Man it's been a while...
Chapter 6 is finished!
Chapter 6 - Cornered: show
"Oh my!" a voice said from straight ahead.
"Oh," I responded, "my bad Nurse Joy. I didn't mean---wait!" I stepped forward with haste to get a closer view. "You...you're...but how?"
Behind a counter not unlike the one in Nuvema Town stood an exact replica of Nurse Joy. The nurse's outfit; the pink, looped-near-her-ears hair; and even her face matched Nurse Joy perfectly. The only difference was the cross on her hat, which was dark purple instead of the previous blue.
"You're...Nurse Joy! But...I...we were just in Nuvema Town earlier today!"
"Oh, I see." She giggled. "You're talking about my cousin, aren't you?"
"Your...cousin?" My eyes widened.
"Here, let me show you."
I stepped closer as she bent down to grab something from under the counter.
She came back up soon and held out a picture which was framed in pink. "See? These are all of my relatives from Unova."
I couldn't believe what I saw. It was a full portrait of over a dozen women dressed in the same Nurse Joy outfit. Each had the same hair coloring and style, and most peculiarly, they were all exactly alike in every way. Face, eye color, sitting position...even their heights were identical.
"The Nurse Joy you met in Nuvema Town was Natalie Joy, my cousin. My name is Anna Joy."
"O...kay..."
"You'll get used to it," said Cilan, who strode up next to me.
"But...Cilan...that...that's just..." I looked down at the floor, deep in thought. "Boy," I thought aloud. "Mario would have a field day with this." ---His doctoring instincts would be put to the test. I'd never heard of such a genetic matchup with a person's looks. I paused, glanced up at Nurse Joy, and asked, "Are...there any rooms available?"
"There sure are," she answered with a smile. "Would you like the first floor or the second?"
"Huh? This is a two-story building?"
"It is," Cilan said. "The Pokémon Center we stayed at in Nuvema Town was one of the smaller ones."
"Yeah," Ash spoke up, having walked to my left-hand side, the opposite of Cilan. "I don't think I've seen a Pokémon Center that was that small before."
"Oh," I said blankly. "I...okay, then...Nurse Joy, uhh..." I glanced to my left and my right, while asking, "What floor do you all want?"
"It doesn't matter," Cilan answered.
"Either way's fine with me," Iris said from behind. Her Axew popped up and happily agreed, saying, "Axew-yew!"
"In that case......We'll take the second floor, then."
"Alright," Joy said and reached down under the counter. "Here you go." She came back up and handed me a card key. "Your room number is 209."
"Okay, thank you."
Ash, Cilan, and Iris all thanked her as well.
I then asked Joy if she'd check up on my Snivy and see if it was healthy. She agreed to, and so I handed her Snivy's Poké Ball. It only took around an hour for Snivy to have been checked up.
***
I contacted my parents that evening and told them my plans. They were okay with the idea, but as usual, they insisted that I send them a typed account of what I'd done every week. If anything, their main reason for allowing me to go on with this "journey" was likely that they knew it would pose new challenges and more opportunities for me to grow. Plus, as my mom put it, it was "a healthy change of pace" compared to my past disaster-ridden adventures.
After I talked with them, I did some research, just as I intended to. I could have never guessed how complicated the type matchup with Pokémon Types was, especially since, among other things, Bug-type moves were strong against Dark-types. I couldn't think of any logical reason as to how that was possible. I knew then that it would take some time for me to get used to it all, even though I had most of it memorized.
We each stayed the night in the room. Nothing notable ever happened that evening or that night. Everything was quiet -- eerily quiet, as I saw it. I simply wasn't used to a calm evening or a sound night.
I took a strange liking to it.
***
A blinding glow flashed me in the face. A window allowed for the Sun's rays to pierce my un-awakened soul. I arose as if I had been dead. Every viewing of my surroundings, every motion I made, every thought I processed, all of it a sluggish blur. It felt as though I'd been drained of the energy it takes to wake up, and as if I'd never gone to sleep in the first place. I didn't even remember going to bed.
"What...time is it?" I asked, hating the Sun, the window, and the morning for contributing to my discomfort.
No answer was given.
I peered around with my eyes still squinting. The sunlight kept me guessing for a while, but soon my eyes adjusted and I discovered that I was in fact alone. I pushed away the bed sheets which I only just then realized were dark violet in color.
