Hey readers, time for a new update! I hope you enjoy this new installment to 50,000 Volts! Things are about to get exciting again!

Chapter fifty-nine: Fire and Flame

The next day arrived, and our group left the room to head downstairs to the lobby. As we gather ourselves and plan for the day ahead, we can hear jazz music being played all around us.

"So, what's the plan?" Jen asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I guess we can wing it for now…" Rigel responded in earnest.

She scoffed back, having expected an actual idea from him, "wing it? Oh come on…"

"We'll think of something!"

"Sure, hopefully you'll come up with something after breakfast." She said as I climbed and rested on her shoulder. Orion decided to walk next to Rigel as he sometimes did for now.

"I will…" Rigel huffed back quietly under his breath. Once outside, we browse through Saffron City looking for somewhere to eat. After we found a small café not too far from the hotel, we discussed our "plan" for the day.

I'm going to be blunt: I don't think Rigel is prepared for the gym in this city: in fact, I think we should find a ghost-type or bug-type first to counter the psychic-type Pokémon the gym-leader may have.

I guess we should have captured a ghost while in Lavender Town…heh. Defeating the gym leader without them shouldn't be "impossible" but it's no smooth trip either. I do think we ought to get some of Rigel's Pokémon higher in level first.

During breakfast, I brought it up and Jennifer and Rigel seemed up for it. After all, the purpose of being here was to get the Marsh Badge right?

And so, we spend the first few hours of the day at a training center in the affluent part of town. It made sense after all: Charmeleon is just a few levels away from evolving into a powerful Charizard and that will help Rigel a lot on his journey.

Charmeleon went up against several Pokémon in a small ring. Some were quite challenging while others…not so much. Orion and I watched while seated next to Rigel/Jennifer. I can tell Charm is giving it all he's got: he really wants to prove himself to his trainer even if he doesn't show it. From time to time, Rigel would give his fire-type potions and other items to aid his Pokémon through the trials. Unfortunately, we eventually had to end the session once the clock passed two o'clock because the center had to close for a private tournament later in the evening.

We left the center and decided to go have lunch: in a traditional restaurant not too far away. The restaurant in question has booths and tables…it's buffet-style for Pokémon and human alike!

I just had to fill my plate with food stuffed with cheese…loads of cheese. I guess being a mouse has that effect on me…but I better not make this a habit. Rigel and Orion both had rice bowls alongside Jen who also had her usual Oran berry smoothie.

We talked…hung out…usual stuff we did now together.

"I remember when I first met Lucas…he always had this problem with a Bidoof" Jennifer said before taking a sip from her drink, "that Pokémon had a home nearby and it never liked it when Lucas carried wood across the building to help us remodel. Needless to say he had to come back inside quick before he would get swarmed by the Bidoof and its friends" she laughed as I chimed in.

"Well…you just had…to have…a place…beside their dam…" I rolled my eyes.

Rigel and Orion gave sheepish smiles after looking to one another in confusion, "Um…what is that Pokémon?"

Jen reaches over and shows her old Pokédex: inside she searched for the creature and there it was: a beaver-like Pokémon that looked cute at first glance…but never underestimate their bite…

"It did NOT…like me…and I never…knew why…" I shake my head back, placing a paw on the side of my yellow face before Jen laughed.

"Totally…face it Lucas…you've got the WORST luck!"

"He kind of does, doesn't he?" Rigel inquired wholeheartedly, looking down to me as I shrugged. Orion couldn't help but chuckle in his usual manner, "he definitely does!" The Pikachu squeaked.

"I'll never know why…" I sighed.

"Calm down there, Mr. Positive…your luck has certainly improved recently."

"It has, hasn't it?" My long ear flicked at this.

"You bet! You got us here…we're traveling Kanto…I mean, what's not to like? Compared to our adventure in Viridian Forest and having to deal with Team Rocket…life is pretty good right now, wouldn't you say?"

"I suppose" I nodded.

Orion couldn't help but jump toward me and rub the top of my head as the others laughed in unison. Let's face it…Orion's never going to stop doing that, heh.

After we're done eating, we quitted the restaurant and decided to head to the "electronic" district of the city: where a lot of stores sold top of the line technology for consumers...from the latest Pokédex model to more advanced Pokéball models such as Ultraballs.

It's quite as affluent as everywhere else in town.

