Chapter 8; a rival appears part 1
Sonic was walking south towards vermillion city. Pikachu was running around playing in the grass and occasionally battling any wild pokemon it saw still in adrenaline from their battle with Misty. Sonic showed it to Jet whom he was facetiming.
"Man. 2 badges already?" Jet said in awe "you are rocking Kanto".
"Appreciated bro but this is just the beginning. We have still a lot to learn and I have also a lot of work to do with myself".
"You still thinking about her?"
"Not easy not to. But Tails was right. When I'm ready I must move on. Meeting Pikachu who also desires to grow and evolve again" he said as they saw Pikachu knock out a wild pidgeotto with a thundershock "and my other pokemon too of course, has made me see there is more out there. I guess I did run away by starting this journey. But now I want to complete it".
"And what happens after the league conference tournament? Will you come home?"
"Don't know yet. And to be honest… I don't want to think about it right now. I just want to forget the past and the future. I spent a week locked in my room not talking to anyone mourning something I never had and wondering what I could have done to not end up like that. I don't want to think about what ifs anymore. I want to stay in the present".
"Finally speaking rationally" Jet said teasing him though Sonic could tell he was genuinely happy for his brother "so you're going straight for the 3rd… wait wait. What you said. No predictions. Live in the moment".
"Exactly" Sonic said smiling "though yeah the 3rd badge battle is in my near future. How near I can't tell yet. Anyway got to go I think I can see the city".
"Awesome. Ok talk later bro" Sonic said as Jet hang up. He noticed Pikachu had gotten in way over its head challenging a random passing pidgeot.
"Wartortle go!" Sonic said as he sent it out "rock tomb!"
Wartortle attacked the pidgeot hitting it head on but only causing it to flee. Sonic recalled Wartortle as Pikachu climbed on his head grumpy.
"One step at a time buddy" Sonic said patting it on the head as best as he could while smiling sincerely "one step at a time" he whispered to himself.
They continued their walk reaching the city. Sonic decided to first locate the gym. The map said that it was located by the sea at the south of the city but Sonic couldn't find the sea let alone the gym. While walking through town he noticed very few people were walking on the street and they were being rather hasty.
"What is with them?" Sonic wondered.
Passing outside what looked like an old closed shop, the door to his right was suddenly opened. A couple of hands appeared and pulled him in causing Pikachu once again to land roughly on the ground.
"Hey what gives…" Sonic tried to say.
"Shhhhh!" the teenage boy who had grabbed him said as he looked outside the dusty storefront.
A couple of men wearing familiar uniforms passed by laughing while talking about something. Sonic approached the window too and saw the iconic R on their backs.
"Rockets? In broad daylight in the middle of town?" he asked in surprise.
"What were you thinking, walking around town like that?" the boy asked him.
Sonic knew if they continued asking each other rhetorical questions they would never get anywhere.
"Ok how about we don't play 20 questions? Just tell me what's going on?"
The boy looked at him as if he was crazy.
"The city is essentially under the control of team Rocket. Unless you're a very strong trainer, if you have pokemon with you it's like having a target on your back… or in your case your head".
"I don't fear them" Sonic said "we I have already fought them 3 times and mopped the floor with them".
"I find that hard to believe. But even if it's the truth picking a fight with them like that is suicide".
"Aren't you giving them a little too much respect?"
"….you're not from around here are you?"
"Nope".
The boy sighed.
"Ok… first of all what's your name?"
"Sonic".
"Sonic. I am Mike. You see that tower?" he said pointing outside the window to the tower about 5 blocks away.
"Tower? I'm pretty sure the map didn't show it" he said taking out his map in confusion. Mike looked at it as well.
"Why are you looking at a map of vermillion city?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we're in Saffron city?"
"Excuse me?"
"Let me guess. You bought a map of vermillion city cause you're doing the badge quest?"
"That's right".
"You should have bought a map of the region. Between Cerulean city and Vermillion city is saffron city".
"Oh. That explains a lot I guess. I'm not meant to be here yet".
"Duh you think?"
Sonic looked at Mike who had a sassy look on his face.
"Ok but what are YOU doing here?"
Mike refrained from answering.
