Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon 1-5-1 ❯ Out of the Frying Pan... ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3 - Out of the Frying Pan…

"Pidgeowl, wipe this scum off the face of the Earth!"

With a shriek, Pidgeowl rose into the air, its beating wings causing winds to rip through the ruins of the lab, knocking everyone off balance. Higher and higher Pidgeowl rose before arching up into the sky and beginning a blinding decent. Fear paralyzed Rick and the others. There was no time to even think about moving. Hope escaped Rick and he closed his eyes, preparing to be ripped apart.

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Rick slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the clouds. That was what he thought at first but, as his senses came back to him, Rick realized he was merely looking up into the clouds. He sat up slowly and took in his surroundings. The teenage boy was now in an open field of tall grass that wafted gently in a fresh spring breeze. Were it not for the turmoil in his mind, Rick might have found solace in such a serene scene.

Nearby, the young man spotted his best friend, Jayce and professor Oak standing on a path that winded through the tall grass (this, little did they know, was Route One, the road that lead from Pallet Town to Viridian City) staring off into the south where a billows of smoke rose into the air. The young lady who had followed them was sitting close by hugging her knees, utter shock and confusion obvious on her face.

Rick forced himself to his feet and them, coming to stand beside the professor. He stared up at the numerous clouds of smoke rising from the south and said, "Pallet is burning… isn't it?" Oak and Jayce simply nodded.

Rick had the overwhelming urge to run back to Pallet and confront the Rocket general, Brett. He wanted to go back and make sure his mother was all right. But he knew he couldn't. If he did, the monstrosity Brett had called Pidgeowl would be there and Rick knew we wouldn't stand a chance against such an awful creature. Rick sighed and turned around, forcing his mind to ponder different topics.

"How on earth did we get all the way out here anyways", Rick asked, more to himself than anyone else.

+++++++MOMENTS EARLIER - THE RUINS OF OAK'S LAB+++++++

Mew had listened, in stark horror, to everything that had transpired up to the introduction of Pidgeowl. Then she heard a male voice she had never heard before say something to Brett, who then yelled, `Pidgeowl, wipe this scum off the face of the Earth!'

Tears welled up in Mew's eyes. That evil man was about to kill her new friends and some of their friends as well. She couldn't stand it any longer. She couldn't let this happen. Not to the nice young boy and the kind elderly professor. She had to save them from certain doom. Mew's dismay dissolved as she began to glow with determination as well with a blinding light.

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Brett laughed manically as Pidgeowl flew higher into the air, its victims paralyzed in fear on the ground below. This was how things were meant to be in his mind. The small, pitiful people of the world should cower in fear when they saw a member of Team Rocket standing before them. And with these new and powerful weapons the boss has created, that fear would grip the heart of every worthless being on the face of the earth.

"Attack, Pidgeowl! Make them regret ever crossing Team Rocket!" Brett shouted gleefully, enjoying himself almost too much.

Pidgeowl came to the apex of his ascent into the air and made a quick switch in direction. With beak and talons extended out, the monstrosity began its blinding decent toward its helpless victims, its keen eyesight pinpointing every vital spot on their frail forms. But it was that very keen eyesight that betrayed Pidgeowl.

Suddenly, to Brett and Pidgeowl, it seemed as though a pink sun had suddenly been born right before them. A blinding light, brighter than anything they had ever seen, blazed to life then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, vanished, leaving them temporarily blinded.

Brett rubbed his eyes, trying to regain his eyesight quicker as Pidgeowl landed clumsily, shaking its head back in forth, the bright light having pierced right through its skull and causing it great pain. Finally, their sight began to clear but neither of them liked the sight before them. Their victims, who had been paralyzed in fear before them moments earlier, were now gone.

"What… where… how… where did they go!!" screamed Brett in a half bewildered, half enraged state.

Pidgeowl simply gazed angrily from its perch to the place where it knew that blinding light had come from; the remains of a broom closet where only a couple over-turned pails remained. Brett screamed in rage, never having let his quarry escape him before then shouted, "we'll burn this whole god-forsaken town to the ground, that's what we'll do! That'll teach them to run from me! No one escapes from Brett! NO ONE!!!"