Anyways, we ended up buying some things for Rigel before ending up at an arcade.

Now this place is HUGE: it's as big as a casino! All over there are games, new and old, that are lined up all over the place! Some were racing games that Orion loved to play while others are "simpler" like pinball machines and basketball games. Man, this is the biggest arcade I've ever seen…I can't believe I've never heard of it before! Then again, it looks fairly new…just like all the new stuff in Viridian City, I realized that Saffron City must have changed drastically as well while I was gone.

In the center there's this balloon decoration near the ceiling above everything: it's a giant Clefairy figure. Food court is upstairs along with the points/rewards booth were all the prizes are. All in all, it's a busy place and our group decided to separate to go and have fun!

Rigel and Orion wanted to get a gaming console…I guess they could manage to get lucky and manage to win enough tickets, who knows? Best of luck to them. Jennifer and I, meanwhile, go play an interesting game that was recently released apparently. It's called Table Toss, so basically the object of the game is to build 'rage' by tapping the edge of the table "controller" and then once the meter is full and you're ready: you flip the table to try and get a high score. There's a monitor in front of us that shows cartoon video game characters getting blown away by the table. It's quite amusing to say the least…it's such a ludicrous situation and it gave Jen and I BIG laughs.

Meanwhile, Rigel and Orion are playing on a slot machine to try and gamble their way into winning large amounts of tickets. Don't ask me how they pulled it off, but it appeared as though they managed to scrap a sizeable amount. Once the duo gets what they think is enough they take them to the booth to see if they have enough. They didn't realize that in the midst of their excitement they are about to bump into somebody!

"Uph! I'm so sorry!" Rigel throws his arms out in an apologetic manner, Orion copying his trainer/brother's expression.

"I appreciate the apology." The tall man turned. Rigel's relief soon changed as he gave a confused look. The man soon grins back in return.

Both he and his Pikachu did not have time to react…they are quickly surrounded by hidden forces and subdued!

"H-hey! Umph!" Rigel is restrained quickly as Orion is thrown into a shock-proof bag.

Not a second later, Jennifer and I finally pulled away from the game…my black triangular nose picks up a familiar, fading, scent…

The girl next to me crouched down with confusion running down her face, "what's up?"

"R-Rigel…" I silently muttered. Right afterwards, I fell down on all fours and sprinted down towards the center of the arcade with Jennifer (who's confused as heck) following behind.

Once we make it to a section with 'VR' booths we both see it: a group of men that have the teen boy, Rigel, in their custody. They are all wearing black coats and pants along with some gear; however, they lack the 'R' symbol on their chests.

How do I know they're Team Rocket? It's because I immediately recognized one of them…it's a man in his twenties: very short hair…very bad temper…crazed face…can use fire with his hands as demonstrated in Outpost 3C 273. It's the same man who piloted a Spiderbot…the same man that humiliated Rigel in Verdigris in Viridian Forest…the same man who had such contempt for "Cy."

I don't remember his name, nor do I care to remember…all I know is that we're in grave danger!

"Y…you!?" I shouted in human-speak, immediately catching their attention and catching them off guard momentarily.

"D-did that Pikachu just…"

"Talk!?"

"It did!"

"Let…him go…" I growled in warning, electricity enveloping my red circular cheeks.

"Who cares, just get them!" The leader shouted.

I narrowed my eyes, ears flattening in anger. Jennifer gave a gasp but knew she had to act: the Sinnoh girl pulled out a Pokéball and chucked it in their direction, "Sneasel, I choose you!"

A weasel-like Pokémon appears that has bright greenish-bluish fur and three red "tails" protruding from its back. One red "ear-like" appendage can be seen on its head. Its sharp red eyes lock on the hostile group. The most striking part about their appearance are their razor-sharp claws that could, in theory, slice open anything. It folds its arms in confidence.

The mute Sneasel next to me prepares for the imminent battle:

Sure enough, the "Team Rocket" members stepped forward, not reaching for ANY Pokéball but instead they display their 'powers' to us. The crowd around us are forced to get back or run away as one by one the Grunts activate their powers.

My eyes widened…now there are a bunch of these freaks with the power to use Pokémon moves…but I thought Bartoli…no…oh no! Could it be!? Could it be that THEY were the ones that took Bartoli away from jail!? Is that how and why there are more people with the serum!?

Oh man, this could be bad!

