Well folks, here we are at chapter two, this one is a little shorter than Ihad intended but I think this ended at a good place. Now on to a few notes. Due to a variety of issues I had to skip a step of my editing process so if this isn't as polished as you have come to expect from me, my apologies. I will see if I can fix the issue before chapter three but I make no promises.
Finally the disclaimer. Pokemon and all the characters therein are the property of Game Freak, The Pokemon Company and a list of other companies and people I am too lazy to look up.
Please support the official release..
Viridian City, Southern Guard Station, 19:00
Lieutenant Angela Jenny, who was working at the guard station today, stood outside after reading an announcement about a pair of suspicious people sighted around town with a Meowth. The effort to find them while dealing with the influx of new trainers fresh from Professor Oak's school had complicated matters. True, it was expected at this time of year, but it was still a stress on police resources.
Officer Jenny's mind refocused when she saw a boy, a teenager really who looked like he had been run through the wood chipper, ran up to the city gate while pushing a slightly scorched bike alongside him. In the bike's basket, Jenny spotted a pokemon. When the boy had gotten closer, she saw it was a Pikachu who looked to be in the same state as the boy. When the pair had gotten close, she ran out of the station and with a voice full of authority said, "STOP, what the heck happened to you two, kid?"
The boy, who Jenny noted had several cuts and scratches along his hands and face, said through gasping breaths, "Attacked by Spearow flock… Got split from group, Pikachu hurt."
Jenny looked at the boy. Technically, she was supposed to ask him for some form of ID. If he was a trainer, it would be on his Pokedex, but the Pikachu on the bike looked to be extremely hurt. After a moment, she decided.
"Kid,bring that bike inside. I'll get you to the Pokemon Center." As the boy moved to obey, Jenny ran towards her desk and grabbed a first aid kit from the cabinet before turning on the station radio and calling dispatch. "Dispatch, this is Lieutenant Angela Jenny, Badge number 54545. I have an injured teen male, and a badly injured Pikachu. I am escorting them to the Pokemon Center. Please send relief to the south gate, over.
There were a few moments of radio static before a voice replied, "Officer Jenny, You are clear to go . Relief will arrive shortly. We will attempt to alert the Pokemon Center staff of your arrival. Over."
Running back to the boy, she ordered, "Grab your pokemon and come with me." before she led him to the station garage where her motorcycle and its sidecar sat. The boy, realizing what she wanted him to do, climbed into the sidecar as she swung her leg over her bike, not for the first time cursing the shortness of the uniform skirt she was required to wear.
Jenny quickly tossed the boy the first aid kit she had grabbed before she hit a button on the bike, causing the garage door to open. After a moment, the bike's engine roared, and they were off like a shot. As they made their way through the city, Jenny saw the young rookie that was taking her place at the guard station. Once she made sure that the boy and his Pokemon arrived safely, she would return and let the young man return to the station. As they approached the stairs of the Pokemon Center, she yelled to the boy, "Hold on tight!"
A few minutes ago,
Nurse Practitioner Bethany Joy sat at her desk. It had been a long, hard day, and it wasn't over. She was running a double shift because of the increased number of trainers coming in today.. Besides the local trainers that frequented her Pokemon Center, Professor Oak's school had unleashed a new set of graduates on the world. That had added nearly two dozen trainers to the list of things she and her staff had to deal with. Unlike those games the League put out every couple of years, injuries couldn't be healed in a few seconds. In the real world, healing a Pokemon's injuries took lots of time and effort. It took supplies and funds. True, the government and local donations took care of most of that, but some months their finances were razor thin.
This year's group of graduates were the same as usual. A group of kids that pushed their starter Pokemon way too hard, Bringing in Pokemon, they had captured that were beaten half to death, and they were proud of that. Joy had been a Nurse Practitioner for a long time now. She understood that for Pokemon trainers, injuries were part of what was to be expected. Minor cuts? No problem. a few burns? A walk in the park. Some bruising? That had been first week stuff back in nursing school. No, it was when they brought in Pokemon, who were injured to where crippling injuries were a distinct possibility. All of this was at the hands of kids who were getting their first taste of freedom. Most of them, now that they had the freedom to live as they wanted, they wasted that by acting entitled and treating her staff like shit. The girls had tried to use their new 'adult' status to hit on her male employees while the boys had done the same to her female staff, with the occasional boy or girl going after the staff member of their own gender.
The worst of the lot had shown up later on in the day. His name had been Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak , and he had made sure that everyone in the Pokemon Center knew that. For the first time in a while she was happy that the Viridian City gym was often closed, because of its leader often being away so it caused problems for the trainers who couldn't afford a trip to Johto to take on one of their gyms to get a badge. And true, her cousin who worked for the Gym Inspection Agency had told her they were looking at getting the leader replaced. But in the short term, it meant that there was no reason for any of the entitled little brats to stick around. Most of them had headed towards Pewter City as soon as their pokemon were healed up. The rest had found other accommodations. Either way, they weren't her problem anymore.
Bethany Joy's thoughts returned to the present as she heard the rumble of an engine making its way in her direction. "Is that a motorcycle?" she asked the empty air as it got closer. Suddenly, the automatic door opened and a motorcycle with a sidecar skidded to a halt in her lobby. Her first thought was what was so dire to require driving INTO the Pokemon Center. Her second thought was, "How much is this going to cost to clean?"
Joy looked at the boy sitting in the sidecar. He had several cuts and scratches on the visible parts of his body. And his clothes had several cuts as well. In his arms. Was a Pikachu. The boy looked to be in a rough state and the Pikachu looked far worse. Besides the same cuts and scratches the boy had, it also had substantial electrical burn marks up and down its body. If she had to guess, it had overused its electoral attacks far too much and at a level it wasn't ready to handle. She would have words with the boy later about letting his Pokemon get into this condition later. But for now, it was time to put on her professional face.
