By the time the storm had rolled over, the sun had set and night was upon the young travellers. Misty and Ash both bid Joey farewell before heading for Viridian City together. The journey was nothing exciting and both of them mostly stuck to silence, having nothing to say to the other. At the gates of the city, they were both stopped by Officer Jenny and were asked to show identification. Misty procured a trainer card, while Ash showed his Pokedex. Both were cleared and warned to be on the lookout for Team Rocket, who were at large.
"Team Rocket?" Ash asked the Officer.
"A Group of Criminals who would stop at nothing to get what they want. They steal and hurt people and Pokemon and sell them in the Black market."
Ash shivered at the explanation the Officer gave. He did not want to run into those people.
The duo went to the Pokemon Center together to heal their Pokemon. Misty went first, while Ash called back home to let his mom know that he'd reached Viridian City. When it was Ash's turn to get his Pokemon healed, the glass ceiling shattered inwards. The lights began to flicker before the power went out.
"I'll go and get the backup generator running. Please wait a moment" Nurse Joy muttered in a hurry as she rushed away.
Ash frowned and walked away from the counter, standing beside Misty who was standing on broken glass and staring up at the shattered ceiling.
"How did this break," Misty asked no one in particular, poking the broken pieces at her feet with the toe of her boot.
"They do look quite thick," Ash picked up a piece of glass to inspect it closely.
A scream made them both jump, Ash dropping the glass fragment by accident.
"That was Nurse Joy!" Misty exclaimed before both she and Ash broke into a run. They jumped over the counter and dashed into the backroom. The back room was filled with rows of Shelves, each one filled with Pokeballs. The duo rushed in between the rows and through another open door. They found Nurse Joy passed out in front of the generator, a bruise on the side of her head.
"Nurse Joy!" Misty exclaimed, dashing towards the fallen nurse and gently patting her on the cheek. She pulled out a Pokeball and called out her Pokemon.
Staryu, the Star Shape Pokemon. It gathers with others in the night and makes its red core glow on and off with the twinkling stars. It can regenerate limbs if they are severed from its body.
"Gently, Water Gun" she whispered to her Pokemon.
Staryu lowered its head and splashed water on the Nurse's face.
Nurse Joy woke with a start, coughing when some water went into her mouth.
"Are you okay?" Ash questioned.
"We need to call Officer Jenny, now" the Nurse grunted.
Another crash and the three jumped in fright.
"Start the backup generator" she muttered, gasping while holding her head.
Ash rushed to the generator, pulling the big red and yellow lever on the generator's body. The lights flickered back to life.
"The phone" the Nurse pointed to the red phone on the wall. "Call the emergency number and tell Officer Jenny that the Pokemon Center is under attack."
Misty wasted no time in dialing the emergency number and relaying the message. She could hear the Officer on the other end barking orders before the call dropped.
"What happened?" Ash asked the Nurse.
"I came to the back room to turn the backup generator on when I heard something. Before I could check something hit me on the back of my head."
Ash frowned. That did not sound like the Pokemon Center being under attack. Something was going on, but not some kind of attack.
Another crash and the Nurse's head shot to the door.
"We need to stop them" The Nurse muttered.
She tried to push herself up but swayed on the spot and fell back down.
"Easy" Misty muttered, "Ash and I'll handle it."
"We will?"
Misty gave him a look.
"Of course we will" the boy smiled slightly.
Leaving Staryu to guard the nurse, Misty, and Ash walked out of the room and stopped in their tracks. The shelves full of Pokeballs were empty, not a single Pokeball in sight.
"The Pokeball. Where-"
Another crash and the duo rushed out of the back room. Two figures stood over the broken glass, a man and a woman, with large sacks over their shoulders.
"Hey!" Ash called out. The two looked up, smirked, and grabbed hold of the rope dangling from the ceiling. The two were pulled up before Ash and Misty could get to them.
The two stared up to see a helicopter fly away.
-x-
A vague sketch was made of the two that Ash and Misty saw escape, and the police identified them to be Jessie and James, members of the infamous Team Rocket.
The duo were let go after the Nurse vouched for them and their identifications checked out. Ash went to the Poke Mart to collect the supplies that Professor Oak would leave for him, while Misty went somewhere else without much of an explanation. All the Pokeballs in the Pokemon Center were stolen, machines broken and the Pokemon in overnight healing chambers taken away. It was a big heist, one of the bigger ones Team Rocket had pulled in recent times. It played on both their heads and how neither of them could do anything to stop them.
Once Ash had collected the package from the Pokemart he resumed his journey to Pewter City, the sight of his first Gym Battle. He still did not have a solid base to go off of for a tactic against Rock Type Pokemon, which worried him.
His tension seemed to leave him the moment he entered Viridian Forest. Something was calming about this place that Ash couldn't quite put a finger on, but whatever it was, he did not mind it.
Pikachu's ears perked up as if he'd heard something and jumped off of Ash's shoulder and dashed away. Ash followed the Pokemon, which led him to a clearing. Pikachu was shooting Thundershock up at something, a Pokemon that was easily weaving and dodging the move. Ash pulled out his Pokedex.
Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its large territory. If its living space is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws.
Pidgeotto weaved around the Thundershock before landing a hit on Pikachu. That was odd… Pikachu could have dodged that attack. Ash narrowed his eyes on his starter Pokemon, which was when he noticed something small and green behind him.
Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. It is covered with a green skin. When it grows, it sheds the skin, covers itself with silk, and becomes a cocoon.
Pidgeotto's attack blew Pikachu off of Caterpie and Pidgeotto circled once before diving for it. Ash, in a panic, threw a Pokeball that missed Pidgeotto but hit the Caterpie. Pidgeotto flew away and the Pokeball confirmed Ash's capture.
"Pikachu! You can move around now!" Ash called out.
Pikachu smacked the Pokeball with his tail and sent it flying to Ash's hand, before breaking into a run in a flash.
Using Quick Attack to boost his speed and gain momentum to make his attack stronger, was something Ash and Pikachu had been doing ever since the two began training together all those years ago. They tried it in various ways, with various combinations, and had a few patterns.
One of which Pikachu was currently implementing.
Some of the attacks hit, while most of the other ones didn't. They weren't meant to. The ones that hit were a diversion and the ones that did not lay down the traps.
Pidgeotto closed in after the last Quick Attack hit, using its own Quick Attack to gain speed and close in on Pikachu. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and his body came to life with electricity. The path Pikachu had been running burst to life with electricity as well, lines and circles of electricity that Pidgeotto found itself unable to run from.
Pikachu blasted Thundershock at Pidgeotto and the electric residue that lighted his path was drawn to Pidgeotto. The Pokemon was electrocuted on the spot and hit the ground with a thud.
Ash threw a Pokeball and the device drew the fainted Pidgeotto in. Three shakes later the capture was confirmed.