Chapter 2; a fateful encounter
Sonic and squirtle finished their training session and continued heading towards viridian city which was between pallet town and pewter city. Both of them seemed very satisfied.
"Good job squirtle".
"Squirtle" it cried out in happiness as it hugged his leg.
"Hehe. Come on let's go" he said as they both continued down the road.
Eventually they arrived at the entrance of viridian city and while looking for a pokemon center for squirtle to be healed, they walked past the viridian gym.
"This will be our final stop in the challenge before the league squirtle".
"Squirtle" squirtle cried out in excitement.
On the wall of the gym they saw posters of 2 wanted people a young boy and a young girl. They were wearing white tops with the letter R on them.
"Who are those 2?" Sonic wondered.
After a short walk they arrived at the pokemon center and squirtle was healed. After gathering more supplies they moved to enter viridian forest and make their way to pewter city. However on the outskirts of town Sonic heard the sound scratch made when the attack launched.
"Squirtle withdraw!"
Squirtle immediately withdrew into its shell and the scratch attack launched my meowth send it rolling a bit but leaving it mostly unharmed. As it came back out of its shell, Sonic turned around and saw nobody but the meowth but heard the laugh of a boy and a girl.
"Hahaha" the female voice was heard "prepare for trouble".
"Make it double" the male voice added.
Sonic looked up in confusion and saw the 2 young wanted people from the posters on the roof of a one floor building standing in front of the sun to cover their faces.
"To protect the world from devastation" the female voice continued.
"To unite all peoples within our nation" the male voice added once again.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love" again the female voice.
"To extend our reach to the stars above" the male voice said as they jumped off and landed by meowth allowing Sonic to see their faces.
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth that's wight!" the meowth said at the end causing Sonic's mouth to hang open in shock. He was left staring at them but quickly regained his composure.
"Who are you 3 clowns?"
His adversaries were now the ones with hanging open mouths in shock.
"We just told you! We are team rocket!"
"And what are you supposed to be? Street performers?"
"Oh the nerve!" Jessie said in anger.
"Nobody has ever insulted us this way!"
"Alwight kid! Hand over that squirtle and we won't hurt you much!"
"A talking pokemon?!" Sonic thought in shock but kept his cool.
"Oh yeah? Or else what?"
"This!" James said as he pulled a gun from behind his back which launched a net towards squirtle catching it and dragging it closer to them. Sonic to everyone's surprise however was calm. He merely took out squirtle's pokeball, pressed the button and squirtle was recalled escaping the net.
"Is that all?" he said clearly bored.
Team rocket was left fuming and worried that that boy wasn't even worried let alone afraid of them.
"Fine! We gave you a chance now we will use force! Come on out ekans!"
"Come out koffing!" James said though to Sonic's laughter koffing immediately got to cuddle against him making the poison fume coming out of its ores poison him slightly.
"No not me! Him!" he yelled as koffing turned its attention to Sonic.
"Suwwender kid! 3 against one you can't win!" Meowth said threatening Sonic. He kept his cool as always.
"Yeah sure! Let's do this Squirtle!" he said as he sent it out.
"Ekans use poison sting!"
"You too koffing!"
Ekans and koffing launched their attacks as squirtle withdrew on its own in its shell to block them, though Sonic knew those attacks would eventually poison Squirtle.
"Water gun!"
Squirtle released water gun but instead of launching it towards the 2 opponents launched it on the ground causing it to fly through the air like a thrown rock and hit ekans hard knocking it out. Meowth attempted to scratch squirtle but it repeated the process, dodging the attack and causing meowth's attack to hit koffing, landing a critical hit and knocking it out.
"Alwight that's it!" he yelled launching itself towards Squirtle which had rolled back at Sonic's feet and had just come out of its shell. Just before it hit squirtle however, Meowth was stopped midair by Sonic who had grabbed it from the back of its neck and lifted it up to look it in the eye.
"Please. Is that your great attack?" Sonic asked it clearly disappointed.
Meowth attempted to scratch Sonic but he was faster. He threw it back at Jessie and James causing meowth to accidentally scratch them. The moment all 3 of them dropped to the ground defeated a female officer turned the corner and saw the commotion.
"What is going on here?" she asked in a serious tone.
"No idea" Sonic answered "those 3 clowns jumped me and tried to steal my squirtle. They weren't really a threat to be honest".
The officer checked the defeated thugs and gasped in shock.
"These are Jessie and James of team rocket! You took them out on your own?!"
"I saw posters of them declaring them wanted by the law" Sonic said remembering the posters and not understanding why it was such a big deal he beat them "what are they wanted for?"
"You don't know?"
"No I'm new here. Got the little guy here earlier today".
Officer Jenny looked at him in disbelief but explained.
"They are part of team rocket, a criminal organization that catches pokemon to use them in crimes, most commonly pokemon trafficking".
