Another day, another opportunity for Ash to continue on his journey and get some good progress going. Reaching Viridian City in less than a day was great of course, but if it wasn't for the Team Rocket debacle there was a strong chance he could've made it at least halfway to Pewter City roughly by the time he chose to sleep. Unfortunately for him, life seemed to always throw a hitch in his plans, and Ash was forced to take an entire day to stay in Viridian City for the sake of Absol's health. But with Absol magically all better, Ash now found himself traversing Viridian Forest in his quest to reach Pewter City and challenge Brock. The thought still made the trainer feel nervous, almost a little shaky too. He had to continuously remind himself that this Brock…wasn't his friend, wasn't his Brock. This was going to be one of his toughest battles yet, not just from a pokemon standpoint but a psychological one as well.
As Ash continued to walk he noticed as more of the sun's rays started peeking through the tall trees. This caused a spring to suddenly appear in Ash's step as he started walking faster, soon turning into a light sprint as more and more of the sun waved down upon him from overhead in a form of greeting. With a final push off from his feet, he ran into a small clearing atop a large rock, ever so slightly out of breath but still smiling brightly upon seeing it; Pewter City. From here the city appeared very similar to his dreams, with countless homes and buildings occupying the rocky and grassy ground, with two in particular standing out like sore thumbs; the Pokemon Center and Pewter City gym. Still smiling Ash jumped down from the rock and ran towards the city, filled with newfound excitement which easily overpowered his anxiety.
(Pewter City Pokemon Center)
Upon entering the city Ash made a beeline for the Pokemon Center, wanting to do several things there before challenging the gym: such as getting his pokemon checked out, getting food for himself and his team, calling Professor Oak to let him know that he had arrived safely, and of course, get some rest after the long walk between here and Viridian City. As Ash approached the building, he couldn't help but feel a sudden and unexpected tension in the air, which was amplified by seeing Officer Jenny's motorcycle sitting outside the center. Usually, Ash wouldn't pay any mind to it, but given what happened in the Viridian Forest with Absol and the sudden unease he felt, the trainer had a feeling something was amiss.
Ash approached the center and walked through the front doors, seeing now that his initial feelings were correct. One of the walls had a giant gaping hole leading out the back, it was hard to judge how fresh it was but since he hadn't heard any sirens while walking through town, it probably happened sometime during the night. Nurse Joy appeared sad as she talked to Officer Jenny and… and…
Suddenly all the excitement and joy Ash felt had vanished and instead was replaced with anxiety, sadness, and a hint of fear from seeing him. A mountain of a man, standing well over six feet tall and probably over 200 pounds, with bulging muscles and spiky brown hair. He wore gray khaki pants, green and orange shoes, and a green, orange, and brown polo shirt. Despite the man looking different from Ash's dreams, the trainer knew exactly who that was. Pewter City Gym Leader, and arguably Ash's best human friend in his dreams, Brock Harrison. The gym leader was currently talking with Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, perhaps helping with the situation if Ash had to guess.
It was surreal seeing his old friend again, but this time it was for the first time, and the two of them were all grown up. Despite being happy to see Brock again, it also made Ash feel a fury of more negative emotions. He felt anxiety and fear grabbing and squeezing any life currently in his chest, unsure how to approach this situation or how to talk to his old friend. And, that is where the world-crushing sadness came in because no… they weren't friends, they never were friends. This Brock and the Brock from his dreams were completely different people, he and this Brock never went on countless and dangerous adventures, never grew close and bonded over their love of battles and pokemon, never fought gods together side-by-side and lived to tell about it… this wasn't his Brock. The reality weighed heavy on Ash's mind, it was like all the oxygen in his body suddenly disappeared and left him choking and calling out for help.
Ash closed his eyes, taking deep and calming breaths to calm down before steeling himself. As Ash opened his eyes he tried pushing away all these negative thoughts and emotions. Something bad had happened here, there was a good chance some Pokemon were perhaps in danger. He would worry about his own feelings and Brock later, for now, he needed to find out what happened and see if he could help. The trainer started approaching the other three and managed to pick up on bits and pieces of what they were saying.
"Are you sure it's them?" Officer Jenny asked Nurse Joy, who still seemed a bit… shocked? In a daze? It was hard for Ash to describe.
