Poll on my profile! Check it out!
Here's the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.
FanSuperAnime - Thanks so much, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Uruk will certainly be a great asset for the team with his ancient knowledge and battle skills...they just have to work out what he's actually saying first.
Funny that you mentioned . I have been thinking of doing another story project that I would like to use for it. I was thinking of two chapters per month, but that project is still in the planning stages. Thanks so much.
djinn - Thank you so much. Team Rocket's plan, like always, had a few holes in its design. It sure was lucky that they managed to convince them out of it. Most likely. However, I will phone Misty to check in on Togepi and see how she is doing as well. I think their relationship will improve because of the Pokemon they are raising together. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.
pokemonking0924 - Yeah, it was a shame I couldn't fit more ancient Pokemon and Jigglypuff into the chapter, but I'm still happy with the result, nonetheless.
Daisy was fun to write. She was envisioned as a mix between a cool older sister and a mentor. I plan to write her more in another chapter at an ancient site in the future.
I had no idea if that was canon, but that's possibly the only explanation I can think of as to why Gary has a car and cheerleaders. I don't think that was in the game either. Weird move by the anime makers to be honest, but... -shrugs-...ah well.
Oh yes. The great force that is the bond between human and Pokemon. It's beautiful, really. I drew inspiration from 'How To Train Your Dragon' there. If only Ash could do the same with his charizard.
Thank you so much. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
Pinkflamingwarriorofjustice - Thanks so much. You're honestly too kind.
SkullGreymonX- Thanks so much. Sorry I couldn't fit Jigglypuff in. Maybe she'll appear another time.
Ah, you picked up on Charles having some sort of connection to the Unown. Yeah, that is weird. I wonder if has something to do with why he was found abandoned in a forest, hmm.
Anyway, I really enjoy Uruk, and you're right, the language barrier is going to be a little difficult, but they'll overcome it through training. I also completely forgot about that episode, so thank you for reminding me. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
Guest - Thank you so much for your suggestion. However, I think teddyursa would be better suited to Alice considering what the Pokemon evolves into. What do you think?
Yes, I haven't forgotten about that. I just never got around to planning an episode with the eevee brothers. There are two more eevee siblings in Kanto that they need to find so it's possible that they will find one of them with them. Thanks for reading.
Sonic07 - Thank you so much. I feel bad about missing Jigglypuff to be honest, but I couldn't fit her into the story. Daisy Oak is a really cool person and would love to bring her back for another chapter. Alice reminds her of her own sister in a way, but way less strict and much cooler...but she would never ever tell her that. Thanks again for reading.
Drakiros - Thanks so much, you're too kind. I really love this franchise and I love writing stories based on it and sharing them with like-minded people. However, this story wouldn't be nearly as good if it wasn't for its readers and so I really appreciate everybody's love and support.
A crystal onix does sound intriguing. I'll definitely think about it. Thanks so much.
Kunoichi69 - Thanks so much. I had a lot of fun writing it. The most tricky part was the language Uruk speaks and trying my best to make it as accurate as possible. Honestly, I would do the same as Benny on really hot days; I much prefer autumn to summer.
Daisy Oak is great, isn't she? I need to bring her back someday. Hmm... but when? Oh! I have an idea... it I can't tell you yet. Thanks so much for reading.
FartNinja - That would be nice. I'll keep on writing as fast as I can. After all, Charles does need to do his gym challenge at Cinnabar Island. Also thank you for remind me, I'll be sure to fix that. Thanks for reading.
DungeonWanderer - Ooh, that's a good guess. Can't reveal anything just yet, though.
Guest - Perhaps. I would love to see that. Sorry for the wait.
Guest - Yep, they exist. Ready for some lore drop?
(Please note that people married into the Joy/Jenny family usually double barrel their surname with the Joy/Jenny surname. For example: Charles would either be 'Charles Roberts-Joy' or 'Charles Roberts-Jenny' depending on whether you had asked Flo or Alice first.)
Name: Ignatius 'Iggy' Summer-Joy
Age - 32
Hair - Red
Eyes - Grey
Occupation - Mechanic
Hobbies - Building model trains.
How they met their wives - Fell out of a tree when he was nine and Flo's mother (eight years old at the time) patched him up. They had been together ever since.
Approved of Charles - Yes, but still keeps an eye on him just in case.
xxxx
Name - Andy Morse-Jenny
Age - 38
Hair - Blonde
Eyes - Green
Occupation - Pastry Chef
Hobbies - Skiing
How they met their wives - Tackled a thief that was running away from Alice's mother who was a cadet at the time. He liked to think that he looked cool the moment he trapped the criminal for her, but he had actually hit his nose during the dive and had a massive nosebleed. Alice's mother didn't think he looked cool, but she found it cute that he was trying.
Approved of Charles - Hasn't met yet. But does have a ten step approval test in place in case a boy tries to date either of his daughters. It's pretty tedious so I won't bore you with what it involves.
Slimeball - Hmm, an Alolan grimer? I admit I haven't thought that far ahead, but they are cool looking. I see what I can do.
Guest - Wait! Hold on! How fast do you think I can write!? Or rather, how long can you actually hold your breath for!?
Uber Ghidorah - Thanks so much for pointing them out; I was unaware of some of them. For the purpose of the narrative, I did have to twist some information around to make it work better. I wish I didn't have to, but it just flowed better. Thank you so much for reading and I really like all your suggestions. You were also kind enough to suggest which region they will be from which I truly appreciate. I'll add all your suggestions to the list. However, I hope you don't mind me having Dhelmise and Comfey to be found in Alola instead of the Orange Islands and Clobbopus to Galar. Komala can stay as it is as I like the idea of a pink Komala.
Thanks again.
Thanks everybody for reviewing and don't forget about the poll on my profile :)
Chapter 45: Marina And Togepi's Egg-cellent Adventure
Pokecentre
Leaving the dusty landscape Of Grandpa Canyon, the team had settled at a Pokemon Centre a few miles westwards in a town on the northern border of Kanto.
The town itself was small with only a handful of residental houses, shops and other local businesses that its people dependent on. In fact, the Pokecentre was the largest building in the area. It was located on the eastern banks of a wide river and connected to a vast city via a long suspencion bridge. The city was the complete opposite; filled with looming, grey buildings, wide motorways and was the home of hundreds of people. Dotted on its river bank was a row of wharfs and warehouses that played an active role in the development of the city as a trading port way before any of the children were born. Although now they have been longed been abadoned. Some of the warehouses have either been knocked down and turned into houses, department stores, sport stadiums and expensive cafes; while some have been left to alone and were allowed to rust, collect dust and to be the home of various city Pokemon.
Back to the Pokecentre, the team and their Pokemon were having their dinner. Since it was a warm and sunny afternoon, they had decided to eat outside on the wooden benches that the Centre had set out in such an occasion. Some of the Pokemon were sat eating their Pokefeed from their bowls in front of them while others, who had already finsihed, chatted or played with each other. However, the newest member of the team seemed to he having some trouble.
With his sharp eyes, Uruk stared at the pile of Pokefood set in front of him that was far bigger than the other Pokemon's due to his size. He gave it a caustious sniff, poked one of the pellets with the tip of his wing before pulling his head back away from it.
("Quid est hoc? Hoc numquam antea vidi,") he muttered in his an ancient language.
Miko gently tapped his large foot with her paw, making him look down at the smaller Pokemon.
("It's food,") she calmly told him as she opened and closed her mouth to imitating eating, ("You eat it. It's very nutrious and very good for your fur…or scales in your case.")
Because to the up and coming battle in Cinnarbar Island, Charles felt like he needed to switch around some of his Pokemon from Oak's Corral. Miko was one of the he brought over as well as Tyche, Pyro and Echo while Marina, Uruk and Benny remained. Currently, the vulpix, bellesprout and zubat had gathered around their newest member of their team and, despite the language barrier, were getting along with him.
("F-food?")) he repeated with a hum.
("Yeah, like this,") Tyche said as he grabbed one of the food pellets in his leaf hand and tossed it into his mouth, ("You eat it- ACK! COUGH! HRRRKK!")
Miko rolled her eyes and smacked all of her tails against Tyche's back, dislodging the food pellet from his throat and making him spit it out.
("Tyche, please be more careful,") Echo urged as he petted his wing on the bellesprout's back as he sputtered and coughed.