I can see Rigel is struggling…squirming furiously back and forth by one goon. I had enough: I charged for them with Jennifer's Sneasel following in right beside me.

The opposing group unleash a barrage of moves ranging from Razor Leaf to Ember with even a simpler version of a Thundershock.

Unfortunately for them, we're faster than they are so we dodge quite easily, sidestepping and jumping out of the way to avoid their attacks.

Despite this, I ended up getting hit eventually by one of them: one that had used fire against me.

"Luc!" I heard Jennifer yelling across from me. In retaliation, she called out her Eevee to help.

"Come on, Brat!" The familiar man said before pushing Rigel out towards the exit. I stood up and shook myself, soon releasing a Thundershock at one of the grunts. It ends up incapacitating them! The Sneasel beside me displays its claws after Jen yelled, "Fury Swipes!"

Sure enough, their talons glow and they unleashed a barrage of slashes that managed to take down several 'grunts' in our way. A few more remained across from us. Eev used quick-attack along with the weasel-Pokémon next to her. I, meanwhile, provided support by releasing more electric attacks toward our enemies. Some 'grunts' continued using the same moves, but most were hindered by their lack of speed. There is one exception: a single opponent with the ability to use speed to their advantage.

While one of the humans used a Thundershock-like move against me, I used mine to meet his attack head on. Both Eev and the Sneasel ended up having to deal with the one grunt who had speed on their side. The man quickly used their version of quick-attack to try and get an advantage over the Pokémon.

The Eevee was shocked to see humans using Pokémon abilities…just as how I described them to her. Nevertheless, she had to focus…jumping out of the way to avoid the human's punch and subsequent kick toward her. The brown fox-cat retaliated by using Bite to gnaw at the man's leg the moment the opportunity presented itself, and this causes the man to yell in pain. Sneasel took this instant to hit the man several times…knocking him out eventually.

Meanwhile, the man and I continued barraging each other with electric attacks. I had heard Eev running towards me as I stepped away just in time. She had jumped on my shoulders to boost her charge at the man: she tackled him hard! Despite her small size, her attack rendered him unconscious too.

The three of us join once more, panting from our brief skirmish.

"You alright?" Eev had asked before I nodded, "I guess those humans haven't gotten much experience with their powers yet" I deduced. I doubted that it worked that way…hell…maybe I'm wrong, maybe they level up the same way Pokémon do…who knows?

Anyways, we heard Jennifer at the exit yell to us, "come on, they're getting away!"

It turns out Jen had tried flanking them but with the panicked crowd and chaos all around us, by the time she reached the exit: the others were already out! We waste no time; we hastily rush to join the trainer to search for Rigel and Orion.

We make it outside the arcade complex to find ourselves in yet another chaotic scene, but it doesn't take long for us to catch sight of the fleeing grunts once we look to our right.

"There!" Jen yelled, rushing down the street in pursuit. Rigel and Orion, who by now we realized is in a shock-proof bag, are put inside of a van; however, as it pulls away, Jennifer manages to jump on and grab onto the rear doors. Eev, the Sneasel and I join her quickly afterward just as the van picks up speed. The vehicle starts swerving back and forth on the road, not caring if anyone is in its path or not. Sure enough, the van bumps or scrapes some cars that are in the way.

Jen looks over to see her Sneasel about to get crushed by a car on the side of the van, so she pulled out her Pokéball to send the creature back into its ball to save it.

The grunts inside continued to violently swerve the van back and forth on the lanes to try and shake us off, but we all held on tightly we possible…we couldn't afford to lose Rigel and Orion…heck no!

"Lucas, Eev…try getting in there!" We heard the girl order. "Come on" I heard the brown-furred Pokémon next to me say. We climb up, figuring if we can make it across the roof we'll get to the front of the car and force it to stop! Jen, meanwhile, tried to gain entry from the back. She almost doesn't see the stream of fire headed straight for her from inside!

The window shatters while she ducks to avoid getting hurt. Just after this, the van makes a HARD left into an alleyway…its intended destination: one of the main bridges of Saffron City!

"Stupid girl, stand still!" The lead grunt exclaimed from inside. The other had Rigel in a tight hold: the boy's hands are tied up; however, he tried reaching for one of his hidden Pokéballs…namely his second favorite…Charmeleon.

"You keep him there, I'm ENDING this!" The leader in the trenchcoat growled.