The moment my feet hit the floor, a throbbing pain sliced through my skull, and I had to put my right hand on the bed to keep from falling over; I instinctively placed the other hand on my head. The room rotated and distorted violently; a part of me became somewhat nauseous.
"What...the heck? I don't get migraines!?" No one in my family ever did either, save for my grandma. It couldn't be genetic -- Mario had already tested me for chronic conditions like those.
I searched for my 3DS in my pocket, though once I discovered it, I realized that the 3DS would be of no use for me at the moment -- according to what my parents told me the night before, Mario was still missing.
"How...could this..." The pain was too much to bear. I stumbled out into the hallway and to the staircase at the back of the Center. The stairs stretched downward into infinity as I viewed them. I took the first step, which quickly became my last. I lost my balance, tumbled erratically the whole way down, and landed with a near-paralyzing thud.
A few chairs sat in the back of the Center where the staircase -- parallel to the operating room behind the glass wall -- was. Ash, Cilan, and Iris were each sitting in one.
"Ahh!" Iris gasped. "Are you alright?" She and the other two came over to help.
"I'll...be fine," I told her, not knowing if it was even true. "Just...get me to Nurse---"
A blast of practically visible sound waves horrifically haunted the area.
"GAAH!" I shouted and covered my ears. "WHAT...IS THAT?"
"It's an alarm!" Cilan answered and looked around for the reason.
My eyes were closed and I feebly huddled along the floor. "Agh! Make it stop!"
A closet directly ahead of where I faced opened, and out darted a dark purple figure. It rushed and padded along as I managed to look up. I didn't see exactly what it was, but it was definitely holding something. A sack of some kind, maybe, or maybe a box. It wasn't clear.
"Stop! Thief!" A voice yelled. Nurse Joy raced from around the corner and followed the same path that the mysterious figure ran. She passed us without even noticing our presence.
It dashed past the staircase, turned left, and headed straight for the back glass doors. The moment it heard Nurse Joy call out "Stop! Give me back that food!", it halted.
My vision was still off, but I could at least make out that the thief was feline in appearance. It obviously was a Pokémon; that, at least, I knew.
Cilan flinched abruptly at the sight of it and stepped back.
Joy got within a few feet of the Pokémon and halted. "Alright, give me that food back!" she shouted and rapidly flailed her fist in the air.
It frowned and its eyes welled up with tears. "Purr-loin...purr-looooiin!" it cried helplessly.
"Oh...dear..." Nurse Joy's compassion was struck. "Look," she said kindly and held out her previously-fisted hand, slowly and gently. "If you'll just give me that sack of food back, I'll forget this ever happened."
"No!" Cilan yelled. "Don't fall for it!"
In the time it took for Joy to turn to Cilan and back to the crying Pokémon, it was no longer crying, and instead possessed an evil grin. It bolted straight toward Nurse Joy with wicked speed, a trail of dark purple light following it. It rammed directly into the nurse's stomach and launched her backward. She landed on her back and cringed in pain, visibly sweating.
"Hey!" Ash shouted.
"You can't do that!" Iris yelled.
"Pikachu," Ash said hastily to his occupied shoulder. "Use Thunderbolt!"
The yellow mouse jumped and its cheeks sparked momentarily. "Pika...CHUUU!" it proclaimed. A beam of golden-yellow charged straight for the feline foe.
In an instant, the deep violet being retreated toward the door, dodging the attack. Sparks flew in all directions upon hitting the floor; Pikachu landed a second later. The thief stopped, glared at Pikachu intently, and grinned evilly once more. It then proceeded to launch its own Thunderbolt -- a direct hit.
"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash said to it. Pikachu, on all fours, pressed on the floor and pushed itself up, despite the sparks of electricity still thrashing around its body.
"I didn't know Purrloin could use Thunderbolt," Iris said, raising an eyebrow.
"It can't," Cilan said, holding up his hands in terrified defense. "But...this Purrloin...must...know Copycat."
I was finally able to see it clearly. It was about Snivy's height, and was slim and feline. Dark purple dominated its fur's color. A tuft of fur covered each of its ears and pointed diagonally away from its head. Its eyes were green with black pupils and a white background, and it had a teardrop-shaped pink marking around each of its eyes; the markings took up a large portion of its face. Two small, cream-colored markings existed between its eyes. Its nose was black, triangular, and considerably small. Its chin and the area around its wavy, cat-like mouth were both cream in color.
