HOW IS THIS POSSBILE?! How could I post two new chapters on the exact same day? Well, it's an apology for being gone for so long! I know that you guy wanted to have this story be updated after so long. I enjoy writing this story, and I know you guys like it when I type words on my laptop. Thank you for the support.
I really don't have anything to say, except that this chapter is going to change everything for our group. I am going to take a long nap after all this. Just enjoy your Halloween, and eat your vegetables or something. Let us begin Chapter 12 now.
The Very Best:
Chapter 12:
An Unforgettable Encounter
Opening (If you really want to): Ready, Steady, Go! (From Fullmetal Alchemist, cover by AmaLee)
It had been a full day since Sakura had obtained her Charmander, and it seemed like nothing that special had happened since then. Both Sakura and Charmander had the chance to talk with each other, but it didn't seem like their bond was becoming stronger. The group agreed that maybe they should just Sakura more time, this was only her second Pokémon. Besides, there was now something else to focus on.
The group were now at the front of Mitis Town, the last official stop before they reached Vermillion. They were all looking at this small place with different reactions on their face. This place didn't seem that bad at first glance, but it definitely left a lot to be desired.
"Not gonna lie, I expected this place to be a bit bigger." Ash commented as he looked at the small town that could only rival Pallet in size.
"Wartortle." The Water type agreed as he stood right by his Trainer.
"Don't worry, we don't have to stay her for that long." Brock assured Ash as he took a step forward. "It should be a straight path to Vermillion City after this place."
"I can't wait to finally be by the ocean." Misty gushed as her then looked at Ryan. "And I can't wait to help you catch your own Water type."
Ryan gave a small smile at Misty. "Me either. And thank you again for actually doing this."
"STOP! THIEVES!"
Everyone in the group turned their heads to see where the yell came from. At the store near them came a fairly chunky trying to run as fast he could to catch up with the people that stole his stuff. Most of the group thought that it might be Team Rocket committing this crime or some teenage kid's. However, it was neither of those answers.
"Are those... Squirtle's?" Ash asked in genuine confusion as he squinted his eyes to see who it was.
The eleven year old was actually right about the group of thieves. The group of thieves were actually all Squirtle's, and each of the 5 members had sunglasses on them. While 4 of the Squirtle's had plain looking sunglasses covering their eyes, the last one had on sunglasses much bigger and sharper than any of the other ones. The entire group was surprised by what that they saw.
"Where is going here?" Misty asked out loud, the girl never expected something like this. All of a sudden, Ash and Wartortle ran over to where the store owner was.
"We need to go help that guy!" Ash declared as he ran to where the group of thieves were. Misty and Ryan quickly chased after Ash with Brock right behind them, Sakura just merely walked to where they were going.
The man was still chasing after the group of Squirtle's, sweat going down his face. Suddenly, Ash blocked the path that the group of Pokémon were taking to escape with the bag of cash that they took. The Squirtle's grinded to a halt as they saw the Trainer blocking their path, even the store owner stopped as well when he saw Ash there.
"You better give those thing back!"
"Squirtle! Squirtle!" The female Squirtle with the sharp glasses said in anger, The rest of her group standing their ground as well.
Wartortle suddenly jumped off Ash's back so that he could scare the group in submission. Whatever confidence the Squirtle's had before was no longer present, even the leader was now a bit scared of the Wartortle. They could just feel the strength coming off the evolved Pokémon and all of them knew that they probably wouldn't win, even if they worked together.
4 of the Squirtle's quickly ran away so that they wouldn't be defeated, leaving the leader herself behind. The female Squirtle looked at the Wartortle with a glare, clearly not happy about any of this. She finally left as well to catch up with the rest of her group, leaving the bag of money behind.
Ash picked up the bag that the group of Pokémon stole just as the group caught up with him. "I think that this belongs to you."
"Oh, thank you!" The man wasted no time in taking back his money from the Trainer. "How could I repay you?"
"All that money in the bag would be nice." Sakura suggested as she finally caught up with the group.
"Sakura!" Brock yelled at the girl, hoping that the owner didn't just hear that.
"Why did that group of Squirtle's rob you?" Misty asked as she walked up to the man.
"Those pest are known as the Squirtle Squad." The man said the sentence in a very toxic. "They always cause trouble around here."
"Squirtle Squad?" Ryan asked in a now interested way.
"A group of Squirtle's who create trouble all over Mitis Town," The nameless person explained, not even trying to hide the hatred he held for the group of Water types. "They often like to steal or deface buildings just for the fun of it."
"If they are that big of problem, then shouldn't the Officer's here take care of it?" Sakura asked in
The man merely scoffed at the question. "An incident happened here about a week ago, driving the police here crazy as they're trying to figure out what went down. As a result, taking care of the Squirtle Squad is now a secondary task." He explained in a rather annoyed way. "The problem is apparently so important, that an Official from the Pokémon League might be coming to investigate."
"Is it really that serious?" The former Gym Leader asked in intrigue.