Uruk gave the trio a curious look before he gave the pile of pokefood one last sniff. Sensing nothing wrong with it, he ate a mouthful of it, chewed it and swallowe it whole.
("Hmm,") he hummed thoughtfully, ("Est delectamentum. Multo magis quam cibus in tempore meo,") he mused before he bowed his head towards them, ("Gratias, novi fratres ad soror")
("I think that means he likes it,") Echo said happily.
("That's great,") Miko said as her tails wagged.
("Yay!") Tyche said as he wobbled his way towards Uruk, ("Let me help you recommend you on-whoops!") he suddenly yelped as he triped over his feet and fell head first into the pile of pokefood.
As Tyche struggled to get out, his little root feet flailing in the air, Miko and Echo sighed miserably while Uruk look down in slight concern."
("Infortunium,") he mumbled.
Over at the benches, the trainers had already had their dinner and had left their dirty plates and cups to one side and focused on what sitting on a pillow in front of Misty: the mysterious Pokemon egg she had found at Grandpa Canyon. Using a mixture of Brock's breeder advice and Charles' experience in taking care of eggs, Misty felt confident that was able to look after this egg. She knew how to clean its shell, what temperature to keep at during the night, what sort of incubator to keep in when she's travelling. With them, she felt like she could put up with raising this Pokemon...however, the only thing she couldn't put up with was Ash's moaning.
"Aww, come on Misty! It's not fair!" Ash complained as he moped on his side of the table.
"Don't be so immature, Ash. Grow up," Misty sighed before she stuck out her tongue at him, "Anyway, finder's keepers!"
Ash turned to Alice pleadingly, "Come on, Alice. There has to be a law against this, right?"
She shook her head, "Nope. Funnily enough, the law does uphold the 'finder's keepers' rule when it comes to things like this... unless a qualified Nurse Joy says otherwise."
Ash turned to Flo hopefully.
"Don't look at me," she told him sharply, "Besides, Brock and Charles has taught Misty everything she needs to know. If she feels she's ready, then she's ready."
"And I feel ready," Misty said with a smug look, "So, in your face!"
Brock sweat dropped, "Very mature, Misty."
Charles chuckled happily as he stroked the egg shell with his fingers, "You'll do good, Misty. I can't wait to see who hatches from it. I wish I knew what Pokemon it is."
"You still don't know?" Misty asked him with a slight frown.
"No, not really. It's possible that it's a Pokemon from another region. I might need to research more on it."
("Err...Charles,") Benny said from atop of his shoulder, catching his attention, ("If Marina is going to glare at you any harder then she'll turn bright red.")
Charles blinked in surprise before he looked down to his lap at the rather cross dratini in his lap; glaring at him whilst making annoyed huffing noises.
"Ah! Sorry, Marina," Charles said genuinely as he stroked her little head, "I didn't mean to ignore you," he told her before thinking, 'man, she's so adorable when she's angry.'
Marina gave an angry 'hmpff' noise before she leaned in to the petting.
The young Pokemon hasn't had a nice day. She wanted to spend the whole day playing with her mama, but he's been distracted by that egg. When she wanted to play and hide and seek, he was too busy showing how to clean the egg properly; when she wanted to be petted, he was too busy teaching how properly incubator an egg; when she wanted to be fed...well, he would feed her, but his mind will always be on the darn egg. It was driving her crazy.
('What's so special about it?') she thought miserably, ('It's not even hatched yet, but I'm still here. I can't wait until mama's friends go and take it away.')
Charles, whilst still petting Marina, looked back at Misty, "So, have you come up with a name yet?"
Misty giggled, "Charles, come down. You're making it sound like I'm its parent or something."
"Well, you kind of are, you know," Charles told her, "As soon as the Pokemon hatches and sees the first thing their eyes come onto, your face will be impressioned on their mind and you'll be their mother to them."
"W-wha!? Really!?" Misty uttered.
"Don't worry. It's not as hard as you might think," he told her as he hugged Marina to his chest, "When Marina came into my life, I felt a feeling I have never had before. I knew at the exact moment that I love her and will care for her for the rest of my life. It felt natural. All that time, waiting for her to be hatched and taking care of her, was well worth it. It was like I've been waiting for Marina for years and now she's here," he said as he stroked her chin, making her purr, "She fills me with so much joy."
Misty listened to what he said and smiled happily. She did feel a little better now that she had people like Charles helping her. She turned to her egg before glancing at him; a small blush appearing on her cheeks.
"You know...if I'm going to be their mother...if you want, you can be their father," she shyly said.
Charles snapped her head to her in shock, "I can?"
She nodded her head, trying to look at Charles at the moment. If she did, she would have seen the tears in his eyes.
"I would love to. I'm going to be a dad," Charles said excitedly as he wiped the tears away and looked down at Marina and hugged her tightly, "You hear that, Marina? You're going to have a younger sibling, isn't that great?"
Marina looked at him and then to the egg before she huffed and looked away from him.
"Oh Marina, don't be like that. I know you like being the baby of the group, but you need to be an older sister to the egg now. And that means looking after your baby sister. Just like how Cleo is to you? Don't you want that?"
She gave another annoyed huff.
("That's a definite no,") Benny commented.
"She's so cute when she's sulking."
"Hey Brock," Ash whispered as he leaned in close to him, "Why is Alice and Flo looking at Misty like that?"
The dark look that both girls were giving Misty was noticeable for even Ash; even though he doesn't know why. It was a look that had a clear message to it and that message was, 'How dare you undermine us like that Misty Waterflower.' Misty, on her part, was acting as if her shoes were interesting to her in someway and tried to not look at the glares boring into her.
Brock patted Ash on the shoulder, "It's best to ignore it, Ash. A battlefield like this can get messy."
"Battlefield? Is there a Pokemon battle happening?"
Suddenly, to all of their surprise, there was a flash of light.
They looked around, wondering where it could have come from, when they notice another bright light flash once more. They looked down in utter disbelief at the Pokemon egg nested on the pillow in front of Misty as it flashed for a third time.
Flo gasped, "It's starting to hatch!"
"W-what already?" Misty uttered as all the Pokemon took notice.
Brock got onto his feet and pointed to the door of the Pokecentre, "We should call for Nurse Joy now. She'll have a room especially designed for this."
"Okay, Nurse Joy!" Charles called out to the Centre.
The Nurse Joy who ran this particular Centre, burst through the door and turned to them in alarm, "Is something wrong? How can I help?"
"My baby is coming," he told her seriously
"Huh? What?" the nurse uttered in understandable confusion.
"WOULD YOU STOP THAT!" Flo, Benny and Alice shouted at him.
Maternity Ward, Pokemon Centre
After quickly returning their Pokemon, the trainers hurried to the Natal Ward, perfectly designed for Pokemon hatchings. Nurse Joy ran some tests and checks to make sure the egg was healthy and, as soon as she was satisfied, she gave them the all clear. The only thing they had to do was wait.
They crowded around the table and watched eagerly as the egg glowed brightly; it had begun to flash more frequently a while back and now the intervals were starting to get shorter by the minute until the egg was more or less starting to glow. It was clear that the egg was going to hatch at any moment.
Misty, nervous and excited at the same time, watched the egg with her green eyes and never tore them away for a single second. She sighed deeply and unconsciously began to fidget where she stood. However, she stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked around to see Charles giving her a calm, reassuring smile. She blinked in surprise before she smiled back and turned back to the egg as it began to glow brighter and brighter; feeling a lot better now that he's here.
"It's almost there," Nurse Joy told them, "Just a few more seconds."
As she said that, the egg began to glow even more brighter until they had to strain their eyes to see. The room glowed brightly from the blinding light of the egg. Then after three...two...one seconds...
...the glowing stopped.
They blinked and rubbed their eyes as the room got instantly dark once again before looking down at what was on the table. However, they were surprised to see that the egg was normal as if nothing happened whatsoever. Confused, they shared questioning looks with one another to find out what was going on...
...when suddenly.
Crack!