Its neck was also cream-colored, with said cream coloring coming down in a v-neck shape; some of its back took on the same hue. Its front two legs began in cream, but, halfway down the leg, zigzagged immediately into dark purple. Its hind legs were just the opposite, beginning in purple but ending in cream. Its dark violet tail ended in a sharp, crescent, almost fang-like shape.
The thief, whose Pokémon name was evidently "Purrloin," fled immediately. Ash and Iris ran to the door to go after it, but the elusive burglar was gone, food and all.
"Nurse Joy," Cilan said and bent down. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm...alright," she answered weakly.
He held out a hand and helped her up.
Joy thanked Cilan and looked over to the doors. "That Purrloin..."
"You've seen it before?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I have. It's been coming around here for a few weeks now. It loves to steal things from the townspeople and always gets away with it. Everyone is fooled by its innocent charm, no matter what they've heard about it. I guess even I fell for it."
"Speaking of falling for things..." I spoke up. "Could someone...help me up?"
"Oh, sorry about that," Cilan said. "You said you were fine, and with all the commotion..."
"Don't worry about it, Cilan. Just help me up. Please."
"Right." He walked over and held out his hand. At that moment, the alarm bell finally quit ringing.
"So...Timothy," Iris said. "What happened with you?"
"Did you slip or something?" Ash asked.
"No, I...didn't slip--or well...not...exact...not......I.........not..." Everything around me -- Nurse Joy, Ash, Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, the area we were in, the operating room, everything -- spun rapidly, worse than before. Pain, sweat, a flushed face, wooziness, drowsiness, all of it combined together in an unspeakable, unending, unnatural way. And then, nothing bothered me, nothing at all. Everything went black.
***
"One day, one day soon, you'll meet someone who---"
I rose up in shock at the voice. "What...that dream again," I thought. "It picked up where it left off, right? But...who...what...I---"
"You're awake!" Iris said, relieved.
"We thought you'd never wake up!" Cilan said cheerfully.
Snivy hopped up onto the bed I laid on. "Sni-vy?" it asked. Its tail drooped, and its eyes were heavy with concern.
"Oh...Snivy. Yeah, I'm fine.."
"You sure?" Iris asked. "That's what you said before."
"Well I mean it. I'll be fine. I've had worse."
"Worse?" Ash asked. "I don't see how it could be worse than just passing out, and out of nowhere like that."
"Yeah," I laughed. "Sorry about that."
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" asked Cilan.
"No. It doesn't, but...I felt like that since I got up."
"Felt like what?"
"Well...I had a massive headache, and dizziness, and things that were loud or bright made things worse."
"It sounds like a migraine," Nurse Joy said as she walked into my view.
"It isn't," I stated. "Or at least, it couldn't be. I don't get those."
"Well, even people who don't usually get migraines can get them when under stress."
"No, I've been under worse stress before than what I've been in recently, believe me. Wait..." I paused, eyeing the room. "Where am I?"
"You're in the place where Nurse Joy takes care of injured Pokémon," Cilan answered.
I observed the room more closely. There were multiple white-sheeted beds of varying sizes; white walls; and a few machines for, as Cilan put it when he saw me examining them, making "a Pokémon of any type comfortable." They resembled the pure-oxygen machines that are used for humans.
"Wait...I never...saw this room before."
"It's behind the operating room," Joy said. "We bring Pokémon here for observation and rest, far away from any extra outside noise."
"Oh. Well...thanks for the help."
"You're welcome. It's not a problem at all."
I thought for a moment what exactly I should say. "Any news on that Purr...uhh...what was it? Purrloin?"
"Right, Purrloin. It's long gone by now, I'm afraid. But I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't usually strike the same place twice."
"So...do you think it can be stopped soon?"
"I'm not sure. I've contacted Officer Jenny about it, but she's been rather...busy lately."
"So this...officer......What is he...or she...busy with, exactly?"
"She won't say much. Something about some new organization she's looking into. That's all I know. But...back to you. How are you feeling?"
"My head isn't feeling like someone took an axe to it anymore. That's good I guess."
Cilan laughed. "You guess?"