"It all happened so fast, and the smoke made it difficult to see but yes. I would bet my life on it, it was Team Rocket who attacked us last night." She nodded firmly at her answer, believing it with her whole heart and leaving no room for argument.
"We know where their base is. We need to strike now before they move out, they usually don't stay around after getting a score this big," Brock said, and Ash could hear in his tone how serious the situation was. "We can't wait for more police or for the G-Men to show up, they'll take too long and Team Rocket could be gone by then!"
"You're right, you're right. I suppose we could recruit some trainers in the area, but we haven't seen any new trainers for days. Might be some slim pickings."
"I-I can help, if you need trainers," Ash finally spoke up, still feeling a bit anxious but trying his best to shove that feeling down. His announcement surprised the three as Jenny and Brock turned around to stare at the new trainer. "Team Rocket, right? They attacked this place and stole some of the Pokemon? If you need help, I'm more than willing!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Brock said with fire in his eyes, suddenly walking over to Ash and wrapping an arm around his shoulder with a smile. "We got a trainer, let's go get these bastards!"
"...Are you crazy?" Jenny asked in disbelief. "First off, one trainer won't make a difference against a warehouse full of grunts! Second, we don't know anything about him or what Pokemon he has, or what kind of battling experience he has! Third-"
"My name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town," Ash cut Officer Jenny off, not appreciating the belittlement she was handing out. "I've had two of my pokemon for an entire month at this point, we've been training every single day, they're an Ekans and a Growlithe. With them, I managed to defeat two Rocket grunts in the Viridian Forest and saved my third Pokemon, an Absol from the Hoenn region. I know plenty about battling and have more than enough faith in them to help out. Judging by your position you can either take a risk on us and let us help, or risk it and not attack and lose all those Pokemon. Which risk are you more willing to take, Officer?" Ash asked while folding his arms over his chest. Has Officer Jenny's always been this… rude? Or, had his dreams painted them in a much more flattering light?
"Did you say Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town?" she asked, confusing Brock.
"You know him/me?" Brock and Ash simultaneously, cursing Jenny to nod.
"Mhm, my sister in Viridian City called and informed me what happened, said I should keep an eye out for you and to keep you out of danger," Jenny informed, further confusing Brock.
"Danger?"
"I uh, may have ran into and defeated a few Team Rocket grunts before arriving in Viridian City," Ash answered with an awkward laugh, but this only caused Brock's eyes to widen and shine.
"See! He's dealt with them before and knows what he's in for! He's perfect for this! Officer Jenny please, we need to move out as soon as possible," Brock pleaded, now having more faith in this plan knowing Ash had dealt with grunts before.
Both he and Brock could see how torn she was about this situation, and for good reason too. It was true that she was crunched for time and every second could make the difference, but could the three of them really manage to take down a warehouse of grunts by themselves? If she allowed this to happen, and Ash was injured or worse, the backlash would be shattering for her and the rest of Officer Jenny's not just in Kanto, but possibly the world as well. Allowing the victim of a TR attack years ago to attack a warehouse and possibly get hurt again, or worse?
She sighed before giving them a firm nod.
"Alright, let's move out!"
(Viridian Forest)
With some walking the newly formed trio made it to their destination hidden within the Viridian Forest. Well, hidden was quite a generous way of putting it, as the warehouse looked as you expected it to look in a forest; it stood out like a sore thumb. The bland gray, metal walls stood out amongst the brown trees and green leaves. It was rather large as well, just about or perhaps even bigger than the Pewter City gym. To some, it looked like an ordinary building, but Jenny and Brock knew better. Jenny had tried her best to chase down Team Rocket after they had attacked the Pokemon Center and watched them enter this building. Now here was their opportunity to get those pokemon back!
"Let's try to make this quick before any more grunts show up. Brock, you can have the honors," Jenny said while releasing her pokemon, a Growlithe, Spearow, and Bellsprout. Ash noticed the two new additions and was surprised, seeing how dream Officer Jenny's always used a Growlithe or Arcanine.
The others followed suit and released their pokemon, with Ash releasing his own Growlithe, Ekans, and Absol, which caught the attention of Jenny and Brock upon not seeing a regular Kanto starter. His pokemon stood ready, with Ash having released them back at the Pokemon Center to tell them what would happen. Brock released his pokemon, his classic Geodude and an Omanyte, which again caught Ash off guard.