"Oook. Can you at least get me out of here so I can be on my way?"
"I can. But only if you do something for me in return. After all I did save you from encountering those 2 before and then having the entirety of team rocket on your tail everywhere you go".
Sonic considered it.
"Ok" he said "what do you need?"
"I need you to help me release the pokemon in the warehouse on the south exit of the city. We strike 2 pidgeys with one stone. I get you to out and you help me get the pokemon out".
Kadabra came out of its pokeball upon hearing for captured pokemon.
"Kada?"
"I know kadabra" Sonic said to it "maybe your mother is amongst those pokemon. We will help you" he said referring to Mike.
"You got this kadabra out of team rocket's clutches?"
"No it escaped accidentally by using teleport. I promised I would help it try to find its mother when the time came. When we got stronger".
"Well whether you've grown stronger or not, the time has come" Mike said as he took the stairs to the roof of the building. Sonic followed.
They went to the roof and Mikes showed Sonic through a pair of binoculars the location of the warehouse.
"We will go from roof to roof. It's safer like this".
"Wouldn't it be safer if I just recalled my Pikachu as well and we went by foot?"
"No. Those thugs stop anyone they find alone".
"Would the 2 of us being alone count as alone?"
"Enough questions. Time is of the essence. Follow me" Mike said as he jumped to the roof of the building right next to the one they were standing. Sonic deciding he wasn't just as reckless yet, sent out kadabra and had it use its psychic abilities to levitate him to the other side, after which Sonic recalled it. This process was repeated to Mike's frustration for the entire journey to the warehouse. After reaching on the roof of the building which stood directily opposite to the warehouse, they peered down to see a couple of grunts watching guard on the entrance.
"Ok here's the plan" Mike said "we enter through the vents, knock out the guard with the keys, free the pokemon and escape in the chaos".
"Or" Sonic suggested still not understanding why they needed to go stealth "we just beat and maybe beat up the grunts on the entrance, storm the warehouse and free the pokemon".
Mike was now looking at him in total shock.
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Don't give them too much credit?"
At that moment the door of the warehouse opened. The 2 guards stood attention as 3 people and a pokemon exited the warehouse. Sonic recognized 2 of them and the pokemon.
"What the.. what are those 3 idiots doing here?"
"What?" Mike said confused.
"Shhhh!" Sonic shushed him trying to listen. For the first time he felt thankful that no one else was around.
"You 3 have disappointed the boss greatly. First you lose to a trainer with a mere squirtle and not only that you get arrested. The boss in its infinite mercy breaks you out and sends you here on guard duty to lose the heat and what do you do repay it? Let a mere magnemite mess up the comms!"
"Let us explain…" a familiar male voice was heard.
"Stop ridiculing yourself James! It's not our fault the guard decided to drop the keys".
"And whose job was it to make sure everything was running smoothly Jessie?" the 3rd person, a woman said to her.
"It's not our fault we are dealing with incompetent morons like you!"
"Oh man" Mike said worried "things just got a lot harder. If Jessie and James are here and if I'm not mistaken that's their meowth partner things could go south very fast".
"You're worried about these 3 idiots?"
"What?! These 3 are team rocket's best enforcers!"
Sonic was sure Mike was joking.
"They tried to catch my squirtle, now wartortle, in a net".
"And how did you free it?!"
"I recalled it".
Mike was looking at Sonic as if he had broken the laws of nature.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Didn't they use any actual tech?"
"No".
"I guess it was because you were a new trainer then. They don't expect new trainers to react calmly".
"How can you possibly lose your cool with them? Have you seen a lot of villains doing intros before initiating their evil plan?"
"…ok you got a point there. Still now that they know you are an experienced trainer they will use tech that prevents recalling the pokemon. I'm not sure how it works but it jams the pokeball's signal I think".
"Wait I think they stopped fighting" Sonic brought him back to their goal.
"I refuse to lose my patience with you any further. A new squad will come to guard the base. You go back to being useful and bring in pokemon".
"Fine!" Jessie screamed "James, meowth! To Viridian city!"
"At least we will have something easy to do for a while. That guy with the squirtle must have been the exception. Next one should be an easy one".
