The waterfall and pond were dazzling in the morning sunlight when Mary-Sue emerged from her tent to get ready for the day.
"This place is beautiful," Aaron remarked as the three travelers scarfed down some snacks and packed up. "I almost want to stay here a little longer."
"Yeah," Mary-Sue agreed. "Even if we are completely lost, I'm kinda glad we found it."
"Speak for yourself," Jovi muttered, but the trainers ignored her.
Once they had carefully climbed back down the ladder, and only Minun's Flash was illuminating their way, Mary-Sue took the third Pokéball off her backpack strap and opened it. "Come on out, Zubat," she said.
"Bat zuzu!" the flying Pokémon hissed when it had materialized.
"So, we want to leave Mt. Moon out the western entrance," Mary-Sue told her new partner. "Can you lead us there?"
"Zuzu!" it nodded, and it started flapping along through the cave.
The three humans and Minun followed, a spring in all their steps now that they had a guide who was guaranteed to know the way. Despite its wildly beating wings, Zubat didn't move too quickly for them - in fact, it almost seemed to be matching their pace. I knew you were friendly, Mary-Sue thought. You just wanted to play. Though…I wonder what Magikarp did to make you so angry?
"Hey, Masie?" Aaron spoke up after a little while.
"Yeah?" she asked, not slowing down.
"We're just retracing out steps to the eastern entrance," he said. "These are all the paths we took before."
"I'll take your word for it," Mary-Sue said; everything looked the same to her. "Hey, Zubat!"
"Bat bat," it rasped, stopping in the air and turning back to her.
"I said we wanted to go to the west entrance," she told it. "You know, the one that goes to Celadon, not the one that goes to Pewter? Er…" She frowned, realizing that might not mean anything at all to this cave-dwelling creature. "Um…there's a Pokémon Center just outside the east entrance," she rephrased. "We want to go to the other one. Do you understand?"
"Zubat bat, bat zu Zubat bat Zubat!" it jabbered, and Mary-Sue got the vague sense it was offended. "Zu zu zu, bat zu Zubat bat bat bat!"
"It seems pretty sure," Mary-Sue offered to her companions.
"How can it be?" Jovi asked pointedly. "There could just as easily be a Pokémon Center on the west side, too."
"I don't think there is," Mary-Sue said slowly, trying to think back on her geography classes. "In any case, we have no idea where we're going at all, and at least Zubat knows something about this place. I say we trust it. Keep going, Zubat," she added to the Pokémon, and it hissed and continued flying forward. When Mary-Sue followed it, the others followed her, with minimal grumbling.
Down through the depths, then up again, they followed Zubat for a long time.
"We're still just retracing the route we took yesterday," Aaron mentioned eventually.
"I believe in Zubat," Mary-Sue asserted. "Love, trust, and understanding are the keys to building a bond with Pokémon, and I trust my partner."
"Masie," Jovi groaned, but when Mary-Sue didn't indulge this with a reply, no further arguments came up.
After climbing up and up some sloped tunnels, the chill began to leave the air, and the ground beneath them evened out.
"This is where I took the lead," Aaron spoke up tonelessly.
"I trust Zubat," Mary-Sue repeated.
A few turns later, Zubat flitted over to one thin segment of cave wall between the path they were coming from and another tunnel to their left.
"Zubat bat," it said, hovering at the spot.
"Huh?" Mary-Sue peered at the wall, noticing an unnaturally flat portion. "What is it, Zubat? Hey Mimi, get up here." She knelt down and picked up their living flashlight.
Immediately, the panel on the wall lit up, its surface almost blindingly reflective. It was a sign - the regulations on artificial light in Mt. Moon prevented it from being lit by its own power, but it was clearly designed to catch any flashlight that hit it directly. There were two lines of writing on the sign: one, with an arrow pointing left, said 'Cave System', while the other, with an arrow pointing right, said 'Cerulean City'.
"Zu-bat," their guide emphasized, fluttering into the tunnel that led to the right of the sign.
"There was…a sign?" Mary-Sue asked faintly.
"The cave system…wasn't the way out?" Aaron added, sounding equally defeated.
