I do not own Pokemon
Parker looked at the Pidgey with a smirk, pointing at the wild pokemon.
"Vike, show Pan how to do it! Use Supersonic!"
Vike opened his mouth, but the Pidgey seemed unaffected, launching itself at Vike in a Tackle that seemed to annoy the Zubat more than anything else.
In his hands, Pan seemed eager to prove herself, growling at the wild pokemon. The Pidgey seemed surprised, his stance now a bit hesitant.
"Interesting… Vike, Leech Life! Pan, use Growl!"
And so they did, the battle ending quickly after only a few seconds. Vike was growing strong, and Parker hoped that Pan would learn from these encounters how to properly fight.
They met a total of four other wild pokemons before reaching the scree, the tall grass and the sparse trees giving way to a slope composed of rocks of all shapes and sizes without any vegetation to speak of.
He frowned. He was certain there would be a few Geodudes hidden in there, and he had no intention of fighting them. While it was true they could have probably defeated one, all of their attacks were not particularly effective against a pokemon as hard as a rock. It was probably a better idea to simply dash past them, pretending the geodudes weren't even there. He just hoped there wouldn't be any Diglett. He was well aware that Digletts loved that kind of environment, and was also aware of the fact that escaping from a wild Digglett encounter was next to impossible.
Parker stared at his own shirt. While heavily damaged, the team Rocket logo was still clearly visible and it would no doubt draw the attention of anyone looking at the scree. With a sign of resignation, he tore off his shirt and abandoned it in the grass. He looked somewhat ridiculous, wearing nothing but long black trousers and a pair of tall heavy-duty boots, but at least he didn't look like a Rocket grunt anymore. He placed Pan on top of his head, the Nidoran grasping at his hair with a surprisingly strong grip, and looked at Vike flying on his side before he took his first step on the rock pile.
The footing was as uneven as it could possibly be, and Parker needed to open his arms to keep the balance. Sometimes Vike had to swoop by to keep him on his feet, but the group was making quick progress towards the large forest that was awaiting them at the bottom of the scree. A couple of times, Parker landed on a rock that felt different from the rest and started moving on their own, but he was swift to leave the area before the Geodude he accidentally landed on could realize what had happened and decided to teach Parker a lesson.
They were almost halfway down when they felt the ground rumbling, rocks sliding a bit while three figures popped out of the ground, surrounding the man. Three heads covered with a thin layer of fur that made them appear as nothing more than a mass of brown with the exception of two black eyes and a very large pink nose.
Three Digletts. Parker cursed, gently placing Pan on the ground. The one in front looked much bigger than the other two. Was it on the verge of evolution? Was that the reason he had two other Digletts with him? The trio growled, their angry noises scaring off Pan, while having absolutely no effect on Parker.
"Vike! Supersonic the big one! Pan, Growl!
Vike opened his mouth, but the Diglett dug underground, almost by reflex, only to emerge a fraction of a second later, completely dodging the Zubat's attack, but just in time to see and hear Pan's Growl.
Parker dashed at one of the other Digletts, a flurry of punches hitting the wild pokemon on the nose. The Digglett howl in pain, blood sprouting from its nose, only to retaliate with a headbutt. Parker saw a black opening in the pokemon's brown fur and felt the Diglett's teeth scratching at his hand. The other Diglett dove underground, only to emerge straight under Vike in a cloud of sand and debris that enveloped the Zubat.
The ground shook, causing Parker to fall on his knees as a wave of rocks rolled down the scree, pelting everyone in the area with the exception of Vike, too high up to be affected, and a very smug Diglett.
Magnitude.
The bastard knew Magnitude. And he didn't care about hitting the other Digletts. He looked around, the Diglett right next to him looked like he could die with a simple push, but the other one looked relatively healthy.
Pan… Pan! Where was she?
He looked around, seeing his new companion covered in wounds, barely standing.
"Pan! Charge the Diglett! Vike! grab her and keep her in the air!" he shouted, tackling the smug Diglett.
Pan charged, digging her poisoned sting into the same Diglett as Parker.
