Hey everyone. It's funny, I've been writing this story since 2013…when I was 20…now I'm 28…the same age as Lucas in the story. I guess I just realized that while writing this chapter. That is pretty strange for me…Anyways, here is a new chapter for you all, please enjoy!
Chapter fifty-two: Blasting Off
I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing, but it's true…Team Rocket Grunts are standing right across from me! The Meowth is a creature with pale fur and brown hair on its paws and tail, and not to mention the gold coin stuck to its head. They look very confused, looking back and forth between the rubber net that Orion is trapped in. Soon enough, the two Grunts behind them begin a little saying that they've rehearsed for just such an occasion to our group:
"To protect the world from devastation" the red-haired woman begins by saying, extending her arm outward in a melodramatic fashion.
"To unite all peoples within our nation" the blue-haired man next to her adds to the motto, pulling out a rose from his uniform to display to us. It soon becomes clear that they will say their lines back and forth.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Hey." The Meowth tried to get their attention, but the other two just continued with their motto.
"Jessie"
"James"
"Hey guys!"
Finally, they make a triumphant, or I dare say…braggart pose to us and finish their introduction:
"Team Rocket, blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Will you two numskulls just listen for a second!?" Suddenly, the cat Pokémon slashes them, causing the two humans to fall flat on their faces. George and the others just look at each other in frightened confusion…should we even be taking these three seriously right now? I didn't realize that they were confused because the Meowth was talking…and what I mean is: he's talking in English like I'm able to! Not only that, but I just realized that the cat is walking on two legs…like a person…and his kind doesn't really do any of that!
"This isn't Pikachu, and neither is the one over there!" The Meowth pointed at me in the last part as I begin to back away slowly.
"What?" Both Grunts say, getting up from the ground.
"The twerp isn't here either" the cat shakes his head in disappointment.
"I guess we took the wrong path again" James laughs as Jessie begins getting annoyed and starts yelling at the two:
"Well, you two are always running ahead while I'm figuring out the layout of this park, and we're still lost!"
"Wait, Jessie…" James pulls her in as she appears shocked for the moment, "the brat isn't here…and his Pikachu neither…and we just caught ourselves a Pokémon…AND, they're not here to interfere this time!"
"Ahh!" Jessie smiled mischievously, "where have you been hiding that smart brain of yours today, James?"
"Meowth! I say we just go ahead and catch that other Pikachu too. Two eggs in one basket, hehe!"
As this happens, I notice Rigel shivering in shock from what he was seeing, "t-that…Meowth…can talk..."
"This has been a very strange day to say the least…" Jen shakes her head in disbelief.
"Just like Lucas…" George mutters.
"Astonishing…" Bill adds.
I look back at them, whispering, "w-wait, that Meowth…is talking?"
Everyone nods back to me as I shake my head. So…there's another who can talk to people…d-did Meowth used to be human too? Ah who am I kidding…THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!? I'm NOT going to let these bums ruin this perfect day for me! I finally had enough, and I growl in defiance to them, "What the heck is going on here!?" I exclaim, swinging my arm outward.
The two Grunts blink their eyes in confusion from what I had just said and soon enough they jump and grab onto one another, yelling in the process.
"T-that mouse just talked! He's talking!" Jessie screeched.
"Do Pikachu swear!?" James added.
The cat Pokémon faces his partners with confusion glued to his nose-less face, "What? You understand what that Pikachu is saying?"
Opps…I shouldn't have talked…I keep forgetting to keep my mouth shut around others…
For a moment, the Meowth forgot about what it needed to do, taking in the fact that there's another Pokémon with the ability to talk to people, even though I'm technically not a Pokémon. For that split second, he imagined the possibility of having someone like me on their team…but then jealousy filled in and he would rather sell me to the highest bidder…and a wide grin formed on his short muzzle.
"Well, I say we get 'em too!" Meowth suggested as Jessie and James looked to one another with widening smirks.
"You're right, they'll be worth a lot to the boss" Jessie mischievously smirked, taking out a Pokéball.
"Things are looking bright for us!" James smiled evilly.
Giovanni…I thought silently to myself, if I'm captured by these three…they might take me back to him. The Nightmare will start all over again…no…I can't let that happen!
"Let's get 'em!" The three exclaim in unison and I gulp in dread.
Jessie, the red-haired villain, begins the fight by tossing her ball in the air, "Ekans, go!"
"Give them a good cough, Koffing" James adds.
Both spheres reveal a snake-like creature and a floating poison-type.