"Geodude, give us an entrance!"
"DUDE!" the miniature boulder with arms exclaimed as it hopped towards the wall. Geodude brought its fist forward before striking the door, not breaking it open but leaving a very noticeable dent. Geodude repeated this process, striking the area over and over again before there was a gleam in its eye. "DUUUUUUUUDE!" with a powerful roar Geodude punched the door one last time and sent it flying off of its hinges. The trio barged into the warehouse and-
Nothing. To the shock and surprise of everyone, the warehouse was empty save for some piles of smelly trash scattered throughout the room.
"What? No, no! I followed them here! There's no way they could've cleared out so quickly!" Jenny exclaimed in disbelief. She moved further into the room, kicking around the garbage wanting, needing to find out some sort of clue. "Growlithe! Sniff around and see if you can find anything."
"Absol, Growlithe, Ekans, you three try to help out as well," Ash ordered, causing his team to give their respective cries of understanding before they and Jenny's Growlithe slit up and started combing over the room.
The four pokemon did as they were ordered and started investigating the room, sniffing around and trying to find any hint that Team Rocket had been there. The smell of the garbage was strong and messed with their senses, but it was Absol who ended up detecting something else. Absol sniffed and walked towards a panel closer to the middle of the room and whined, scratching and pawing at the tile. This caused the others to perk up and rush over to her.
"Find something girl?" Ash asked, crouching down and staring at the tile now riddled with scratch marks. Ash pursed his lips before looking up at Brock. "Hey, can you have Geodude punch this area a bit? I think Absol found something."
"Of course. Geodude, punch around where Absol is scratching."
"Dude." The rock nodded and hopped next to Absol before she backed away to let Geodude do its job. Doing as commanded Geodude brought its fist down onto a nearby tile, cracking and shattering it with ease. Geodude repeated the process again and again, wiping away the dust and pieces every time. With another smash Geodude wiped the area clean, revealing a red button. The rock type looked up towards its trainer as Brock and the other two glanced at one another, a silent conversation being had. They nodded before Brock nodded down at Geodude, who understood the silent order before pressing the button.
Nothing happened immediately but soon everyone felt the floor started to shake, before the tiles between Ash and Brock, and Jenny started to split apart. Everyone went to their respective sides as the tiles opened more and more, soon leaving a large rectangular hole in the ground. There was a mechanical whirring sound as the hole was soon filled by a rising platform, with a control panel close to Jenny.
"I'm going to assume most warehouses don't have this," Ash said as he and the others walked onto it.
"Most normal ones, no," Jenny answered while checking over the panel. It looked fairly simple, with just a few regular-looking buttons adorning it. She noticed two red buttons, one over the other, and pressed the lower one. The platform whirred to life again before it started to descend, with the floor now above them slowly closing. As they went down, lights on the corners of the platform lit up and quelled the darkness. "Be alert, there's no telling what's waiting for us at the bottom of his elevator. Stay close and watch each other's back," Jenny ordered.
With time, soon there were no longer four small walls surrounding them, but instead a gigantic warehouse as far as the eye could see, causing them to gasp at how large the underground facility really was. But that wasn't the only thing that shocked them, no, but shocked and quite frankly disgusted them more were the countless cages stacked on top of one another, each filled with mainly one, but sometimes two, or even three pokemon! Before they could fully drink in what they were seeing there was a sudden alarm ringing in their ears.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" a voice shouted over the intercom, causing the facility to go into an absolute frenzy. As the elevator finally landed on the ground, they watched as several grunts ran towards them with pokeballs in hand. Four grunts threw their pokeballs, releasing two Rattata, a Zubat, and a Machop. The grunts screamed out their respective attacks before the four grunt pokemon charged the heroes.
"Growlithe use Flame Wheel on the first Rattata, Ekans use Wrap on Zubat, Absol use-"
Ash's orders were cut off by an ear-piercing howl coming from Absol, a quite vicious growl emitting from her as the canine launched into action. Her horn glowed a bright purple as she jumped into the air, twisting her head and slamming her horn into Zubat, sending the little blue bat crashing into the ground with a thud. The second Absol landed on her feet she was on the offensive yet again, seemingly teleporting in front of Machop and repeating the attack, swinging her horn and sending the fighting type smashing into a wall. Absol turned around and growled while staring down the two rat pokemon as her horn suddenly started to glow white. Like the others she charged at them and attacked, smacking them both repeatedly with her horn before sending them flying back several feet and falling onto the ground. The Rattata attempted to stand before flopping back down unconscious.