"Heh," I smiled on the right side of my mouth and looked the opposite direction. "Right...that...what I meant was that I'm still not sure how I feel. I know the headache is gone, but...I still can't figure out what happened. I've never just passed out like that unless I was hurt badly. Falling down the stairs is, honestly, not getting hurt badly, not the way I see it. None of this makes any sense." I looked rightward. "And then there's the matter of me not remembering going to bed at all last night."
"What?" Iris said. "How? You were making jokes and being kinda...corny, I guess, but...how could you not remember going to bed?"
"I was making corny jokes? Oh," I laughed again. "No surprise there. But...I don't remember that, either."
"Strange," Cilan spoke up. "You were so conscious of everything -- you weren't drowsy or tired at all. In fact, you were full of energy. Yet...to you, it's as if it never happened. How could that be?"
"I don't know. I've seen and heard some weird things before, but this......Weird stuff like that doesn't usually happen to me. Not that weird, anyway. I...don't know what to say."
"It sounds like you've had some sort of a blackout," Nurse Joy said.
"A blackout?" asked Ash.
"It's when you don't remember what happened during a recent time period," I told him. "You could have been as conscious as ever and not recall a thing."
"That's kinda scary..." Iris said.
"It is, but...I've never had it happen to me before."
"But..." Nurse Joy spoke. "They don't cause headaches and dizziness like what you've had."
"Yeah, I know. That's why it makes no sense to me. I don't think even Mario could explain this one."
"Well..." Nurse Joy looked at a clock on the wall. "Why don't you get some rest? We can discuss this more later when you're well."
"Right. I guess...that'd be the best thing to do."
Each of them left quietly, all except for Snivy. It wanted to keep an eye on me. I initially turned down that decision, but Snivy insisted and insisted and it eventually wasn't worth fighting against anymore.
It sat on my bed and kept a patient watch on my surroundings for a few hours. At some point during that time, I'd fallen fast asleep.
***
I could see the Purrloin from before. It was fleeing from something which I could not make out clearly, but was something which I felt was more evil than the Purrloin itself. Pikachu was with it, as were Ash, Cilan, and Iris. And then I awoke.
"What..." I thought aloud, frigid sweat sliding down my face. "How did I...and why..." Even though I was seeing Purrloin, it wasn't purple -- it was a silhouette of blue, and the things chasing it were of a darker blue color. Everyone else was also colored in blue, yet a lighter shade of blue than Purrloin.
I knew it all had to mean something. It must have a connection to the headache and the forgotten night. I was sure of it.
"Sni-vyyy?" Snivy asked, glaring intently at me.
"Oh, hey, Snivy. Uhh, what...time is it?"
It motioned toward a clock along the wall which hung over the entrance to the operating room. "4:47" was the time.
"Man," I replied, "it's getting late -- or, well, late enough that we might not make it to Striaton City today." I paused, thinking back to what occurred earlier. "Let's go see the others and get going. I don't feel at all like I did before."
The moment my feet hit the floor, an overwhelming sense of danger being nearby came over me. "What...is...but...what!?" I had no time to ask questions.
I dashed immediately for the door, opened it, and let Snivy catch up to me. Snivy nodded with affirmation and said, "Sni-vy!"
"Right, Snivy. Let's go."
We ran out through the next room -- the operating room -- and left it as quickly as we'd entered. A quick dash to the right and around the corner led us, after running through a short hallway, to the lobby.
I sensed the "danger" to be outside, so I shuffled straight to the shimmering glass doors; Snivy followed swiftly, staying right behind me. The doors slid open once we reached them.
***
A view of buildings of varying colors returned to me, though the path leading to the Center, which came directly from Route 1, was made of dirt and paralleled by grass.
"What!? Not you three again!" I shouted; the doors slid closed softly behind us.
Snivy yelled "Snnnniiivvy!" and waved an arm erratically at the three.
It was Team Rocket, only this time, they stood on the ground, having come without their balloon. Instead of using mechanical arms to trap their targets, they utilized a see-through glass container -- big enough to fit two or three small Pokémon, yet just light enough that Meowth carried it above his head. The container had under it a blue circular structure which held the glass in place, with a noticeably large red button on the side that faced my allies and me.
Inside the container stood an infuriated Pikachu, which kept releasing considerable amounts of voltage in one half of the storage device. In the other half stood Purrloin, the same violet, feline trickster from before.