"We have a driveway, you know, Jenny. Now what's the problem?" Joy said with a huff.
Jenny excitedly spoke up, "It's a Pokemon emergency!"
Joy wanted to mouth off but kept her demeanor professional.. Moving over to her computer, she pressed the button for the intercom and said, "We need a stretcher for a small electric Pokemon with severe electrical burns and electricity drain, stat!"
The cries of Chansey told Joy that her Pokemon assistants were on their way. When they arrived, she gently took the Pikachu from the boy's arms and gently laid it down on the stretcher. She tried to comfort the boy and said, "It will be okay." before she turned to the Chansey and ordered, "Rush this Pikachu to the Critical Care Unit."
The Chansey moved to obey and Joy followed behind them, telling Jenny and Ash, "We will begin the treatment immediately."
"Uh…" the boy spoke up, causing Joy to turn around to look at him.
"Who are you?" she asked
Jenny spoke up, "He is the Pokemons trainer."
"I'm Ash Ketchum. If there's anything I can do, please tell me."
Joy looked at the boy in front of her. And she couldn't help the frown that formed on her face. "You can be more responsible when you are battling. "
"Huh?" the boy asked dumbly.
Frustrated by how dense the boy seemed to be, she replied, "You don't let your Pokemon battle till it's in this condition. How long have you been a trainer?"
The boy thought about it for a moment before he replied, "about six hours."
Joy wanted to face palm, but kept her professionalism, "From the looks of it your Pikachu evolved into its current state fairly recently. And from the looks of it, you made it channel an incredibly dangerous amount of power at a point in its development where its electricity generating abilities are still developing. What you did could seriously cripple your Pikachu's ability to generate its own electricity."
"But you don't know what happened!" the boy said hotly.
Mentally Joy rolled her eyes. It was just another excuse from a newbie trainer who pushed their Pokemon too far. She didn't have time for this. "I can't think of any good reason for your Pikachu to be put into this state. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go treat your Pokemon.
Turning to Jenny, she said, "Thank you for getting them here so quickly, but please, next time, use the driveway."
Jenny had the grace to look embarrassed. "Yeah. sorry about that. I better get back to my post." Before she went to retrieve her bike.
Joy was about to go join the Chanseys when she heard the boy speak.
"Please take care of Pikachu." He said, sadness and regret dripped from every word.
Joy softened the look on her face. Despite his dumbass actions, the boy cared about his Pikachu. "Leave everything to me. Now you'll need to go wait in the lobby until we're done. Before she turned around and left the room.
—-
As Ash made his way to the lobby and found a seat, He got lost in his thoughts. Nurse Joy's words had hurt him more than he had thought possible. "She didn't listen to a word I had to say. She just assumed that I made Pikachu fight until he was hurt like that." That someone thought that he was the kind of trainer that would treat their Pokemon like that was something that offended Ash deeply. He would never do that to one of his Pokemon. Not intentionally, anyway.
Feeling himself beginning to get upset, Ash closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Getting himself worked up wouldn't help anything.. As his mind cleared. Ash thought, "I wonder where the girls are? I hope they got away from the Spearow without too much trouble." Ash tried to comfort himself. There were seven of them and he knew that Marnie, Cynthia and Leaf were good at Pokemon battles. "But that had been a lot of Spearow." As he sat there Ash had a sudden realization.
"Wait, I can call them!" Ash yelled to an empty room.. Grabbing His Pokedex from his jacket, he quickly activated the phone function and pulled up the contacts. Before they had left, Ash had made sure to get the phone numbers for each of the girls, His mom and Professor Oak. Selecting Cynthia, he waitedfor the phone to connect.. What he saw was the words can not connect.. He tried May next only to get the same message. He moved down his contact list only for the same message to appear. "What the heck is going on.?" Looking at his screen, he noticed that his reception indicator showed no bars. How was that possible?
The sound of the automatic doors interrupted Ash's thoughts opening. When he looked up, he saw Cynthia and the other girls run in. Not quite believing his eyes he called out, "Cynthia?"
Cynthia and the other girls saw Ash. Cynthia was about to respond when she was pushed out of the way as Serena pushed past her and ran up to Ash, who quickly found his personal space invaded by the panicked young girl. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where's Pikachu?" This was asked so fast that it took Ash a second to understand it all.
Putting a little space between him and Serena, Ash replied. "I'm okay, a bit scraped up but I'll live and Pikachu is in the middle of being treated by the Nurse Practitioner." Ash thought about it for a moment before he asked, "So what happened after we split up?"
Cynthia spoke up. After we separated and most of the flock chased after you, we mostly stayed in the trees. We had to deal with a few stragglers who chased after us, but Morpeko was able to scare them away. When the rain started, we waited in the tree line until it stopped." Cynthia thought about it for a second before she continued. "We kind of regretted it once the lightning started,though. Once it let up, we made our way here. What about you?"
Ash recited what had happened to him. About jumping into the water and getting fished out. About borrowing the bike from the man who had fished him out. And about standing up to the attacking flock. He had his eyes closed and so he missed the tears that fell from Serena's and the other girls' eyes. When he described what had happened with Nurse Practitioner Joy He suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop.
With a face full of cold fury, Lillie spoke in a tone that none of them had ever heard her use. "Ash, are you telling me that the head Nurse of the Pokemon Center just automatically assumed that you were a negligent trainer? that she didn't bother to even ask about the details of what happened?"
Ash, a bit intimidated by the change in his companion, said "Y-yes"
Lillie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, she said, "When Nurse Practitioner Joy has finished treating Pikachu, I want to have words with her"
None of the seven other people in the room doubted she would do as she said. After a moment, Ash asked a question. "Are any of you having trouble with your Pokedex's phone? I tried to call you all a bit before you showed up and I couldn't reach any of you. It kept telling me it couldn't connect."