'That looked like Psycho Cuts and Close Combat, Absols can't learn those moves naturally. What the hell did Team Rocket do to her?' Ash thought as he watched the dark type turn and let out another growl as the grunts returned their pokemon. Instead of sticking around the grunts ran off, causing Absol to roar before giving chase. "Absol wait, no! Get back here!" Ash shouted as he too chased after her.
"Ash! We can't split up like this!" Jenny called out, but it was too late as Ash disappeared behind a corner. "Ugh! Growlithe and Ekans, chase after them and make sure they're okay. Brock and I will continue further into the facility."
Ekans and Growlithe hissed and barked before doing as ordered and raced off after their trainer and new friend.
(Deeper within the facility)
"Absol! Absol where are you?" Ash called out as he wandered around the facility, having lost Absol during her rampage. He was currently following a trail of carnage that she left in her wake, fall, and unconscious grunt pokemon and even a few grunts littered the ground as Absol continued her 'army of one' schtick. Ash was worried about her, but completely understood why she was doing this. There was no telling of the horrors Absol went through during her time with Team Rocket, so her wanting revenge was justified in Ash's mind.
Suddenly he heard familiar growling and rushed towards the source, turning around corner after corner of cages until he finally made it to the source. It was a fancy-looking room deep within the facility, with its double wooden doors slashed and destroyed courtesy of Absol's horn. Ash watched as a Team Rocket member stumbled and fell backward, trying to get away from the canine. His clothes were different from the other grunts, more… important looking, was the best way to put it, as he wore gray and blue compared to the usual grunt black or white. Ash went to call out for Absol to stop but found himself stopping, his raised hand freezing in midair and no words coming out of his mouth… he knew that Absol was his pokemon and that he was her trainer, but who was he to deny her the revenge she so desperately wanted, needed, even craved? Instead, Ash watched in silence as Absol brought her horn down upon the man, knocking him unconscious with ease. As she huffed and puffed Ash steadily approached her, and she snapped to his location expecting another enemy. When noticing it was her beloved trainer Absol stood down, easing up and relaxing while bowing her head, almost in shame or guilt.
"I'm just glad you're safe, girl," Ash said as he knelt and hugged Absol tight, causing the dark type to be stunned for a second before smiling and easing into it. As Ash broke the embrace and stood up he noticed something on the computer on the large and nice-looking desk next to him. As he leaned in for a closer look his eyes widened in surprise; it was a map, the computer was showing a map with little red dots, possibly the location of other Team Rocket warehouses and facilities similar to this one. Checking to make sure no one was at the door, Ash took out his pokedex and snapped a few pictures, wanting to make sure he had not only proof but also perhaps a way to stick it to Team Rocket where it hurt! "C'mon Absol, let's try to find Brock and Officer Jenny. We've gotta show them what we've found."
Before the two could completely get away, there were several separate growls coming from the door. Four Rattatas appeared in the doorway, blocking their path and looking rather angry at everything the intruders had done, especially Absol. Ash looked towards Absol as she breathed heavily, obviously having worn herself out amidst the chaos, her adrenaline was dying down and exhaustion was taking her over. He clenched his fists, really unsure what to do regarding the new situation he found themselves in. He grabbed her pokeball and was readying to return her, he would rather be the one harmed than Absol, but two new noises stopped his movement.
A hiss and howl echoed through the halls as the Rattata turned to the source, all four sudden;y freezing and going stiff, unable to move. The duo watched as Ekans lunged and wrapped herself around one of the purple rats, squeezing hard before lifting and slamming it into the ground. Still keeping her grip on the first rat she lunged forward again, biting down hard on the second. As she took care of the first two, Ash and Absol watched as a wheel of fire smacked into the remaining Rattata, sending them flying out of view. The Wrap and Bite attacks soon proved to be too much for the low-level grunt pokemon, as the Rattata suddenly went unconscious in Ekans holds. Sighs of relief escaped Ash and Absol as Ekans let go of the two rats, allowing her and Growlithe to approach their trainer.