"Come on," Jovi sighed, and they continued following Zubat.
The new tunnel was a lot smoother and more rounded than the caves they'd been traversing up until now, possibly artificial. After walking through it for about an hour, they rounded a bend and were met with the sight of sunlight on grass and trees.
Everyone dropped to the ground.
"Are you kidding me?" Aaron asked. "It was that easy?"
"Hey Aaron?" Mary-Sue said dully. "Remember when you said it would take a lot of work to get lost in here?"
"All that hiking…for nothing…" Jovi groaned.
Drawing a deep breath, Mary-Sue drew herself up. "Not for nothing," she said, and she lifted a hand; Zubat flapped over and hooked its long, thin legs over her wrist to hang upside-down and rest its wings. "We made a new friend."
"And we saw that waterfall cave," Aaron added. "I know memories of that spot will inspire my music for the rest of my life."
"Being a Pokémon master is about the journey," Mary-Sue added. "The people and Pokémon you meet, and the places you see."
"Well, I don't want to be a Pokémon master," Jovi grumbled. "I want to take Cipher down so I can go home."
"Sorry," Aaron offered.
"It's fine," she sighed heavily. "At least we're here now."
They got to their feet, and Mary-Sue called Zubat back to its Pokéball so it wouldn't have to go out in the sun. Tired, but glad to be through the mountain, they emerged into the afternoon light.
Then, without warning, the ground in front of them split open violently, and a gigantic Pokémon made of a string of boulders emerged.
"Oooooooon!" the sudden attacker bellowed.
"It's an Onix!" Mary-Sue gasped. "What's it doing out here?!"
"It's not just an Onix," Aaron said, his tone grim, and Mary-Sue turned to him and saw his light-blue eyes narrowed at the creature. "It's a Shadow Pokémon."
"What?" Jovi yelped.
"It has a shadowy aura," Aaron stated. "I'm sure of it, Jovi."
"But then, that would mean-"
"Destroy them!" came a shout from somewhere in the surrounding woods.
Onix roared and lunged at the trio, more of its massive body emerging from the dirt. Everyone screamed and ran back for the cave, but Aaron didn't quite make it - the rocky jaws of the huge Pokémon managed to catch his backpack. Jovi shouted his name, but he shrugged out of the straps as fast as he could and hit the ground running, stumbling inside and catching up with the girls as they fled.
More roars followed them, the ground itself shaking as Onix snaked its way into the caves of Mt. Moon. Jovi called on Minun again to use Flash so they wouldn't trip, but besides that, they all chose to save their breaths. Mary-Sue thought that maybe they could take shelter in the Pokémon Center on the other side of the mountain; whether or not her companions had the same idea turned out to be irrelevant, as they reached the fork in the paths that split between the road between cities and the deeper cave system only to find a giant pile of rocks blocking the way out.
"What?!" Mary-Sue shouted. When they'd come by an hour earlier, the way had definitely been open, and even the raging rock-type Pokémon pursuing them couldn't have created that specific of a cave-in. What was more, the rocks seemed to be glowing slightly…
"No time!" Aaron yelped. "The ladder!"
Ladder? Mary-Sue was sprinting after her comrades for a full minute before she understood Aaron's idea - something like Onix couldn't use the big ladder that led to the waterfall cave, so if they could reach it quickly enough, they might be able to climb out of its reach.
"Which way?!" Jovi asked as they reached a branching path.
There was no time for anyone to answer, the raging Shadow Pokémon was surging through the tunnels, entirely focused on the singular objective it had been given; their only option was to guess in a desperate panic.
Down twists and turns they stumbled, almost blindly, barely outpacing the monster pursuing them. Eventually, they found themselves squeezing through an ever-narrowing passage, and Mary-Sue's heart skipped a beat as she realized that the path to the waterfall cave hadn't had any tight spaces like this.
"We're going the wrong way!" she wailed, but it was too late to turn back; though the Onix was struggling to follow them now, it had been a while since the last split, there was no way to go back far enough.
The cave got smaller and smaller, the three humans barely pushing past pillars of rock, until at last they couldn't go any further; there was a bit of space ahead, but even Mary-Sue wouldn't be able to squeeze through.