"Sorry, but I'm not that interested in things that don't affect my store."
"Well, we should at least try with the Officer Jenny here." Ash suggested with a determined smile, Wartortle on his back. "Let's go!"
"This is definitely going to work." Sakura thought in the most sarcastic way imaginable, walking with the rest of the group as the left the store owner behind.
"Your wasting your time!" The man tried to warn them, but the group was too far away to either hear or even care.
The group happily walked down the path, hoping to find at least one person that could stop the gang of rouge Pokémon. Since there was a lack of talking in the group, this meant that everyone was left to their own thought's. Suddenly, Ryan discovered something through his thought's.
"I've just realized something." Ryan began as he looked Misty, causing the girl to face him. "You have not mentioned your bike since we have left Cerulean City."
Ash was about to say something to counter that statement, but then he really thought about it. "Wait a minute, Ryan's right. Why haven't you mentioned your bike after all this time?"
Misty was quickly flustered by this. "We-Well it's because I've told you so many times already, I just thought you didn't need to be reminded anymore." Misty gave a very sure nod after saying that.
Ash wanted to question the girl, but just decided to agree with the answer. "Whatever you say."
Misty let out sigh after giving her answer, happy that Ash bought her excuse. Brock looked at the girl with a questioning stare, wondering what was going on between her and Ash.
The group had made it the place where all the police were, a fairly large building with empty spots that were meant for motorcycles. The store owner was apparently right about the police, as there was no one at the front desk or even just in the building. Ash had tried to ring the little bell that was at the front desk, but nobody had come.
The team decided to just wait around until someone were to come in. There was a clock hanging on the wall and some bathroom right below it, so at least the group could track how long it might take. They were waiting there for some time, their patience slowly deteriorating.
"Should we just leave?" Sakura suggested as she was sitting between Ryan and Misty. "We have been waiting here for almost half an hour."
"Let's just wait. Someone has to eventually come here." Brock assured his companion as he and Ash were talking about how they expected Vermillion City to be like.
Suddenly, an officer came in through the left door behind the desk. The person was the Officer Jenny of this town, her hair a bit messed up as she quickly carried a small stack of papers over to the other door. "Wait!"
The officer stopped dead in her tracks as she that there were people behind the desk. "Oh. Hi." Jenny quickly put down the papers and began to fix her hair, trying to look professional to the group. "Can I help you with something?"
"We're sorry to bother you, but there a group of Squirtle's that are apparently stealing from people." Ryan quickly explained to the officer.
"Oh. The Squirtle Squad." Jenny quickly figured out what the kid was talking about, rubbing her neck in. "Um, can I handle this on a different day? We have more important stuff to worry about right now."
"Quick question. What did happen here?" Sakura spoke up as walked up to the desk, her voice still reaming calm. "Is it really that special?"
"Sorry, but I am not allowed to give out any of the information that we have gathered." Jenny quickly responded. "The Pokémon League doesn't want the rest of the Region to worry or find out about it."
"So, you just aren't going to handle the Squirtle Squad?" Ash asked the officer with some force behind him voice. Jenny just took in a deep inhale after hearing that.
"Look, I wish we could help you with this." Jenny apologized to the group as looked at them in the eye. "But there are other problem's that are more important and dangerous then that group of Pokémon will ever be."
Jenny let out a sigh before picking up the stack of papers that she left on the desk, a small look of regret on her face. "Look, I wish I could help you guys with the situation. But I have more important to get done, I think you know where the exit is."
"Wai-" Before Ryan could talk to Jenny, the officer quickly disappeared behind the door.
"Well," Brock began after experiencing all that. "It seems like the police here aren't going to of any use to us."
"Then I guess were going to have to handle this ourselves." Ash told the group in the same way a real leader would.
"Wartortle." The Pokémon agreed.
"Let's try to not harm those Squirtle's though. I doubt there's actually a Pokémon Center here." Misty told them in a somewhat serious way. "Any idea's on how to harmlessly stop those Pokémon?"
"I think I have an idea for those Squirtle's." Sakura told the group with a small smirk, making Ryan turn to her. "Ryan, we're going to need your Bulbasaur for a few minutes."
Ryan blinked a few times. "My what?
The Squirtle Squad had just finished stealing from an elderly woman's home, and they did it without any problems. The gang of Water types were happy to have gotten away with a successful raid today, considering the last one was ruined. Before they could bring all this jewelry to their little cave that they called home, the same boy from earlier had intercepted them again. The group stopped to see that the eleven year old was back.
Ash was standing in their path once again, Wartortle by his side.
"I guess you really do like stealing for fun." Ash commented as he kept his eyes glued to the Squirtle's.
"Squirtle." The leader said in anger, clearly not happy about seeing Ash again.
"What's wrong? Are you going to run away again like scared Caterpie's?" The boy asked with a smile, hoping to get a reaction from the Squirtle's.