They snapped their heads back down to the egg once again and saw a crack form on the egg's crown. It was small at first, but then it grew and grew.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The crack had now completely encircled the crown of the egg in a perfect circle. Nothing happened at first, but then, without warning, the top of the egg fell away onto the table, revealing a mound of yellowish flesh that was shaped like the egg it had emerged from.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Four more cracking sounds followed; two from the bottom of the egg and one on either side. From the crack, four yellowish conical stubby limbs poked their way out. The arms waggled enthusiastically in the air while the feet tries and, eventually, succeeded at standing up on its own. Finally, the yellowish mound at the top began to split into five sections and opened itself up to reveal that it was a head with five rounded points that looked like a crown. On the front of the head, two black oval shaped eyes opened up wide followed by small mouth. After taking some time to hatch, the Pokemon had finally revealed itself to them and instantly locked eyes on the first person it saw. Which happened to be a smiling Misty, of all people.
The Pokemon stared in her for a few seconds in slight awe as it tried to comprehend what they were seeing before he raised its arms up, closed his eyes and chirped happily.
("Mama!")
Misty's eyes lit up happily as the Pokemon waddled over to her. She accepted the young Pokemon into her arms and hugged her warmly as a wide grin spread across her face.
Crash!
Misty jumped as the noise and turned around to see Charles, Flo, Alice, Brock and Nurse Joy thrown to the floor as if they were knocked over by an invisible force; holding a hand over their eyes and they squealed in delight.
"IT'S SO CUTE!" Alice cried.
"I WANT TO HUG IT SO BAD!" Flo shouted.
"I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE!" Brock bellowed.
"THE SINGLE MOST ADORABLE POKEMON EVER!" Charles yelled.
("I'm right here, you know,") Benny dryly remarked from his place on the table.
"I KNOW I SHOULD BE PROFESSIONAL, BUT IT'S SO CUUTTTEEE!" Nurse Joy screamed happily.
Misty giggled in amusement before turning back down to the Pokemon in her arms and petting it on its head, smiling as it giggled and squeaked happily.
Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, gave them a funny look before taking his pokedex out and scanning the new Pokemon.
Togepi - The shell seems to be filled with joy. It is said that it will share good luck when treated kindly.
"Huh? It's a togepi," Ash hummed curiously as he put away his pokedex, "I've never heard of it before."
("Me neither,") Pikachu agreed.
Charles crawled back onto his feet as he used the table as support and rubbed his sore throat from screaming too much.
"It's a Pokemon usually found in Johto and other places," he explained as he gently slid beside Misty and looked down at the newly born Pokemon, "Strange that appeared all the way in Grandpa Canyon. I wonder how they got there."
The togepi looked up at him from Misty's arms and stared up at him curiously. They then waggled his arms and chirped just as happily as they did when they saw Misty.
("Papa,") she giggled.
...
...
...
The next thing everybody knew Charles was lying sprawled on the floor, having been knocked off his feet by sheer adorableness. He smiled contently with his eyes closed and placed his hands together as if he was praying.
"Thank you..." he softly sighed as a small ghost that was shaped like him seeped out of his mouth, "...I can die now. My life has peaked."
("Damn it! He really is going to die!") Benny yelled in panic, ("Stay with us! We still haven't finished our journey!")
As Alice and Brock tried to push Charles' spirit back into his body, Flo and Nurse Joy began their check up on the togepi.
"She looks very healthy to me," Nurse Joy said, "Congratulations, Misty. If you give me a moment, I can grab you a few booklets on how to take care of young Pokemon."
Misty smiled and shook her head, "Thanks, but I've got it. As long as I have Charles and Brock helping me, I'll be just fine," she said before glancing at Charles still passed out on the floor, "...well, I will be as soon as he wakes up."
"Have you come up with a name for her?" Flo curiously asked.
She shrugged in response, "I think just Togepi suits her. I think it's an adorable name for an adorable Pokemon," she said as she waggled her fingers in front of her face, making her giggle in delight.
As Charles was starting to recover from his near death experience, nobody noticed that one of his pokeballs opened up and a Pokemon slip out undetected. Marina slide silently across the ward's floor and hid behind a nearby desk; she poked her little head out and glared at Togepi in Misty's arms and growled a little in annoyance.
("So, that's her,") she mumbled bitterly as everyone cooed over the baby Pokemon, ("Mama really likes that thing? No way. Mama is my mama. Nor hers. She can't have mama.")
Suddenly, to her surprise, Togepi looked around the room and stared right at her hiding place. She gasped and ducked behind the desk and waited for a few seconds, hoping she would look away from her. After ten seconds, she poked her head out again...only to be surprised, once again, to see Togepi still looking at her.
("What does she want?") Marina thought.
The egg Pokemon blinked at her before a happy smiled crossed over her face. She chirped cheerily at the sight of her as if she was overjoyed to see Marina. The dratini was shocked, but she tutted angrily and looked away; she wanted nothing to do with her.
("I wish she'll leave already.")
As the celebration inside the ward went underway, nobody noticed the face looking in from the window from outside. The figure allowed a sinister grin to spread across his fuzzy feline face before it turned away towards his fellow team members.
"Looks like we got a rare Pokemon on our paws," Meowth snickered evilly, "This is perfect. I know just what to- Why are you two on the ground?" he asked in confusion as he saw Jessie and James rolling about on the ground with the hands covering their red aces.
"SOOO CUUTTTEEE!!! OH, I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WANT IT!" Jessie squealed.
"TOTALLY ADORABLE!" James yelled, "OH, LET'S STEAL IT! COME ON MEOWTH! MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT!"
Meowth rolled his eyes, "Well...that's right we're here."
James sat up and smiled in determination, "Perfect, I'm all for it."
"It's not as if you had a choice. It's our job," the talking Pokemon sighed before he smirked deviously, "And I've got a special evil scheme in mind. By the end of the day, that togepi will be ours."
...
...
...
Jessie sat up and gave him a curious look, "Is the scheme just breaking in at night and just stealing the cutie pie?"
"...yes."
"What's so special about it?"
"We'll be doing it in disguises."
"Ooo! Now I'm really up for it."
Room, Pokecentre
Marina couldn't sleep.
Like every night, she was curled up right next to Charles' head on the pillow while Benny was snuggled on top of his chest; however, despite how comfortable she was, she was kept awake by a nightmare.
A nightmare where Charles abandoned her for Togepi and carried on living with his new family without her. She will be lost. Forgotten. Left to fend for herself in the big world she lived in.
It was terrifying.
Sure, she had nightmares before, but they were nothing like this. When she awoke, there was already somebody to comfort her like Charles, Benny and Cleo. However, this time, she didn't feel like waking them up and telling them about it. Instead, she decided to lay their coiled up in the dark room that they were sleeping in for the night. While the others slept soundly, she sighed sadly and stared at the moon through the dorm window.
All day. All day they were doting on Togepi. It made her feel horrible knowing that everybody had moved on from paying attention to her and focused on the new baby.
It wasn't fair.
Marina shifted slightly so she could look at her mama's face and released a soft whimper. She didn't want him to leave. She thought he loved her.
CLATTER!
She lifted her head up in alarm as she heard something from outside the room. She frowned curiously as she listened closely and heard hushed voices as well. Giving one last look at Charles, she slithered off the pillow and onto the floor and made her way through the bunk beds to the door. She used her tail to wedge the door open and she then stuck her head out into the dark hallway.
To her surprise, she saw three figures scamper out of the opposite room where Ash, Misty and Brock were staying for the night. It was too dark for her to see who they were, but she could tell, by the shape, that two of the were humans and one of them was a Pokemon. She watched as they crept down the hallway, giggling manically to themselves as they went; one of them had a sack slung on to their shoulder which looked as if it was filled with something heavy. Marina cocked her head to the side before the silently followed after them.
Down the deserted hallways and across the quiet foyer, Marina never let the figures out of her sights. She saw the door to the Pokecentre was slightly ajar and made her way to it and peered through it. The figures were all standing beside a van that was parked not too far away, partially hidden by the tree shrubs. She watched as one of the human figures placed the sack into the van's trunk and the slowly and gently closed the door to make as little sound as possible.
She saw the figures much clearer now they were under the glow of the moon above their heads. One of the humans was dressed as a chef with a tall white hat and an apron, the other human was dressed like a janitor with a broom and greyish moustache. The Pokemon was, strangely enough, dressed as a fireman with a yellow helmet and a fireproof jacket. Marina briefly wonder who they were and why they dressed like they were going to a Halloween Party when one of them spoke up.
