The ambulance arrives quickly and takes the wounded trainer. From the sounds of the paramedics he's not in any real danger. The wounds will be easily treatable. That frees us up for our main objective. Mewtwo reported a while ago that the Rocket grunts have reached their destination, an encampment hidden deep within Petalburg Woods to the northwest, way off of Route 104. Far enough away from prying eyes that finding them would be difficult. But found them we have.
An hour's bike ride and we reach the forest, the dense foliage forcing the rest of our journey on foot. The forest's canopy is thick. It casts a shadow over everything below the treeline. A good place to hide, all things considered. As we approach, Mewtwo descends down towards us from the sky.
"Hello again, Mewtwo." I say. "So, what does the camp look like? Do we know where they're keeping everyone?"
"There are three tents situated around a fire pit. Two appear to be for storage and one for sleeping space. Judging that sleeping space had room for three, It is likely that There is another enemy for us to deal with."
"Right, well, lead on. We'll figure out how to get inside once we're there." Mewtwo leads us into the forest. All the while I keep my eyes open for signs of trouble. Though most of our encounters are with Shroomish and Wurmples that we quickly talk down from a fight and the occasional one that wouldn't take no for an answer. Eventually, though, we reach the camp.
Three tents sit like a ring outside of the central fire pit, just as Mewtwo described. Three people emerge from one of the tents apparently in an argument about something.
"-these freaking techy plate things out in the middle of the freaking forest." One of them grumbles, the man we saw at the arena.
"I honestly don't care. We're getting paid to work, not to stick our noses where they don't belong. Remember Jeremy? Got nosy and the boss made a scapegoat and had him thrown to the cops." The woman replies.
"Oh yeah... How the heck did the boss put enough dirt on him for life in prison?" The third asks.
"Again, not asking. I make a living like this. I'm not gonna risk it just cuz you two idiots got curious."
Mewtwo, we need a distraction. I say via psychic link. Can you draw them away so we can search the camp? Without you getting spotted?
I can. Their eyes start to glow pink with psychic power. A loud snap echoes out from the distance. I spot a tree a short ways away from the camp start to fall over, landing with a heavy thud.
"Woah!" One of the grunts yells. "You guys see that?!"
"Arceus... Scared the crap out of me... Probably a fricking bidoof or something."
"Pretty sure those don't live in Hoenn."
"We should probably go scare off whatever did it." They take out their gun to indicate what exactly they meant.
"Beats just just standing around. Let's go." The three of them leave towards the felled tree, leaving the camp free for us to snoop around. We quietly approach the camp and choose a tent at random to investigate. Mewtwo stands at the entrance to watch guard while the rest of us look around.
Several small stacks of wooden boxes stand on the far end as well as a few sacks of various materials. in the corner I spot a bag. The same one they used during the kidnapping. That's gotta be them. I rush over to check it and, indeed, about a dozen pokeballs sit within the bag.
"Perfect." I say. "Alright guys, start opening them." My companions nod and start grabbing balls. In a few minutes they've all been freed, most of them looking exceptionally grateful for our help.
"Alright everyone." I say. I quickly interject to stave off the inevitable questions. "Yes, I know pokespeak. And I know that's unusual to you all. That's not important. We've come to get you all out of here. But we need your help as well."
"What with?" A Snorunt asks inquisitively.
"To scare off the Rocket goons that kidnapped you all. They'll be back soon. I'm sure you guys'd love a little karmic justice, right?" The crowd mumbles in affirmation. "Exactly. So you all in?" the affirmations return with more enthusiasm.
"Alex. Thunder. Growlithe." Mewtwo calls to us. "They're returning."
"Then let's get to it. When I give the signal, charge them down. Mewtwo, I need you to step away. Can't risk them seeing you."
"Understood." Mewtwo zips away, leaving us alone. Now it's a waiting game.
I start to overhear conversation in the distance. Too distant and quiet to make out, but definitely human speech. The voices draw closer and soon I can tell what they're saying.
"-think someone cut down a tree just to distract us? You really think we wouldn't have seen them going the other way?"
"Weirder things have happened. The Abra incident, for example."
"Oh jeez... Don't remind me about that thing... that whole raid was more trouble than it was worth. Anyways, I'm gonna start getting the things the boss wants set up. I want to get some of it done while we still have dayli-" One of the grunts peers into the tent we are huddled into. For a split second his face is filled with shock as he tries to process the fact that there was now a human and more than a dozen pokemon staring him right in the face. It's that moment of hesitation that I was waiting for.
"Now!" I yell. The stampede of pokemon bulldozes past the first grunt, completely blindsiding the others. The mass of bodies, fire, ice, electricity, and more turns towards the next target. The remaining grunts, looking terrified at this new development, decide to make a run for it. With all threats removed I relax. Now to search the ca-
"Alex!" Thunder screams with urgency. Before I even have the chance to react I feel something zip past my ear, followed by the sounds of an electrical discharge and and explosion behind me. I jump in surprise and turn around to see what had happened. The grunt that we had charged at was still awake and holding a gun that looks as though it was ripped open from the inside. The fact that he seems to have got only minor burns is nothing short of a miracle. He glances at Thunder with a shell shocked expression before a quick thinking Bellossom sprays sleep powder in his face, quickly putting him under.
"What just happened?" I ask.
"He was about to shoot you so I shocked him. Then the gun just... exploded." Thunder's voice sounds a little shaken. "Did I do that?"
"I think so. Sounds like your electricity ignited the gunpowder in the bullets, setting them off prematurely."
"Is he going to be okay? I mean, did that seal his fate?"
I walk over to inspect them. It is as it looked from a distance. Minor burns on the hand and arms. With some time and potion he should be fine. "He'll be fine. Don't worry, Thunder. No one's blaming you. It was life or death. Let's focus on what we came her to do." I step back into the tent to look over the supplies. I pick a box at random and start searching through them. Most of it is basic supplies. Pokeballs, weapons and ammo, and other miscellaneous items. But the contents of one particular box catches my attention.
It contains a number of devices that resemble large buttons with a shallow dome shape, each one about as large as a plate. On the side is an orange and maroon logo of a stylized D and C overlapping. The words "Devon Corporation" are printed below the emblem. Must be those "techy plate things" that grunt mentioned. I stash a few of them away in my backpack for a closer look later. I grab the bag of empty pokeballs and step outside.
"Alright. All pokemon who have trainers, grab your balls. We're taking you back home. Everyone else, you're good to go. best of luck to you all." One by one the pokemon dig their pokeballs out of the bag and vanish into them. Most of them express gratitude for our efforts. That familiar swell of pride for a successful mission takes hold in my chest. Never get's old, seeing people relived to be safe and in friendly company once more.
When the last pokemon is secure in their ball, I close the bag. I glance briefly at Mewtwo, who had descended back down. I might have been seeing things but I swear I caught sight of a small smirk on their face. The first real emotion I've seen out of them if true.
With everything in place we head back out of the forest, retracing our steps until we reach our bike. We load up everything and everyone and head back for the long drive back to the arena grounds.