While all this was happening, both Ryan and Bulbasaur were waiting for when they would strike. They were waiting patiently for the Squirtle Squad to finally be vulnerable, hoping that the Ash's distraction was working. The two saw the group of Squirtle's stand together and that is when they knew it was time.
"Use your Sleep Powder." Ryan whispered to the Grass type as the targets were finally in position that they wanted.
"Bulbasaur." A large powder came from the bulb of the Pokémon's back, quickly making's it way to the group of Squirtle's. The Squirtle Squad saw that a powder and were quickly confused by what was happening. The Squirtle's were collapsing on the ground as they fell asleep. The leader was also being affected by the attack's effects, but she was able to stand tall and mostly brute force her way through the Sleep Powder.
Now, only the leader stood tall while all the other Squirtle's were asleep on the ground.
"Good job, Bulbasaur." Ash quickly praised to the Grass type, revealing that he and Wartortle had not been affected by the Sleep Powder.
Misty, Sakura, and Brock walked up right beside Ash to see what had happened. "It look's like my plan worked." Sakura commented with an emotionless face.
"It looks like they'll be asleep for the rest of the day." Brock proclaimed as he saw the once proud group of Water types reduced to only one standing member. "It seems like you've really trained up your Pokémon, Ryan."
"I guess my training was okay." Ryan responded as he and Bulbasaur walked up to where the rest of the group was, watching as Ash walked up to the still standing Squirtle.
"I wish we didn't have to do this, I really do." Ash told the Squirtle in a very genuine way as he and Wartortle went up to her. "But your days of stealing are now over."
"Squirtle!" The Pokémon cursed in the most angry way she could. She wanted to attack this Trainer so badly, but knew that it would be a stupid move if she did it. She was mad at how easily these group of random people can just outsmart her and the rest of the group. How could they be so foolish?
Ash just let out a sigh, kneeling down in front of her. "Come on, let's hand yo-"
Out of nowhere, a large explosion came from the very center of Mitis Town.
This explosion had forced everyone to look at where it came from, seeing that large smoke was going up into the sky. The people of the town began to panic and run away in fear, scared about what had happened. Everyone in the group had their eyes widened as they saw just how big and dangerous this explosion really was.
"What the hell?" Sakura thought to herself as she saw the explosion, trying to remain calm. She then saw the still standing Squirtle run past her.
"Squirtle! Stop!" Misty called out as she began to chase after the Water type, Ash instantly trying to stop his friend as he ran after the redhead.
The three other members saw Misty and Ash going straight to where the explosion was to chase after Squirtle. "What are you two doing?!" Ryan tried to yell at them so that he could stop his friends from getting hurt.
From behind the smoke was the outline of three people, and one large creature. There were was a man in the direct front of this group, the same man who wore the black mask. While he may have on a black robe on him, his two Lieutenant were both wearing a clean white robe each.
The first Lieutenant was a tall, light skinned man with a very nonchalant smile present on his face. He was the only one of the three that actually had his hood down, showing his long brown hair. He was currently sitting down as he looked around, a very light beard on his face.
This was one of the Lieutenant's of Division 6, and his name was Jacob.
The other Lieutenant was also male, but he was much older than Jacob or the Captain. His blonde hair seem to have somewhat white color to it, and he also bearded a scar on the side of his face. even though he was the oldest out of the three, he was also the second most physically fit out of the three. He had his arms crossed as a serious expression was on his toned face.
He was the second Lieutenant of Division 6, and was named Isaac.
Finally, there stood the final stage of the Charmander line right by the masked man. It was a large, dragon-like Pokémon that differs greatly from its pre-evolved form. The red skin coloration of Charmeleon was longer present, for it had reverted to the orange/yellow coloration of Charmander. The single horn that was on the back of its head had now become two, one on either side. The most notable feature of this creature was the large wings that it had on it's back, giving this Pokémon the ability to fly.
This Pokémon was called Charizard, one of the most powerful and dangerous Pokémon's in the entire Kanto Region!
They were the squad that Team Rocket had sent here to complete their mission!
"These people aren't giving off a good first impression," Jacob said in a rather disappointed way. "They couldn't even bother to greet us."
"It won't matter. We should be done with this mission rather quickly." The masked man told his subordinate.
Isaac came off a loud scoff. "Still can't believe people as strong as us are being ordered to go to a place like this, Captain."
"You know why this mission is important." The masked man calmly explained to his Lieutenant. "And you also know that there isn't a single person here that could actually beat the three of us."
"SQUUIRTTLLLE!"
Squirtle had finally made it up to the group that might threaten her group, instantly shooting out her strongest Water Gun attack at the Charizard. She had decided to attack these people to show them who they were dealing with. Squirtle let out a smile after she finished her attack, hoping to see the powerful Fire type fainted on the ground.
But what the Water type saw scared her beyond comprehension.
Charizard was still perfectly fine as it stood by the Team Rocket Captain, Squirtle was now wondering if the attack even hit him in the first place! The four of them turned to see a Squirtle trying to play the hero, but was now nothing more than a coward on thee verge of tears. The leader looked at the now terrified Water type on the ground, a cold glare coming through his mask.