They stared dumbly at the dead end, all deathly conscious of the raging Shadow Pokémon that was crashing its way through the tight corridor behind them.
"…What do we do?" Mary-Sue whimpered. "Do we fight?"
"My Pokémon were in my backpack," Aaron said in an unreadable tone. "I can't fight."
"Pluplu and Mimi are electric types, they can't do anything against an Onix," Jovi whispered. "And Bibarel…Shadow Pokémon aren't effective against each other."
"Magikarp and Zubat can't fight, either," Mary-Sue realized out loud. "Maybe Budew could, but…"
Despair began to sink in as the three humans turned back to look at their approaching doom. The massive rock snake was roaring and thrashing as it struggled to pursue them into the small space, but it was making progress; sooner or later, it would either reach them or cause a cave-in that would crush them.
All the strength left Mary-Sue's legs, and she sank to the floor, her eyes going to the three Pokéballs on her backpack strap. She didn't know Zubat well enough to direct it in a fight, Magikarp's power was far too limited, and Budew…
Eyes burning, Mary-Sue unhooked the capsules, though she only let out Zubat and Budew - Magikarp would be just barely too big. Both Pokémon exclaimed in alarm when they registered what was happening, but Mary-Sue reached out a hand to each of them and spoke with a calmness she didn't know she could possess.
"You two need to go," she told them. "You can squeeze through the gap behind us, you're small enough. Please, just run."
Beside her, Jovi had knelt down and was giving a similar talk to her Plusle and Minun.
Zubat hissed, looking between its trainer and the incoming Onix, then nodded once in a way that seemed almost sad and flitted into the narrow passage. Incredibly, though, Budew hesitated.
"Dewew?" it squeaked at Mary-Sue.
"Don't worry about me," Mary-Sue choked. "I…I can't go with you. But you can get out. I promised I'd protect you, Budew…I'm sorry I couldn't do more than this."
"Dewww…" it whimpered.
"Please just go," the young girl told her Pokémon.
Plusle was already halfway through, calling to Minun and Budew to follow. Minun protested, pressing closer to Jovi, seeming to argue that the humans needed the light of its Flash.
"Please go," Jovi told it. "I…I'd rather not see what's coming."
"Go on, Budew," Mary-Sue urged. "Please go. Please escape, and…and if you can, find my family in Celadon. Have Meowth tell my parents that I love them, and…and I'm sorry I didn't listen to them." Her vision blurred, hot liquid trailing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I got in over my head. But it's my fault. Please, please don't let them blame themselves, okay? If - if you can?"
"Budew dew…" The little bud's pinprick eyes turned in the direction of the monster that was rampaging closer; it almost looked too terrified to run.
"Go on," Mary-Sue insisted, nudging it with her hand; behind it, Plusle was calling more encouragement.
"Dew…" Budew's tiny legs refused to move; its eyes flickered between Mary-Sue and Onix. A little clear droplet oozed from one of the beady black spots. "Dew…ew…!"
"Ooooooon!" A roar and a crash behind her told Mary-Sue it wouldn't be long now, Onix was breaking through.
"Please just go!" she shouted, her leaking eyes screwing shut. "Please, Budew, I need you to go!"
"Dew dew…" Budew's squeaks were barely audible in the cacophony. "Dewew, Budew…dew…deeeeeeeew!"
Mary-Sue gasped and opened her eyes as the cry of her baby Pokémon rang out, headed in the direction, not of safety, but of the approaching danger. She turned, and sure enough, the timid little bud was sprinting towards Onix.
"Dewew!" it shouted at the gigantic rock snake. "Dew dew, Budew dew-!"
"Ooooon!" Onix roared, and it dove down to crush the grass-type Pokémon.
"Budew, look out!" Mary-Sue yelped.
"Dew!" Fast as ever, Budew darted out of the way of the attack.
Then, the bud on top of its head opened, and a bright light began to shine between the red and blue spots within.
"Is that…?" Mary-Sue breathed, her eyes going wide.
"Deeeeweeeew…Bud-dew!" the timid creature declared, as little tendrils of light erupted from Onix and flew into the bud's glow.
