Erika and I raced across the Celadon Shopping Plaza, pushing our way through the panicked crowds. A voice on the loud speaker urged people to remain calm and remain indoors, but it felt like they were doing anything but remaining calm. There was no further explanation given for the alarm blazing around us, but Erika and I knew it had to be related to Team Rocket. We burst out of the shopping center into the midday sun.
The streets were just as chaotic. People were dashing every which way, ducking into buildings and out of sight. Team Rocket members had their Pokémon out in the streets and were attempting to herd civilians to some nefarious end, but we couldn't stop to help everyone or we would never make it to Blue's assault in time. There was no sign of local authorities. Erika and I rushed down the busy streets towards her gym, but about halfway there we ran into her gym trainers and the other trainers who were waiting with them. Blue was nowhere to be seen.
"Right now, Rocket controls the streets," Erika spoke loudly to the group. "I want my gym trainers to make a sweep of the city. Knock out their Pokémon and subdue any Rocket members you can until police arrive. I don't think they will move against Team Rocket until they absolutely have to, which is what we're going to make sure of today." The trainers from her gym nodded and began to organize into teams to sweep through the city streets. "The rest of you, come with me!" Erika ordered. She abruptly turned and began running east. The rest of us followed on her heels.
Erika led our group toward the Celadon Game Corner as frightened citizens did everything in their power to run away from it. As we turned the corner on to the street where the Game Corner was located, I spotted Blue. In front of him was a massive Charizard pinning two Rocket grunts to the ground, with menacing flames spouting in bursts from its mouth in their general direction.
"Just in time," he said as Erika ran up to him.
"You started without us!" she managed to gasp while trying to catch her breath after our brisk run across town.
Blue chuckled. "An opportunity presented itself." He motioned to the two pinned grunts. "I didn't count on the Game Corner tripping an alarm, though. They must think I'm here to rob them. Whatever. At least it will summon the police whenever they feel like helping out."
"So what's the plan?" I asked. Blue glanced at me as if he had never seen me before.
"These goons told me how to get inside their headquarters. There are four underground floors with a lift going directly to a secret lab as well as their boss's office. I want you three to come with me." He motioned to me, Erika and another female trainer I'd never noticed before. "We will split up, subdue any threats, and find that lift key. Each one of us will take a floor on our own and secure it. Everyone else stay out here with these two clowns." He motioned at his captives. "Stop any Rocket members who try to escape the building. Protect the citizens of the city at all cost, even if it means letting some Rocket go. Make sure innocent people aren't hurt or harassed by our Pokémon or Team Rocket. When the police do arrive, cooperate but also try and stall them from interfering inside until we return. We don't know who we can trust, or who is on Rocket's payroll. I don't want any Rocket goons slipping out of this snare."
Blue withdrew his Charizard and entered the Game Corner. The two goons that were released from Charizard's grasp made an attempt to flee, but they were quickly surrounded by the other trainers and their Pokémon. The two young ladies Blue had instructed followed him inside, and I took up the rear guard. Inside we found more people in full panic mode, but Blue barked at them that we weren't here to harm or rob them and marched to the back of the game hall. Everyone in the Game Corner looked as scared as I felt inside. I glanced around at them nervously, clutching a Poké Ball tightly in my hand. Blue tore a poster down from the back wall revealing a switch. He flipped it and a door slid open revealing a set of stairs that went down into the basement of the Game Corner. I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe I was part of this. My heart was racing as I followed Blue down those stairs into a gangster hideout.
"Fox, you take this floor. Erika, you're in charge of the next one. Green, you'll take the third floor down and I'll take the final floor. If you find a key to the lift, come find me and we'll take down the boss together," Blue said as we reached the first landing. I took a deep breath and nodded to him. He and the girl named Green continued on down the stairs to the next floor. Erika lingered a moment and placed her fingers gently on my hand that was clutching a Poké Ball like my life depended on it. Her reassurance allowed me to relax a little. She gave me a quick nod and a smile and then disappeared down the darkness below.
I cautiously stepped out of the stairwell and into a small hallway. The lights flickered dimly, but I could make out a Rocket member standing in an open doorway to my left. He spotted me almost immediately, but I assume he didn't quite know what to make of a 17-year old kid stepping into his headquarters.
"Are you lost, kid? You can't be here!" he shouted at me. "Go back upstairs to the Game Corner." I responded by tossing out Royal's Poké Ball and watching the Rocket grunt's expression change from irritation to panic as Royal let out a mighty roar. He nearly took up the entire hallway. The grunt rushed into the hallway and nervously tossed out a Drowzee. I knew full well what a threat a well trained Drowzee could be, but if I had learned anything about Team Rocket in my time in Kanto, it was that most of their Pokémon weren't properly trained. Royal chomped down hard on the Drowzee knocking it out in a single bite.