"James, did you have to drop that broom. You almost woke them up," the chef scolded.
"I didn't mean to," the janitor snapped back, "It just slipped out of my hands when I was grabbing it."
"You know," the Pokemon fireman sighed, "When I said we should do this is disguises..I was expecting all of us having similar ones. We kind of stick out more than we already do."
"I know, but there was a buy three for two deal at the fancy dress costume shop," the janitor said before he grinned and gave them a thumbs up, "Besides, all that money we saved means we can that ramen takeaway for dinner tonight."
"Ooh! This turning into a wonderful evening," Jessie cooed as they headed to the driver's seat, "First a Togepi to give to the boss, now a delicious meal! We should do this more often."
"We would, but we're always broke," Meowth grumbled.
"Besides, if we do it more often, it wouldn't be special."
"So true."
Marina squeaked in alarm ("Togepi? The bad peopele stole her!") she squeaked in suprise…
…before she hummed fhoughtfully.
("The bad people…stole her…meaning she's gone,") she said to herself happily, ("Yippee! She's gone! She's gone! Mama is going to stay with me now! Mama will still be my mama! Mama will…") she hesitated slightly as soon as she realised something, ("…be sad. Be very sad.")
The slamming of the van doors slamming brought her out of her thoughts and made her loom towards the vehicle unsurely. She could stay and pretend she didn't see them…or she could help Togepi.
"And that means looking after your baby sister. Just like how Cleo is to you? Don't you want that?"
She remembered her mama saying those words and they echoed in her young head. She frowned guiltily. She knew that Charles would be very upset with her if he ever found out the truth.
The engine to the van roared to life as it prepared to leave. This was the moment to decide.
Groaning in annoyance, she shot through the doors, slithered across the ground and leapt onto the back of the van; using her serpentine body to wrap around the handle. She attempted to pull the back door open, but it was locked shut.
Before she could think of a plan, the van lurched forwards and began to drive away from the Pokecentre with her still hanging onto the back. The only thing she could do was hold on and wait for another opportunity…
…whenever that will be.
Industrial Area
After what felt like hours, Marina was jolted awake as the van suddenly drove over a pothole. She looked around and saw, to her shock, that she had no idea where she was. What had been the small town where they were staying for the night had turned into an urban sprawl. Concrete and rusted iron buildings surrounded her; the ground was rough tarmac littered with potholes and large puddles; and there was the strange smell of burning rubber from somewhere. She looked up and saw that it was still night; the dark clouds overheard partially concealing the stars and the bright moon above. It made her feel a little sick and she longed to be back to familiarity and to her family.
The young Pokemon whined slightly in worry, but she shook off her fears as she remembered where she was and what she needed to do. She was still hanging onto the handle of the van as it drove on through the industrial area and once again tried to open it with all he strength, but she had as much success as her last attempt.
She squeaked in surprise as the van suddenly swerved left and entered one of the many warehouses that dominated the site. As soon as it drove in far enough, the van stopped hard which almost made her hit her head against the door if she hadn't caught herself in time. The large metal doors of the warehouse automatically closed behind them and plunged the entire building into darkness; however, it didn't take long until the lights overhead snapped on and illuminated the inside.
The warehouse was ginormous; with an area that wide enough to fit twenty or so lorries and a tall ceiling that looked unreachable for a small Pokemon like Marina. The majority of the space was occupied by hundreds upon hundreds of wooden crates stacked on top of each other so that they towered over her. The colour of the painted wood was starting it peel and fade while some of the boards had already rotted away. Some of the crates were now the homes of pidgey and rattata who took over the warehouse when it was first abandoned. High above, steel rafters, that were starting to rust, crisscrossed across the ceiling and held up what remained of the warehouse and were possibly the only reason why the entire building was still standing up.
Marina took in the scenery in concerned fascination when she suddenly heard the doors to the van open up from the front.
"Was that really a shortcut, James? That took ages," Jessie sighed, who had now changed out of her disguise and wore her usual uniform like her colleagues.
James rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he stepped out of the van, "I may have taken a few wrong turns. This place can be pretty confusing."
"Whatever, let's call the boss and tell him what we got," Meowth said as he leapt out of the van and made his way around the back.
Marina gasped and let go of the handle. She drop to the concrete floor and darted under the van before Meowth could spot her. She watched from underneath as Meowth scampered around the van and leapt up and grabbed the handle. The doors swung right open and the Pokemon reached into the grab the sack where Togepi was in, but suddenly James called out to him from somewhere within the warehouse.
"Meowth, did you order soba noodles?"
'Huh? No," Meowth said as he moved away from the open doors of the van and peeked around the side, "I ordered udon."
"I don't see udon here."
"You're kidding me!" Meowth cried as Marina watched him walk away, "They do this every time!"
While Meowth was distracted, Marina silently slithered out of her hiding space and leapt inside the back of the van. She spotted the sack leaning against a sack of sandbags (they were there when Team Rocket rented it) and immediately darted over to it. Using her teeth and her tail, she opened the top of the sack and pulled it down to reveal a sleeping Togepi who, seemingly, was not disturbed by what was going on. She poked her tail against the Pokemon's shell, trying her best to rouse it from its sleep.
("Come on,") she hissed at her, ("Wake up already. We need to go.")
"Oy vey, I swear we're not going back to that place ever again."
Marina's head snapped up as she heard Meowth's voice. He was coming back. Quickly, she lifted the sleeping Togepi out of the sack and set her aside; she then bit into the sandbag next to her and allowed the sand to pour into the now empty sack. When it was partially full, about the same height and width of Togepi, she closed the sack up and leapt behind the sandbag before Meowth arrived. The Pokemon leapt into the back of the van and hoisted the sack over his shoulder, grunting in surprise as he did.
"Woah! The kid's much heavier than I expected," he grumbled to himself as he carried it out of the van, "I wonder if it means we get more money out of it."
Marina waited for a few seconds before she slithered out of her hiding place with her tail firmly wrapped around Togepi. She sighed in relief at not being caught before she leapt out of the back and headed to the warehouse doors, making sure that Togepi was lifted up so she wasn't dragged across the floor. She made it to the large doors and tried to look for a way out of there, but there was no hole wide enough to climb through, no locks small enough for her to use and the door was completely sealed.
("Now what?") she thought to herself as she slithered back and frantically searched for a way out.
That's when she spotted it. A window a couple of meters above the large doors was wide open. The steel rafters could get her straight there, but she needed to climb up there first. She turned around and spotted, far into the warehouse, a pile of crates that she could climb up to the rafters; but she needed to be quick and silent. She could make her way through the maze of old storage crates, but she had to be careful not to alarm Team Rocket no matter what-
"Pi?"
She froze in shock at the noise. She turned her head around and saw that the egg Pokemon was starting to wake up. Her eyes fluttered and she gave a small, adorable yawn as she stretched her arms. The young Pokemon stared at her and Marina stared back. It took a few seconds for her to realise who she was, but, the moment she did, a wide, cheerful smile spread across Toegpi's face.
"Toge! Toge! Pi!"
Marina's face fell in dread as she hurriedly tried to shush her, ("Shh! Togepi. You're going to get us caught.")
Back with Team Rocket, the villains were sat around a folding table with the sack (which they thought contained the stolen Togepi) sat right in the middle. Meowth picked at his soba noodle broth with his chopsticks and sighed in disappointment, longing for the day when he could finally have udon noodles.
"You know, I don't mind soba. We can swap if you like," James offered the sad Meowth.
"Nah, don't worry. I'll get over it."
"Pi! Pi! Toge! Toge! Pi!"
Jessie groaned in annoyance and glared at the sack on the middle of the table, 'Can one of you shut it up. I want to enjoy my meal in peace," she said...before she realised that the chirping wasn't coming from the sack, "What?"
She turned around to where the noise was coming from and gasped in shock. First she saw Togepi who was happily falling her stubby arms in the air in joy and then she saw the shiny dratini that was holding her up and trying to get her to shut up.
"No way!" She gasped in disbelief as her colleagues noticed them as well, "Our Togepi is begin stolen!"
"By another rare Pokemon," James chimed in.
"And there's no sign of the twerps anyway!' Meowth finished.
...
...
...
...
Team Rocket leapt to the feet and pumped their fists in the air.