Vike swooped down, grabbing Pan with his mouth and flying up, dodging a second wave of rubble covering the battleground.
A second Diglett popped out of the ground, shooting a cloud of sand and dust into Parker's eyes. Ignoring the Sand Attack, Parker unloaded a Comet Punch onto the wounded Diglett, halting what would have been his fifth punch as he noticed the fact that his opponent was already dead.
Enraged, the last remaining Diglett dove underground, shaking the ground with a much more powerful Magnitude. One again, he forced Parker onto the ground. The ex Rocket immediately got up on his feet only to be struck by a sharp rock on his temple, causing him to start bleeding.
He readied himself to face off against the last Diglett when he saw Vike's blue shadow flying at the wild pokemon, striking it with his twin tails. The Diglett seemed stunned for a second, not realizing what struck him, only to be struck by Parker's Comet Punch, his adrenaline pumping to the point he didn't even realize Vike had just learned a new move.
Vike swept down one more time, Pan firmly held into the Zubat's mouth, striking the now heavily wounded Diglett again. Before he could dig underground one more time, Parker was on top of him, slamming his whole body onto the wild pokemon as he heard something cracking. As he got up, he saw the body of the now dead Diglett sliding back into the ground, disappearing from view.
He looked at his companion, Vike depositing a very heavily wounded Pan into Parker's hands.
"It's ok, Pan. You did great." he whispered, lulling the pokemon to sleep. He felt the familiar pain of his fingers touching her poison stinger, but the burning sensation seemed to subside on its own. Was he developing an immunity? Would he gain the poison type once he did? He looked at Vike.
"So… new move?"
Vike flew in a circle around Parker, showing his excitement at this developpement.
"Well done, buddy. I'll need to rely on you if another Diglett shows up, I don't think me or Pan are in any condition to fight."
The Zubat steeled his resolve, flying in front of him, as if to scan the area for possible threats. Parker smiled and followed Vike, this time proceeding much slower in an attempt not to wake up Pan.
Proceeding at a snail's pace, the trio managed to avoid any further encounter with wild pokemons until they reached the bottom of the scree, the desolate stone wall now towering behind them in contrast with the densely packed trees of the Viridian forest they were about to enter.
Viridian forest was a bizarre place: it was supposed to be owned by a logging company in Pewter city, but the company had been on the verge of bankruptcy for decades and was barely doing any logging. It was the reason he had personally suggested the heads of team Rocket to leave the business be. According to Parker, they would finally go over in a couple years and team Rocket could sweep in and take over in a 100% legal manner for a fraction of the cost. He wondered who would be interested in taking over now that team Rocket was out of the picture. Whoever it was, they would need to spend good money to chase away all of the bug pokemons that had infested the woods. Some bug catchers even went as far as to say there was no better place in Kanto to catch bug pokemons than the Viridian forest. If only there was any form of demand for bug pokemons that could have been a good business strategy.
Shaking his head, he decided to step forward. He was tired and hurt, but he couldn't just lay around here. Plus, while it was true that he and Pan were in pretty bad shapes, Vike was perfectly healthy and unless they ran into a swarm of Beedrill, they should be able to handle themselves pretty well. Plus, if they found a few Metapods and Kakunas, Pan could get some practice without any risk.
Keeping themselves to the tall grass and avoiding the two or three bug catchers that Parker could spot, the trio made their way deeper, staying clear of the path that connected route 2 to Pewter city. They got ambushed by a handful of Weedles and Caterpies, but they were handled by a single Astonish, courtesy of Vike, before they even got the chance to attack. To Parker's delight, they encountered a couple of Metapods, which he dragged to the ground for Pan to unload upon. Turns out, Nidorans really like eating bug pokemons, once they get past the tough exoskeleton that covers Metapods.
At one point Pan even tried to share her meal with her companions, an offer that Parker refused, but Vike took up immediately. At least the two pokemons seemed happy with their meal.
Parker decided to rest for a bit, leaving his own pokemons to feat at their leisure.
He had barely closed his eyes when he heard a very excited voice.
"Wow! A Zubat and a Nidoran!" He opened his eyes, seeing a kid in a white tank top with a large straw hat preparing to throw a pokeball. Parker jumped to his feet.