"Oh no!" Jen yelled as everyone tries moving in to help; however, Koffing releases smog that stops their advance! My group are blinded by the eye-tearing barrier, and I am left alone to fight Team Rocket…
"Quick Ekans, bind that Pikachu!"
"L-Lucas, run!" I heard Orion's muffled cries inside the net as I stand my ground, finding no other option but to fight.
"I'm not leaving you here" I defiantly growl, sparks start coming out of my red cheeks as I prepare for what's to come.
Maybe if I get to you, Orion, and free you…my odds will be better.
My attention is immediately turned to the slithering serpent: it's rushing for me at high speeds! My instincts tell me to jump, and I do, narrowly avoiding capture. Unfortunately, it can jump too. When the Ekans tries to entangle me like a python, I slap them away with my tail. I land as the snake recovers quickly, now enraged by my actions.
Jessie grits her teeth, expecting the fight to have ended easily. Before she can give another order, James steps in with a smirk, "allow me, Jessie. Koffing, sludge attack, go!"
The floating ball spits out some sort of sticky substance to try and subdue me, but I am resilient as ever and I dodge each attack. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, the reptile bites its tail and begins rolling down towards me. Before I can move away, I am hit by the opposing foe. I stand back up again quickly, feeling pain rack my body, stammering back in surprise. I compose myself soon after, however, and move away to avoid getting hit by the unrelenting sludge. In response, I unleash a lightning bolt toward the Koffing; however, it flies away to avoid being struck. I curse under my breath.
Seeing me struggling, strength diminishing, Team Rocket start to get excited, "we're going to win, we're going to winnnn!" Meowth and his partners cheered as they skip merrily in a circle.
The Ekans tries again to hit me the same way, but I jump on its back and hop off to try and get to Orion, wasting no more time with these two. I'm outnumbered…and this isn't looking good for me. Both Grunts and the Meowth realize what's going on, stopping their little celebration, and try their best to stop my progress.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the burning smog, Rigel and Jennifer frantically try to save us.
"How do we get past this!?" Rigel exclaimed, not wanting a repeat of past events such as losing Orion.
Jen thinks to herself, placing a finger on her chin and snaps her finger right after, "I got an idea!" She smiled as she pulled out a Pokéball from her belt. The twenty-three-year-old chucks the ball into the air, releasing a bird-like creature from its contents, "Pidgeotto, let's go, Whirlwind!"
Soon enough, the bird, which has magnificent colorful feathers running down its head and tail, begins flapping her wings to disperse the smog. The dissipating barrier reveals the battle in front of the duo.
"Go you two, save them!" Maybelline encourages them.
"Hurry on" George adds.
"I have faith you will succeed" Bill also adds, nodding.
Jen and Rigel smile confidently before setting off, "come on Riggs" Jen calls before Rigel gives a half-serious remark back, "Riggs?" He asked and all Jen does is chuckle at this.
Not long after they stop, finding me being double-teamed by Koffing and Ekans!
"Hey! They're ganging up on him! That isn't fair!" Rigel shouts in response, fists clenching.
Jennifer notices this and looks back toward the Team Rocket Grunts, "gangs like this never play fair, just remember that kid" she retorted.
"Sludge them Koffing" James orders while brandishing his rose. I narrowly avoid the sticky substance thrown at me from the poison-type, and in response I growl.
"Take…this!" I screamed as I released a lightning bolt at the flying monster. Unfortunately, it quickly moves away and my attack misses, darn it!
Meanwhile, Jennifer sees the battle before she can call her bird to help, looking quite confused before looking down at Rigel with a puzzled face, "Lucas…he can fight?"
"You bet, and he's real good too!" Rigel nodded as Jen smirks, "then this should be a breeze for us" Jen chuckles.
As I counter-attack, Ekans shows up behind me and shoves into my side hard, sending me into the ground in pain! With this, Jessie jubilantly howls and points at me for her snake to see, "now, maximum power, Ekans. Then, bring them to me…ah I mean…us…bring them to us!"
Before the purple/yellow reptile can finish me off, a blurry red figure moves in at lightning speeds and gets me out of its path! As a result of this, Ekans hits the dirt with some force before looking up.
I do so too, and I can see who saved me, to which I chuckle for a moment…it's Rigel's Charmeleon!
"Look at you, always needing one of us to be around when something goes wrong" the red dragon-like being mutters as I stand up.
"We're so close to Orion…we have to release him, Charm."
Charm doesn't say anything, but I know he agrees without question. My human friend, Jen, joins in the action: instructing her flying-type to join the both of us against the villainous duo.
Now…the Ekans and Koffing are outnumbered.
"Watch and learn kid" Jennifer grins impishly while the boy next to her groans in response to her actions.
