Chapter 24:A Happy Happy Birthday

The moon was beginning to sink. The cold morning dew filled the air. Tyrogue was the first one up. He was very excited. He bumped Phillip. Phillip rolled over with a groan. He bumped him even harder. Phillip rolled back over to look at Tyrogue. He rubbed his face with his left hand. Phillip showed concern.

"What's up Tyrogue?"

"Tyyy-rooogue." He said excitedly.

Phillip looked at the moon. He turned back to Tyrogue.

"TYYY-ROOOGUE!" He said with more excitement as he pointed out the star constellations.

It was the day of the first sighting of "The Warrior" constellation. Phillip grumbled; he knew what that meant. Tyrogue ran over to Phillip's bag and released all of his Pokemon. Phillip popped up and tried to yell at Tyrogue. Tyrogue spoke to all of Phillip's Pokemon. His two Dratini, his Pidgey, Mareep and Wooper. Tyrogue directs them as if instructing a choir. They began singing in a familiar tone. The noise woke up Kathy and Nathan. The two of them tried to figure out what was going on.

As Tyrogue tried to direct the Pokemon to sing again Phillip recalled all of them. Nathan asked.

"What's going on!?"

"Nothing. Let's push on, we have a lot of ground to cover." Phillip said obviously annoyed.

Tyrogue broke out of his Pokeball and spoke to Cyndquil who was on Nathan's right. Tyrogue distracted Kathy as Cyndaquil released Chikorita and Smoochum telling them what Tyrogue told him. They all pulled Kathy and Nathan to a halt as Chikorita spoke to Kathy. Kathy's eyes grew wide and smile stretched across her face. She yelled out to Phillip who was a few yards ahead of her.

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!?"

Phillip froze. He slowly turned around to face them. Nathan, Kathy and all their Pokemon stared at him full of joy. They begin singing Happy Birthday to him. Kathy and Tyrogue jumped up and down. They began planning a birthday party for him. Every time Phillip would try to intervene to shut it down, they would ignore him and continue with planning.

Kathy and Nathan were working with their Pokemon to put together a birthday party for Phillip. Phillip tried to stop them to no avail. Even his own Pokemon were following Kathy around to help with his birthday party. While everyone was running around doing party things Phillip snuck off.

Phillip remembered a set of trees overlooking a small pond a couple of miles back. Leaving his Pokemon with Kathy and Nathan he took off towards the pond.

His birthday was not a time of joy for him. The last time he enjoyed his birthday was four years ago when his dad brought him Tyrogue. His dad took off after that. For many people birthdays were a time to celebrate. For Phillip it was a time to remember that his dad hadn't even called him on his birthday in three years. Running helped him clear his head. He sped up as he continued towards the pond.

Brett and Betty were walking with their heads drooped down. They hadn't had anything to eat in days. They lost track of Phillip and his friends when they saw them at the end of the National Park Bug Catching Contest. They were going to try to steal all the Pokemon there, but their boss was not sending them any more money, and there were too many police around for them to try to pull anything without any money.

As they plopped on the ground from exhaustion they saw Phillip speed past them. Suddenly their energy returned to them. They could finally recruit Phillip without any intervention. They came up with a plan to seduce Phillip to join their team. Betty and Brett changed into nicer clothes. Betty wore a red satin dress and Brett wore a blue suit with a red tie.

Within moments Phillip scaled one of the trees. He sat back listening to the pond water flowing. He saw Spearow and Pidgey jumping around the tops of trees and bushes while Caterpie were hiding in the tall grass. Occasionally a Magikarp would peek it's head just out of the water to catch some small bugs hovering on the surface of the water.

After a few moments had passed Betty ran near the pond and pretended to faint. Phillip saw the young woman in the pretty red dress, but was unable to see her face. He called out to her, but she did not respond. Phillip climbed down the tree to see if he could help the lady. He approached her, and helped her up by her hand. Betty responded with a seductive tone in her voice.

"Oh, you are such a gentleman. And so strong."

Phillip began to blush, but once he saw the girl looking at him through the corner of her eye, he immediately recognized her. He snatched his hand away and jumped back into a defensive posture.

"Betty!?"

She turned to face him quickly raising her hands in the air.

"I mean you no harm Phillip."

She slowly stepped towards him.

"I just think you are a great trainer, and I think we can make some magic together for Team Rocket."

She took another slow step towards him. He softened his defenses.

"What do you mean? What about Brett?"

"He doesn't mind. He agrees that we could be a mighty threesome."

She took another step towards him. Phillip stepped back. Brett cleared his throat behind him. Phillip jumped to the side. Keeping both Brett and Betty where he could see them. Brett was leaning against the tree that Phillip had climbed flipping a shiny gold coin. He looked at Phillip and ran his free hand through his hair.

"We could do great things Phillip. Make a ton of gold."

"I don't care anything about that!" Phillip yelled. Betty was close enough to touch Phillip now.

"But what if you did? Surely there's something you want."

Betty gently rubbed Phillip's arm.

"Come on. You're a young, brilliant, good looking and strong young man. With a little bit of gold everyone would have to notice you. Then anything you want could be yours."

Phillip thought about his dad. Maybe if he did have a lot of gold his dad would care about him then. Brett began to strut towards Phillip. Continuing to flip his golden coin.

"It wouldn't be hard. We would just have to use some of those strong Pokemon of yours. Run a few easy scams. A few easy tricks, and before you know it, all three of us are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams."

Phillip's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at the both of them. He jumped back and shouted.

"Never! My Pokemon aren't to be used. They are my friends and my partners. I'm not gonna break the law to get some easy money. Get away from me!"

Phillip dashed between the two of them. Brett yelled after him.