"Go on then, Rk!"

"Put the kid under!" Rk ordered.

Rk/Jeremy shot his flames at the doors at full strength, and they opened violently. It sends Jennifer dangling, and she raised her legs as not to make contact with the pavement. The vehicle is still moving fast so it wouldn't be good…still…she could barely hold on as it is. The former Team-Rocket member stepped out, looking towards her, "I don't know who you are…but I've got to cut our introduction short I'm afraid" he points his hand at her, and she gasped. Eev saw this, still on the top of the van and she used quick-attack to save her trainer. The Eevee yelled toward Rk, who is barely able to react. Despite getting hit, his hand manages to blindly strike the Pokémon: sending her off the van in response.

Jen took this time to swing in and kick the man in the face with both feet, but in doing so she is thrown off the van too…luckily landing on some trash bags around the end of the alleyway. Eevee, having recovered, ran up to her best friend and gave a concerned yip.

The young adult groaned and rubbed her head, "I'm fine…but…damn it…" before she can sulk, she sees her Eevee running ahead towards the bridge in the distance. With the traffic there, maybe they can get to the others in time! Jennifer gave a self-assured nod before getting up to follow.

Meanwhile, Rigel (before he can be injected with the tranquilizer) manages to press on the Pokéball to enlarge it and then quickly presses it to free Charmeleon! The reptile comes out and immediately smacks the man with his tail…rendering the man immobile temporarily. The fire-type goes to free his young trainer soon after.

I, on the other hand, jumped into the front side of the van and tackled the driver, unleashing a paralyzing electrical charge that stunned him. This results in the van swerving out of control before crashing sideways into a car in front of them. The crash causes me to rock back and forth…and I am sent out of the van in a violent fashion.

Among the wreckage: I soon look up, albeit weakly, to find that we have stopped halfway across the bridge! There's many cars blocking the way…which means maybe we can escape! It barely tipped over too…but I still ended up outside. I look down to see bruises and scratches all over me and my clothes (which I've had since I bought them in Viridian City) are ruined.

Rk had been thrown out during the whole crash and he too is dazed from his injury. Rigel isn't fairing much better, but with Charmeleon taking the blunt of the crash he saved his human from a worse fate. Rigel adjusts his eyes and looks around…once he collects himself and has enough energy, he grabs the bag holding Orion from within, "c-come…on…" he muttered to his lizard.

"Rigel!?" He heard a familiar voice calling out to him from outside: it's Jennifer!

The boy and his Pokémon quickly crawled out to join her and Eev. I move out of the front side of the van to see them, "Lucas…you alright?" I heard the young adult ask before I nodded, "I'm…good…" I said before I finally made it to them. The teen next to the girl opens the bag and finally frees his Pikachu. The mouse-like Pokémon looks around frantically but is relieved to see we're "safe."

"Thank goodness" Orion huffed loudly, "I am getting TIRED of ending up in those bags!" I couldn't help but chuckle back.

Rigel notices something falling on his head: blood. He groaned upon realizing it and it sent Jennifer into slight panic, "oh no! Hold on!" She took out a First-Aid kit from her bag to dress his wound. The man from the car that was hit by the van approached us and gave a look of shock on his face, "what the heck happened here!?"

"We need to leave!" Jen shouted.

Before anyone can do anything else, the side of the white vehicle is melted open by who else: Rk…

The man driving the vehicle reached for a walkie talkie and weakly murmured into it "7th…bridge…" before passing out.

Once Rk/Jeremy climbed out, he gave a haughty laugh to us all, "you guys are A LOT of fun…I must say…bringing you to my uncle is going to make me tear up…I won't have anyone like you to play with…at least for a while that is…"

Jen, who had enough of these grunts, couldn't help but laugh at this suddenly, surprising us, "you think you're hot stuff!? Team Galactic would tear you up!"

I look to her in shock, what is she talking about? Team Galactic!? Why does that name sound so familiar…no…Team!? W-what the hell is she saying!?

"I see we got a Sinnoh tourist amongst us…I'm willing to wager that the human-turned-Pikachu next to you knows who you are" the man said as Jen scoffed loudly back.

"You won't win…" she snarled back, clenching her first.