'Yippee! This is like Christmas and our birthdays on the same day! We're going to be loaded!" They cried out victoriously.
They reached behind them and pulled out their hunting nets; grinning viciously as they locked their eyes on the Pokemon.
"Let's capture them now!" Jessie cried out as all three sprinted to them.
"No time like the present!"
"And what a great present, it is," Meowth snickered.
Marina snapped her head around as she heard their cries; her eyes widened as Team Rocket rose their nets over their heads and aimed it at them. The dratini waited for the right moment, just as they were about to swing their nets down at them, before she leapt past their heads and slithered away. With their target vanishing, Jessie, James and Meowth swung their nets down on nothing and crashed into each other painfully. They groaned in pain as they fell in a heap on the ground and began to suffer a small headache.
Marina slithered as fast as she could before she glared back at Togepi who was still wrapped up in her tail, ("Why couldn't you stay quiet, you idiot!")
Togepi blinked at her harsh tone before she smiled and chirped happily as if she hadn't noticed what she had said. Marina groaned in anger and quickly made her way toward the stack of crates so she could make her escape.
She zigzagged through the warehouse. Darting left and right past the crate stacks to try and confuse Team Rocket and prevent herself from being captured so easily. She turned right and saw the tallest tower of crates straight ahead and made her way towards it; not letting her a moment to hesitate.
But then, suddenly, Meowth jumped out from around the corner and got in her path, raising his net above his head.
"Ha! Got you now! If you want to get past then you have to go through me!" He declared.
Marina frowned in concentration before she reared back her head and gave a shrill cry. The air around her began to whip around and around; building up faster and faster as Twister attack took form. Once it was complete, she sent it hurtling towards Meowth.
Meowth gulped and his eyes widened in fear. It was too late for him to dodge and so he was hit with the full brunt of the attack, sending him flying of his paws.
"AHHH! I WAS WRONG! YOU CAN GET THROUGH ME!" He yelled as he flew across the warehouse and crashed into a few crates painfully.
Marina slithered past where he was and got to the foot of the stack of crates. She immediately began to climb up it as quick as she could whilst trying to not hurt a still happy Togepi. Jessie and James made it to the foot of the stack and grinned as they saw the dratini struggling to climb up it.
"Oh my, looks like the sweetheart is having some trouble," Jessie mocked as she began to quickly ascend the stack.
"Why don't we help you,' James chuckled as he climbed up after her.
Marina looked down and gave a frightened squeak as she saw them climbing up to her. Thinking fast, she put Togepi down on one of the crates before she moved to the next one. She stuck her tail in between two of them and pushed as hard as she could. Luckily, the crate was empty and the wood was partially rotted away, which made it all the more lighter to tilt onto its side and push it off.
Jessie stopped and yelped when she saw the crate tumbling down the stack towards her and crouch down low to avoid it.
"Duck!" she yelled.
"Huh? Psyduck? Where?" James questioned as he looked around the area in confusion...
...before the crate smashed into his face. James was thrown off the stack and landed painfully on the hard floor. He laid there as his eyes swirled around in their sockets as pieces of shattered crate fell around him.
Jessie looked down and grimaced at the sight of her half-unconscious colleague before she shrugged indifferently.
"Well, I did say duck," she said as she looked up...
...only for another crate to smash into her face.
Marina watched happily as both Team Rockets were knocked of the crate stack and were left lying on the hard ground below and continued to climb upwards with Togepi.
She scaled the stack of crates right to the top and leapt onto the ceiling rafters in one bound. The steel rafters creaked and groaned at the weight she suddenly put on it but found that it was still stable enough to climb on. She slithered on; climbing on one rafter onto the other one as she hurriedly made her way towards the open window. She was getting closer and closer to it...when suddenly...
CLANG! ZzzzzZZZZIPPP!
She stopped as a metal claw latched on to the rafter in front of her, preventing her from continuing. The claw was attached to a metal wire that led down to the floor below her to which a figure was quickly climbing up it. Before she knew it, Meowth had leapt onto the metal rafter before with a grappling hook gun in his free paws. He flicked a switch on the device which retracted the wire and the claw back into the gun before he pointed it towards her and Togepi.
"Not so fast, brat," he growled menacingly, "Nobody escapes Team Rocket. Not when I have my Pokemon Capturing Device Mark 6 with me. This baby is powerful enough to pull a snorlax a hundred feet away. Imagine what it can do to a puny Pokemon like you?"
("Let us go!") Marina demanded, ("I'll tell Mama on you!")
"Ha! You think I'm scared of your mommy," Meowth mocked with a grin, "I'm going to make sure you'll never see her again!"
Meowth fired the device at her, but she leapt up and over it before it could hit her. Whilst in mid-air, she flipped forwards over the surprised Meowth and landed on the rafter behind him; something that made Togepi squeal and chirp in delight. Marina whipped her head around, inhaled deeply before she unleashed a Blizzard attack on Meowth, causing him to cry out as his body began to freeze over. His paws froze over and bound him to the rafter he was standing on, preventing him from moving any further. Seeing an opportunity, Marina turned around and made her escape through the open window with Togepi following her.
"Wah!" he yelled as he glared back at the escaping Marina and Togepi, "Come back here!" Meowth cried out as he flicked the switch on his Pokemon capturing device, "When I get my paws on you, I'm going to-"
Clunk!
"Huh?"
He looked around and saw that claw had taken an entire rafter with it, breaking it off from the rest of the apparatus. He stared at it for a few seconds in shock...before he first felt the rafter he was standing on...and then the entire began to shake.
"Oh boy," he muttered.
That morning, the city officials were puzzled when they discovered that one of the abandoned warehouses had collapsed on itself, leaving nothing but rubble behind...but that's another story.
Industrial Area
The rain fell heavily as Marina navigated the desolate lanes and the narrow back alleyways with Togepi in her grip. The sound of distant thunder roaring far away cautioned her that the sudden storm will not go away any time soon.
She swerved around a pile of old tires, ducked beneath a rusting cart and darted over the cold puddles of water that had flooded the pavement. She ran into a group of ratatta who hissed at her warningly and almost got trapped by a grimer who had made a disused dustbin his home. Everywhere she went, there was always some sort of obstacle she had to overcome or an unfriendly Pokemon who didn't like them being on their turf. With every twist and turn; going forwards and backwards and left and right; Marina only got more and more confused and, above all else, scared. With the thunderous downpour and the lightening crackling over her head, she had convinced herself that she was completely and utterly lost.
Eventually, she found a space underneath a long abandoned transit van and darted underneath it to shelter herself and Togepi from the rain. She placed the baby Pokemon down, shivered and sneezed; being a Pokemon that could swim, she could regulate her body temperature which meant that the cold shouldn't have any effect on her. However, it was harder to do that on dry land instead of being submerged in water and so she was freezing.
Cold, lost and forced to look after Togepi; Marina had never wanted her mama more than she did now.
As she shook the rain off her, she heard Togepi chirp from behind her. She spun around and saw the baby Pokemom wandering back out into the rain without a care in the world. She instantly snatched her and brought her back under.
("No, stay here!") she snapped at her as she placed Togepi down.
She turned away as she tried to think of what to do next when she noticed Togepi waddling away once more. She grabbed her again before she could get any further and glared at her angrily.
("I told you to stay. Don't go off on your own!") she angrily demanded as she put her down.
Togepi blinked up at her before she giggled and turned away in order to leave once again, but Marina grabbed her before she could get any further.
("I told you to stop! Why are you doing this!?") she yelled at her as she held her up to prevent her from waddling away.
The egg Pokemon, once again, blinked blankly at her as if trying to comprehend what she had said before she giggled and chirped happily.
This was the final straw for Marina.
She growled furiously and shook her around to get her to stop giggling, ("SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I hate you so much! I'm lost because of you! We're in danger because of you! Everything is your fault! You made everything go wrong! I was much happier before you came! I wish you had never been found!") she screamed at in anger and sorrow.
Togepi's laughter stopped in shock. Her lip curled, she gave a sad sniff and began to weep like a baby. Thick tears rolled down her cheeks as she wailed and cried whilst in her grip. It was so loud that Marina flinched and almost dropped her onto the ground. Instead, her surprise turned into anger and it only made her even more infuriated.