"These guys are doing pokemon trafficking?" he said in disgust yet surprised "they have got to be the most incompetent traffickers I have ever seen".
"Have you seen a lot of traffickers?"
"Well…no. At least team rocket is done".
"Oh but no. They are a huge organization. These 3 are just some of their most wanted members".
"These 3 idiots are some of their most wanted? I find it hard to respect this team".
Officer Jenny couldn't believe her ears but remained calm.
"If you see any more of them let me know. They need to be brought down".
"I'll keep an eye out officer. Come on squirtle let's go" he said as squirtle eagerly followed him into the viridian forest.
The duo traversed through the woods as they encountered and battled pokemon training at the same time. Sonic thought back to his battle with team rocket and the chance it could have ended differently if squirtle had been poisoned by the poison stings.
"Squirtle?" he said
"Squirt?"
"I hope you don't get what I'm about to say the wrong way… but that battle showed that despite our very fast growth… we need allies. You handled it perfectly but… if we keep going alone we will eventually get overpowered. Would you be ok if we added more pokemon to our team?"
"Squirtle" it cried out nodding its head agreeing.
"Thank you pal" Sonic said smiling "thanks for understanding. Plus we could learn a lot if we have more on our team".
They kept going through the woods looking for a pokemon to catch but all they encountered were weedles, caterpies, their evolved forms as well as rattatas.
"Damn" Sonic said as he and squirtle sat on a log to rest "do only bugs live in these woods? I mean a beedrill doesn't sound bad but…." But at that moment he heard many cries at the same time. Both Sonic and squirtle looked at each other in question and followed the cries. Eventually Sonic started making them out.
"Pika pika. Pikachu! Pika!"
"Are those Pikachu cries?" he wondered aloud.
Hiding behind a bush they looked through and saw the source of the cries; a whole herd of pikachus.
"Woah. Now that would be a good catch don't you think?" he asked squirtle who seemed worried as electricity countered water.
"Shoot right. Would be risky for you to fight them. I doubt withdraw would block a thunder shock" Sonic said in deep thought.
However the next moment he was brought out of it as he noticed the pikachus were all looking at a specific Pikachu which seemed displeased with them.
"Pika pika!" it cried out as it waved its tiny hands around as if it was trying to get them to understand.
"Pika!" the whole heard cried out in response clearly showing their disapproval.
"Why are they acting this way? So strange" Sonic wondered again aloud.
At that moment the pikachus' ears all moved towards the rustling of the grass behind them and a huge net came out of nowhere catching most of them excluding a few, among of which was the Pikachu that was disagreeing with them. Sonic and squirtle watched in horror as team rocket grunts arrived and started dragging the net while 2 of them tried to catch the defiant Pikachu. The duo nodded and jumped out of the bush.
"Hey you creeps! Let them go!" Sonic shouted.
The grunts turned around and laughed.
"A mere squirtle will stop us? Go rattata!"
"Squirtle water gun!"
Squirtle used his launching attack to knock out the rattata while Sonic rushed the grunt who witnessed in shock as rattata was knocked out and punched him knocking him out. He then turned to the rest of the grunts who sent out their own pokemon, 1 sandshrew, 2 ekans and a geodude.
"Squirtle aim for the ground types! Water gun!"
Squirtle caught them by surprise by using water gun normally knocking the geodude out and damaging one of the ekans.
"Ekans bind!"
Ekans binded its body around squirtle and soon the damaged ekans followed suit.
"Squirtle withdraw!" Sonic ordered it.
Squirtle withdrew in its shell but the bind attacks still damaged it as its shell was part of its body and the continued pressure was applied normally.
"Damn. Now what?" Sonic thought racking his brain.
At that moment a thunder shock came out of the defiant Pikachu and struck one of the ekans causing it to release squirtle before the attack spread to squirtle. Sonic and the grunts looked as the defiant Pikachu jumped in front of Sonic and let out a cry of pride and anger. It then looked back at Sonic who momentarily gazed into its eyes and saw something very familiar. The 2 then nodded in understanding.
"Pikachu use quick attack on the ekans that is on the ground! Squirtle knock that ekans off of you! Rapid spin!"
Pikachu charged the ekans that wasn't binding squirtle while squirtle spinned finally achieving rapid spin which they had practiced before reaching viridian city and ekans was thrown onto the sandshrew.
"Sandshrew mud slap!" the grunt who had the sandshrew ordered.
Sandshrew threw mud at squirtle who was knocked onto Sonic's feet and tried to stand up but the damage had begun piling up. Pikachu in the meantime had knocked out the first ekans and using quick attack on its own knocked the other one out as well. Now it was just Pikachu and sandshrew.
"Heh. Looks like I win kid! You can't beat a ground type with a Pikachu!"
"We'll see about that! Pikachu tail whip!"
Pikachu whipped its tail lowering the defense of sandshrew.
"Now quick attack!"
Pikachu charged at sandshrew knocking it back but not out.