"Uh oh…" James shivers before turning to his fellow teammate, "Jessie?"
"Ugh…that brat…she has the nerve to walk in here acting all tough…" Jessie growled under her breath before James slides in with an annoyed face:
"Not to mention she copied your style of hair color"
"You know what they say, Jessie, life imitates art" Meowth, surprisingly, tries to tame Jessie's growing anger, but she soon roars. It's as if she didn't hear the two, she is so fixated on winning and stealing Orion and I that she just goes off.
"Get that Pikachu!" She shouts, pointing her finger at us as the gang's Pokémon race toward us…round two beginning soon after!
"knock 'em dead, Koffing" James instructs his monster while Charmeleon turns toward me with a confident appearance.
"You ready?" He asked, turning back to the scene in front of us…focusing his reptilian eyes on the approaching enemies. I simply nod and he senses this.
Something in me had to say this: "Just don't go too crazy with the fire…you know what happened last time" I said…sadistically…and I say QUITE mercilessly to him…referring to the incident that had occurred in Rigel's house a few weeks ago. Charmeleon has quite the habit of having no restraint when it comes to battling, and I know if he isn't careful…someone could get seriously hurt.
He doesn't respond…I just hope he listened…his species can be very rebellious and destructive…and some of them…ENJOY it.
Back to the battle: the Ekans makes the first move…trying to bite me. I guess it found me to be the most vulnerable thanks to my size, but I sidestep quickly. Charm comes in with a quick swipe upwards with his sharp white claws, sending the other lizard back as it physically recoils.
With orders from James, the Koffing releases gas to separate us; however, Jennifer sees this coming and shouts with a booming voice.
"Whirlwind! Blow that gas away!"
Her Pidgeotto's move dissipates Koffing's attack easily and actually moves the cloud toward Team Rocket!
"Darn that girl!"
"I can't feel my nose!"
"Good thing I don't got a nose!" Meowth exclaims before Jessie kicks the two out of the gas before moving out herself, "these kids are getting on my nerves!"
"Allow me!" James butts in, much to Jessie's insistence, and extends a hand outward toward the bird above them, "sludge attack, now!"
The Koffing reacts, unleashing sludge into the unsuspecting Pidgeotto, sending it toward the ground covered in the stuff, and ultimately immobilizing it!
"Oh no!" Jen cries out before pulling out her Pokéball, "return!" Soon enough, they are engulfed in red light and taken inside the metallic sphere for safety, "looks like I'm out."
Rigel jumps in shock and turns toward the young adult, "y-you only have…one Pokémon!?" His mouth is gaped, but Jen shrugs in defeat, "the others are in storage right now…I didn't want to bring all those balls on me during the trip here…and I certainly wasn't expecting a fight like this today."
"All I'm hearing is excuses!" Rigel bravely says before Jen blows a raspberry on him, "give me one of yours then!"
"No way, you brought this on yourself, Jen!"
"Kid, you're lucky my Eevee isn't here" she retorts.
"Why, would it be snuggling me to death right about now?" Rigel grins mischievously as Jennifer roars in laughter.
"Oooohhh that's it, you and I are going to have a fight on our hands later once we deal with these three" Jen finishes.
"You mean, once I deal with them, you're out."
Jen folds her arms and smirks back…the head on this kid's shoulders can be seen for miles…now I know where his Pikachu gets all his confidence from.
Speaking of Orion…I was preparing myself for my final advance toward the net holding him within. With narrowed eyes I charge for the Koffing, using Quick-Attack to try and outsmart it.
James quickly calls his Pokémon to use the usual sludge attack, but Charmeleon added onto my attack with his Ember, severely damaging Koffing as it withdraws!
"Oh my…that is a strong duo" James mutters before Jessie slaps him across the head: "we're the strong ones" she said.
In retaliation, she points toward us, "Ekans, go underground!" The snake lunged for it: quickly making a hole in the dirt before Charm rushed for Orion.
"They're doing it!" Rigel yelled excitedly while Jen appeared less enthusiastic, "it's not over yet, focus."
Soon enough, the purple menace emerges from the ground to surprise the red lizard and quickly ensnares him! The move stopped any follow-up attacks that Charmeleon might have had in mind. I was right behind him when I saw what happened…amidst his cries, he gave a heroic, forceful, growl, "I've got them, go!"
I nod, and with a quick burst of speed I am almost to the net holding Orion in place. The other Pikachu appears delighted, a cute smile forming in response. Unfortunately, I notice his ears drooping when we hear the red-haired Grunt call out, "Meowth! Get in there!"