"Ooooon!" the rock-type Pokémon cried, recoiling back and hitting the wall hard.
It used Absorb. Everything inside of Mary-Sue went still at the realization. It was as though all her thoughts, feelings, and awareness of the situation had drained away, leaving her laser-focused on the moment, and she stood up.
"Dodge, Budew!" she called, waving a hand for emphasis. "It's big, and it can't maneuver very well in here, and you're small and fast! Run around it, and don't attack again until I give you the signal!"
"Dewew!" Budew needed no encouragement in running; its tiny legs worked almost too fast to see as it sprinted around, wailing as it desperately tried to avoid the thrashing of the long body made of boulders. After a few moments, the Onix managed to line up another headlong rush, but Budew easily slipped out of the way.
"Now, Absorb!" Mary-Sue ordered. "You have an opening!"
"Budew!" squeaked the tiny plant, and again, it opened the bud on top of its head and called on its power, sucking life force from the rock snake. Onix roared and stumbled in its assault.
"Keep moving!" Mary-Sue instructed. "It's okay if you get grazed a little, Absorb will heal you, but be careful! Wait for my signal!"
Everything fell into a simple state of action and reaction, both for Budew and for Mary-Sue. A few pebbles smacked the little grass-type occasionally, but Onix just couldn't navigate the tight space well enough to fight such a small opponent effectively. Whenever Mary-Sue called that there was an opening, Budew used its power to drain the Shadow Pokémon more and more, until finally, the monster collapsed and did not rise.
All of a sudden, everything was deathly still and silent. Mary-Sue sank to her knees again, lightheaded as she started to emerge from her trance and realize it was over.
Jovi stepped forward, Aura Reader over her eye, Snag Machine glowing, and she hefted a Pokéball in the device and threw it. "Go, Snag Ball!" she shouted.
The capsule hit Onix and opened, and a massive clawed hand made of light emerged, somehow scooping up the entire gigantic creature in one swift motion and dragging it inside. There was suddenly infinitely more space in the tunnel as the Pokéball fell to the ground and began to shake violently, giving off gold and violet smoke, before it clicked and ping!ed, signifying a successful capture.
No one moved for a long, long minute; everyone just stared at the Pokéball as though expecting it to burst open even though the capture was complete, but all was still. At last, Budew wailed and ran over to Mary-Sue, all but headbutting her.
"Deeeeeeeew!" it sobbed, burying its little face in her boot. "Dew! Dew! Dew! Dew! Dew!"
"Budew…" Mary-Sue reached down and put a hand around the baby Pokémon. "You…You saved me," she told it. "You saved all of us." She picked it up in both hands and cradled it to her chest, not quite hugging it but nuzzling it as best she could. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much. You saved my life."
"Dewew," it whimpered, and it twisted in her grip towards the strap she kept her Pokéballs on. "Dew dew?"
"Y-Yes," Mary-Sue choked, setting it down and unclipping its Pokéball, "you can go back in now. You can stay in there for the rest of your life except to eat, if you want. You've earned it."
"Thank you, Budew," Aaron spoke up, impossibly calm.
"Thanks, Budew," Jovi added.
"Dew…" Budew smiled before it dissolved into a cloud of red light and returned to its home.
"Bat zuzu!" came a hiss, and a small, leather-winged thing hooked a thin leg into one of the loops of Mary-Sue's hair.
"Plusle, plus!"
"Min min?"
"We're all okay," Jovi said breathlessly.
Mary-Sue called Zubat back to its Pokéball as well, then slumped down, curled up on her hands and knees. A moment later, she found herself fully laying down, rocks pressing into her face, but she didn't want to get up. Even on the floor, she felt dizzy, utterly unwilling to move.
A hand came to rest lightly on her shoulder. "You okay, Masie?" Jovi's soft voice asked.
The only thing Mary-Sue could do was whimper.
"We're okay," Jovi went on gently. "Everything's okay now."
"No…?" Mary-Sue lifted her head, even as her vision blurred once more. "No…it…I don't…"
"Shh," Jovi cooed, and she pulled Mary-Sue into a tight embrace. "We're okay. You're okay, Mary-Sue."