The seven girls pulled out their devices and fiddled with them. One by one, they shook their heads as they each met with failure. Dawn was the one to voice what they all were thinking "Okay that's weird. I wonder what's causing it?"
The sound of an electric bell interrupted the conversation and the light marking the treatment room turned off. The eight teenagers made their way to the door as it opened, revealing a resting Pikachu with a device on its head that was attached to a small battery. It was being pushed by Nurse Joy who was flanked by two Chansey.
Ash looked at his Pokemon and with a voice full of concern asked, "Pikachu, are you alright?"
Nurse Joy looked at him with a tired but reassuring smile on her face and said, "The procedure went well. We were lucky and found no sign that Pikachu's electric generating abilities were damaged. It was a good thing that you got it here so quickly, though. Too much longer in the state you brought it in and I can't say that things would have turned out so well."
Sadness and happiness warred within Ash. On one hand, Pikachu was going to be fine. On the other hand if he had been slower to get here, Pikachu might have been permanently injured. It was with tears in his eyes that he said, "T-thank you, Nurse Practitioner Joy."
Nurse Joy merely nodded before she replied, "You're welcome, but please remember what we talked about earlier. Next time, you might not be as lucky as you were today."
Ash looked down. Nurse Joy still believed that he had caused Pikachu's injuries through his negligence. He almost missed Lillie walking up to Nurse Joy and with a sub zero tone in her voice say, "Nurse Practitioner Joy Do you make it a habit to ma-"
The sound of breaking glass from overhead silenced anything else Lillie was going to say.. Ash grabbed Leaf and Serena while Cynthia grabbed Dawn and May. as Marnie grabbed Lille pulling them from where the glass fell. Nurse Joy and the Chanseys had pulled back a bit into the treatment room they had come from.. Ash as soon as he had righted himself looked to where they had been and saw four Pokeballs. In a flash of light, all four balls opened revealing four Pokemon. Ash recognized the living ball of pollution and the purple python as Koffing and Ekans. Not far away he heard May say Cacnea and Seviper. There was a moment of silence as the two groups sized each other up.
The Pokemon made the first move. Before anybody could react the two snake pokemon started moving about the lobby, destroying anything and everything that they could get to. The Koffing released a dark cloud of smoke causing everybody to cough and the spikes on the Cacnea started to glow yellow. Leaf reacted first and threw out her Pokeball "Go Bulbasaur!" As Bulbasaur appeared the Cacnea released its attack filling the air with yellow projectiles.
Leaf yelled "Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to knock those pins out of the air" With a cry Bulbasaur moved to obey and deflected every pin missile that came in the group's direction..
Joy who Ash noted looked both concerned and exasperated looked at the group and with a tone that reflected her look said "All of you follow me," as she pulled Pikachu's stretcher back into the treatment room Ash wanting to stay near Pikachu was quick to obey and the rest of the group was just behind him with Leaf bringing up the rear as she recalled Bulbasaur. Once Leaf had cleared the door Joy ran up to the wall near the door and pressed a series of buttons that caused the door to lock with an audible click.. As Joy led them through the building Ash heard several crashes that he assumed was the Pokemon from earlier causing havoc.. After another minute of walking Joy opened a door and motioned for the group to enter. Once everybody was inside, she pressed a few buttons on another wall mounted console and the door locked. Ash looked at Cynthia Who looked back and together they found an empty desk and moved it in front of the door.
It was at this point that they got a look at the room they were in. It was lined with shelves and each shelf was filled with Pokeballs of all types. It was Marnie that voiced what Ash was thinking. "What is this place?"
Joy moved over to a desk where a computer that was attached to a Pokemon transport device was located. As she typed into the computer she answered "This is a holding area for Pokemon who require longer term care. We hold on to them until their trainers return for them… If they return for them." Ash could hear the hostility in the woman's voice when she said that last he understood what she was saying. Some of these Pokemon had been abandoned. They would stay here possibly forever waiting for someone that would never come. Ash wanted to yell about the injustice but another crash brought him back to reality.
"What do you need us to do?" He asked, his voice deadly serious. He would be pissed about the abandoned Pokemon after the crisis.
Nurse Joy looked at him for a long moment before she responded. "I need you all to keep those Pokemon at bay while I transport as many of the Pokemon here as I can to the Pokemon Center in Pewter City. Your Pikachu is still down so I am going to loan you one of mine." Joy pulled from her apron a Pokeball with a heart on it and said "Come out Blissey!" In a flash of light the pink and white nurse Pokemon appeared. "She knows several moves but the ones you need to concern yourself with right now are Pound, Protect, Take Down, Heal Pulse and Helping Hand." Turning to her Pokemon she said "Blissey, for the time being I need you to listen to this boy's orders as if they were my own." Looking back at Ash she said "Take care of her and Keep. These. Pokemon. Safe."
The last part of what Nurse Joy had said had so much quiet force behind it that Ash couldn't help but gulp. Letting another trainer use your Pokemon was a big deal. It implied a level of trust that was often limited to friends and family. That she was letting him use her Blissey despite only knowing him for only a few minutes and despite her impression of him meant the situation was really serious. Ash could only nod his head and say "Yes Ma'am"
Nobody said anything for several moments, leaving the sounds of destruction to fill the air. May was about to open her mouth when the lights went out and the screen Nurse Joy was in front of flickered for a second. Nurse Joy, knowing the question the group wanted to ask, said "We have several generators in case of emergency and the transport device has a backup battery as well so that if the power goes out mid transport, the Pokemon won't be lost."
