As the sun peaked over the horizon in western Kanto the blue hour was beginning to fade into the orange glow of a new dawn. As the clock dinged 6 a.m. it wouldn't be long now before people would start preparing for work and trainers would begin another day of adventure. But at this early hour one adventure had already been thrown into high gear as truck driver Ken Worth and his partner Fennekin desperately tried to outbattle Team Rocket without stopping their big rig as they raced toward Pallet Town.
The hyper beam from Team Rocket's Raticate had seriously damaged Truck #2,013 but thankfully the two cases containing the Master Balls and Capture Stylers were undamaged. The same could not be said for Ken's borrowed dash camera. While its hard drive had survived the front of the camera had not, leaving it broken and out of action. The truck's windshield was also gone and its radio disabled. Worse yet with Spearow knocked out it was literally just Ken and Fennekin now against their opposition. Both took a glance up through the truck's newly installed sunroof courtesy of a hole the Raticate had burned straight through it. With the jerks in the van forced to pause after two straight hyper beams it gave the trucking pair a brief moment to think about a new course of action.
"I don't think we can take another hit like that one," Ken said.
"Fen," the little fire type barked in agreement.
"We may need to get a little more aggressive if we're going to get through this," Ken said. "Shall we give them a little more of the chrome horn?"
"Fen fen," Fennekin replied with a slightly nasty little smile.
On the front of the truck the so-called chrome horn, the truck's front bumper, was about the only still shining as the truck roared toward Viridian City. The first exit into the city was coming up and Ken thought for a minute about getting off I-Route 2. On surface streets he might stand a slight chance of losing them, having many more alternate routes available. With an unexpected turn or a surprise obstacle he might be able to get away or at least find a police station where he could park the truck and get some help. Maybe even the Viridian City Pokémon Gym would do, surely the gym leader and their companions had to be powerful trainers that Team Rocket wouldn't dare mess with.
He almost immediately discarded that thought. The highway was quiet this time of day but even this early city streets would not be. Even if he jammed his truck horn on there would surely be someone who wouldn't see him coming. It wasn't worth it; he'd stay on I-Route 2. It's better to wreck the truck or lose the cargo then get someone innocent hurt.
Even with the first two motorcycles from Team Rocket's "Beedrill Swarm" wrecked the pursuit was still five on one. In the villain's "War Wagon" van leading the chase Raticate was ready for another round. It took aim at the truck, this time aiming for the grill. A clean shot to cook the engine would bring this battle to an end instantly. It awaited its trainer's command to fire. Behind the truck the two remaining bikes, Rocket Grunts Robert and Ellee in their convertible, and George and Pickett in their phony Viridian City police car all gave chase. Pickett was at the wheel of the police car and swung wide before mashing gas pedal. He couldn't see the "War Wagon" or what was about to happen. Meanwhile in the truck Ken and Fennekin were looking down all too aware.
"We've got to charge in there and help the War Wagon," Pickett said.
"Hold back, they'll get him," George said.
"No, we're charging in," Pickett said. "Get your Poké Balls ready. Let's get him."
Pickett's move might have been a good idea on one level, with Truck #2,013's driver's side mirror knocked off earlier Ken legitimately couldn't see him coming and was too focused on the van anyway. Too bad the timing of that move was his undoing.
"Raticate, blast them!" yelled the female trainer in the van. "Finish this."
"RATICATE!" said the rodent as it charged its hyper beam.
In the truck Ken had just a millisecond to react and jerked the truck quickly to the side right where Pickett was racing up. Fennekin lost his grip and slide on his chair, getting flung into the back of the truck when Ken mashed gas just as Raticate fired the beam. The truck slammed into the police car just as it got alongside the rig, forcing it aside with ease as it just managed to avoid the violent blast. The blast streaked behind the truck and hit one of the motorcyclists, instantly blowing up the bike as the rider was blasted off it, flying off the destroyed vehicle into a roadside lake with a splash.
Things were worse in the police car as body slam from the truck broke a wheel and sent it careening out of control. George and Pickett braced for impact as their phony police car flew off the road into its median out of control. The car left the ground before it came down hard in the grass that was still slicked from the previous night's rain shower last night. The force of the impact bounced the car back into the air and its momentum carried it over from there. The two Team Rocket grunts held on for dear life as airbags deployed and the car went into a vicious side-over-side rollover, throwing off parts in every direction as it turned over. The police light bar atop the car was crushed to pieces as the vehicle did three complete rollovers before landing on its wheels and sliding to a stop in a patch of mud.