Something inside of Mary-Sue's chest broke, and she dissolved into hysterical tears. Her arms went around Jovi and she squeezed, burying her face in the teenager's shoulder as she sobbed, emotions she couldn't begin to sort through slamming through her like a raging Onix all its own. Jovi rubbed her back, murmuring small reassurances, and they stayed that way for what felt like an eternity as Mary-Sue slowly cried her way through the shock of narrowly escaping death.
Eventually, the younger girl managed to pull herself together. Hiccuping and sniffling, she sat up, and Jovi released her so she could scrub at her face with her own fingerless gloves.
"I'm sorry," Mary-Sue croaked. "I'm sorry…"
"Don't be sorry," Jovi told her. "You saved us, you and your Budew."
Blinking rapidly to try to clear her sight, Mary-Sue looked up and saw Aaron bending over her, his face neutral, eyes mildly concerned. "How are neither of you freaking out?" she rasped.
"I grew up in a dangerous fairy forest," Aaron said evenly. "Fairy Pokémon love to play with people's emotions and make them panic; ever since I was little, I had to be able to keep it together no matter what I saw."
"And I've done this before," Jovi added with a forced smile. "This isn't my first rodeo. Cipher doesn't pull any punches, not even towards kids."
"Cipher…" Aaron turned back the way they come, his lips turning into a slight frown. "I need to get my backpack before some Cipher creep takes my Pokémon," he said.
"You're right," Jovi agreed, and she stood up, holding out a hand to Mary-Sue. "Do you think you can walk, Masie?"
She absolutely was not sure of that, but she took Jovi's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up anyway, focusing on the threat of Aaron's Pokémon falling into Cipher's hands to motivate her wobbly legs.
Together, the trio forged their way back through the caves as quickly as they could manage. Navigating wasn't difficult; the path of destruction Onix had left behind marked the way perfectly well. When they got to the split in the path between the caves of Mt. Moon and the route to Cerulean City, Mary-Sue noticed that the way back to Pewter appeared to be completely clear, but had no time or energy to spare remarking on it. The even, clearly-artificially-leveled tunnel allowed them to break into a full sprint, and they burst out of the caves into the late afternoon to see a person with a head full of platinum-blond curls bending over Aaron's backpack.
"Hey, give that back!" Mary-Sue shouted.
The person started, then turned and stood, backpack in hand. He was a grown man, though his figure was hard to pinpoint due to a long, thick, pink-and-purple coat that came down to his knees. His skinny legs were in white, patterned tights, with wide, weirdly-toed sneakers covering his feet. His blue eyes were narrow and cruel, thin lips turned into a deep frown as he appraised the children.
"How did you escape?!" he snarled. "Onix should have crushed you!"
"We snagged your Shadow Onix," Jovi stated, holding up the recently-used Pokéball. "Now, give Aaron back his Pokémon."
"Sodding Team Spirit brats," the man hissed. "Why must you continue to defy the Grand Master's glorious vision?!"
"Your accent!" Aaron gasped. "Are you from Galar, too?"
"Oh?" The man lifted one platinum-blond eyebrow. "One of my former countrymen actually acknowledged my existence? That's a first." He took a step forward. "I am Bede," he declared; "my only affiliation is to Grand Master Ardos, glorious leader of Cipher, and the empire he is in the process of building."
Mary-Sue stared. Somehow, Cipher peons being faceless grunts had made it easy to forget that actual human beings had chosen to carry out Cipher's plans, but this man had a face, and now a name, too. "Why?" she whimpered. "Why would you support Cipher?"
"I don't expect you children to understand anything," Bede scoffed. "Nor does it matter; I have been tasked with eliminating you, pest." He pointed at Jovi. "My master's plans must not be disrupted."
"And what are his plans?!" Jovi demanded.
"You don't need to know," Bede sneered. "In a few moments, you won't know anything, anyway."
He dropped Aaron's backpack to snap the fingers of his left hand, and about half a dozen figures in Cipher armor emerged from the trees around the clearing and road.