For several minutes, the only sounds were Nurse Joy's increasingly frustrated typing and the sounds of destruction. Finally, the pink-haired woman slammed her hands down on the desk and swore loudly "DAMNIT, Whoever is doing this thought this through. I've tried to connect to every Pokemon Center in the country and I can't reach any of them. I even tried Professor Oak's Lab and nothing!
Ash heard several of the girls gasp and Marnie whisper "Bloody Hell." Ash kept silent but took a hitched breath. He wasn't into tech beyond knowing how to use his Pokedexs functions but even he knew that to take down those two bits of infrastructure even on a local level was big.
Ash was about to hand Blissey back to Nurse Joy when she apparently sensing his thoughts said "No, Hold on to her for right now. The plan has changed. If whoever is doing this gets through that door it is no longer about keeping them at bay while I transport the Pokemon away. It is now about driving them back."
The eight teenagers understood the assignment. One by one the group called out their first pokemon and relayed their instructions. The Pokemon to the Mon accepted their orders without a fight and stood behind Blissey and waited.
They didn't have to wait long as with a resounding boom the door exploded letting in black smoke. As the group tried to make out who or what was in the smoke, Ash noticed a yellow glow and yelled out "Blissey use Protect!" With a cry Blissey spread its arms wide and a green energy shield spread out and covered the entire group before it was impacted by several spikes. The other Pokemon prepared to counterattack when they heard a haughty female voice come from the smoke..
"It seems like these kids are prepared for war, doesn't it, James.".
"Indeed, Jessie, but it won't be enough to stop us," Drawled an equally haughty male voice.
"But at the end of the day all they are is cat food." opined a third much higher-pitched voice.
As the smoke cleared, three figures emerged. The first one that Ash noticed was a boy who looked a few years older than the girls and him. He was a little taller and had lavender hair that fell down on his neck. He wore a somewhat short long sleeve white shirt with a large stylized red R over a skin tight black undershirt. On each hand was a long black glove. Beneath that he wore a white pair of slacks that flowed into shin length black boots.
Next to him stood a girl who was slightly shorter than her companion. She had long red hair that curled at the end and fell on her butt. She wore a similar outfit to her companion, but her shirt ended just under her breast, showing a great deal of stomach that went down to the very short white pencil skirt,that did nothing to hide her figure. Beneath that she wore a pair of thigh high black boots. Ash would admit to himself that if the situation wasn't so dire, he would have found her sexy as hell. The girls didn't seem to share his sentiment, and he heard Dawn mutter "Skank" under her breath.
The last figure to emerge from the smoke was a Meowth. And it was standing up on its hind legs. Ash couldn't help but think that by itself was unusual. For the Kantoion variant anyway. He had seen the Alolan and Galarian variants do so, but those Pokemon were so different from their Kantoion cousins as to be almost different species. It noticed that he was looking at it when it stared at him and said "Why don't youse take a picture? It will last longer."
That caused the nine defenders to stall for a second. "That Pokemon can talk?!" was the only thing that ran through Ash's head at that moment. However, Nurse Practitioner Joy was faster to recover and asked harshly "Who the hell are you?"
The redhead looked at Joy with a dark smile before she responded. "Who are we? Let us tell you."
"To protect the world from devastation."
The lavender haired boy spoke next, "To Unite all people within our nation."
"To Denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie!"
"James"
"Team Rocket Blasts off at the speed of Light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
The Meowth hopped forward and said,
"Meowth, that's right!"
The room remained silent as everybody tried to understand what had just happened. Before Nurse Joy spoke up. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you call yourselves. You're not getting these Pokemon!"
Ash, wanting to back up Nurse Joy added "I won't let you have Pikachu!"
The two older teens looked at Ash for a moment before they started laughing. Ash felt his face redden as it continued. After a moment the one called James replied "What would we want with a ridiculously common pokemon like that?"
The one called Jessie spoke up next "Team Rocket wants only the rarest, powerful and unique Pokemon. Not something that little girls keep as pets."
Behind him Ash heard Pikachu start to growl and spark with electricity .
Meowth spoke up next "That there Alolan Vulpix on the other hand would be right up our alley."
Lille gasped while Gible and Fennekin repositioned themselves in front of the white fox.
"Jessie looked at her partners in crime and asked "Well then James, Meowth, Shall we begin?"
James didn't answer her question. All he said was "Koffing use Smokescreen, Cacnea use Pin Missile."
As the two Pokemon moved to obey, Ash yelled out "Blissey use Protect" The barrier came up just before the pins made contact and the two snake Pokemon impacted against it as well. Cynthia looked at the attacking Pokemon and yelled to the others.
"If we just stay here we're sitting Ducklets, We need to force them back." None of the nine defenders disagreed with her. "We need to split them up. We may outnumber them but they have us pinned down. Serena , Dawn, Lillie I want you with me we will take on the girl. May, Marnie, Leaf I want you to take on the boy. Ash we are going to need you to float between the two groups as needed. Cynthia then looked at Blissey. "Can you expand your barrier to push them back?" The Pokemon looked at her for a moment before it nodded its head."
Cynthia looked at everyone and Ash felt himself tense up . "Is everyone ready?" As everyone said yes, she looked at Ash who could only nod.
Ash roared, "Blissey! Expand your barrier! With a cry and a look of effort the barrier expanded, knocking the attackers off balance before it collapsed.
Dawn moved first "Piplup, Water Gun!" Piplup reared back and blasted the two serpentine Pokemon into the wall behind them.
"Snowy! Use Powder Snow!" The two Pokemon were soon shivering as ice crept up their bodies. Soon their physiology caused them to slow down considerably.
