokemon Center now!"
"Come on, I'll lead the way," Officer Jenny replies, quickly leading them through the now deserted building. "We still need to talk to you two about what happened."
Soon, they were waiting in the Pokemon Center lounge. Officer Jenny clears her throat. "First of, thank you to the three of you. If it weren't for you three, no telling what might have happened. Now, we need to know who that person was."
"We didn't get his name, though he mentioned his mother had to deal with pests," Brandon replies, sitting on the couch.
"His mother?" Officer Jenny asks, writing it down in her notepad. "That's a relief. I thought he might have been trying to restart Team Rocket again."
"But his mother?" Bill wonders, trying to think if they had any dealings with a potential suspect. "What did he want?"
"We're not sure," Ava speaks up. "We saw him trying to get a worker to input codes."
"What happened next?" Officer Jenny asks.
"Ava pointed out that there was no sign of an explosion," Brandon praises his friend. "So we decided to backtrack and that's where we found that room."
"Zapdos was caught in some sort of ball-like cage," Ava explains. She nods to the back of the Pokemon Center. "Joltik was trying to break Zapdos free, which is what we suspect caused the explosion. We pitched it, managed to break Zapdos free before the leader came in. He was mad, told us to never cross them again and left before you guys showed up."
"A ball-like cage?" Officer Jenny asks, her eyes narrowing. With confirmation, she turns towards Bill. "Sounds like we are dealing with a hunter group."
"Sounds like it," Bill says, agreeing with her. "It won't be easy but at least, it will be easier than Team Rocket."
"I agree," she replies, putting away her notebook. She looks at Brandon and Ava. "Please let us take care of this group. It'll be too dangerous for you two."
"No argument from us," Brandon says with a smile.
"Good. Now, don't you guys need to be in Vermillion City?" Bill asks.
"Vermillion City?" Officer Jenny asks.
"Yeah, they won two tickets," Bill responds with a grin.
"OH. You two are competing in the Kanto League then," Officer Jenny says.
"Just Brandon," Ava replies.
"Best of luck Brandon," Officer Jenny says. "And again, thank you to you three. I should be off."
"Good news," Nurse Joy says, bringing out Joltik. "Joltik will make a full recovery."
"That's good," Brandon smiles down at the spider Pokemon. "Thank you for your help."
"Joltik!" Joltik replies before jumping onto Brandon's shoulder.
"Well, it looks like Joltik wants to go with you Brandon," Bill says with a kind smile.
Brandon looks on his shoulder at Joltik. He is thinking. He would love to catch it, but at the same time, it's apparent that Joltik meant a lot to the Power Plant, judging on how it was the only Pokemon trying to set Zapdos free. "Only if the power plant manager agrees with it."
They quickly returned to the power plant and soon were in front of the manager. Seeing Joltik on Brandon's shoulder, the plant manager smiles. "Glad this little fella has someone to watch out for him."
Hearing that, the workers all turn towards Joltik. Soon they all gathered around their companion... or rather... former companion. Brandon couldn't help but smile at that.
"Actually, that's why we are here," Brandon says. "It's apparent that Joltik means a lot to this place."
"Joltik was left here 4 months ago," the manager explains. "Ever since we found him, he's been a big help. We call him the Little Spider, after that book. He helps us, even though he has no owner here."
"Oh wow," Brandon exclaims. "I know it's a little weird for a trainer to ask before capturing a wild Pokemon."
"I get it," the manager says. "Thanks for at least checking and please, take care of him."
"Of course," Brandon says. He pulls out a Pokeball, in which Joltik comes over to him. "Hey Joltik, I'm traveling around Kanto to collect badges. Want to come with me?"
Joltik nods, pressing his head against the Pokeball. With a couple of jiggles, it clicks, signaling that Joltik is Brandon's Pokemon. He clips the ball onto his belt and waves to the group. "We should be heading out."
"Thank you for everything," the plant manager says, pulling out two completely white Pokeballs and handing them to Brandon and Ava. "Take these Premier Balls as our thanks."
"We appreciate it, but you didn't have to give us anything," Ava says, pocketing hers. Brandon does the same.
"Nonsense," the manager says with a smile. "Good luck Brandon. We will be cheering for you."
"Thanks," Brandon says, waving goodbye.
"Want a lift back to Cerulean City?" Bill says, offering them a ride.
Brandon and Ava look at each other before shaking their heads. "We will walk, thanks though."
Just as they were about to leave the plant, a caw in the sky caught their attention. Looking up, Zapdos flys by the plant, the sun glistening off its spikes. Zapdos dips down slightly, looking at them before straightening up and flying into the distance.
"What a sight," Brandon says as they finally get on with their travels. That is until they feel a chill run down their spines. Grinning, Brandon looks behind them, seeing Agatha waving goodbye. Gengar reveals itself, waving goodbye as well.
Team Listings:
Brandon Adams:
Wartortle - Male, Torrent ability. Knows Water Pulse, tackle, Withdraw, Rapid Spin
Tangela - Male, Leaf Guard ability. Knows Bind, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Growth
Nidoran – Female – Poison Point ability. Knows Growl, Poison Sting, Double Kick
Joltik – Male, unknown ability. Knows: Shockwave
Ava Mcarthur:
Umbreon - Female. Synchronize ability. Knows Snarl , Quick Attack, Double Kick,
Omanyte - Male. Weak Armor ability. Knows: Withdraw, Constrict
Growlithe – Female. Flash Fire. Knows: Ember.