"Kill it." Was all the Captain had to say to his Charizard in an emotionless voice.
A large ball of light began to quickly form in the now open mouth of Charizard. The large Pokémon was preparing a Solar Beam attack, one that would be fatal to whatever stood within it's path. Squirtle was now petrified with shock and fear, forcing it's body to even slightly move. It only took Charizard a mere half-second to charge up the attack, instantly shooting it at the weak Squirtle.
Before the attack was able to hit Squirtle with full force, something was able to grab and take her out of the way. The Solar Beam had destroyed 3 houses that were in it's way, all of them were gone like it was nothing. Squirtle shakily looked up to see who had intervened, and her eyes widened when she saw that it was one of the Trainer's that was with that Ash kid.
Misty had saved the Squirtle from her death.
"Hey, girl. You shouldn't get involved with this." Jacob gave a legitimate warning to Misty, who was glaring at the group. "I'd rather not kill a kid."
Before Misty could say anything back, Ash, had gotten in front of her to protect the girl, Wartortle right by his side. Misty was surprised that Ash was actually protecting her, and she could just feel the anger coming from him and Pokémon. "Misty," Ash began as he faced the evil group. "Go get yourself and Squirtle to Officer Jenny. See if you can get people to safety while I deal with this."
"NO!" Misty instantly yelled back as she kept Squirtle close to her. "I'm not leaving you out here!"
"That wasn't a request!" Ash told her in a stern way, causing the girl the flitch by how loud he spoke. He let out a sigh as he turned his head at her. "I don't want to see you get hurt, not again. Just worry about yourself for once, okay?"
"Wartortle." Wartortle also told Misty in the kindest way he could right now.
The girl really didn't want to leave Ash behind, but she knew that the boy would not forgive himself if she got harmed. Misty, with Squirtle still close to her, then stood and ran away to go get help from the police, letting out a small tear as she was forced to leave her best friend behind. Ash now face the group once again, a deep glare in their direction.
"So, your going to be one to try and beat us?" The masked man asked in a rather unfazed way, looking at Ash through his mask.
"That's right!" Ash answered without any doubt or fear, Wartortle right by his side.
Isaac then heard the faintest noise come from his side, instantly launching one of throwing knives. The small knife quickly went through the air, making the group that had come drop down to the ground to dodge. Brock, Ryan, and Sakura had come to help defeat this group that had come to Mitis Town. The knife continued to go through the air, eventually hitting a small house as a red light on the weapon kept on flashing.
All of a sudden, the house that was hit by the knife had blown up in a large explosion. The house was downright decimated by the explosion, killing whoever was still in their. The trio were downright shocked by this, especially Ryan. But they knew that they couldn't dwell on this, and they turned around to face the enemy. all of them were still scared on inside, sweat quickly going down their face.
"It appears that other problem's have arrived." Isaac said in a very distasteful way as he saw the three Trainer's look at him.
Brock kept his eyes focused on Isaac, trying to shake off what had just happened. "My name is Brock! And we will stop you from harming anyone else!"
"Brock?" Isaac said as we lost in thought, still keeping his eye on the group. "Your that former Gym Leader from Pewter, correct?"
"So what if he is?" Sakura instantly spat out, her calm exterior almost disappearing. "We're still going to kick your ass!"
"I don't believe I was talking with you." The Lieutenant told the pink haired girl in a very blunt way. "However, I'm curious to see how strong this previous Gym Leader is."
"Then how about we battle?!" Brock gave a very determined look at Isaac.
Isaac squinted his eyes as he was being very attentive. "Alright."
All of a sudden, Isaac disappeared from his spot right by the Captain. Neither Jacob or the Captain gave a reaction to this, for they know what was happening. The trio instantly began to look around, wondering what had just happened. Brock then felt someone punch his stomach with force that made him cough up some blood, pushing the fifteen year old back by 6 feet. Ryan and Sakura turned to see what had happened, and their eyes widened when they saw who was next to them.
Isaac was standing right by them, not even glancing at the two Trainer's.
"You couldn't block my simple attack." Isaac noted in a very emotionless way. "Pity."
Sakura launched a roundhouse kick that was aimed for the back of the Lieutenant's head. Isaac, without even looking away from Brock slowly getting up, effortlessly ducked underneath the strong attack. Isaac then sweep the leg of Sakura before she could even react, making the girl fall to the ground in a painful way.
Isaac then moved his head out of the way to dodge a punch, an attack that a still scared Ryan had launched. Before Ra could return his arm back to him, Isaac grabbed it with both hands and kept a strong grip. The Lieutenant then threw the boy's arm to the ground, forcing the rest of Ryan's body to make an incomplete circle through the air. Ryan hit the ground as Isaac let go, laying right by Sakura's arm.
Both Ash and Brock watched as two of their companions were defeated, and it didn't even seem like Isaac was trying!