As Serena prepared to attack, Jessie regrouped and shouted "Seviper use Poison Tail! Ekans use Poison Sting! Take that little fire fox out of the fight. As both Pokemon and trainer froze in fear Gible stepped in front of Fennekin and took both the blows.
Ash and Blissey ran up to Gible, Ash ordered "Blissey, use Heal Pulse." As the healing waves of energy restored Gible, Serena and Fennekin gathered themselves and unleashed a flurry of Embers on Ekans causing it to retreat.
Gible with its injuries healed charged towards Seviper and bit its tail. As the Pokemon screamed in pain Cynthia called out. "Thunder Fang!" Lighting the dark snake Pokemon up like a Christmas tree. Before Gible spun around and tossed it back to its red-haired trainer.
Ash let out a whoop before he turned to the rest. "Good job, I'm going to help May and the others with the guy."
Cynthia nodded and said, "Good luck, we'll keep after his partner."
—-
"Razor Leaf!" cried Leaf,
"Ember!" called May
James, Cacnea and Koffing found themselves being cut and burned by the flurry of fire and leaves.
James wiped some of his lavender hair out of his eyes growled "Cacnea use Needle Arm to take out Morpeko, Koffing use Smokescreen to cover Cacnea's attack!"
Leaf responded quickly "Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" As quick as lightning a pair of vines started swatting the pins out of the air except for one that zoomed past the vines and made its way towards a surprised Morpeko.
Marnie shouted out, "Morpeko, dodge and use Thunder Wave!" Morpeko rolled to the side just barely avoiding the projectile. Before its expression changed and its fur changed color to black and purple and it released the wave from its body catching Cacnea and Koffing.
Meowth stepped forward with its claws out and said "I'm gonna mess yuh up yuh hamster!"
The words "Blissey, Use Pound!" and his vision being filled with pink and white halted his approach before Blissey's blow connected, tossing Meowth back till a wall stopped him.
Ash looked at the girls, concerned in his tone and eyes "Are you three okay?"
The three girls looked at each other for a moment before Leaf spoke for the group, "we're fine. What about the others?"
Ash took a moment to breathe before he responded "Their fine they have the redhead out of the room.
Marnie had an uncharacteristic gleam in her eyes as she said "Well we should catch up then."
May smiled, "Yeah, we can't get too far behind."
Leaf had a manic grin on her face. "Let's get started. Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to toss these losers out of the room!" In an instant Meowth, Cacnea and Koffing were wrapped up and tossed into the Lavender haired boy, tossing him out of the room.
Ash grinned, Leafs energy was infectious, "Lets keep them moving Blissey, Use Take Down! As the evil quartet tried to gather themselves and regroup they suddenly found themselves being charged at by the pink and white Pokemon, knocking them further down the hall. As Ash and the girls moved to give chase. Ash turned back to Joy and said "We'll take care of them, Please take care of Pikachu.
Joy looked at the boy and said "You can count on me! Now get going. Your friends need you."
Ash nodded before he ran after his friends.
—-
As the boy ran after his friends Bethany Joy got to work, Looking at her Chanseys she said "I want you two to set up a double protection barrier. If those kids can't keep those thugs away, we will need all the defense we can get." As they moved to obey, Joy searched around the room until she found the removable panel. With a grunt of effort she lifted it up revealing the panel for one of the Pokemon Center's many redundant generators. Under normal circumstances a power failure would cause all the generators to turn on in sequence. In reality, the center only needed two generators to function. But the league had required them to have four. Three of them would have the center running close to normal capacity. The fourth was for powering the Pokemon transport system The logic had been that any situation that required the use of the generators might require Pokemon to be transported elsewhere and the system required a great deal of power. The fourth generator was also a closely held secret. "Probably for situations like this."
After a few moments of fiddling with the touch screen, she had made her way to the settings menu. The Team Rocket members had interrupted the system. It was not needed in that capacity. So she redirected it to the building lights. They wouldn't be at full power but it was better than nothing.
As the system re-initialized, she pulled her head up, and she saw Pikachu struggling to get up and move towards the door. She ran up to it and said with a firm but caring tone as she held it down. "Pikachu! No! I know you want to go help your trainer. But you're still hurt, Your electrical sacks are dangerously drained. If you go out there now, you might cause yourself permanent damage!."
Despite Joys warning Pikachu continued to fight against her grip. Joy felt a tingling sensation traveling through her body. Pikachu was trying to shock her into letting it go. "Pikachu! I am NOT going to let you go out there and permanently injure yourself. I'm sorry I had to do this." Joy called one of the Chansey over to her and ordered "Chansey use Sing."
Pikachu attempted to fight the sleepiness that came but with each passing moment. After a few seconds, Joy felt the tingling in her arms come to a halt. Joy let out a heavy sigh. She hated having to do that. But Pikachu was a threat to itself. Pikachu would be pissed at her when it woke up but it would be alive and healthy to be pissed at her. As the tingling left her arms, the lights in the building turned back on telling her that the generator was back online. "Hopefully those kids can finish the job." She said mostly to herself.
—-
"EMBER!" came the twin cries of May and Serena as their Pokemon moved to obey. Both groups had forced their opponents back to the lobby of the Pokemon Center and were in the midst of trying to push the invaders out of the building. Ash grinned, Now that they were no longer in a confined space the defenders could afford to let loose a bit. The eight of them had surrounded the criminals in every direction but the door they wanted to force them out of. The criminals for their part looked a lot worse for wear. Their clothes and skin and in the Meowths case fur was covered in cuts, burns both normal and electrical , they were more than a little soaked and had a series of nasty bruises. Ash had an idea, it was time to finish this.
Blissey! Use Helping Hand on everybody and then follow up with Take Down!"
As Blisseys hands started to glow green, the other Pokemon also started to glow. It didn't take the girls more than a second to realize what Ash had in mind.