"If we can bwing a stwong pokemon to the boss, he will forget let's go!" Meowth said excited.
"I hope that was the last we saw of them" Sonic commented "it will be annoying to fight them again. Hopefully they will find someone to stalk so that we won't waste time with them".
"They said a new squad is coming. Once they leave we go into the vents".
"You kidding me? Decreased security and we go into the vents and waste time? We go from the front".
"From the front we…"
"What they're coming back?" Sonic said confused pointing at the way Jessie, James and Meowth left from.
Mike turned to look but saw no one. Turning back to Sonic he found him gone. Looking at the side of the building he saw Sonic sliding down a pipe.
"No Sonic don't be hasty come back!" he whispered loud enough for Sonic to hear him.
Sonic however sent out Pikachu and charged at the entrance of the warehouse. The grunts saw him.
"Hey hold it right there!"
"Pikachu thunder shock!"
Pikachu blasted the grunt on the left while Sonic tackled the one to the right causing him to crash on the wall behind him and faint. Pikachu's electricity also knocked the other grunt out and short circuited the electric lock to the door.
"You coming or what?" he called out to Mike.
Mike frowned and followed suit. Sonic sent out his kadabra as well as Pikachu climbed on his shoulder.
"Call out your partner" he suggested to Mike.
Mike sent out his pokemon. It was a jolteon.
"Better bring out another one just in case".
"I don't have another one. Jolteon is my only pokemon".
"One pokemon? You're fighting team rocket with one pokemon?"
"Not a whole lot I can do about it".
"Why don't you try catching some more and train them?"
"I can't. That will take too much time".
Sonic could tell Mike didn't ask him to free the pokemon here just to annoy team Rocket.
"This is personal to you isn't it?"
"Time's a-wastin. Let's go before the new squad comes!"
They found themselves on the inside of the warehouse. Cages everywhere. Pokemon either curled up in fear or raising their heads to look at them in hope.
"Man just like the vision" Sonic thought in disgust.
"Ok you take the right side I go left. You find the guard with the keys you call me so we can start freeing the pokemon got it?"
"Ok" Mike said.
They split up and Sonic started walking down the corridors made by the cages. While walking both himself, Pikachu and kadabra where looking in the cages hoping to see Alakazam. Eventually they did see one. Kadabra grabbed the bars of the cage and so did alakazam. They started crying out to one another with kadabra lowering its head. Sonic could tell that Alakazam was not his kadabra's mother. He also saw another collar around alakazam's throat.
"These must be inhibiting their psychic powers" he thought.
Suddenly a grunt turned the corner.
"Hey intruder!" he yelled as he sent out an ekans.
"Confusion!" Sonic ordered.
Kadabra moved in the blink of an eye blasting ekans with its power and knocking it out. However the grunt's yell had called for backup. 3 more appeared behind Sonic.
"Got you now!" one of them said greedily.
"Wait a minute" another of them said "that's the guy who defeated my sandshrew with an electric move".
"So we meet again" Sonic said smiling in determination causing the grunts to take a step back in fear.
"T-this time its different! All of you attack him at once!"
The grunts sent out ekans, koffing and a male nidoran. Sonic saw the defeated grunt from before charge him. Pikachu climbing of him, Sonic stopped the grunt resulting in the two aggressively holding hands pushing each other.
"Kadabra, pikachu! Deal with those 3!"
Before Pikachu could make a move however kadabra turned around and sent a beam of psychic energy which hit all 3 of its opponents in a straight line knocking them out simultaneously.
"Woah. Was that psy-beam?" Sonic asked in pleasant surprise.
"Kadabra!" Kadabra cried out as if it was roaring sending the 3 grunts running.
"Good job kadabra! Let's go" he said.
At that moment a scream was heard on the other side of the warehouse.
"Mike?!" Sonic called out but only got another scream in response.
"Oh no!" he thought.
"Kadabra lift me on the cages!"
Kadabra obliged and then levitated taking Pikachu with it. Sonic started jumping from cage to cage as fast as he could just like he had seen Mike do on the rooftops as a third scream was heard.
"Hang in there Mike I'm coming!" he thought.
To be continued