Ken quickly peeked out the driver's window of the truck, seeing the damage before turning his attention back to the road. Fennekin's fall had seen the little fox bump into storage compartment that flipped open revealing a few of the truck's spare cargo straps.
"Fenne fen kin?" Fennekin asked.
"Yeah, we got him somehow," Ken replied. "They've flipped out."
Back in the police car George and Pickett both groaned. Amazingly, while they had both had the wind knocked out of them in the crash, they had escaped serious injury. The motorcyclist was also only dazed and confused as stumbled soaking out of the lake. The crumpled passenger's side door fell completely off the police car as George and Pickett stumbled to their feet.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight I don't think that charge was a good idea after all," Pickett said.
"You don't say?" replied George sarcastically as an ambulance and a pair of real police cars approached to take them and the motorcyclist into custody.
In the truck Fennekin looked at the straps and thought back to his stunt near Mt. Moon. The little fox may not have had his future Delphox psychic typing yet but the neurons in his brain were firing on all cylinders and he had a plan. He grabbed one with his mouth and scurried back to the front of the cab.
"We've got to take that Raticate out and fast before it takes out our rig," Ken said. "If we had a straight shot like we did with that weird Vulpix we'd have a chance but I don't know how we'd get that without the ice or something like it again."
Fennekin spit out the strap and barked at his trainer. Ken looked over and Fennekin gestured to it, himself, and the missing windshield. Ken realized what he was asking for.
"You certainly are crazy like a fox," Ken said. "I actually kind of like that about you."
The chase was quickly going south for Team Rocket as Raticate was starting to tire out after its three powerful attacks.
"Does it have any other attacks?" the van driver asked his partner.
"Nothing viable," the female grunt replied. "Super fang and crunch aren't going to do anything to a giant truck. I'll give it a moment then fire again."
If Ken and Fennekin were going to counter this might be their only chance. Quickly Ken tied one end of the strap around Fennekin's waist.
"You sure about this?" Ken asked.
"Fen, Fennekin!" Fennekin replied proudly.
"Alright, ember them hard as you can once you are out there," Ken said.
"Fen," Fennekin replied.
The little yellow fox leaped out the truck's windshield as Ken held the strap with one hand and the wheel with the other. Fennekin used one of his paws to stop himself slamming into the front of the truck as the strap pulled him back toward it. He came to rest on the chrome bumper. The female grunt and Raticate had little time to react as Fennekin opened his mouth and sent a shower of hot sparks flying into the back of the van.
Fennekin ended his attack with a smile on his face until he saw the Raticate was still standing.
"Raticate, crunch," called the grunt. "End this intrusion."
Ken saw what was happening and jammed Truck #2,013's brakes. The Raticate's attempt to leap out and attack Fennekin missed as the big truck lost ground away from the van. The grunt quickly grabbed her Pokémon's tail to pull it back into the van before it hit the pavement. The truck's nose dipped under braking and flung Fennekin forward for a moment before he swung back on the strap and hit the truck. He shook it off. That was a near miss.
"I'm going to get back up there, let's go again Fennekin," Ken shouted as he pushed the accelerator pedal back down. "I believe in you buddy."
While his trainer's confidence in him gave Fennekin a shot of price he started to have some panicked thoughts. This could be his last chance to save the truck. He needed something more powerful to attack with than ember. He had to get something to help. And then it happened, a power inside him unlocked. Fennekin froze as a sudden surge of heat started building up inside him. His eyes got even redder than normal as the big truck charged at the little van. He had a new attack and he was ready to use it.
"FENNEKIN!" the little fox shouted before launching his newly-learned flamethrower attack.