From my left to right, Ash, Iris, Cilan, and Nurse Joy were each lined up between the trio and me. When they heard my voice, they turned to face me.
"Really!?" I yelled to the trio, who were just tall enough to be seen in spite of my friends. "You've come back again? For a third time?"
Snivy proclaimed its name in a drawn out tone once more and raised its tiny fist.
"I knew you three would come back, but...already? Can't you wait a day or two and let us live our lives for a change!?"
Ash and Iris split off to the left, while Cilan and Nurse Joy went to the right. I ran immediately to be between them; Snivy followed and stood by my right side.
"Prepare for trouble, you need more patience," Jessie conveyed.
"Make it double, as we display our dominance!" James relayed.
"To protect the restless world from devastation!"
"To unite the impatient people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of making new friends!"
"To extend our reach to meeting their demands!"
"Jessie"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off with a blast from the past!"
"Surrender now, that's all we ask!"
While still holding up the container, Meowth stated, "Meowth, think fast!" He then placed the device on the ground and stood in front.
I placed my palm on my face and groaned. "Good grief...it's bad enough you've shown up again, but do you really have to give that speech every time you show up? Wait..." I removed my hand and paused. "What happened to the speech you said is for Unova?"
"It's called a motto!" James scolded and raised a shaking fist.
"Really? That gets you that upset? Whatever, I don't care if it's a copyrighted slogan. You're not taking Pikachu and Purrloin."
"Ohoho!" Jessie said and flipped her hand up and down, pointing it away from her. "We're not here just for those two."
"You see," Meowth stated proudly, "we're the reason why you had a headache this morning."
"Wait what?" I asked, eyes widening.
"Have you forgotten any recent events?" James asked.
"Wha...How did you know about that!?" My left hand flickered.
"We know it because The Boss told us so," Meowth replied. "He knew it would happen."
"Okay, so does this 'Boss' want to show himself so we can talk about this, instead of being a coward? I got a few things I want to say to him. First of all, what did you all do to me? And how do you expect me to just sit by and let you erase my memories?"
"Oh, it's much more than a simple memory erase," James answered.
"In fact," Meowth continued, "that's not even what we did. It's only a side effect, and technically, we didn't actually do it -- we merely suggested the act."
"What 'act?' What did you do to me?" My teeth grinded together momentarily the second after finishing the sentence.
"You'll find out soon enough," Jessie answered.
"In about a month," James said, proudly holding his fist up to his chest.
"Once a certain someone is finished," Meowth stated, "you'll know."
"Finished?" I asked, my hand flickering again. "Finished with what?"
"It's not the someone who is finishing something," Meowth answered, "it's the someone who is finishing."
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Iris shouted, eyes closed.
"Yeah," I said, still pondering Meowth's statement. "Look, Meowth, I realize you're a Pokémon, but could you please speak English?"
"Hey," he said, whiskers twitching. "I speak it just fine, thank you very much."
"Do you speak it good?" I asked, smiling on the inside.
"Yeah I speak it good! I'm speakin' it right now, you stupid twerp!"
"Exactly, see, you don't speak English 'good,' you speak it 'well.'"
"What is this, grammar class?" Jessie growled. "Look, the fact of the matter is that, in about a month, you're going to experience first-hand what old-school Team Rocket technology can do."
"It's the reason why we're going back to the original motto," James added. "The Unova one was boring anyway."
"Why not just tell me what this 'technological achievement' is now?" I demanded.
"All in good time," Jessie answered, arms folded, eyes passively closed.
"Let's just say..." Meowth cut in; a clever grin molded from his mouth. "A certain...unmentionable thing, and unmentionable because it's a surprise...but...this thing will make you regret ever coming to this world." He began to pronounce an "h," yet stopped himself and awkwardly smiled and laughed at once. "It will be the end of you."
"End of me? What the heck are you build---or, what is your...organization... building!?"
"For now," James said, "you won't have the faintest idea."
"Just know that," Meowth continued, "you definitely won't be able to stop---" again, he almost used the sound of an "h," and immediately corrected himself, "it. It's too much, too much for even you to handle!"
I took a step back in my thoughts. "Wait," I said. "What does this have to do with the migraine I had? Or the memory loss?"
"More than you can imagine," Jessie said plainly.