("WHY ARE YOU CRYING!?") she yelled at her, ("WHY ARE YOU CRYING!? YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT LAUGH AND PLAY! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN STOLEN! THEN WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE, HUH!?") she screamed at her in absolute fury, ("DON'T BE SO...SO...SO UNGRATEFUL! I COULD HAVE BEEN WITH MAMA NOW! IF THERE'S ANYBODY WHO SHOULD BE CRYING...") she felt a sob escape her throat as, she too, began to cry, ("...it...it should be me.")
Marina placed Togepi down and turned her head away from her as she began to sob uncontrollably. She coiled herself up in herself and pressed her face into her tail as she wept. Togepi slowly stopped her crying and stared in bewilderment at Marina as she cried. She shook her tears away and frowned in concern for her fellow Pokemon.
"...pi?" she murmured as she stepped towards her.
("Go away,") Marina sniffed, making the younger Pokemon stop, ("Do what you want. I don't care anymore. Just leave me here.")
Togepi frowned sadly and waddled up to her. She looked down at her coiled up form before she reach down and tried to hug her with her stubby arms. However, Marina shook her off and moved away from her.
("I said go away,") the dratini sadly said, ("I never wanted you. Go live with somebody else.")
Togepi gave a small whimper as she watched Marina ignoring her. Deciding, she wasn't going to respond to her, she turned around and began to waddled away into the rain and the cold; disappearing into the night without a trace.
Now that she was gone, the sound of the rain falling around her seemed to grow louder. She buried her face deeper into her tail and continued to sob.
Now she was truly alone.
("It's not fair. I never wanted her,") she whispered with tears streaming down her face, ("Mama...what should I do, mama?")
I know you like being the baby of the group, but you need to be an older sister to the egg now. And that means looking after your baby sister.
Charles' words echoed again in her head once again. Her mind casted back to when she had first hatched. Everybody doted on her and was so kind to her. Charles, Benny, Cleo, Flo, Alice, Titania, Pyro, Miko, Ruth and Dorothy, Sneak, Mystic, Hurricane, Tyche, Kani, Alette, Apollo, Fleur and Lilly, Boa, Wildfire, Epione, Echo, Manitari, Mahad, Ichigo, Halcyon, Azure and Tyrian, Hoss, Tommy, Ruby, Atlas, Tomoe, Ambush, Oracle have all been a major part of her short life. Even the ones who recently joined; Marcel, Mele and Uruk; she still loved them with all her heart. She had no idea what she would do without them. They are her life...
...so, shouldn't she do the same for Togepi.
She has seen the world. She knows what danger is. She knows the meanings of friendship and happiness and cooperativeness. But Togepi didn't. She knew more than her which meant...
('I'm...I'm no longer the baby of the group,') she thought in realisation, ('I have grown up...and I have to look after those younger than me...because that's what everybody did for me,') she raised her head and wiped her tears away, ("I...have to look after...Togepi. I have to find her.")
She uncoiled herself and twisted around and slithered out from beneath the van as fast as she could and searched for the young Pokemon. She strained her eyes to see better thought the rain and searched around her.
She looked down every alleyway, inside every bin, down open sewage pipes and poked her head inside every abandoned building. She was desperate; blindly looking for the Pokemon as fast as she could before she disappeared completely.
("I have to find her! I have to find her! I have to find her!") she kept on chanting to herself as she darted through the industrial area.
However, after what felt like hours of searching, there was still no sign of her.
Marina slowed to a stop in the middle of a cobblestone crossroads and looked down at the ground in sorrow. The rain hid the tears that streamed down her face and the booming thunder silenced her whimpers. Stranded in the storm with no direction or trail to find her. All because she couldn't face the truth that she was getting older.
This is what she deserved.
So focused in her despair, she did not notice the figure until they stood right behind her. She spun around; her eyes wide in terror at the looming silhouette that stood over her. She tried to run or do anything, but found that every muscle in her body was not responding to her. All she could is stare up in absolute fear as the figure moved its head down towards her.
("Oh my dear, there you are,") the figure said in a surprisingly soft voice, ("I have been looking for you ages now. You look absolutely freezing.")
Confused, Marina blinked and really focused at the dark figure. Standing before her, with concern evident in her beady eyes, was a raticate with soggy brown fur and a long tail tucked underneath her to keep it dry. All fear seemed to leave Marina in an instant as the raticate hopped over so she could shield her from the rain with her own body, causing her to sigh in relief.
("You poor thing. Come on now. You must come back to my nest for the night,") the raticate insisted, ("I won't have you out here any longer. It's lucky I found you two when I did.")
("T-two?") Marina stammered before she heard a familiar chirp.
She looked up and, to her shock, found Togepi clung on to the back of the raticate; smiling happily as if she wasn't outside during a thunderstorm. The young Pokemon climbed down from her back and waddled up to her before she used her stubby arms to give her a hug. Marina, still in disbelief, looked down at her.
("You...you're here...") she uttered.
("I bumped into this little one a little while ago,") the raticate explained, ("I was about to take her back to my nest when she told me how she needed to find her big sister.")
Marina looked up at her in confusion, ("Big sister?")
("Well...told is not the right word. She said it in her own way that I understood.")
("Big...big sister!")
At the happy cry, Marina froze in shock. She slowly looked down at the bright, loving face of Togepi in disbelief.
("Big sister!") the egg Pokemon chirped once again, ("Big sister!")
("Big...sister?") Marina uttered as she stared down at the smaller Pokemon, ("After everything I said...you still call me big sister?")
Before she could question any further, the raticate gently guided them around with her paw, ("Come on children. Let's get out of this rain.")
Seeing no other choice, Marina followed her down a narrow alleyway towards her nest was located. She looked down at the younger Pokemon at her side and allowed Togepi to keep hugging her all the way there.
Bridge
The morning had arrived. The dark storm clouds had disappeared and rain had dried up. In its place was the brilliant sun and the blue sky above their heads
The raticate waved to Marina and Togepi from the side of the bridge as she watched them cross it; squeaking her farewells contently as they went. As promised, last night she had promised them a place to stay that was warm and food to feed their bellies which they were very grateful for. Marina explained to the older Pokemon what happened to them and the raticate was very sympathetic. Luckily, she knew exactly where the Pokecentre they had been staying at was as she had been treated there before and showed them the way back the first thing in the morning.
("Good luck, you two,") the raticate called out as she waved her paw, ("I hope you'll both find your parents.")
("Thank you,") Marina called back as she, with Togepi at her side, started to cross the long suspension bridge over the wide river.
The bridge itself was mostly made of steel pained orange so rust didn't set in too quickly. It was wide enough for two lanes of traffic with tarmac (that had been worn over time) helping to support the vans and lorries that tend to cross it frequently. Thankfully, they were up early enough so no vehicles were about, making it far easier for them to cross. By foot, it would usually take five to eight minutes, but because the Pokemon were far smaller than a human (and the fact that Togepi's feet were far stubbier) it would take them possibly half an hour to cross. From there, the raticate told them that they only had to follow the dirt path up the hill to get to the Pokecentre.
As the slithered and waddled across the empty bridge, Marina looked down at Togepi at her side and watched as she happily chirped away. Last nights events played through her head as she remembered all the things she done and said and, because of it, sighed guiltily. She sighed and looked down at the tarmac in front of her.
("Err...Togepi,") she said, catching the Togepi's attention, ("Thank you...for coming back for me last night. I really appreciate it,") she hesitated slightly and closed her eyes sadly, ('I'm also sorry for what I said. That was really, really mean. Ever since you were hatched, mama and the others have been paying attention to you and...I felt hurt and then I got angry at you. I thought that if I wasn't the baby anymore then...who would I be? But that's not your fault. You didn't ask for any of this. Mama said I have to be a big girl now and look after you and I have been ignoring mama. But now, I know what I have to do,") she said as she turned to her, ("Togepi, can I be your-")
She trailed off when she saw Togepi wasn't there. She looked around and saw her playing with a leaf she found on the tarmac by waving it in the air and giggling to herself. She must have left about halfway through her speech.
Marina sighed and rolled her eyes ("So immature,") she giggled goodnaturedly.
Suddenly, to her surprise, she heard the roar of a motor from the end of the bridge; it was getting louder and louder by the second. She turned around and saw a van zooming towards them from where they had been. She frowned in confusion, wondering who would be driving this early in the day...when she felt her heart sink as she saw the drivers through the windshield.