"Grand Master Ardos's dream will be realized," Bede proclaimed, "and mere children will not stand in his way. I don't know how you overcame our Onix, but you will not leave this place alive."
"Hold it right there."
Another voice cut in, and the trio gasped and turned around to see someone else standing over the cave mouth. This person was dressed in black, with long white boots and gloves, hair bunched under a black cap, and a massive red 'R' on his chest.
"Oh?" Bede asked. "What's this?"
"You're trespassing on the territory of Team Rocket," the interloper stated. "State your business."
"Or what?" Bede laughed.
A droning sound had been building in the background for a little while, but Mary-Sue had barely even noticed it. Now, suddenly, three black helicopters rose up from behind the mountain and trees, each with the same big red 'R' printed on their sides. They circled the clearing, a handful of individuals in the same uniforms as the first man sliding down to the ground from them on cords, until Cipher and the travelers were completely surrounded.
Then, one helicopter moved forward slightly, and yet another person descended from it to land right behind Bede, forcing the Cipher Admin to turn to face him: a man with shoulder-length red hair, only a few shades darker and more orange than Mary-Sue's, and piercing gray eyes. He was wearing an old-fashioned button-up silk jacket, midnight blue in color with red accents, and that same 'R' embroidered over his left chest.
"So," the red-haired man said in a cold, flat voice that made the hairs on Mary-Sue's neck stand up, "our information was correct after all. An invading team of criminals has intruded on the quad-region area." His steely eyes narrowed at Bede. "You call yourselves Cipher, is that correct?"
"I-It is," Bede conceded. "What of it?!"
"We are Team Rocket," the gray-eyed man declared, "an organization with a long, inglorious history as thieves, terrorists, and poachers, and I'll do you the courtesy of explaining how things work here in the quad-region area, since I know you're foreign. Law-abiding citizens answer to the government and the police; those who would live outside the law answer to us. We hold a monopoly on all organized crime in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh…which makes you, Cipher, unwelcome here."
"Like we care if we're welcome!" Bede snickered. "Grand Master Ardos goes wherever he pleases, and does as he pleases; a band of thieves doesn't tell us what to do!" He swung his left hand in a forceful gesture. "You won't stop Grand Master Ardos from conquering the world!"
"So you are not in charge of this group," the Team Rocket Admin remarked. "I see. Well, tell this 'Grand Master Ardos' that he's made a terrible social blunder by coming here uninvited and unannounced. If he wishes to make any sort of dealings in Kanto, he is obligated to ask permission from our leader, and pay a fee." Those stone-cold eyes went narrower still. "Though at this point, I doubt such a generous compromise can be reached."
"You don't scare me!" Bede declared, and he took out a Pokéball and threw it. "Go, Copperajah!"
An enormous green-and-orange Pokémon emerged from the capsule, almost filling the clearing and causing the ground to shake when it landed. Mary-Sue stumbled back, eyes wide; it was difficult to see much about the Pokémon from this angle, but it was clearly even more of a powerhouse than an Onix.
The red-haired man didn't even blink. He calmly hefted a Pokéball of his own and casually tossed it into the air. "Alakazam, Psychic," he said coolly.
A yellow-and-brown almost-humanoid Pokémon with a spoon in each hand materialized. "Ala," it intoned, crossing its tools in front of it, and a glow surrounded Copperajah and lifted the massive beast into the air.
"You think you can use a psychic-type against me?!" Bede exclaimed furiously. "I'm the master of psychic-type Pokémon! Go, Reuniclus!" He threw another Pokéball, and a large, floating, globby creature appeared.
"This is getting crowded," the red-haired man sighed, and he turned to his Pokémon. "Alakazam, clear up this mess of intruders, won't you?"
"Ala," it said, its eyes and spoons glowing almost blindingly bright.
Suddenly, the floor began to drop out from under Mary-Sue, as she, her friends, and all the members of Cipher lifted into the air.
"No, leave the children," the red-haired man said shortly. "They aren't involved."
Just like that, Mary-Sue dropped back to the ground, landing surprisingly gently, her comrades following suit.