"Surrender," I pleaded. The grunt responded by tossing out a Machop who was swiftly defeated by Royal. "You won't win. We have this place surrounded," I said confidently. Royal edged forward backing the grunt up into the room he had been guarding. I peeked inside and saw what appeared to be a small lounge with another door leading out the back. The grunt ran to the door, but it appeared to be locked. If he had the key, he didn't use it. With Royal watching the door, he was trapped unless someone unlocked that door from the other side.
"Hey! What's going on?" came a shout from the other end of the hall. A Rocket grunt rushed out of the other room into the hallway and stopped short when he saw me and my enormous Gyrados clogging up the end of the hallway. "Wait. I know you. I remember you from Mount Moon." His words struck me like lightning, because I recognized him, too. He was the trainer of the Dread Rocket Raticate that put Nibbles out of commission. Prior to this realization I had felt sick with anxiety, but now I was swelling with rage and excitement.
"Watch the door," I instructed Royal. "We'll take care of this." In a flash of light, Rascal Jr. was at my side and ready to get our revenge. The Team Rocket grunt I'd faced off against at Mount Moon tossed out what I dubbed the Dread Rocket Raticate. I knelt down to be closer to Rascal Jr. "I know you never knew Nibbles, but we're doing this for him. We have to prove just how far we've come." Rascal Jr. squeaked his acknowledgment and rushed forward.
Rascal was faster and stronger. At every turn, he outmatched his opponent. He got in a quick tail whip to disorient the
Dread Rocket Raticate, then would dart in for a quick attack, dashing back out to avoid a hyper bite. I smiled smugly. Although I had defeated this Rocket grunt at Mount Moon it had come at a great cost. Seeing how far I'd come since then, with my own well-trained Raticate, filled me with a surge of pride in myself as a trainer and in my team. Rascal Jr. ended this contest with a hyper bite of his own that soundly defeated the Dread Rocket Raticate without even taking a single scratch.
The Rocket grunt shook his head and joined his friend behind Royal in the locked lounge. I quickly surveyed the rest of the floor and found it empty. I had done my part. This floor was secure and as a bonus I got to rematch an earlier nemesis of mine. It felt good. Royal and I sat in the locked lounge awaiting Blue's return.
The door at the back of the lounge unlocked with a loud click. The two Rocket grunts jumped to their feet as if they were about to be rescued. Royal edged closer to me from behind, but it was Blue who walked through the door. Behind him I could see the lift and I knew Blue had come up from the bottom floors after finding the lift key.
"We're done here," Blue announced. "I see you have this floor under control. Green and Erika are bringing up the others and we'll hand them over to the authorities. You wouldn't believe what I saw down there," Blue said motioning behind him. "They were running some kind of experiments on Pokémon. Really twisted stuff. The police are going to have a field day. Still, I think we were a bit too late. Their boss wasn't here and a lot of the experiments look like they were moved to another site."
"Wow," I managed to say. "Still. We did it. We took down their headquarters. They'll have a hard time recovering form this." Blue nodded in agreement and together with the grunts we made our way back out of the headquarters.
Emerging in the late afternoon sun, we were greeted by the flashing lights of the police. Many of them looked cross, others flustered, but they were arresting the right people at least. Members of Team Rocket were lined up in handcuffs and being escorted to police cars and vans. The young trainers who had been assembled to take down Team Rocket were all giving detailed statements to the police. Though they might have charged the four of us who actually went inside with trespassing, whatever crimes we may have committed were dismissed in favor of prosecuting Team Rocket. Inside they found stolen equipment, stolen Pokémon and the unethical experiments Blue had mentioned to me.
We were detained by the police long into the night to make sure they had all our statements accurately recorded, then they let us go. Blue and I were the last to be released. Erika and her gym leaders had been among the first due to her social standing in the community. As we left the police station, Blue stopped me and shook my hand.
"I want you to have this," he said handing me a strange headset with his other hand. "I may have picked this up from some of the stolen lab equipment inside."
"You stole evidence?" I asked. "What is it?"
Blue laughed. "Yeah, but we'll give it back to its rightful owners eventually, right? You're going to need this for your research in Lavender Town. It's a Silph Scope - made by the Silph Company. You won't get far in the Pokémon Tower without it. Trust me. I had a bad experience in there before bumping into you outside."
"Thanks, Blue," I said earnestly. He shrugged and walked off. He looked as exhausted as I felt as he disappeared into the dark city streets. This was by far the craziest day I'd spent in Kanto and I'm still honored to be part of the team that took down Team Rocket.
Current Team:Attacks in Blue are recently learned.
Bill's Storage: Kiwi (Pidgeotto) & Vesper (Zubat)
Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)
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