("Oh no,") she uttered in dread.
For the drivers were none other than Team Rocket.
James was at the wheel, Jessie was in the middle seat rubbing her hands manically while Meowth was hanging out the window with the Pokemon Capturing Device Mark 6 in his paws.
"There they are!" Jessie cackled excitedly, "Let's get them!"
"Bag them up and ship them away!" Meowth added.
"And the go for victory ramen since our last one got ruined when the warehouse fell!" James finished and he swerved the van towards their location.
In a split second, Marina grabbed Togepi and slithered away as fast as she could. She needed to get to the side before they drag them back to their lair again.
But there was no where to hide this time. No where to take shelter. No items she could use to impede their chase. She couldn't even out run the van she was in.
But she had to try.
Faster and faster she slithered whilst the Team Rocket van got closer and closer by the second. She looked forwards and saw that the end of the bridge was too far away. She wasn't going to make it. She frantically looked around and spotted one of the steel hangers that led up to the bridge's cable and immediately darted towards it. If she could climb up, she and Togepi could possibly escape that way.
She leapt onto the hanger and use all her strength to climb up it by wrapping herself around it. Inch by inch, she climbed higher and higher. All on her own, she could probably make it half way up, but with Togepi she was much slower. She gritted her teeth and didn't stop; every single second counted to her and Togepi...
...but suddenly.
ZzzzZZZZIIIPPPPP!
"Pi?" Togepi cried as she felt the claw of the Pokemon catcher latch onto her shell and began to pull her away.
"Whahaha! Got you now!" Meowth laughed as the van pulled up to next to them. Using his paw, he flicked a switch on the device and began to retract the claw with Togepi in its grip, "Come to Team Rocket! You're going to make an excellent gift for the boss!"
("No!") Marina cried out as she tightened her grip on her and pulled back against the machine with all her strength; not allowing Team Rocket their victory.
"Hey, what gives," Meowth growled as he saw the dratini actually fighting back against his contraption, "Let go already! We saw it first!"
Jessie gave him an annoyed look, "I thought you said that thing could drag a snorlax."
"It can!" Meowth insisted.
"Try turning it up a gear," James suggested.
"There is no other gear. This is a powerful as it gets!"
Marina gritted her teeth as she pulled with all her might until it began to hurt. Through squinted eyes, she saw the terrified look on Togepi's face as she was pulled away from her. That was what she needed to encourage to pull even harder, using every ounce of her strength in the process until.
("I...won't...let...go...") she gasped out as she held on...
...until...
Slip!
Togepi slipped out of the metal claw.
"WHAAATTT!!!" Team Rocket gasped in disbelief.
Marina felt the pull of the contraption leave suddenly. Too suddenly. She had no time to react, not the strength as Togepi was yanked back by her and slipped out of her tail over the side of the bridge. Togepi screamed in terror as she fell towards the murky water below, helplessly flailing her stubby arms in the air as she fell. The dratini, seeing what happened, reacted immediately. Without thinking beforehand of the consequences, she leapt after the falling Togepi.
("Big sister!") Togepi yelped helplessly as she watched the dratini go after her.
She knew she couldn't fly. Nor have any means of helping Togepi in any way. All she did was act on instinct. Both Pokemon plummeted off the bridge at breakneck speeds; the surface of the water growing nearer and nearer to them. At any second, they would hit it hard...
...but Marina wasn't focused on that.
She kept her sights focused on Togepi and straightened out her body so she could fall faster. The dratini gritted her jaws together, narrowed her eyes and tensed up every single muscle in her body. She had no idea how she will save her, but she was going to try no matter what.
('Come on! Come on!') she thought ferociously, ('I have to save you! I have to! You didn't give up on me yesterday and so I'm not going to give up on you!') she roared in her head as she got closer and closer to her, ('I need to do this! I have to do this...because an older sister always protects her younger siblings!!!')
...and suddenly Marina began to glow brightly.
As she fell, her body began to grow longer and larger; from a small Pokemon into one that was almost four meters in long. Round orbs grew from the tip of her tail, her fin-like protrusions on her head extended into long wing-like shapes, her snout grew longer and narrower and a horn started to grow from the middle of her forehead. Suddenly the glowing stopped to reveal a spectacular and graceful Pokemon where Marina had been. Her long serpentine body was covered in pink scales and pure white underbelly; golden orbs protruded from the tip of her tail on her throat right under her head. She had white angelic wings that fluttered out from wither side of her head and dark brown eyes that were filled with determination.
Determination to save Togepi.
Her new, sleek form allowed her not only to go faster, but to soar. Just as the water's surface was about to touch Togepi's shell, Marina zoomed down and under her and caught her before she could plunge into the cold water. On instinct, the wings on her head extended by a couple of meters and lifted her up and into the air.
Marina was flying with Togepi on her back; soaring through the air like a newly freed bird. She glided left and then down and then did a small loop in mid-air which made Togepi giggle happily.
("Big sister!") Togepi chirped as she hugged her scaly back.
She couldn't help but smile at that as she gracefully descended towards the bridge and landed on the tarmac. Once they were on solid ground, Togepi leapt off her back and hugged her side once again, giggling happily while Marina looked down at her.
...however...
ZzzzzZZZIIIIIIPPPP!!!
Marina cried out as she felt something clamp onto her neck, causing Togepi to step back and look up in shock. Marina hissed in pain as she saw the same claw from Meowth's contraption had caught her before she glared at the trio who had got out of the van to confront them.
"Hey, look at that," Meowth cackled as he held onto his device, "We've got a new Pokemon to give to the boss."
"It seems so and a pretty one," Jessie squealed in delight, "Oh, we're going to get a promotion for this."
James chuckled as he rubbed his hands together, "More than a promotion. We're going to be the boss' right hand henchmen I bet."
"That sounds great!"
"I love that idea," Meowth said as he grinned manically, "Now let's get these ones in the van and-"
Before Meowth could finish his sentence, a shadow fell over all of them. The froze in confusion as they heard the flapping of leathery wings followed by the sound of something landing on the bridge behind them. Team Rocket didn't turn around yet, but they felt a chill roll down their spine as if something very dangerous and very angry had just arrived. They looked towards Marina and Togepi and noticed that their mood had shifted from fearful to joyful in a matter of seconds.
("Mama, papa!") Togepi chirped happily.
("Mom! You're here!") Marina cried out relief.
"Huh? Mama?" Meowth uttered in confusion...before a cool, dark voice spoke fro, behind the,
"Well, well, well. I should have known it was you three."
Team Rocket gulped. They recognised the voice. But they had never heard him used that tone before.
They slowly turned around and shivered at the crowd of Pokemon that had cornered them; all of them were glaring furiously at the trio. There was Pyro who bared his teeth, Echo who fluttered in the air next to him, Tyche who small round eyes were narrowed, Miko whose tails were waggling violently and Uruk who looked over them and gave a rumbling growl. Standing atop of Uruk's back was the speaker, Charles, with Misty beside him and Benny on his shoulders. There was a menacing aura that surrounded the both of them; their hands were clutched tightly at their sides and their eyes held no mercy. Team Rocket gulped again while Meowth hastily released Marina from his invention and held it behind his back as if trying to hide it.
"You know it's funny," Charles continued darkly, "When I woke this morning, I discovered that Marina had disappeared. When I tried searching for her, I happened to bump into Misty who told me that Togepi had also disappeared. And, what a coincidence, you three are here. Isn't that funny, Misty?"
"Oh, it sure is," Misty said, in an equally threatening voice, "Very, very funny."
"Oh...good morning twerps," Jessie said nervously.
James pointed at Marina and Togepi, "Oh, are those your Pokemon? We were just about to return them to you. Yeah."
"Honestly, you twerps!" Meowth cried out, "We were only trying to kidnap Togepi not the other kid!
"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT! THEY DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"
"Oh really?" Misty hummed as her eyes narrowed on them, "Well, in that case, I think this calls for some early morning training. What do you think, Charles?"
"Great idea," Charles agree, "Alright guys, you see the target in front of you. Hit them with your best shot. Pyro use Dragon Breath. Echo use Supersonic. Tyche, Poison Powder. Miko, Incinerate. Benny, Thunder Shock. And Uruk..." he looked down at the ancient Pokemon and stretched his arms out wide, "...attack...magnum...big."