"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a battle?" Isaac questioned in a very cold tone, slowly walking up to the now standing Brock.
Brock was downright speechless at what he had just saw, he was still wondering how he was able to just appear right in front of him like that. He was watching as Isaac was walking up to him, no expression present on his face. The boy knew that he couldn't just stand there, but he was also unsure if it was even possible to beat these people.
Brock didn't know what came over him at that point, but he rushed over to where Isaac was. The Lieutenant stood still as he watched Brock run up to him, waiting patiently for the boy's attack. Brock launched off the quickest punch he could at the Lieutenant's face, but Isaac merely just moved his head out of the way.
He kept on throwing punch after punch with as much force and speed as he could. Isaac was able to dodge all these with a very bored look on him, taunting the former Gym Leader to try harder. Brock was slowly having sweat go down his face as he kept on trying to hit Isaac, not wanting to use his Pokémon in any way. Brock threw a punch directly for the chest of the Lieutenant.
Isaac was able to instantly catch the attack with his hand, giving a hard squeeze to the fist of Brock.
Isaac then gave a back handed slap to Brock's face, throwing Brock back with just the pure force of it. Brock was ready to get up and continue the fight in order to protect everyone, but a hard foot slammed right into his stomach before he could stand. Issac had his foot deep into Brock's gut, causing the former Gym Leader to cough up some blood again.
"This must be some kind of joke." Isaac began in a very calm way as he lifted his foot up to attack the now scared Brock. "To think I was even remotely interested in you."
This second kick was too much for the poor fifteen year old. Brock had his eyes closed after experiencing the amount of force behind the attack. His entire body became motionless, Isaac looking down with a heartless glare.
Brock laid on the ground, knocked out by Lieutenant Isaac.
Ash, Wartortle, Sakura, and Ryan were now in complete shock. They had just seen their oldest, wisest, and their third smartest person get beaten like it was absolutely nothing. Not only did Isaac not have to use any one of his Pokémon to defeat Brock, but he didn't even look impressed by the attempt that Brock had made. Chills went down theirs spine after they saw all of that.
Isaac then began to walk away from the defeated boy, letting out a sigh. "I guess I have to focus on the mission." He silently thought to himself, sensing what what was about to happen behind him.
Sakura was the one who angrily ran over to Isaac, leaving a very scared Ryan behind. Sakura was hoping to catch the man off guard and throw an even more powerful attack then before. Her attack was quite easily blocked, but not by Isaac. Someone had appeared right behind him in order to stop the kick, even though they knew Isaac could've handled it.
Jacob was the one who ha appeared to stop Sakura, a very relaxed smile on his face.
"You shouldn't waste your time here anymore." Jacob told the unfazed Isaac, Sakura quickly removing her leg from the grip of the Lieutenant.
"Don't worry, I won't. I'll simply go and complete the mission myself." Isaac then disappeared from the sight of Sakura, and Ryan.
Jacob then looked at the very serious looking Sakura, not amount of concern present on his face. "You know, you can still run away if you want to. I'd rather not harm a kid."
"Too bad, because you are going to be fighting two!" Sakura then pointed to Ryan, something the boy wasn't expecting. "Come here and help! NOW!"
Ryan quickly went up to Sakura after hearing her scream at him, a tear of pure fear going down his face. "W-W-What a-are we going t-to d-do this guy?"
Sakura took out her Poke Ball, quickly sending out her Nidoran. "The two of us can beat this guy in a Pokémon match." Sakura tried to remain calm, watching as Ryan also sent out Bulbasaur as well. Instead of doing anything physical, Jacob took out his own Great Ball with a very calm smile.
"Your determination is strong," Jacob told them as he threw his own Pokémon out, the strongest Psychic type within the Region.
In front of the two kids was a human-like Pokémon. It was colored yellow and brown, some fox-like features as well. It carried two spoons, and both of the Trainer's saw that it was female since it's mustache was shorter than it should be.
"Alakazam." The Alakazam said in a very threating way.
Both Sakura, and especially Ryan were now terrified. Both of them knew that they couldn't defeat the Lieutenant with the Pokémon that they had, and both Nidoran and Bulbasaur could just feel the strength coming off of the Alakazam. Just as the pair tried to figure out some kind of strategy to even damage her, Jacob decided to finished his sentence.
"But you can't defeat me."
Misty was running as fast as she could to where the police was, still holding Squirtle close to her. The poor girl still had a tear or two running down her face as she went to warn Officer Jenny about all of this. She was wondering if she should've stayed back to help Ash and the rest of the group, or if it was best that she went to go help everyone else in this town.
Her thought's came to halt though, as she Jenny outside the building. The girl was currently going her motorcycle and began to start her vehicle. Jenny was about to leave to investigate the site of the explosion, but Misty quickly stood in the path of the motorcycle without a second thought.
"STOP!" Officer Jenny was force to slow down her motorcycle until it was only a few feet away from the girl, a very displeased look on Jenny's face.