"No, we just need to survive…adapt…evolve!" Suddenly, his hands catch fire and the bystander across from us jumped and screamed: running away in panic as the people all around us left their cars to escape. Rk unleashed a barrage of flames at us. Our group had to quickly jump out of the way. He didn't stop there, he continued using his fire-attacks before the grunt from the back of the van climbed out quickly and joined him.

We are forced to battle once again.

"Quick-Attack, Eev!" Her starter Pokémon made an attempt for the two humans, but they saw this coming. Rk's accomplice stomped the ground…creating a shockwave that sends Eev into the sky. The lead grunt follows through with his flame attack and it manages to strike the brown-fox in mid-air!

"No!" Jen shouted.

Orion growled in return before quickly making his way to them, soon jumping to grab her before the grunts could finish her off. I run up to unleash a Thundershock while Charmeleon joins in with his ember.

Orion ends up with Eev on top of the guard rail at the edge of the bridge. Rk's companion used his rock abilities to create a wall to block our attacks against the two, much to our frustration!

Orion, while holding Eev, unleashes a powerful Thunderbolt, but their unearthly foe stomps at the ground. Both Pokémon don't have time to react, the part of the bridge where they're standing on collapses, taking them with it!

We all scream in utter shock and horror, "Orion!" We all yelled in unison.

Charmeleon couldn't take it anymore…his longtime friend was hurt trying to aid the group…time and time again Orion seemed to be caught in the middle thanks to these damn grunts! He gritted his teeth and soon anger began building deep inside him. I gave a side-eye and notice his imminent charge. The reptile let out a powerful flame attack directed towards Rk and his companion, roaring as loud as he could. Both humans were thrown back by the attack and are momentarily stunned by it…

Before the fire-type knew it, a bright white light engulfed them! We all gasped, shielding our eyes from the sheer brightness surrounding the reptile's body. Unknown to us at that moment: Charmeleon is undergoing a transformation.

He grew…his red-color scales becoming a bright orange and his belly changed in color and size also. Most strikingly, he sprouted wings on his back and got two long horns on his head now.

Once it's over and the glow ceased, Charmeleon is gone and in his place where he stood is a large and powerful Charizard! The creature examined itself, noting the remarkable charges that took place, but it doesn't last long.

We couldn't believe our eyes: Charmeleon had evolved! Rk tried to retaliate but the beast in front of the two roared and unleashed a stream of "dragon fire" at them. Jeremy the Ex-Grunt rolled to the side as his accomplice got hit and is injured. Rk returned fire with his own flames to try and stop the reptile's advances.

Rigel had been looking over the bridge in the meantime, the situation involving Orion and Eev became a much more pressing matter than his Pokémon evolving. I join him but to our dismay: there's no sign of them anywhere! Jennifer grabbed the boy's shoulder to turn him toward her, "Rigel, we have to go!"

"No, not without them!"

"Now, Rigel! Get Charizard to get us out of here!"

"But…"

"We'll find them…come on!"

Not wasting anymore time, Rigel calls out to his "dragon" to pick them up. Rk had to take cover unfortunately for him. This gave us time to get on Charizard's back before the boy shouted, "go!"

The fire-type launches into the sky: leaving both grunts alone to pick up the pieces.

"Damn it…" Rk silently murmured in slight anger.

"Jeremy…Jeremy…" his accomplice muttered weakly…gravely wounded by the Charizard. The man looks down at the man and gave a grin, aiming his hand down…

"I guess it's time I liquidated my asset" he couldn't help but laugh madly at that as the other man could only look on with dread in his eyes.

It only took a few seconds, but the other man is no more, betrayed by Rk. The latter walked away nonchalantly and soon find another car containing more members of his group.

"What happened!?" One of them asked but he shut them up, "just drive, we'll follow them."

Sure enough, the young adult brandishes a device. It turns out he put a tracker on somebody from our group during the chase…he put it on none other than Rigel…

Speaking of the boy, he frantically searched for his Pikachu and the Eevee all over while Jen and I looked around also. Unfortunately, the river is devoid of anybody. We all looked at each other in dread as we followed the river in search of the two fallen Pokémon. The only thing we can do is pray and hope that we'll be able to find them soon…while also escaping the clutches of the new splinter faction of Team Rocket.

Phew! That was a lot of stuff that happened! The most significant being Charmeleon's transformation into Charizard.

I hope you all enjoyed this recent chapter to 50,000 Volts and I'll see you all next time, cheers!