("Magna impetus?") Uruk hummed as he nodded his head, ("Intellego.")
In times like these, words are not necessary. All you need to know is that there was a massive explosion that awoke everybody up in a five mile radius, there were scorch marks on the road and on the bridge and Team Rocket zoomed in to the sky with their usual...
"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!!"
As the trip disappeared into the distance, Charles and Misty leapt off Uruk and ran to Marina and Togepi along with their concerned Pokemon. Misty scooped Togepi to her chest and hugged her tightly.
"Oh Togepi, I'm so glad you're alright!" she cried in relief, "I was so worried about you."
"You too, Marina," Charles said as he hugged his daughter around the neck.
Marina accepted the hug by wrapping herself around him and cooing happily. However, Charles broke the hug and stepped back as he admired Marina's new form.
"And you evolved!" he yelled, "Oh my gosh! That's amazing! I'm so proud of you,"he said as he took out his Pokedex and scanned her.
Dragonair: A mystical Pokemon that exudes a gentle aura. They say that it has the ability to change climate conditions.
("That sounds pretty neat,") Benny said as he patted Marina on the head, ("I'm proud of you. You've come so far.")
("And you're so pretty as well!") Miko complimented as she admired her scales, ("I have to find a way to make my tails sparkled like your scales.")
("Are those wings?") Pyro asked curiously, ("That's pretty awesome.")
("Hey, Echo. I just noticed. That's another Pokemon who evolved before you did,") Tyche said, not trying to sound rude.
("Yes...thank you Tyche.")
Uruk hummed as he looked over Marina and nodded contently, ("Draco Magica. Gratulor tibi volo Soror Marina. Fortiores facti estis,") he congratulated.
Marina blushed slightly from all the attention and looked away, ("T-thanks. I'm so happy to be back with my family.")
Charles gave her a smile...before his face dropped in sudden realisation, "Wait a moment!" he cried out as he fell to his hands and knees, "I missed my baby's evolution! Damn it! I wanted to record it!"
Benny patted his shoulder comfortingly, ("Don't worry. There's always next time.")
"I'm going to beat up Team Rocket twice as hard next time! How dare they!"
("I know you will,") Benny sighed while the rest of the team chuckled in amusement.
Pokemon Centre
By lunchtime they had all returned to the Pokecentre with the thought of the meddlesome Team Rocket far from their minds.
Charles, Benny and Marina were busy introducing the dragonair's new form to everybody back at the Corral through the Pokecentre's video communicator. Everybody was shocked , but overjoyed. Charles could have sworn she had seen Cleo wipe a tear away from her eye as she gave her congratulations. They were all so proud of her.
After ending the call, they came outside and watched as the trainers and their Pokemon surrounding Togepi in Misty's arms; cooing and giggling as the baby Pokemon chirped and waved her stubby arms in the air. Charles sighed and smiled before he glanced at Marina beside him; he still hadn't got used to her being taller than him now. Marina had a small smile on her face as she watched Togepi play with the others; her large eyes gleamed happily and the wings on the side of her head wiggled slightly in the wind. She seemed much more mature now; she appeared more calm and thoughtful than she was the last time he saw her. Charles admitted that he did miss her cheerful and playful personality, but he knew, no matter how she acted or looked, she will always be his daughter and he will always be her mama.
"They look like they're having fun. Don't you want to join in?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
("Huh? What? Oh no, I'm fine,") she said, ("I'm a little tired now. I'll like join in a bit...maybe.")
Charles offered her soft, knowing smile, "You really didn't like Togepi at first, didn't you?"
Marina flinched in alarm, ("W-what? No, mom. I-I was just-") she stammered before she sighed miserably, ("...was I really that obvious.")
He and Benny chucked at how sheepish she became.
("You weren't the best at hiding your emotions back then,") Benny said, ("And it seems like you haven't outgrown it.")
("Uncle Benny,") Marina whined.
"You're still adorable," Charles cooed, much to Marina's embarrassment, before he sighed and looked thoughtfully towards Misty and Togepi, "You know, sometimes you don't get to choose your family. All you can do is either accept them...or don't," he told her as he stroked Benny under his chin, "I'm more than happy to accept anybody whether they are Pokemon or human just like how my mom accepted Benny me. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have anyone. I'll be all alone," he softly said before he turned to Marina with a warm smile, "I guess that means it's easy for me, but it's not as simple for others; especially ones who is not used to change." he chuckled and closed his eyes contently, "I guess I'm saying...thank you Marina for being so brave. I'm so proud of you. You are truly a wonderful daughter."
The dragonair was taken aback by what he said. Before he could see, she looked away as a single tear appeared in her eye, ("Thank you mom...you're a really cool parent as well."
"Of course, sweetheart," Charles said as he raised his arms to give her a hug, "Come here. I still haven't doted on you in your new form."
However, Marina moved away from him suddenly, making him hum in surprise.
"Huh? Marina, what's wrong?"
The newly evolved dragonair groaned in frustration and rolled her eyes dramatically, ("Eugh! Mom don't hug me in public. That's so like embarrassing.")
Charles jaw dropped in shock, "What? I thought you liked hugs."
("Well, not anymore. I'm like not a baby anymore. Gosh!") she grumbled as she turned her head away from him.
"Why are you acting so...so...brooding?"
Marina tutted in annoyance and began to slither away, ("Mom, stop making a scene. You're like totally cramping my style right now.")
"She's turned into an angsty teenager!" Charles and Benny shouted in shock.
"W-wait," Charles stammered as he dropped to his knees, "I can't believe my darling daughter would do that," he desperately turned to his brother, "How does that work? I'm not a a teenager. Does that make me older than her? Do Pokemon go through teen phases? I'm so confused."
Benny patted his shoulder reassuringly, ("Don't worry, we'll work it out,") he said before he raised his voice for Marina to hear, ("I guess she'll just never receive anymore hugs from you anymore.")
Marina stiffened slightly at that and stopped suddenly. Shyly, she turned her head back to them whilst trying to avoid eye contact.
("Errr...I...I...never said you couldn't hug me in private. Just not in public. Okay? Gosh, don't like make a big deal out of it or anything.")
Charles immediately brightened up, "Good enough for me. I love you sweetie."
("Y-yeah, whatever. Love you too. Don't go on about it,") she timidly replied.
So, there was still hope.
That's all for now.
Yep, Marina evolved! Yay! But it's also a shame, because I wanted to do some chapters inspired by 'Baby's Day Out', but I had already made the plans for the chapter. Ah well, it's not as if Marina is going to be the only baby Pokemon in the team. I wonder what it will be?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
See you next time.
Potential Pokemon List:
Charles
Gastley
Drowzee
Goldeen
Pinsir
Onix (Orange Islands)
Grimer (Orange Islands)
Octillery (Orange Islands)
Komala (Orange Islands)
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Ledian (Johto)
Wooper (Johto)
Chikorita (Johto)
Dunsparce (Johto)
Hoothoot (Johto)
Dewgong (Johto)
Elekid (Johto)
Shuppet (Hoenn)
Salamance (Hoenn)
Metagross (Hoenn)
Poochyena (Hoenn)
Cranidos (Sinnoh)
Druddigon (Unova)
Bisharp (Unova)
Dhelmise (Alola)
Pinchurin (Galar)
Flo
Psyduck
Cubone
Jolteon
Shellder
Weedle
Qwilfish (Orange Islands)
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Exeggcute (Orange Islands)
Snubbull (Johto)
Sunkern (Johto)
Delibird (Johto)
Miltank (Johto)
Shuckle (Johto)
Beautifly (Hoenn)
Chimecho (Hoenn)
Budew (Hoenn) (Egg)
Slugma (Hoenn)
Mandibuzz (Unova)
Alomomola (Unova)
Comfey (Alola)
Alice
Rattata
Poliwag
Spearow
Lickitung
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Spinarak (Johto)
Teddyursa (Johto)
Umbreon (Johto)
Rhyhorn (Johto)
Wobbuffet (Johto)
Smeargle (Johto)
Corsola (Johto)
Nosepass (Hoenn)
Masquerain (Hoenn)
Nincada (Hoenn)
Lileep (Hoenn)
Electrike (Hoenn)
Swinub (Sinnoh)
Vanillite (Unova)