"Why you little! If you won't join us freely we'll force you to join us!"

Both Brett and Betty sent out Zubat and Spinarak.

"Zubat Supersonic!"

Zubat pounced on Phillip's head. Phillip tried to shake it. Even though he was strong and skilled, he lacked the strength to fight off a Pokemon. Zubat managed to slow Phillip down as Spinarak jumped in front of him. He quickly formed a large web with his String Shot that prevented Phillip from moving. Phillip was tangled in Spinarak's web as Zubat was sending constant Supersonic rays to keep Phillip weakened and confused.

A couple of miles away the team was spread out looking for Phillip. They were so caught up in throwing a birthday party for him that they lost track of him and didn't even realize he was gone. They spread out with partners. Tyrogue and Pidgey were together.

Tyrogue remembered the pond they passed. He and Pidgey went in the direction of the pond. He knew Phillip loved water and heights. He just sensed that he went in that direction. Pidgey flew ahead and looked for signs of Phillip. A couple of minutes passed when Pidgey returned with news. Tyrogue ran. Pidgey was flying in sync with Tyrogue. When they arrived in the clearing they saw Brett and Betty looking at and talking to Phillip. He was in the middle of a web as Zubat continued to fire sound waves at him.

Tyrogue whispered something to Pidgey. Pidgey took off back towards the camp. Tyrogue crept into camp. As Spinarak, Zubat, Brett and Betty were focused on Phillip, a shadowy figure appeared out of the shade of a nearby tree. It had a purple body with a red gem in its chest cavity, and was just over a foot long. It had two blue gemstones for eyes. As it appeared Brett, Betty, Zubat and Spinarak all looked at the Pokemon. In the distraction Tyrogue ran towards the web and did a High Jump Kick to the webbing. Phillip's right arm came loose. He ripped the webbing off the rest of his body and let Tyrogue lead him back on the path.

As soon as Phillip came loose the sound of him landing on his feet brought Brett and Betty's attention back to him.

"Do your Supersonic Zubat!"

As the rays neared Phillip and Tyrogue, Pidgey shot out from the bushes. Pidgey absorbed the rays and was weakened.

"Poison Sting attack Spinarak!" Brett yelled.

Pidgey was knocked down to the ground. Phillip turned around on his toe. He ran back to Pidgey.

"Get up Pidgey!"

Pidgey slowly stood back up. He shook his bright blue feathers and glared at Zubat and Spinarak. Before Brett and Betty could react Phillip yelled out to Pidgey.

"Quick attack Pidgey!"

Pidgey darted at Zubat and Spinarak. He moved so fast both of them lost sight of him.

"Tackle attack!"

Pidgey flew up in the air. Gaining momentum he slammed into Spinarak knocking him into Zubat, Brett and Betty. As Phillip was shouting another attack to Pidgey, the purple Pokemon jumped at Pidgey. He did a Scratch attack that knocked Pidgey down. The Pokemon jumped up as if preparing another Scratch attack. Phillip rushed to cover Pidgey. Tyrogue jumped at the purple Pokemon and fired a Bullet Punch attack at him. The attack knocked the Pokemon into the pile of Zubat, Spinarak, Brett and Betty. As Phillip hugged Pidgey, Pidgey's eyes stared into Phillip's. He began to glow silver. His size began to grow. Phillip jumped back. Pidgey evolved!

Brett and Betty began to stand up. As they looked at Phillip a barrage of fire and lightning passed around Phillip and Pidgeotto and slammed right into them. Suddenly Cyndaquil, Mareep, Charlie and Delta all appeared. Phillip turned around to see the Team Rocket pile being burned and electrocuted he yelled at Pidgeotto.

"End this Pidgeotto! Whirlwind Attack!"

The powerful gust knocked Phillip and his Pokemon back as it sent Team Rocket flying. He could hear them in the distance.

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Nathan, Kathy and all their Pokemon joined Phillip, Tyrogue and Pidgeotto.

"Oh my gosh! Pidgey evolved!?" Kathy shouted.

Phillip turned around.

"Hey guys! Thanks for the rescue!"

"Why did you run off?" Nathan asked.

Everyone looked at Phillip with bated breath. They too wondered why Phillip ran off. Phillip looked at the ground. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked up and announced to everyone.

"I'm sorry guys. You all were trying to do something really nice for me. I'm not used to having people around me looking to celebrate me. For years my birthday has always been sad. On my 10th birthday my dad came home and gave me Tyrogue. Before the day was over he left again. He hasn't reached out to me or even tried to contact me since then."

The group was quiet. Phillip stared into the sky. He looked around him, and took another breath.

"But I see now, for years my birthday has been a place of anger and pain for me. But without it I never would have met Tyrogue."

Phillip looked at Tyrogue.

"You're my best friend Tyrogue. Without you I wouldn't be where I am today. Without you I would never have been out here with Nathan and Kathy. I never would have been able to catch Mareep, Pidgey, Charlie and Delta. I wouldn't be where I am today if not for you Tyrogue."

Tyrogue's eyes began to tear up.

"I think that's what you were trying to tell me earlier. My birthday is not the day that my father abandoned me. It's the day that my dad gave me my best friend, allowing me to be who I am today."

He looked around at everyone.

"Thank you, guys. I wouldn't be who I am today without you. I'm sorry for running away. I gotta call my mom, but after that, let's do that party that you all have been working on."

Phillip called his mom. She wished him a happy birthday and sang to him with everyone else. Phillip was full of joy. Together they all went back to camp and Phillip enjoyed his birthday for the first time in four years. He expected that this would be the best year of his life. What adventures await Phillip in his 14th year? Only time would tell.

To be continued…