"Alright," I said, arms folded. "Then, what's your plan for today, huh? Steal Pikachu and Purrloin, right?"
"Yep, sure is," Meowth responded.
"Well then..." I looked to my left and right, and directed my next statement to my allies: "Why haven't you all done something?"
"Because," Ash said; his hand, held at his side, formed a vibrating fist. "If we do, they'll..."
Cilan caught a glimpse of my concerned look and said, "They'll use that device's electricity to hurt those Pokémon!"
"Oh really?" I replied, a sudden fire stirring up inside me. "So...okay, I know I said you all could handle those three this time, but...you really can't do anything, can you? Alright then, in that case..." I waited for the right statement to make, and then realized an excellent truth. "Team Rocket! If you want to go on and electrocute Pikachu and Purrloin, go right ahead."
"What!?" Iris said with, as I expected, complete confusion.
"What are you saying?" asked Cilan.
"Don't worry," I whispered to Cilan. "I got this -- trust me."
He nodded, but not before thinking on it for a moment.
"Team Rocket," I said to the trio. "You can go on and use that container's electricity and all. It won't make a difference."
"Why not?" Jessie asked, with a hint of discontent.
James hid his mouth with the palm of his hand and said quietly to his accomplices (although I could still hear him), "This isn't the usual twerp way of things!?"
"What's your deal?" Meowth said to me. "I thought you twerpy types were more considerate!?"
"I'm not like the others," I told him. "And besides...you do realize what 'Type' Pikachu is, right? It's an Electric-type, which even I know means that it will resist electricity."
"Yeah," Meowth said with a crooked smile, "but what about dat Purrloin?"
"What about it? It's been a thief here recently apparently, so the electrocuting might teach it a thing or two."
The three took half a step back. "Well then," James said, "don't think this fools us! All this bluffing of you not caring for these Pokémon will be for nothing. You won't step any further because you care too much. It is true, isn't it?"
"No, James, you're wrong," I answered. "You are completely wrong. I'm going to get those two back, right now. You can't stop me."
I dashed with a slight leftward tilt and headed for James. In reaching him, I snatched up the thin collar of his uniform with my right hand, and held him a few inches off the ground, with my left hand encased in a furious glow of flames. "Now let them go," I commanded.
All of my allies, and even Meowth and Jessie, gasped. James merely grinned and chuckled. "None of your skills will matter soon. Not once that time ahead has come."
My eyes widened and my left eye twitched. The flame around my fist grew slightly, dancing, thrashing, and, starting from its core, it morphed into a blue, will-o-wisp-like color. "That's it, James," I said harshly, the flames of life's troubles kindling in me. "I've had enough!"
I instantly grabbed his shirt with my flaming left hand, and with both, threw James upward. I launched up and smacked his left shoulder with both hands folded, sending him immediately down to the ground; as I landed, the combination of a 360 degree rotation of myself and a kick blasted him multiple feet away, far past the container, and onto the grassy ground. Jessie instinctively ran to him and patted down the blue flames eating away at his collar.
"Hey!" Meowth yelled. "What do you think you're doin'!? You hurt one of us, you hurt all of us!" He then held up his paws and revealed three-inch wide, ivory-tinted, white claws from each finger.
He lunged at me while shouting "Errrraahhh" and sliced away with rapid motions in every possible direction with the scythes of each paw. I blocked each slash with my flaming hand alone, using careful predictions of where and how he struck. From the left, right, below, and above, each seemingly random slash was deflected with perfect precision. To each of the spectators, the movements I made seemed nearly invisible, yet to me, it was simply a matter of reflexes.
Meowth ceased attacking and landed. "Wha...hey! You didn't get a scratch on ya!?"
"No," I said, with an involuntary rightward tilt of my head. "Now..."
He caught my look of sheer, focused determination. "Oh man...not again," he said, retracting his claws.
I tilted my head once more, and immediately grabbed him by the neck.
"No, wait!" Cilan said. "Don't---"
I pretended not to hear him.
"W--ait," Meowth said in a choked voice. "Let's...talk about this."
"You had your chance," I told him. "We both know how every meeting between my friends and I and you three will turn out now, right? Let that be a warning to you. Don't come back again -- I won't go so easy on you next time."