"Put us down this instant!" Bede raved, flailing helplessly in midair; even his Reuniclus seemed to be under Alakazam's power. "You cannot do this to me! I am favored by Grand Master Ardos himself!"
"Then tell your master that he's made an enemy of Team Rocket," the red-haired man said without inflection. "We don't share our territory with weaklings like you." As Bede spluttered with rage, the Team Rocket Admin flicked his eyes at Alakazam one more time. "Send them away," he commanded.
"Ala…kazam!"
With a sweep of the psychic Pokémon's spoons, the seven Cipher members and two Pokémon were flung high into the air, sailing far away until they were only a dot on the horizon.
"Let's go," the red-haired man told the uniformed grunts surrounding him. "The boss will want to hear an account of this incident."
"Sir!" they all barked in unison, snapping smart salutes as Alakazam returned to its Pokéball, and then they turned to climb back up into their helicopters by the same cords they'd come down on, the first one who'd been standing over the cave jogging down to join his fellows.
"Sir, what about the children?" Mary-Sue heard one man ask.
"Leave them," stated the redhead. "They're of no consequence." He turned and looked at where Mary-Sue, Aaron, and Jovi were all standing, stunned, and Mary-Sue flinched at the frightening intensity of his eyes - not even the near-numbness that followed a brush with death against a raging Onix could dull the primal terror this man made her feel, her throat closed and her lungs constricted purely by reflex. His expression didn't change at all as he took hold of a rope and allowed himself to be lifted into the air, his underlings pulling him up.
It wasn't until she couldn't see his eyes anymore than Mary-Sue realized that, despite his intimidating presence, the man with red hair actually didn't look like he could be that much older than Jovi.
Then, the helicopters flew away, leaving the three travelers alone, unharmed, and shocked. Several long minutes passed, and no one spoke; what even was there to say? Eventually, Aaron stepped forward hesitantly, walking over to where Bede had dropped his backpack and scooping it up, searching its insides.
"Is…" Jovi cleared her throat. "Is everything still there?" she asked weakly.
"Yeah," Aaron replied. "My Pokémon, my instruments, and my supplies are all here."
"That's good," Jovi managed; when Mary-Sue turned, she saw that the older girl was trying to smile.
"I don't…think I can go any further," Mary-Sue croaked. "Can we…stop for the night?"
"Yeah," Jovi agreed.
In a daze, the trio walked off the road to Cerulean and into the trees, stopping at the first slight gap they found and sitting down. Backpacks fell haphazardly from slumped shoulders, and no one could bring themselves to start setting up camp.
"…I don't understand," Mary-Sue eventually whispered.
"Have you ever heard of this Team Rocket?" Jovi asked.
"I…think the Champion has talked about them a few times," Mary-Sue answered. "Yeah…Yeah, they're thieves who steal people's Pokémon, they wanted his Pikachu for a long time. But…he never talked about them like they were…scary, like that man. He always smiles when he mentions them in interviews." Her eyes screwed shut. "I had no idea they were…like that. I didn't know they controlled the quad-region area."
"They did just save us," Aaron pointed out.
No one could formulate a response to this.
As the sun began to set, Aaron dragged himself to his feet and set about making a campfire and pitching his tent, calling on his Pokémon and asking for their help in a subdued voice. Zigzagoon, Toxel, and Grookey apparently realized now was not the time to ask for an explanation of what had their master so upset, and they set to work with remarkable seriousness; after a while, Jovi got up and started helping, too.
"Budew likes sweet food, right?" Aaron asked Mary-Sue abruptly.
"Huh?" She blinked and shook her head, barely fighting off her daze. "Y-Yeah…"
"Then I'll make the sweetest curry I can," he said. "It did save our lives, after all."
"Right…" Mary-Sue detachedly unclipped her Pokéballs and opened them, allowing Budew, Magikarp, and Zubat to emerge into the dusk. Luckily, the sunlight had faded enough for Zubat to be unbothered by being out.
"Dewew?" Budew asked her.
"Zuzu?" Zubat concurred.
"Karp?" Magikarp inquired of its comrades.
Zubat turned to Magikarp and started talking, and Aaron's Pokémon came over to listen to it apparently recount what had happened in the caves. Budew, though, pressed closer to Mary-Sue.