"Vike! Block the ball!"
Vike turned his head, seeing the object flying towards him. In a swift movement of his tails, he slapped the pokeball away. Parker got up, suddenly very pissed at the kid for trying to take his pokemon.
"Hey! That was my last pokeball!" Shouted the kid with an angry scowl, before his eyes went wide as he saw Parker's face.
"Y-You… you'r-re the t-team R-Rocket g-g-guy we'v-ve b-b-been t-told to l.-look out f-for." stumbled the kid.
Well, shit. That complicated things. Without even thinking, Parker dashed forward, fist cocked back in the familiar blur of a Comet Punch. After the second hit, the bug catcher fell on the ground, unconscious, blood pouring out of his nose.
"Fuck." muttered Parker, looking around to make sure no one saw what just happened.
He looked down at the kid and took a sigh of relief when he saw him still breathing. Then, a thought entered his mind. Why was he alive? He hadn't knocked out any wild pokemons with Comet Punch, he had killed them. Was that a unique ability to humans? Had he subconsciously held back because he was fighting a human? Because he was punching a kid? Was this because he had punched him in the face? It was well known that it was next to impossible to kill someone by punching them in the face…was that the reason for that rumor? So that people wouldn't kill each other but knock them out instead?
Parker shook his head. It didn't matter. He dragged the kid into the tall grass, dragging him around a tree, placing him into a bush. He rummaged through his pockets, only finding two potions, 100 poke-dollars and three pokeballs. He could see the red light, indicating they contained pokemons, so he left them there. He unhooked the boy's satchel and used the loose belt to tie the boy's arms around the tree, making sure the undergrowth completely covered him. He needed something to gag the boy, but he didn't have anything on himself that could do the job. Frowning at his choice to leave his Rocket shirt back at the mountain, he ripped away the boy's tank top and hastily wrapped it around the boy's mouth. It was an ok solution, wouldn't last for long but for the moment it would have to suffice.
However, Parker had now a major problem: the kid had recognized him immediately, meaning Viridian police had almost certainly his identikit and was actively hunting him down.
He had hoped to spend the few hundred poke-dollars he had on him to stock up in Pewter city, but that plan was now out of the question. If a random kid in the Viridian forest could recognize him, any random police officer in Pewter city could do the same. Not to mention, it was only a matter of time before the kid got free and started mouthing off about him being in the area. He only had a day before they spotted the kid, they would certainly mount a search team and…
He smirked. If they mounted a search team, they would need to send out officers away from pewter city to look for the kid. And if the kid lived in Viridian city rather than Pewter city, Viridian police would certainly request help from Pewter city, considering the location of Viridian forest.
Yes, that would be a wonderful distraction to help him get what he needed from Pewter city and run away before the police could get on his trail. He now only needed to prepare. He drank one of the potions and handed the other one to Pan, who suddenly felt so much better. While it was true that he was planning to rob a Poké Mart to stock up on potions and pokeballs, he had another much more important objective in mind first. Poké Mart didn't sell the climbing gear that he needed, he knew the only place that had that sort of equipment in stock was the massive shopping center in Celadon city, with smaller Marts only handling distribution of such items when requested.
No, Parker knew that the only place for him to get climbing gear in Pewter city was the Museum of Science, which had a permanent exhibition about the Mount Moon excavation project, which included a very nice climbing wall for people to try it out. He had actually worked there for a few months when he moved to Kanto. He actually liked that job, too bad the boss was a fucking twat.
Notes
Boss fight: 2 lvl 8 + 1 lvl 11 Diglett (Arena trap) vs lvl 10 Vike and Parker + lvl 4 Pan
Arena trap is a very annoying ability and Magnitude can deal a fuckton of damage to everyone in the team (well, except for Vike).
Not much to comment about this chapter, except that Pan will soon reach the same level as the others and become a very important member of the team.
Also, in this chapter you have: punch a kid and rob him for cash! Isn't our protagonist the dictionary definition of a good guy? (I do not condone any of the illegal actions Parker has taken or will take in the future!)