"Fennekin, Use Ember!"
"Torchic, Use Ember!"
"Morpeko, Use Thundershock!"
"Snowy, Use Powder Snow!"
"Bulbasaur, Use Razor Leaf!"
"Piplup Use Water Gun!"
"Gible Use Take Down!"
The barrage of elemental attacks slammed Team Rocket against the door with significant force before the Takedown sent them flying through it. As Ash and the others chased after them, it was Dawn who took notice of something strange.
Positioned in front of them was a travel balloon. That by itself would have been odd, but what the group was looking at was beyond that. "Is- is that a Meowth balloon?" Dawn asked with more than a little credulity.
James was the first of the attackers to stand up and he said, "What of it?" before he shrugged his shoulders and yelled, "Koffing, use smokescreen. It's time for us to take our leave."
The living ball of gas floated up and released its noxious exhaust into the air. As the defenders covered their mouths and eyes to protect themselves from the smoke, they missed James tossing his companions into the balloon's bucket and causing a take off. By the time any of the defenders could see straight, the balloon was out of range.
Leaf cursed, "Damn it, they got away!"
Cynthia moved to her friend and put a calming hand on the angry girl's shoulder. "Yes, but the Pokemon are safe and that's what matters."
Dawn spoke up next with a cheer that nobody present was sure if she actually felt. "No need to worry. I'm sure things will work out."
As if to punctuate her statement, the lights in the Pokemon Center started glowing at full power and Lieutenant Jenny, followed by what felt like every cop in the city, dashed up to the center.
Jenny marched up to Ash and, with more than a little concern, asked, "What the hell happened here?
Ash looked at the woman in front of him and then at the staggering amount of cops behind her and said with a sigh. "Does anybody have a recorder, because it's a long story and I only want to tell it once.."
—-
As it turned out, they did have a recorder. Several, in fact. For the next several hours, Ash and the girls gave their own points of view of what had happened. Joy had given her own testimony, which had corroborated all of theirs. Eventually, the officer in charge had told them they would need to stay close to the city for a week so that they could be questioned further if necessary.
The attack had damaged the residential areas of the Pokemon Center, so joy had offered them the use of the employee break room. It hadn't been particularly comfortable and for modesty's sake they had to wear the clothes they were wearing to sleep, but they made do.
—-
Ash woke up to the sound of heavy machinery and grunting. As he looked around, he saw the girls had all woken up at some point and the only one still in the room was Marnie, who was sitting at a table in the break room sipping on something in a cup..
"Nice of you to join us, Ash." she said with a wry smirk. As Ash tried to get his mind to ask what was going on, she expected his question and said, "Apparently, they are great about repairs in this city. There is a small army of Machoke, Machamp, and various technicians with a small convoy of construction equipment. Besides fixing what those tossers from last night wrecked, they are doing a bit of upgrading."
As Ash stood up and stretched out to get the last of the sleep out of himself, Marnie continued."The crews have got the main power up and running, but they said the residential areas won't be fit for habitation for a while." Ash looked a bit put out at that. If they couldn't stay in the center's residential area, where were they going to stay? Ash didn't want to stay here another night, and he was certain that the other girls didn't either.
Marnie interrupted his musings, continuing. "Nurse Practitioner Joy told me to have you go see her in the recovery area when you woke up. Pikachu has woken up, and he is really not happy about having missed the fight last night.
The last bit of sleepiness in Ash died a violent death as His eyes went wide and he started gathering himself to head out the door. But before he exited he asked quickly, "Anything else?"
Marnie nodded "The phone system is back up. Professor Oak called the Pokemon Center and wants you to call him back as soon as possible."
Ash gave Marnie a nod as he ran out the door, a faint sounding "Thanks" echoing through the room as Marnie was left to drink her beverage.
—-
When Ash made it to the recovery room, he saw Pikachu angrily pacing up and down the small bed he had been given. When Ash got close, he almost felt Pikachu's anger roll off him in waves. Ash looked at his first Pokemon and asked "Pikachu, are you okay, buddy?"
Pikachu visibly calmed down for a moment before it started yelling "Pi Pi Pikachu Pikapi Pi chu chu Pikachu Chu Pika Pikachu chu chu Pika!"
Although Ash hadn't understood one bit of what Pikachu had said, he suddenly felt like he was getting the gist. It wasn't in words, but it was almost like a picture in his head that told him what he needed to know.
Ash looked at his partner and said, "You're angry that Nurse Practitioner Joy prevented you from joining the ? When Pikachu, who was a little surprised at being understood so well, nodded, Ash continued. "Pikachu, I know you are really upset, but last night you were still really hurt. Those Spearow really did a number on you and from what Nurse Practitioner Joy told me, something caused your sacks to rapidly expand and then suddenly drain. If you had joined the fight, you might have hurt yourself even more. I know you hate being cooped up like this, but you need to wait and recover."
Pikachu, who still looked a little belligerent, nodded slowly
Bethany Joy who had been watching the byplay spoke up. "Pikachu, I am sorry that I had to make you pass out but I am not sorry that I did what was best for you. That said, I have looked at your electrical sacks and they have increased in capacity significantly. Normally I don't see this type of increase in capacity until your species evolves into Raichu. Given that you appear to be a freshly evolved Pikachu I can only guess on how your capacity will grow as you do." Pikachu sat there looking shocked as Joy turned to Ash.
"Your blonde friend Lillie. spoke to me this morning and told me about what happened yesterday. About how you were attacked by a large flock of wild Spearow." Ash nodded, waiting to see where the woman was going. "I owe you an apology. As Ash's eyes widened, she continued. "Every year when the various academies send their graduates out into the world my Pokemon Center is filled with a lot of trainers who push their Pokemon way to hard or when they capture a Pokemon are so brutal about it that the Pokemon I end up treating are so badly hurt, sometimes there is nothing I can do to bring them back to full health. At least half of the Pokemon that you saved last night were left here because of that."