"I already saw the explosion, kid! You don't have to tell me about it!" The officer told her in the most gentle way she could.
Misty shook her head at this. "I came here to tell you who had caused all this!" This was able to make Jenny stop moving and pay attention to the ten year old. "There were three people that were wearing cloaks, and one of them had on a black mask."
"Squirtle." The Pokémon instantly backed up the girl's claim.
This sentence was enough to shock Jenny to her very core. Sweat quickly began to go down her face as her eyes had widened, fear covering her entire face. Jenny then began to run towards the building that she was about to leave behind. Misty began to quickly go after her as Squirtle was still in her arms, she had never seen any Officer Jenny this scared before.
Jenny burst through the door's and began to take frantically look for something in her pocket, Misty still right behind her. Jenny went to one of the locked cabinets near the floor and knelled down, taking out a key from her pocket. "A-Are you sure that you saw a masked man?"
"I could tell that it wasn't his true face." Misty quickly answered, placing Squirtle gently on the table. "Are these people that dangerous?"
Jenny didn't respond as she opened up the cabinet, revealing a very nice red phone with the Pokémon League symbol on it. Jenny swiftly placed the receiver right next to her ear as she began to put in a three digit number, something that Misty and Squirtle weren't able to see clearly as it went too fast. Jenny waited there in panic as she wanted someone to pick up, hoping that they would have enough time!
"Hello?" A female voice instantly asked from the other side of the line.
"There is a level 4 problem here in Mitis Town!" Jenny instantly told her. "A Team Rocket Captain is here!"
The female on the other side was trying to process this information as quickly as she could. "Okay. I'll sent assistance. You said Mitis Town, correct?"
"Yes! And sent one of the Elite Four here as quickly as you can!"
"Alright. Just get everyone out until assistance arrives." The phone went silent on the other side of the lane, making Jenny put the receiver where it belonged. She then faced both Misty and Squirtle.
"You need to get out of here, both of you." Jenny told them as she began to walk towards the wooden doors at the front. "I need to go get the other officers and-"
A large explosion happened at the front of the building, launching Jenny back a few feet.
Smoke and debris had now replaced the once clean front of the building. Squirtle and Misty had come right next to Jenny to see if she was okay, the officer telling them that she was fine. The three then watched as someone stood at the very top of the pile of rubble, a Lieutenant looking down at them with cold eyes.
"Greetings, Officer Jenny." Isaac told the woman as he calmly walked through the debris, keeping his eyes trained on her and the others. "I believe you have something for us."
Both Bulbasaur and Nidoran were pushed back by the Psychic from Alakazam, taking huge damage from the strong attack. The two Poison types had tried to use their strongest attack at the exact same time to at least harm their opponent, but Alakazam was able to take Vine Whip and Pursuit like it was nothing. They looked up at the strong Psychic type, rage in their eye's.
Both Ryan and Sakura had no idea what they could do at this point, they were still shocked that their two Pokémon didn't faint from the Psychic attack. None of their other Pokémon had a decent chance to defeat the Alakazam, and it was very likely that the Psychic type had other moves that could defeat any type strong to her. Jacob still had a laid-back look on his face.
"What a shame. I was hoping that this battle would at least go on for three turns." Jacob said in genuine disappointment as he looked at the weak Pokémon. "It's okay. I'll end this with one more turn." The two Poison types saw Alakazam lift up her spoons to launch another attack, and they refused to just stand there and faint!
all of a sudden, bright light had begin to envelop the two Pokémon. Jacob and Ryan had their eyes widened at what they saw, even Sakura herself was surprised by what she saw. Alakazam still kept her spoons up as she, along with everyone else, watched as two new Pokémon were here.
The first Pokémon looked very similar to that of its pre-evolved form, Bulbasaur. She still retained the turquoise skin and spots, along with the red eyes. The top fangs were now larger and visible outside of the mouth. Also, her ears were now darkened to black in the center. The most notable change is that the bulb on her back was starting to bloom. Pink petals were visible, and large leaves on the bloom's bottom.
"Ivysaur!" The Grass type yelled out , no longer feeling as weak as before.
Sakura's Pokémon was now a rodent-like with bigger ears, still resembling a rabbit. Her blue skin was still present, but with darker spots around the body. She now had horns going down her back.
"Nidorina!" She yelled out as well, right by Ivysaur.
All of a sudden, Alakazam appeared right in front of the two Poison types. Neither of them could get out of the way in time as Alakazam launched a very fast Psychic attack. This Psychic was even stronger than the first one, and had made the two evolved Pokémon were left with no energy left. Finally, the two attacks were just too much for the poor Poison types.
The two evolved Pokémon were now both on the ground, fainted.
"That was rather impressive. It's quite rare for two separate Pokémon to evolve at the same time, especially during battle." Jacob told the two Trainer's, who were still left speechless as they saw how their new Pokémon got defeated so easily, as he slowly waked up to them. Ryan and Sakura quickly returned their Pokémon back into their Great Balls, making sure the Lieutenant wasn't about to steal from the ground. "However, I just have to ask you a simple question."