I then threw him upward, jumped up to him, and, with a spinning kick equal to that of what hit James, launched him directly to Jessie. Meowth yelled "Errrryyeeehhaaahh!" as he flew, and latched onto Jessie's face the moment he landed.
"Gah! Get off of me!" Jessie shouted as she tore Meowth off and threw him to the ground.
"Hey," he said, pushing himself back up. "I've...been thrown around enough!"
"Now," I said, my hand still crackling and thrashing with a vicious, fiery aura. "Open up the container. Let them out. Now."
Meowth motioned for Jessie to get closer; she walked forward a bit, bent down, and listened.
"Listen," Meowth whispered. "We don't need Pikachu yet anyway. Remember what The Boss said? We'll get all the Pokémon we want soon!"
"Riiiight," she slyly whispered back. "Once you-know-who is done, that fighting twerp won't stand a fighting chance!"
"Okay," Meowth said, having turned around to face me. He grinned and said, "We'll let them go for now. Just press that red button and they'll be outta there."
"Good," I answered. "Now leave."
Meowth and Jessie both left with a "hmmpf" and headed toward a cluster of bushes along the Pokémon Center. They rustled the bushes' leaves, attempting to find something hidden within. Moments later, they lifted up their findings: three pairs of red jet packs rimmed in white which were shaped similarly to that of actual rocket jets -- an open cylinder on one end with a curved nose on the other. Jessie strapped one pair of them to her back while holding another in her right hand, and Meowth strapped the third pair -- which was much more of his size -- to his back.
Jessie hastily ran to James and shook him with her free hand. "Come on!" she said sharply. "Get up! It couldn't have been that bad!"
He awoke with a short groan, saying, "What...is it? What did I miss?"
"We're leaving," she answered. "Now get up!"
"Oh, we're leaving already? But we just got here!"
"Never mind that. Let's just go. Put your jet pack on!"
"Right," he nodded submissively. She handed him the device, which he strapped around himself immediately.
Each of the three pressed a button on the back of their respective rocket; the jets spewed out nearly invisible, clear fuel, propelling the trio straight up. "We'll return in a few weeks!" they each simultaneously proclaimed, angling themselves diagonally away from the area. They became invisible after a few silent moments.
I jogged over to the container, halted, and pressed the button as instructed by Meowth. The device flashed, sparked, and zapped its contents with tremendous electricity; from the button I pressed, an equal amount flowed into me, coursing through my hand, my arm, shoulder, neck, chest, all the way to my feet. I removed the hand at once; the ember of my other hand swelled and thrashed about in this moment, and then calmed down to its lesser blue form.
"They...tricked me!?" I said, my mind's processing thoughts as furiously as the flames around my hand.
Pikachu had an eye closed while standing inside the device, and said, with difficulty, "Pi...ka...chu..." Purrloin's eyes were both closed. It sat there, motionless, attempting to deal with the shock.
"Hang on," Ash said, "don't get too mad over this!" He quickly walked to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
An unnatural rage let itself out inside me; I turned around, grabbed his shoulder, and threw him a few feet, growling "Get off!!" while doing so. Immediately afterward, I faced the two trapped Pokémon, clamped my hands together, drew the hands over to the left of the device, and swung fearsomely at it, a blue line trailing the path. The top half of the glass shattered pathetically into the direction I hit it in. Pikachu gazed in awe and confusion at my actions, while Purrloin hopped out without a second thought.
"Pika-pi!" the mouse said to Ash.
"I'm fine," Ash replied, getting up.
"Timothy," Cilan said, holding out his hands cautiously. "Stop this. There's no need to be angry, not right now. Team Rocket is long since gone."
I rotated my head and turned the rest of me slightly, my eyes half-squinting.
"Look at your left hand!" Ash said firmly. "That can't be normal!"
I did so, and in seeing it, the entirety of my power left me. I fell to my knees, placing my opened hands on the ground in front for balance. The flame shifted to red, and soon faded. I gazed aimlessly at my lap for a silent moment.
"What was that about!?" Iris yelled. "You could've really hurt someone! And why'd you attack Ash!?"
"I..." I said, pausing, viewing the furious faces of my comrades, and Nurse Joy's look of being entirely lost. I stared at what was an inferno of a hand, and said, "I...don't know."
Statistics: Posted by Goombario64 — Sun Nov 09, 2014 1:22 am