Ash stood stock still, On one level he felt vindicated that the woman in front of him now understood what had happened. On the other hand, learning in more detail why some of the Pokemon that were stored here, were left here lit a fire in his belly. Ash silently prayed both that he would meet one of those "trainers' and that he never would. He didn't know what he would do if he did. But with a great deal of mental effort, he forced his anger down. There was a more important question to be asked. What's going to happen to those Pokemon.?"
Nurse Practitioner Joy looked at Ash for a moment before she responded. "Well, in the short term, not much. As things are, they are safe and healthy in their Pokeballs. Long term, there are legislations being drafted by the League and the governments that would make abandoning Pokemon this way a crime. It would allow the League after a set period of time to confiscate the Pokemon in this situation. After that, depending on their health, the Pokemon will be released into the wild or allowed to live the rest of their lives on preserves.
Ash took a deep breath. While he wasn't happy that there was nothing that could be done immediately. He was glad that there was something being done.
Taking a few breaths to calm himself down. Ash said "Thank you Ma'am both for the apology and for the explanation." After a moment he asked, "How long before Pikachu can leave the Pokemon Center?"
The healer thought about it for a moment before she said with a smile, "Pikachu is free to leave now. Just avoid using him in battle for the next week while you are in town. I would like to see him before you leave to do one last checkup."
Ash looked down at Pikachu, who still looked a little annoyed but nodded." I think we can do that Nurse Practitioner Joy."
Bethany Joy smiled for a moment before she said, "While you are here, just call me Nurse Joy. While I am glad you all have respected my title, it's a bit of a mouthful. Now, have you and your friends figured out your sleeping arrangements for the next week?"
Ash looked down. "Not yet, but I think we will talk about it later this morning."
Joy looked at the young man and said, "If you can't find anything, I can offer you the break room again, but I assume you want to avoid that."
Ash chuckled, "Yeah, if we can." Ash offered his hand to Pikachu, who used it to climb onto his shoulder. "Thanks again Nurse Joy, I've got to go make a call but I will make sure that we keep you apprised of what is going on."
Nurse Joy nodded and said, "Have a good morning, Ash."
—-
A few minutes later, Ash stood in the lobby of the Pokemon Center. It was currently filled with center staff and workers and was a little noisy. He looked for a corner of the area that was relatively empty before he grabbed his Pokedex and dialed Professor Oak. The phone rang for a few moments before he heard the man's familiar voice.
"Good morning Ash, I'm happy to hear from you. How are you doing, my boy?"
Ash thought about what to say for a moment before he responded, "Not bad, given what happened."
Ash could practically see the old man nod his head sagely when he said, "Indeed, a rampaging flock of Spearow, a heavily injured partner and an altercation with a group of Pokemon thieves. You've had quite the first day."
Ash was surprised, "How did you-"
Oak interrupted Ash, "Marnie told me about what happened when I called earlier.."
Ash nodded. "That makes sense."
The professor's voice interrupted his thoughts, "The reason I called you was that there was something I was supposed to give you before you left, I forgot about it until after you had left. I would transport it to you but the system in Viridian is still down and after talking with your mother. This is one of those things that really needs to be done in person."
Ash, his curiosity piqued by the Professor's cryptic words, asked "Professor, can't you te-"
That was as far as Ash got before the old man said in a solemn tone. "I'm sorry, Ash, but your mother wants it to be this way. But don't worry, your mother and I should arrive in Viridian late tomorrow morning. I promise you that all will be made clear then."
Ash realized that he would get nothing out of the man then he already had dropped the matter.. "I understand Sir,. So how are things back in Pallet."
The Professor's tone became happier. "Well, you haven't been gone a full day yet so not much has changed, but let me tell you about-,"
The next 45 minutes were filled with idle chit chat before the professor had to go to deal with something. Ash considered calling his mom to see if she would say anything but decided that she would be just as tight-lipped.
—-
Outside the Pokemon Center, Viridian City, 11:30,
The eight teens sat outside enjoying lunch. After a series of delays, they were talking about where they were going to stay for the rest of the week. Cynthia spoke up first. "Has anybody talked to their parents about what happened?" A sea of head shakes met her.
Dawn frowned as she replied "I haven't been able to figure out how to tell her, I mean how do you tell your folks, Hey mom in the one day I've been on my own i have been attacked by a massive flock of Spearow and had to repel a group of Pokemon thieves." Dawn took a moment to catch her breath before she continued. "I'm kind of afraid that she would drag me back to Twinleaf and lock me away until I was 25."
The group smiled at the hyperbole while nodding their agreement. Lille was the one to voice her thoughts next. "If I told my mom I think she would send some guys after the thieves from last night." There was a light chuckle from the group. Nobody who had met the woman would disagree that the occasionally frightening woman would do exactly that.
Ash looked at the others, "My mom and Professor Oak already know," he glanced over at Marnie, who nodded slightly. "They are coming here tomorrow. Apparently there was something that the Professor forgot to give me yesterday." At the Curious looks of the girls, Ash answered the unasked question. "I don't know what it is they are bringing me.
May spoke up, "This is all fascinating, but where are we going to stay?"
That caused the group to go silent.
Marnie responded, "Does everybody have the money Cynthia's parents gave us?"
Almost as one, the eight teens reached into their bags, wallets and purses. After a minute, they all pulled out the Pyen notes. Marnie nodded and remained silent for a minute before she said, "If my math is right, we have 160000 Pyen. Does anybody know how much a room costs?"
