Scuffle in Viridian City (Chapter 3 of my Pokemon Series)
#3 of Pokemon Series
"ACH! John! Wake up, but don't move!" was all he heard. He opened his eyes, only to see darkness over his eyes, but he felt the sun's warmth on his body, making him question what exactly was going on. He thought about last night, yet felt the fabric of his clothes. He figured Janice used her teleport ability to put his clothes back on him sometime earlier.
Then, he felt a few hairs around his face, since his mind and body was waking up now. Darkness and hairy, a pokemon decided to rest on his face, although he didn't know which species of pokemon. He didn't move, out of Janice's instructions, but soon, the pokemon moved from his face up the tree trunk, allowing him to sit up and look at it.
"Spina," was the reply he got when he looked at the spider pokemon. He blinked a bit and looked at the Spinarack, and wondered exactly why it took homage on his face. He frantically brushed off his face, since he wasn't a big fan of bugs to begin with. He turned to see Janice with a look of shock on her face.
"Janice, I'm alright. I'm guessing it thought my face was a warm place to rest for a bit. For some reason, pokemon migrate to me," he explained and wished he regreted having the last part, save for Janice.
"Yeah but... I wanted to kiss YOU not her!"
"That Spinarack is a she?"
She nodded, handing the pokedex to him so he could record it and find out exactly what she meant. Sure enough, the pokedex showed two pictures, one in front of a blue background, the other behind a faded red. He studied it carefully then looked at the pokemon on the tree, nodding in confirmation.
"Well, that's a nice wake up, let's eat real quick then head to Viridian."
She nodded again, rummaging through his sack and pulled out some dried fruit, as well as a mortar and pestle, showing she had picked fresh berries. As he ate the dried fruit, she worked on crushing the berries, then eating it. John shook his head, wondering if she'd ever eat a different diet.
After they finished eating, he picked up his pack while the diguised Mew stretched, smiling at him. They set off on the path this time, in the hopes that they wouldn't run into anymore wild pokemon that'd cling to John's face. It wasn't long before they decided to dodge trainers looking to make a few coin from battling, although most weren't even able to buy a potion, much less their next meal or supplies.
They reached Viridian City with little trouble, save for the occassional Pidgey thinking they were intruding it's territory. John felt something wasn't right when they made it to the city limits, and stopped. He looked around, then down the main street. Everything was empty, even vehicles weren't parked on the side.
"Janice, I want you to go into your pokeball while we're here. I think Rocket has a grip on this city like white on rice. If we're gonna get through here undetected, it's best if there's one person hiding than two," he hurriedly explained before withdrawing her into her ball, then stashing her clothes into the pack.
"Well that was sudden, but I can't argue with your explanation John. I hope we don't have to do this often," she replied telepathically, causing John to jump a bit, but it also gave him an idea.
"Can you alter your mental voice to sound like mine?" he asked hurriedly. After a quick confirmation, he headed into the city, sticking to the alleys until he could get through. He figured that after awhile, he was now in the middle of the town. Three gates were here, that he recalled, the southern gate being the passage to Pallet Town, the north gate led to Viridian Forest, and Pewter City beyond it. The one to the west led to what used to be every trainers dream, but now it is their nightmare. Victory Road, and the Elite Four beyond that.
John shook his head, then stiffened as he heard a twig snap. He pressed his back against a building, his eyes scanning the area thoroughly. A few bushes moved off to his right, his eyes focusing there, but nothing else about him moved. His breath was as soft and as quiet as it could get, yet he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. A figure moved out from the bushes, causing his hands to try and grip the concrete wall behind him.
A zigzaggy tail, pointed ears with black tips, rosy red dots on the cheeks, he was staring at a Pikachu, one of the most lovable pokemon of all time, yet, this one was very different. So different, that instead of the traditional yellow or uncommon orange fur, this Pikachu was white. He lowered the volume on his pokedex and recorded the info. He felt a presence within his mind as he slipped the device away.
"A Pikachu? In Viridian? Something isn't right, and it's not just her colors either." Janice said within his mind.
"I know, but try and see if she knows anything, use your telepathy. We can't be too cautious."
After a few moments, the Pikachu just hissing and readying to fire off a bolt of electricity, the Mew told John that the lovable mouse pokemon was rejected by her own kind and treated horribly by humans before. He could only just shake his head, lowering his pack and bringing out some berries. He didn't like Rocket, but if others were mistreating pokemon, then those trainers were no better than Rocket itself.