"Use mud slap!"
Pikachu was struck by the mud slap taking heavy damage. It got up with a lot of effort and stood strong.
"It's over kid! Hand over your pokemon before we use force!" the grunt said as his still standing colleagues took a step forward.
Sonic knew it was almost hopeless but looked at Pikachu and squirtle having taken so much damage to save the other pikachus who had in the meantime been freed by the net and hid away. Knowing he couldn't let them be taken without a fight he stood in front of Pikachu and raised his fists.
"No! You want them? Come and get them!"
"As you wish kid! Sandshrew! Sand tomb!"
Sandshrew started using sand tomb as Sonic was trapped in a sand whirlwind taking damage by every bit of sand hitting him all at once. He tried to breathe but sand entered his lungs. Coughing he dropped on his knee.
"Is this the end?" he thought in horror.
At that moment a giant bolt of lightning fell on the sandshrew. Sonic turned his head back and saw Pikachu striking the sandshrew with all its might. And all of a sudden the sand tomb stopped and sandshrew was knocked down as if it had taken damage.
"What?! How is this possible?!" the grunt said in shock.
Sonic looked at Pikachu in awe and squirtle who also had begun getting back on its feet used water gun launch to strike sandshrew knocking it out cold. The grunts backed up in horror and fled in fear of the Pikachu that had damaged a ground type.
"Squirtle! Are you ok?!" Sonic rushed to its side.
"Squirt" it let out a weak cry.
"I'll get you help don't worry!" Sonic said as he picked it up and rushed back to town to the pokemon center with squirtle in its pokeball and the knocked out grunt on his back. Once he got to town he left the knocked out grunt with officer jenny and rushed to the center where squirtle was healed. Sonic then let it rest before deciding they would head back to the woods to make sure the pikachus were safe and thank the defiant Pikachu. On the way however Sonic heard a familiar scratch coming his way. Raising his right hand he grabbed meowth by the throat who unsuccessfully tried to scratch him until squirtle blasted him with water gun.
"You stalking me now?"
"Ok ok I give! Yes on behalf of my fwiends!"
"Hmph. You do know that I and squirtle here just beat 5 of your team's grunts at once right?"
"Yeah. The one you caught was put in the same cell as Jessie and James. He told them evewything".
"And they sent you to spy on me".
"Yes".
"You do know that I can easily find a powerful wild pokemon and let it tear you apart right?"
Meowth gulped.
"But… I will let you go on one condition".
"Anything!"
"I don't know how you can talk like a human but you will translate something for me. Do it and I will let you go. Capeesh?"
"Yes."
"Good" he said as they continued their way with meowth still in his grasp.
Eventually they reached the Pikachu who immediately recognized their savior and rushed at his feet thanking him. Sonic noticed the defiant Pikachu and made its way to it.
"Ask it why they were fighting earlier" he ordered meowth.
Meowth obliged and Pikachu explained in his language.
"He said they were fighting because it evolved only 1 week ago fwom pichu and desires to evolve again into Waichu soon".
"Is that a reason to fight?"
"These pikachus believe turning into Waichus turns them into snobs who only care about power" Meowth explained.
Sonic again was hit with the same question inside his head he was hit with in Oak's lab. Who wouldn't want to grow? He himself desired to grow. Especially after what had happened in his hometown. He looked at Pikachu again meeting its eyes. He felt it was like looking in a mirror.
"I see" he said as let meowth drop and knelt to meet Pikachu face to face.
"You desire to evolve right?"
"Pika pika!" it cried out in agreement.
"You desire to grow stronger?"
"Pika!"
"Why do you desire that?"
Pikachu didn't cry its name this time. Instead it looked confused. Sonic immediately though it was destiny. This Pikachu was exactly like him. Desiring to grow but didn't know why.
"Pikachu" he said in a serious tone "I feel the same way. I understand how you feel perfectly. Would you like to come with us? Translate!" he ordered meowth once he finished asking his question who obliged as he had no way out surrounded by the other pikachus. Pikachu heard meowth's translation and immediately jumped in excitement agreeing.
"Squirtle would you be ok with Pikachu joining us?"
Squirtle cried out its name in agreement and went to do a handshake with Pikachu. Sonic smiled and took out a pokeball which Pikachu headbutted turning into red energy as it went into the pokeball which shook in Sonic's hand 3 times before small stars came out of it confirming the catch. Sonic sent out Pikachu again to allow it to say goodbye to its herd. A smaller Pikachu came out and they communicated for a bit while an older looking one approached as well. Sonic ordered meowth to translate and he told him the smaller Pikachu was wishing his Pikachu good luck while the older looking one said that it would be missed despite their differences and in the end hoped Sonic's Pikachu found the answers it sought if it ever evolved. Sonic, squirtle and Pikachu who jumped on his shoulder then left the herd and continued heading towards pewter city preparing themselves for the first gym battle.