"Thanks for the save you two, got here just in time." Ash smiled down at his team, who let their respective noises of happiness from his praise. As things finally seemed to calm down, Ekans suddenly started to glow a bright sparkling white. The three others watched in awe as Ekans' form started to change, growing bigger and longer as the light fully kept her hidden. As the light eventually died down, a new being had replaced Ash's Ekans. This one had narrow eyes and several sharp teeth. Just below its head was a large hood with a face-like pattern, the pattern consisted of two red and yellow eyespots outlined in black, a wide black streak resembling an upturned mouth, and a black V-shaped stripe above the eyespots. No longer was this Ash's Ekans, but instead a fully evolved Arbok. "Ekans! You evolved!" Ash shouted in utmost joy, staring in awe as his once little snake grew into a giant cobra.
The cobra hissed, staring down at her new larger body in shock and awe; it felt awkward for the most part but the new height and length felt nice in a way. She slithered towards Ash and coiled around him, hugging him and hissing happily as she found herself being able to wrap around his whole body instead of just his arm or leg. Ash wobbled from the newfound weight and laughed, petting his poison type and rubbing her scales as Growlithe and Absol howled in celebration.
"Okay, okay you three, we really should go check on Brock and Jenny," Ash said, patting Arbok to get off of him… only for her to stay wrapped around him. "Uh, Arbok? It's time to go," he said again, only for her to let out a content hiss while squeezing him a little tighter. A small growl escaped Absol as she approached the two, managing to slip her horn between them and pulling, trying to pry Arbok off. Eventually, it worked, and the two threw small glares at one another before Ash spoke again. "Hey, I love you three, but this isn't the time for games. Let's go," he firmly told them, causing the two to lower their heads slightly and nod. Once he saw them relax Ash walked out of the room with the others in tow, trying to find the others.
As the four tried retracing their steps, they noticed a lack of grunts or grunt pokemon attempting to attack and stop them. The alarm had been seemingly shut off as well at some point amidst the raid, which meant either all the grunts were defeated, or Brock and Jenny had been defeated and the grunts thought the threat had been neutralized. As Ash and his team returned to the beginning area, he sighed in relief upon seeing Brock and Jenny talking to one another, with several grunts tied up and unconscious. Their footsteps must've been loud as Brock and Jenny turned around and watched him approach, with Brock smiling and Jenny sighing in relief.
"Glad to see you four are okay. Have any trouble?"
"Not really, Absol here took down a lot of the grunts, and Ek-Arbok and Growlithe here took care of the remaining grunt pokemon," Ash informed while correcting himself, gesturing to the giant purple cobra beside him.
"I see Ekans evolved, congrats! And, that's great to hear. The grunts here weren't anything special, so this is probably a low-level facility. I'm sure with some exploring the other Jenny's and G-Men should be able to find the more important locations."
"Well, luckily for you and everyone else, that shouldn't be so difficult." Ash pointed behind him toward the path they just came from. "Follow this path until you find a room with the door torn off its hinges. In the room there's a computer, it seems to have the location of similar facilities across Kanto," Ash said, surprising the officer and causing her to smile.
"I'll go check it out, after that, we can start moving all these pokemon to the Pokemon Center."
With that Jenny followed the path to check out what Ash had discovered, leaving Ash and Brock to check over the caged pokemon. As they checked cage after cage, neither noticed a pair of red eyes staring at them from a cage behind them, amongst the others. Inside was a little blue bipedal pokemon, its eyes staring intently at Ash and never leaving him. There was something special about this man… it reminded the pokemon of its old human friend back in Sinnoh, the one who hatched and raised her from a wee egg. Perhaps when she was free from this cage, she'd try to approach and meet him. But for now, she sat against the back of the cage to rest…
As the journey continues!
Sorry this took so long, my beta has been busy with school, so I decided to try and use Grammarly for this chapter. Hopefully it's halfway decent lol
I'm so excited because in a few chapters, I'll be able to write something I've been looking forward to forever now. Stay tuned ;)
Idk what else to say tbh. Join me next time in Ash's new journey. See ya in chapter 8!