Suddenly, Jacob disappeared from both of their sight. They immediately checked between them and around them, but there was no sign of Lieutenant anywhere. Neither saw anything for 7 seconds, both of them getting more anxious as the time went by. Ryan then felt something touch his right shoulder, while something had touch Sakura's right shoulder. Both immediately tensed up after having someone had touched them.
Jacob had placed a hand on each of their shoulder's, a smile still present on his face.
"Did you think that was going to change anything?"
Ryan and Sakura didn't answer the man question's, but instead sent an attack at where he was. Sakura tried to launch a back kick to where his mouth should've been, while Ryan tried to throw a punch to where is gut would be located. Both of them merely hit air as Jacob was no longer present when they turned around, the Lieutenant appearing right behind them again.
Jacob had given a karate chop to the back of Ryan's neck, knocking the boy out before he even landed on the ground. Sakura went to give a powerful kick, but Jacob was able to dodge without even seeing it coming. Before Sakura could give another attack to Jacob, he suddenly stabbed her leg with a needle that he had with him.
All of a sudden, Sakura began to lose any kind of movement in her leg. She was slowly being brought down as the rest of her body became unresponsive. Eventually, she laid on the ground with only her face being able to move. Sakura tried to move everything else in her body, but her limbs weren't able to follow her directions.
"I would resist trying to struggle." Jacob advised the girl, making Sakura look up at him. "That injection I gave you should keep everything but your face paralyzed for a few hours, and your friend here doesn't seem like he can get up."
Sakura gave a major glare at the Lieutenant. "How can you just do stuff like this?"
"It could be so much worse for you." Jacob instantly responded as he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, something that Sakura couldn't stop. "I could've simply killed you without any remorse."
Sakura remained silent after hearing that. She realized that this man could've simply killed her, and no one in the group would be fast enough to stop him. There was nothing that she could do, especially right now. The girl still showed anger toward the man, unwilling to change her expression.
"Don't look so mad. You could watch the battle with me." Jacob pointed behind him, and Sakura saw that the masked man and Ash were fighting. The Captain was using the Charizard that was out to battle, making it seem quite impossible for Wartortle to actually win this. Jacob then sat down right by the paralyzed Sakura, showing no sense of fear or "I'm quite excited to see what this kid is going to do to the Captain."
Ash had been using Wartortle to battle Charizard, knowing that Sandshrew didn't have moves strong enough to truly harm the opponent. Wartortle should've have had a decent chance against the Fire type, at least a better chance than Squirtle. But Charizard was so much stronger than any of the Pokémon that he had, it was like comparing a dollar to a penny.
Wartortle had been forced to dodge every attack that Charizard had tried to use, especially the Solar Beam's. Wartortle was lucky to ever get the chance to use Water Gun, but that attack did very little of anything to Charizard. Along with this, it seemed like Charizard wasn't even trying while Wartortle was forced to evade everything.
Ash saw all this, deeply concerned about his partner. "You got this, Wartortle! Just don't let him hit you!"
"Why are you still trying, boy?" The masked man asked Ash in a perplexed way. "If you were smart, then you will forfeit this battle."
Ash didn't responded as he still kept a keen eye on his Pokémon, watching what Charizard did to Wartortle. Charizard had managed to grab Wartortle with his three clawed arm, making it so Wartortle couldn't use his arms or legs. Wartortle struggled to escape the very strong grip as Charizard watched, clearly amused by this. Wartortle was able to actually get his arm out, and what happened next was something that no one expected.
Wartortle gave a hard slap to Charizard's face.
Everyone remained silent after seeing that, and Wartortle just realized what he had done. Sakura was shocked that anyone was brave enough to ever slap a Charizard, while Jacob still smiled after he saw this. Ash watched as Charizard slowly turned to look at the Wartortle in his hand, and the face the Fire type gave was made from pure anger.
The Charizard looked at the small Water type in the most hostile way imaginable.
Charizard, still holding onto Wartortle, flew up into the air. Once Charizard was about 15 feet up he threw the Water type towards the ground with tremendous force, making the Pokémon leave a small crater. Just as Wartortle was about to slowly get up, Charizard then launched a punch towards Wartortle's face. Charizard kept throwing punch after punch, eventually ending with dual fist attack. Wartortle laid motionless after that.
Ash instantly went to go help his Pokémon, seeing that his Pokémon had fainted. Ash was actually thought that Wartortle had died for a splint second!
"Would you like to hear something funny?"
Ash didn't even look up at the masked man as held Wartortle close, putting his partner in his Poke Ball for safety. Ash looked up at the Captain with the most hateful glare he could give, downright furious at him. The masked man didn't seem fazed by this anger, and just decided to say the answer.
"This Charizard was the only Pokémon that I had brought with me."
Ash was now in deep shock, looking at the Captain with wide eyes. He was silently wondering if this was true, but then he really did thing about this statement. If this Charizard really was the only Pokémon that he had brought with him, then this battle didn't even show half of this man's strength! The eleven year old was actually sacred right now.