The flames blasted forth from the little fox's mouth right into the back of the Team Rocket van. The grunt, her driver, and the Raticate all felt the burn as the van's interior was fully engulfed for a moment. As Fennekin turned off his flames the fire subsided with Raticate knocked out and the grunt and her driver both burned black. The windshield was so badly burned the driver couldn't see out of it but the fire damage to the steering wheel and column was a more pressing issue as the wheel came off in his hand, causing the van to spin out. The grunt recalled Raticate back into its ball and held on as the van slammed into a concrete barrier with its driver's side carrying enough momentum the passenger's side was briefly lifted off the ground. The van's rear axle snapped in half and the War Wagon would go no further as the chase sped off into the distance. While the grunts escaped injury they too would now face arrest as a Viridian City police motorcycle closed in; the crew escaped injury but they wouldn't escape jail.
"Whoa," said Ken before reeling his partnered back up.
Fennekin assisted the process by using the truck's grill as a makeshift step ladder. As he reached the windshield he climbed back into the truck with a smile on his face.
"Whatever that was I like it," Ken said.
"Fennekin," Fennekin replied with pride.
With the War Wagon finally gone Ken turned his attention to his last two pursuers. With just a sports car and a fast bike left outrunning them certainly wasn't an option now nor was ramming with them behind them. For a moment he glanced down to the controls for the truck's twist locks, wondering if he could unlock and drop the truck's container at them as a weapon. He decided against trying that, relatively modern trucks like this 550 Dittocruiser had automatic systems specifically to prevent a container coming loose if a truck was in motion.
Ken finally saw something that may be of help, the last exit into Viridian City. It wasn't the exit that interested the trucker but the guardrail next to it. The end of the rail was protected by an impact attenuator, the common sets of yellow barrels that were always placed at the edge to cushion an impact if a vehicle hit them and stop them getting speared by the rail itself. Ken had been driving that delivery van for three years and he knew the roadside hazards in Kanto well, while many attenuator barrels were filled with sand those were the kind filled with water and it gave him an idea. They were designed to stop a car or a pickup but something with as much mass as his truck should go right through them.
"Fennekin, get in the back," Ken said. "Hug the back of my seat because I have a feeling you won't like what comes next."
"Fen," the fire type said nervously before following his order.
Ken mashed the gas and accelerated his big rig toward the exit with the bike and the car in fast pursuit, he even flipped on his turn signal to make sure they would know the direction he was going. At the last possible moment Ken suddenly turned his truck straight the barrels. His blue truck hit the plastic barrels and instantly all of them were smashed to pieces creating a large wall of water that soaked the road. Ken ducked as some of the water splashed through the broken windshield into the cab. Fennekin held tight, using Ken's chair to avoid taking damage from the wave. A soaked but smiling Ken kept his foot to the floor as he brushed the water off his face.
Outside the resulting wave took out the last Beedrill Swarm biker, he wiping out trying to make a fast move through the suddenly wet conditions. Robert and Ellee's sports car lost traction as it swung back onto the highway and spun out.
"Truck driver used hydro pump," Ken said jokingly as Fennekin climbed back into the passengers seat. "It's super effective."
Ken looked into the passenger's mirror as the sports car looped around. But then in a remarkable display of driving Robert recovered and accelerated just as the spinning red sports car was pointed straight down the road. The chase was still on. Ken and Fennekin's jaws about hit the floor at the move, their frustration now building.
"Oh come on," Ken said.
"Fen, ne kin Fennekin," Fennekin added.
Truck #2,013 screamed off I-Route 2 onto I-Route 1. It was Pallet Town or bust now. With Team Rocket's pursuers dropping like flies Ellee pulled out her cell phone. There was still one card up their sleeve left to play.
"Yeah, it's Ellee," she said. "The GS truck is still rolling. Initiate "Plan RB" in the Pallet Road Tunnel. If that truck gets that far that should stop it."
"I hear you, we'll be there," came the voice of another grunt.
As a result of the call two slick black luxury cars hit the road in Pallet Town and began driving toward the tunnel on I-Route 1 to seal off Ken and Fennekin's last chance of getting through. The two cars were large and imposing, both heavily constructed to be the ultimate models for their market segment. They'd been carefully selected in case the need to implement "Plan RB" came up. The name was a direct reference to the assignment at hand: form a road block.
AUTHOR NOTE: Again with the weird stuff to inspire a scene in a Pokémon fic. Ken's stunt with the water barrels is loosely inspired by NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip's crash during the 1995 AC-Delco 400 race where he spun his car into some water barrels during a crash and set water flying everywhere as a result.