The seven other teens grabbed their devices and started searching. After a moment Lillie said, "Well it depends on the hotel but for at least four rooms for six to seven days, and assuming we want to stay someplace that isn't in the bad part of town. We are looking at about 200,000."
There was a collective hissing through the teeth as the group took in that information. Ash opened his mouth, "I can deal with staying at the Pokemon Center for a week hopefully that should lower the cost to something manageable.." He was about to open his mouth to make the offer when a black town car pulled up to the group and a woman who was roughly their height stepped out. She had purple hair in a neck length bob cut with severe black eyes covered by wire-rim glasses. She wore a purple suit coat over a black top and an equally purple knee length office skirt. The woman looked at the group for a moment before she spoke, her voice as severe as the look on her face.
"Good morning, I am Matori Asai, the Personal assistant to Giovanni Suzuoki, Gym leader of Viridian City." The woman needn't have mentioned her boss's occupation, as all eight teens knew who the man was by reputation. He was one of the most powerful trainers in the region, if not the world. He specialized in ground types but punished harshly challengers who thought that they could just skate by on type advantage. More than one gym challenge hopeful had seen their dreams crushed by the man. It was also well known that it was extremely hard to schedule a match with the man, and more than one trainer who had hoped to get their badge from the Gym had left in disappointment.
Before any of them could think about it any further. The woman asked, " Are you Ash Ketchum, Cynthia Black, May Maple, Leaf Green, Lillie Star, Serena Gabena, Marnie Granger, and Dawn Berlitz?" When the group all nodded that they were, the woman continued. "Very good, I am here today because my employer, besides being the gym leader for Viridian City, is also the principal financial backer of the local Pokemon Center."
"He has heard of what happened here last night and of the role you eight played in preventing the theft of Pokemon by the group calling themselves Team Rocket. Because of that, Mr. Suzuoki wishes to reward you for your bravery."
That revelation made the group gasp a bit. They were all about to say that it wasn't necessary when the woman who seemed to expect their refusal said, "My employer knows that you have to stay in town for the next week so he has arranged for you to have the Grand Suite at the Milotic Viridian for the next seven days."
This caused the brains of the teens to short circuit, particularly Cynthia and Lillie, who had a good idea of the cost involved. Marnie, who had stayed at one of Milotics in Galor with her brother a few times because of Gym Leader conferences, could only croak out "T-t-t-the Grand Suite?"
The woman offered a hint of a smile. "Yes, Mr. Suzuoki feels it is the least he can do for the heroes who saved the Pokemon Center. So do you accept?"
Slightly pale, Ash asked for the group, "Can we have a minute to discuss it among ourselves?"
Matori nodded, "Of course, take the time you need."
Ash nodded, and the eight teens stepped a few feet away and moved close together. Ash started the conversation. "I think we should take it. It takes care of our housing needs,, and how many times are we going to get to stay in a place like that?"
May nodded, agreeing, "I've always wanted to stay at one of the Milotics, but my Dad wouldn't let me come to the conferences with him when they held them in Hoenn. I want to try their world-famous spa."
Cynthia nodded her agreement."I've stayed in the Grand Suite before, and it's an experience. I agree, we should take advantage of this offer." Marnie nodded emphatically. "When my brother and I stayed at one of the Milotics, it was just one of the standard rooms, but they were fantastic."
Dawn was the next to offer her opinion, "I've never stayed at one, but my mom told me about how they used to hold contests at the Milotics before they built the contest halls."
Lillie looked sheepish as she said, "I've never stayed at one. My mom considered them to be a waste of money." Serena gave the other girl a pat on the back as she said.
"Kalos doesn't have any Milotics, All the places they wanted to build one had too many restrictions regarding construction because of the historical buildings nearby."
Leaf just looked at the group. "The farthest I have been from Pallet was Viridian, and that was just a day trip. Most of what I know about the hotel is what you all have told me just now." Ash nodded. He had spent almost all his life in Pallet. According to his mom, they had stayed in Saffron City for a month when he was an infant, but that had been about it. His thoughts were stalled when Cynthia spoke.
"So what I am hearing is a yes from everyone." The group responded with a series of nods, "Good then let's give Miss Asai her answer." The group walked back to her and Cynthia spoke up. "Ma'am we have talked it over and we will accept your offer."
Matori nodded, "Very good, I will inform my employer of your acceptance." she said as she pulled a small device out of her pocket. After fiddling with it for nearly a minute she said, "The reservation has been made. A car will be here in two hours to retrieve you and your luggage. If you have no other questions I will be on my way."
Cynthia looked at the group and said "We don't have any questions right now Ma'am but please give Mr. Suzuoki our thanks."
Matori nodded before she opened the car door and said "I will convey your gratitude." before she got in and closed it. Soon the car started moving leaving behind a group of slightly stunned teens.
—-
As her vehicle sped away from the Pokemon Center, Matori pressed a button on her armrest, and a screen in front of her activated. The image of a powerfully built man in an orange suit was on the screen. Standing next to him with the man's right hand rubbing its head was a Persian. After a moment, the man spoke.
"Have you done as I asked?" His voice boomed through the car's speakers.
"Yes Sir, I extended the offer of the hotel and the group accepted it."
"Good, It is important that I keep up the facade of being a benevolent businessman and Gym Leader. Particularly when I have to deal with bunglers like Agents Jessie, James and Meowth."
Matori only nodded as her boss continued. "I want you to keep tabs on the group going forward. Particularly that Ketchum boy. There is something familiar about him, but I am not sure what." Matori only nodded at her boss's instructions. "Finally, I want you to contact those fools and tell them to report to headquarters immediately."
Matori nodded and said, "It will be done, Sir."
The screen went dark leaving the woman alone with her thoughts.
Things are quickly getting more serious. What is in store for our heroes, and what will become of Team Rocket. Find out next time.