He held out a few of the berries at the untrusting Pikachu, softly whispering to her that it was alright. A few cautious steps and sniffs later, the hungry mouse pokemon was eating out of John's hand. He needed a bit more information, but he'd get it later. He heard some heavy footsteps nearby, and without even asking the white Pikachu, he stuffed her in his pack and pinned himself against the concrete wall again, listening intently.
"Ugh... I know we are to transport our merchandise to Pewter City, but those frickin' brats in the forest keep pushing us back! And their leader is fighting with some sort of grudge against us," he heard a gruff voice complain.
"I know what you mean, we're grunts. But even Executive James is having problems with those 'Freedom Fighters' or whatever. Many people who are active against us have a grudge to begin with, so whoever their leader is has a bigger grudge than most," a softer, calmer voice replied.
"Doesn't help that I'm feeling anxious all of a sudden. Already, we lost half of our merchandise this month, so how are we expected to push through and get to Pewter City with that gang of brats."
"Hmph, they aren't that strong Grunts! Their leader is an old... 'friend'... of mine, he's the strongest of the group. It wouldn't surprise me if he's teaching them type advantages and disadvantages. That's how they've managed to keep us at bay. Just be glad they haven't gotten our Striker vehicle." an icy, smooth voice called out, probably that Executive they were talking about.
John heard a bit more of the conversation, but what really stuck out was that the Executive mentioned the leader of the Freedom Fighters as a 'friend'. Also, the mention of a Striker was interesting as well, a military vehicle normally used to transport troops from one position to another, a strictly ground vehicle. If they were using it to transport supplies, then it would figure why they'd need so much security on a day like this.
The Pikachu poked her head out of his bag and bit his chest, right on the nipple. He mustered everything he could do not to scream out in pain. When the mouse finally let go, it looked up at him out of seething anger, static charges showing around her. Luckily, Janice was able to mental talk to her, telling her that she needed to be quiet, else they be found. This calmed the Pikachu down a bit, but not by much.
John took a deep breath and peered around the side. The coast was clear, so he moved on north towards the Viridian Forest exit. He'd been lucky so far, until he reached the final road he needed to cross. It was a double lane road, big enough for him to be spotted by any Rocket who was watching or patrolling. He decided to peek around the side again.
It seemed as if a skeleton crew of Rockets were loading up the said Striker with cases of their supplies, some of which had pokeballs of varying types, including a few Master Balls. He didn't need to know if there were pokemon in them, since his gut told him that, with the potions, revives, and other supplies, it was a safe bet that they were moving pokemon as well. Then, he saw a Rocket clad in all white, his shirt with a large red R on the front, with wavy blue hair that nearly shielded his eyes.
If that was the Executive, then he was a well known one. James, who had several conflicts with a trainer named Ash Ketchum nearly a decade ago, looked old, but he surely didn't seem any less of a threat. He was overseeing the loading process from the side, a clear vantage point to view anyone who would make a mad dash to get out of Viridian. If the leader of the Freedom Fighters was Ash, then surely it'd make sense as to how their supplies were being halted time and again.
He heard the white Pikachu hiss and tried to cover her eyes, already sensing that she had a run in with Executive James before. He didn't need any details, all he needed to know was that the meer sight of him set something off. He looked again before slinging his pack onto his back, whispering to the mouse to hide in it, since rare colored pokemon were definetely what Rockets would sell, for a high coin too.
After taking a deep breath, he readied himself to try and break his cover and get to the other side. Then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, turning around to see the white mouse pokemon, with a pair of Janice's panties in her mouth. His eyes went wide and he was sure that he was blushing like crazy at the embarrassing sight. The Pikachu hadn't seen or met Janice, only himself, which would give ANY pokemon alot of suspicion as to why he was carrying around feminine undergarments.
He remained stunned until the pokemon shook her head and went back into his bag, allowing him to let out a heavy sigh of relief. John turned his attention back to the alley in front of him, across the road where he could be easily spotted. He took a few more deep breaths, then ran for it, throwing whatever caution he had to the wind. He ran as hard as he could, making it to the yellow divider line.
"You! Stop!" he heard a voice yell out, stopping in mid-run and turned to see that the Executive had spotted him and was walking towards him. He had three pokeballs on his belt, and a smug grin on his face.
"Another brat trying to make it through here, eh? Guess this isn't your lucky day." James said with an evil chuckle.
"I don't wish to be tangled up with whatever you are doing, despite the fact that you are moving pokemon and supplies up to Pewter City."
"Heheh, smart lad, but still a brat that needs to be put in his place. Your pokemon would certainly sell for a pretty penny, once you been handled appropriately."
At this, the Pikachu popped out of John's bag and was about to fire a lighting attack at the Rocket, who just stared and grinned more. Seeing this, the trainer looked at the pokemon, raising an eyebrow in curiousity.