The feline runs for me, smirking confidently. The cat displays his claws at me, "Meowth, you're cat food!" When he tries slashing me, I dodge with my Quick-Attack and run by him with my super speed, causing Meowth to trip on himself.
I FINALLY make it and both adult Grunts gasp in surprise, knowing full-well what's coming next:
I quickly untie the net and Orion is ultimately freed of his restraints.
"Nice one" He squeaks before we turn our attention toward Team Rocket: who all shiver in fear, grabbing onto one another.
"K-Koffiiinnnngg!" James yelled, raising his voice up an octave.
"Ekans!" Jessie, too, shouts, though amusingly it's lower in pitch than James at that moment.
The two Pokémon leave the exhausted Charmeleon, heading straight for Orion and I.
"Get those two" Jessie growls, confident that their team will still win.
"Ah…and then there were three!" James is less optimistic, however, once he noticed Charmeleon joining our side. The reptile had recovered thanks to a potion given by Rigel.
"Shall we?" He confidently snarled as I nodded in agreement.
"You bet" Orion smiled just as big. Meowth and the two other Pokémon had surrounded us.
"Get em, guys!" We heard Rigel shout across from us. Orion rubs his red cheeks to get sparks going as he sighed, "here we go…"
First, the Ekans tries to tackle Orion, but the mouse skillfully dodges them. Rigel commands his partner, telling him to use Quick-Attack and he does in order to counter the snake's incessant moves.
George, and the group watching, look on with hope, "they make an excellent duo, no wonder they managed to escape the clutches of Team Rocket prior to this" Bill comments.
Koffing rushes for me as Jen stretches her hand to warn me, "Lucas, watch out!"
I jump away to avoid the sludge and Charmeleon comes in as before, releasing his ember. The flying creature uses its smog to try to cover their escape; however, it was ultimately its undoing, for the smog acted as tinder and the fire ignited it. The flames spread upwards toward the source: Koffing's mouth, and once it made contact…the Pokémon explodes and is launched into the sky. Its cries could be heard fading as it disappears as a speck of light. One down already!
Meowth had tried to retreat, not wanting to follow in Koffing's footsteps, but Jessie, annoyed and desperate, threw him into battle again.
As this is happening, Orion senses the Ekans emerging from the ground in order to catch him off guard…it does not…he jumps just as it happens and kicks the purple foe away with a foot. The Pikachu makes a backflip in midair before finally landing on the ground perfectly…he really likes to show off, doesn't he? The feline comes in, trying to catch Orion off-guard, and tries swiping him! The Pikachu just ducks or sidesteps every attack coming from him, no matter what angle it's coming from! Orion's not taking any chances, and I can see he's ready to send this gang into another dimension! With no warning, he grabs Meowth as the cat, sweat falling down his brow, looks down to see the rodent holding him in place.
"Time out, I'm calling a time out!" Meowth yowls as Orion makes a quick mischievous look. The Pokémon shakes and shakes, trying to escape, but the other just spins him around until they look like a tornado to everyone else present. Finally, Orion releases him: sending the third member of Team Rocket into Jessie and James!
Ekans hopelessly tries to get the upper hand, but I soon release ThunderWave before they can bite me…paralyzing them. Charmeleon jumps in and shoves the shocked reptilian into the other three.
"They got this, wow!" Jennifer looks on with a delighted expression…she probably must have thought I came a long way since becoming a Pikachu…though she never got to see any of it…she knows I must have trained hard to get where I'm at…and she's right.
Rigel smirks back, "yea, when will Team Rocket Grunts learn that they can't mess with us!"
While the Grunts, the Ekans and Meowth all stutter and shake in fear, Rigel makes the final move to end the fight:
"Lucas, Orion…ThunderBolt!" The both of us readied ourselves…though I couldn't do ThunderBolt, I used the weaker ThunderShock instead.
"Oh no!"
"Not this again!"
"This is a catastrophe!"
Orion's brow furrowed as mine did the same…we grab each other's arms to share our energy. Sparks escape every part of our body, gathering strength. We throw our arms up and we both yell at the top of our lungs! We unleash large quantities of lightning at Team Rocket: sending them into a frenzy. By the end of it, the grunts and their Pokémon are launched into the sky! The rest of us join together, watching them.
"Was-was that a bit too much?" Rigel asked, fidgeting his hands in nervousness.
"I'm sure they'll be fine" Jen muttered.
Meanwhile…
"Those little brats won't get it easy next time" Jessie cried out.
"I thought we would have won for sure!" James plainly cried.
"Blame the writer!" Meowth exclaimed.
Then all three, in unison, shout, "we're blasting off again!"