"Dew?" it asked again.
"Aaron's going to make you a nice, sweet curry for saving us," Mary-Sue told it. "Thank you so much, Budew, I…" She blinked, realizing something. "Does this mean you're going to let me teach you to fight now?" she asked it.
"Dew!" it yelped in horror, recoiling. "Dewew, dew dew dew!"
"Okay, okay," she told it placatingly, "I won't force you. Thank you either way." Her eyes burned and overflowed again. "Thank you…" she repeated in a whisper.
"You need help setting up your tent, Masie?" Jovi asked.
"Yes please," the younger girl managed.
By 'help', Jovi had evidently meant that she'd do it herself, as she picked up Mary-Sue's backpack and started unloading the canvas shelter without another word.
"Thanks," Mary-Sue said again, this time to the older girl, though she wasn't sure if Jovi even heard her.
When the camp had been fully pitched around Mary-Sue's still form, the bubbling curry filling the small clearing with a delectably sweet aroma, Aaron sat down against a tree and took out his recorder. The music that lifted from the plastic instrument was alarmingly wild, almost cacophonous, a jarring contrast to the deceptively peaceful setting…but it stirred something in Mary-Sue. In it, she thought she could hear all the terror and panic and confusion she'd been through in the last couple of hours, the wild, frantic notes resonating deep within her soul, and she found that she was able to stand up and sit by the fire properly. Jovi let out Bibarel and the newly-snagged Onix, ordering them both to the edge of the clearing and out of the way, then dished out the curry when it was ready, as Aaron was still playing. He kept playing even when Jovi set a bowl of curry down beside him, even when everyone else started eating the delicious, succulent meal.
Budew dove into its curry the moment it tasted it, almost getting more curry on its tiny body than in its mouth, and Mary-Sue managed a small giggle as she helped it. "You deserve it," she told the tiny bud, "so don't waste it. This is Aaron's thanks for saving us."
"Thank you again, Budew," Jovi added, raising her voice to be heard over the music.
"Dewew!" the baby Pokémon squeaked.
The other Pokémon came over and added what Mary-Sue guessed was their own gratitude, as Zubat and Minun had worked together to catch everyone else up on the day's events - Minun had been out to see the encounter between Cipher and Team Rocket, so none of the humans had had to relive any of it out loud. Though, even as that thought crossed Mary-Sue's mind, she turned to look at where Aaron was still playing his wild, chaotic tune, and wondered if this was his way of reliving it.
Even when everyone else had finished eating and the fire had been smothered, Aaron kept playing, and no one wanted to interrupt him. Grookey trotted over and started beating its stick against one of the roots of the tree Aaron was resting against, matching the energy so that it was almost attacking the woody stem. Zigzagoon sat nearby, eyes wide and fixed on its trainer, and Toxel made for the boy's untouched meal; Zigzagoon barked and ran over to the little purple creature, apparently chiding its fellow for trying to steal the food.
For a long minute, the girls just watched Aaron, waiting for him to be done, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon. Exhausted, they gave up, called their Pokémon back, and climbed into their tents.
As Mary-Sue finished changing into her pajama shirt and crawled into her sleeping bag, the music finally stopped, leaving a deathly quiet to press down on the campsite. She curled up, unable to contain a small whimper, as the melody left her alone to process the day.
When she closed her eyes, she half-hoped she would never wake up.
I feel like I need to emphasize here that this fic is primarily based on the mainline Anime's timeline: Bede didn't appear in the mainline Anime, so presumably Chairman Rose never gave him Hattenna, leaving him vulnerable to be picked up later down the line by some other megalomaniac; Giovanni never disappeared or disbanded Team Rocket, so presumably he would be available to raise his son (who, I should also mention, I have aged down from what his age would canonically be based on the games for the sake of the plot - he was never introduced in the mainline Anime, so he could have been born at any time). I know I've kind of muddied the issue by making the GameCube games canon for this fic, using the games to inform my understanding of the geography of Kanto, and now introducing game-exclusive characters, so I felt like it probably wouldn't hurt to clarify.