"We meet again little one. Been so long since me and Jessie saw you hatch."
"Wait, you watched her hatch?! Does this mean you were the ones who mishandled her and caused her to flee?"
"Hmph, it was Jessie's idea. She thinks she's always the brains. I vouched to keep the little rat and train it up, so that it would be better than Ash's Pikachu, from whom she was sired."
"WHAT! You managed to get Ash's Pikachu!!" John exclaimed in surprise, getting the Grunts' attention. James waved them away, motioning them to begin the supply run. He wanted this to be handled his way.
"Yes, we got the little rat and got it to breed with a Ditto, by coercion of course. We were trying to breed a powerful generation of Pikachu and Pichu, since they'd sell well to begin with. She was the first of the lot, her father there to try and shield her from us. She was so young then, I'd doubt she'd even remember. Of course, now Ash is truely pissed at us and is trying all he can to get his rat back."
"I'd understand why he'd want his old friend back! They've been through alot since the day Ash turned 10! Plus, you had the gawl to force breed his Pikachu to try and make a noticable profit?! That's low James, really low."
"Heheh, say what you want, Jessie wanted to toss the thing away. Of course, that was because it was so small and helpless, I doubt it'd be worth anything in a fight. Which is why I proposed that I be the one to train it, then sell it when it was fit. Jessie went over my head at this and tossed her away anyway."
John's teeth were gritting loudly, looking at the Pikachu and seeing the same reaction. She hopped off of his shoulder and stood in front of him, hissing loudly and charging up a bolt of electricity. The Rocket noticed this and grinned, tossing out his first pokemon, Weezing. John quickly recorded this in his pokedex, before noticing that the gas pokemon had already been shocked and had fainted from the pain.
"Ah, she's strong now. Perhaps Jessie will regret her decision once you get to Pewter City, since she has it under her iron thumb. Go, Victreebel!"
Again, he recorded the information, before calling out that the white mouse should slam into the plant pokemon. After a confused look, she obeyed, noticing that it was more effective than her Thundershock attack. After that was called back, James had an evil grin on his face and threw out his last pokemon.
"I went back home to get an old friend of mine. See how much more powerful he is now? Meet my Arcanine!" he laughed, his Arcanine truly magnificent, but it had some sort of metal armor to beef up his defenses. John couldn't help but grin after he recorded the pokemon into his pokedex, seeing how it was also a backfire.
"It's metal, making it quite vulnerable to lightning and fire. Pikachu, use your electric attacks, and be cautious." He noted, watching the Arcanine howl in pain as it was hit with a high voltage, collapsing in front of the Executive.
After it was withdrawn, James grinned more at his loss. He ran towards John, intending to beat the living hell out of him. Seeing this as a shock, but no surprise, he shifted his head to the side, feeling the breeze of a straight-forward punch miss him. He then grabbed the Rocket's arm with both hands and planted his right foot on his chest, pushing him back with enough force to hear and audible pop and crack, followed by an intense howl of pain from the Executive.
"Hmph... even after all these years, you still haven't learned. With your promotion and your years of training, you haven't learned that there is always someone better than you out there. The Pikachu is still feral, if you wanted to know, so you were beaten by a wild pokemon," John said softly, picking up the mouse pokemon and headed to the north gate, the Grunts and the Striker far ahead of him. It was then, he noticed, that the white Pikachu had an Unown Letter at the end of her tail, the letter G quite noticable now.
After the brat had left, James put his shoulder back in place, grunting at the pain. He went back inside the HQ of the Viridian City branch of Team Rocket and got on the radio. He tuned the frequency to the number he memorized and pushed down on the button on the walkie.
"Executive James to Executive Jessica, over."
"This is Executive Jessie, what's going on James? I expected you half an hour ago."
"Well, the grunts are on their way. I decided to handle a brat myself. I lost and my shoulder was dislocated."
"Oh James, you fool. You know better than to handle some weakling on your own. Even with your promotion, you still lack in strength in a battle."
"That's not all. He had our little 'project' with him. She's much stronger than when she was five years ago when she hatched. That brat will no doubt meet up with the Freedom Fighters and launch an assault on Pewter City."
"Oh really? Pewter City will be on lockdown and all security will be at every entrance and exit this city has. Nobody will be able to penetrate this city. Executive Jessie, over and out."
With that, James regained his grin. Sure, he might've lost to some young punk, but there was no chance that the Freedom Fighters would be able to get past Jessie's security. He figured that they'd be stopped if there was even a hint of trouble. Now all he needed was to wait for confirmation while he nursed his shoulder.