Soon enough, they are nothing more than a speck in the sky that quickly shines and fades into oblivion.
With the battle finally over, we breath a sigh of relief. I turn to the Pikachu next to me, raising an eyebrow, "you alright?"
"Of course! That was the most excitement I've had all day, forget the theme park!"
Charmeleon walks up to us as Orion pats me on the back, "You and Lucas make a decent team"
Charm crosses his red arms, nodding once, but it was enough as a show of respect to me.
"Yeehaw!" Rigel comes in, jumping madly in the air as the others follow closely behind.
"You three did amazing! Sorry I couldn't help more" Jennifer said.
Orion, in retaliation, did a somewhat girlish twirl to Jen, "b'cause we are great! Team Rocket will never get that! I say send your whole army at us and we'll beat you!" There's his cockiness coming back as I shake my head. Of course, all the others heard was…Pika-Pikachu-Pi!
"It's…fine" I smiled to her, speaking in English.
"That must have felt like a very heroic moment for you, Lucas" Bill complimented as I put an arm behind me in slight embarrassment.
"Indeed" Maybelline said too.
"Lucas rescued me like the knight in shining armor he is, and I was his damsel" Orion chuckled with an impish brow as I rolled my eyes, looking away. Again, all the humans heard from him was: Pikachu-Pi Pika
"So…that's Team Rocket" Jen muttered, placing her Pokéball containing the fainted Pidgeotto on her belt. George slides in the conversation, "they are a few…but many more like them exist, there are definitely ones that are more dangerous than those three."
"That Meowth…do you suppose…" Bill mumbled.
"Maybe…I'm not sure" I shake my head, "maybe it's…just…a fluke…maybe"
"But, what if it's true, what if that Meowth is just like you? Maybe they were turned into a Pokemon against their will by Team Rocket?" Orion asked as I shrug.
"He was walking on two legs like a human…but who knows…I don't think it really matters right now, Orion" I told him in Pikachu tongue.
"Folks, we should leave in case more show up" George suggested as everyone didn't hesitate to agree.
We continued our trip to the car as I walked beside Jennifer. Rigel had called Charmeleon back into his ball and now Orion is riding on his shoulder.
As I walk on two legs, I laughed to myself, looking up to the girl next to me, "haven't seen you…battle…in a good while" I chuckled as Jen giggled in response.
"Never thought, in a million years, that I would see you as a Pikachu and hold your own against a whole team."
"Does that make me a better trainer than you?" I laughed more with a sideways grin, such smugness on my part I'll admit...
"You'll never be on my level, especially at the height you are now" Jennifer snapped back playfully as I suddenly jump on her back, soon resting next to her shoulder, "how 'bout…now?" I widened my eyes, moving much closer to her face as if I'm going to shoot lasers out of my eyes or something.
"You haven't changed at all Lucas" Jen rolled her eyes, snickering back.
...
A few minutes pass and we're almost to the car by this point. Most of the group was silent, but Jen and I spent time reflecting on the past more. I asked her, "how's Eev?"
"She's in the Pokémon Center, I should get her"
"We can go before we leave Cerulean" George says.
We finally reach the car as everyone starts getting in. Orion jumps off Rigel's shoulder before I do the same with Jennifer. We both are one of the last to enter.
"Lucas, wait" he stops me as I turn with a confused look on my face.
"I haven't thought about it until recently…but…what if…Cy and his girlfriend…what if they know of Bartoli's whereabouts? What if we were to run into them again…what will we do?" Orion asked as I shook my head.
"I don't know Orion, truly…those two were an enigma for sure…I doubt they are on good terms with the doctor, especially after all that's happened. Even if they knew something we didn't, what makes you think they would care about us…what's stopping them from taking you from Rigel again?"
Orion looks down in disappointment, "Cy looked like he started regretting everything though…the time I spent with him in Viridian Forest made me think that not all of them are bad…they can change. If that's true…then maybe Bartoli can change…and maybe she'll help you!"
I slap my paws against my sides as I shrug again, "I don't know Orion…we may never see her or any of them again…I've accepted that. Come on, we should really go…" I jumped into the car seat to join Jen as Orion sighed. Soon enough he jumped in and we made our way out of the park grounds back into Cerulean City.
While he stared outside, Orion, withdrawn from the group, thought to himself quietly:
They seemed to be in a mess of trouble on the news…I hope Cy and his friend are doing alright…
…
And that's the end of this chapter! This one was really fun to write! Please let me know how I did with Team Rocket, I really hope I didn't screw up their characters XD
Anyways, the next chapter we'll be going back to Cy and Km! Until then, see you later!