"All Lieutenant's and Captain's are forced to bring only a certain amount of Pokémon with us. We do this to safe ourselves from wasting any energy, and this rule is much more enforced on the Captain's." The masked man told them as Charizard sat right beside his Trainer. "But it seems that even one Pokémon is just too much for someone as weak as you."
Suddenly, the Captain appeared right in front of Ash Ketchum. The masked man then grabbed Ash by the throat, lifting the boy into the air with no difficulty.
Ash's throat was now slowly being crushed by the Captain's strong grip, rendering him unable to breath! Sakura watched on in actual fear as she saw her companion getting strangled by the masked man, even Jacob was surprised that his Captain would do this to a kid. The man in the blacked cloaked looked at Ash Ketchum, watching as the boy tried to use his feet and hand's to escape.
"To think that you were the same person that had defeated Rocket Grunt's with little difficulty." The man told the still strangled Ash as he squinted his eyes behind the mask. "We know who you are, Ash Ketchum. We know that you desire to become Champion."
Ash didn't care about anything that the Captain was talking about. He kept on trying to struggle his way out of this, but he wasn't strong enough to remove the hand off him. He was starting to feel like there was no air in his lungs anymore, he could just feel all the oxygen being used up or leaving his body. The masked man didn't seem to concerned by any of this.
"Do you really think that just anyone could be a Champion? Do you think that all the other people that didn't get that title were just too lazy? "You act like being Champion is the easiest thing in the world. That there hasn't been thousands of Trainers who have tried and failed to make it to the top."
Ash was slowly running out of energy to even move at this point. His leg's were beginning to lose the ability to move, and this effect was now going into his arms. The boy looked down at the man who was strangling the life out of him, seeing that there was no expression in his gray eyes.
"You are weak. You are an embarrassment to Pokémon Trainer's. You are a mistake on this world." The masked man told Ash in a calm way. He brought the boy closer so that he can whisper the very last word's that Ash would ever hear. "You. Are. Nothing."
Ash's body had fully lost the ability to move any of it's limbs now. The boy's sight slowly became to become consumed by darkness, his eyes only being able to focus on the man who was killing him. He thought, for a second, that he saw bright light in the growing black. As the boy vision slowly got consumed by darkness, only one thought went through his mind.
This was it.
This is the day that he was going to die.
"Captain! I have obtained the item!"
The masked man dropped Ash to the ground as he walked to his Lieutenant, Isaac concealing something. Ash just breathed as his throat was no longer being crushed, never being so happy to finally have oxygen inside him. He looked up to see the masked man walk up to Isaac, taking something that Lieutenant had handed to him.
He watched as the Captain examined it for a couple second's, looking very interested in what he had in his hand's. "It matches the description. Our time here is now done." The Captain the looked down at the very weak Ash. "It appears you get to live for another day, Ash Ketchum."
"We must leave now." Isaac said in a serious way.
Jacob merely shrugged as he stood up, putting Alakazam back in her Great Ball. "Alright. This place was kind of boring." He quickly stood by his other Lieutenant, Charizard, and Captain. The 4 looking at what they have done to this place.
They saw that Ash was actually slowly crawling toward them, the boy was determined to stop Team Rocket with whatever little energy he had. Both Ryan and Brock were unconscious while Sakura was still paralyzed from the throat down, and Misty was still no longer present. They watched as Ash slowly crawled with his arms, Isaac finding the boy's attempt kind of amusing.
"I will spare your life for now. But never expect me to be this merciful again." The Captain told the boy as he returned Charizard to his Poke Ball. He then revealed some kind of device on his arm, typing something on to it. "If you really value your life, then you will never interfere with Team Rocket again."
"Goodbye!" Jacob waved at the slowly crawling boy.
And in a single instant, the three Team Rocket members were no longer there.
Ash saw how they were able to just disappear like that, seeing the people that harmed his friend's get away like it was nothing. "How could I have been so stupid to just something like this happen?" He angrily thought to himself as he looked around the destroyed area with blurry vision. He then had a strong pain go through his entire body, something that made it hard to even move. His body slowly began to give into all of the injury's it had obtained, and Ash couldn't stop himself from his upper body falling toward the dirt.
Ash couldn't stop now! He couldn't just let those guys attack an innocent town without any kind of consequence! However, his tired body had taken full control. All he could do now was just close his eyes as he looked at the fire spreading far away from him. His body had now become motionless.
Ash was now unconscious on the ground.
END OF CHAPTER 12
...
Ash's Team: Wartortle (M) , Pidgeotto (F), Sandshrew (M), Oddish (F)
Misty's Team: Starmie (N/A), Seel (F), Magikarp (M)
Ryan's Team: Pinsir (M), Paras (M), Ivysaur (F)
Brock's Team: Graveler (M), Onix (F), Zubat (M)
Sakura's Team: Nidorina (F), Charmander (M)