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Rick's question, `How on earth did we get all the way out here anyways', had been answered almost immediately when a very tired-looking Mew had uncovered herself from her hiding place in the tall grass. With Rick, Oak, and Jayce paying full attention and the young lady paying half-attention (she still seemed be very bewildered and confused), Mew related to them the short tale of how she had used the move, Teleport, in order to remove them from harm.

"Of course!" exclaimed professor Oak, "I had forgotten that Mew could use Teleportation."

"Well, we're safe… and that's what matter.. I guess…" Jayce commented as he stared back to the south toward the black smoke filling the horizon.

"We have to go back", the girl, who had been silent since she found herself in the field, whimpered.

"As much as we all would love to, miss, that is quite impossible. It would be far too dangerous as long as the Rocket and his… his monstrosity are about. We shouldn't even be standing out in the open right now." Oak explained grimly.

"No, you don't understand," whined, tears swelling in her eyes, "my grandmother lives in Pallet. I've got to see if she's okay."

The professor knelt down beside the young lady and looked at her sympathetically.

"Look… umm…" Oak paused, realizing he didn't know this girl's name.

"Melissa.. Melissa Cartwright…" she offered quietly, whipping some tears from her cheeks as more streamed down.

"Look Melissa," the professor began again, "I understand fully. We all have people we care about back in Pallet but it would be reckless for any of us to go back. That Rocket saw all our faces and now he'll assume all of us will know where to find Mew, if we were to be caught. Our lives are in grave danger now.

Mew whimpered silently to herself, all ready knowing the position she had put her new friends in. Melissa looks up at into the professor's caring eyes and found strength in them. She smiled slightly and wiped the last of her tears from her eyes then stood up.

"I understand," she stated, "Well… I kinda understand. All I know is that we can't let Team Rocket have Mew or they'll make even more things like… like that…" she halted, not being able to find the words.

{{More creatures like Pidgeowl…}} finished Mew.

"And we can never let that happen, not in a million years," Rick added.

"This is all well and good," started Jayce, "but I would really like to know what in the heck is going on here. Why exactly has our home town been destroyed by Team Rocket?"

"Yea, I think we're entitled to some sort of an explanation since we've been thrown into the middle of this mess," Melissa agreed. Jayce's ego would have inflated massively from a girl backing him up had this been any other situation.

"An explanation will come in due time," Oak stated, "but first, we should really find ourselves some cover in case that Rocket member and his monstrosity come looking for us."

No one could find any fault with this course of action.

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Ring, ring….. Ring, ring…..

Giovanni turned on the videophone with a sigh of impatience.

"This better be important," he barked, not bothering to look at the individual on the screen.

"It is, sir," Brett stated with a salute, "I managed to track down the target and locate it."

Giovanni looked up, his interest peeked, "and…"

"It appears that the fugitive acquired the assistance of Professor Oak as well as some kids," Brett explained matter-of-factly, "I had the ancient goof and accomplices trapped in the ruins of his lab and was about to finish them off when..." Brett paused, trying to find the correct way to phrase his report.

"'When' what?" Giovanni asked, perturbed by the hesitation.

"When they vanished.. sir…" Brett finished meekly.

"That infernal creature must have teleported them away." The leader of Team Rocket states then contemplated silently for a moment.

Then he did something very uncharacteristic. Giovanni slammed his fist down on his desk, startling his general slightly. "Damnit! It must have found a way even to overcome its handicap!"

"Handicap, sir?" Brett asked curiously.

"Yes. This particular Mew has Teleportitis."

"Ahh.. I see… very interesting …" Brett said, intrigued.

"Now enough of this idle conversing, general!" Giovanni shouted, "go after them!"

"No worries, sir," Brett said coolly, "we have all the time in the world as long as I have the transmitter. I even took the time to level this pitiful town as vengeance for their audacity."

Brett positioned his videophone to showcase the desolation of Pallet to his boss. All the buildings were now rubble and fires raged throughout the town. In the distance, Pidgeowl was using its powerful Gust attack to level the PokeCenter, the last standing building in Pallet.

The leader of Team Rocket grinned, calming down quite a bit, "Very good. Perhaps that will teach them not to disobey an order from a member of Team Rocket again. Nonetheless, I want you to keep on their tail. Never give the enemy time to rest and formulate any sort of plan."

"Aye, sir," Brett said with a salute before ending the transmission.

Giovanni leaned back in his chair, the grin growing on his face, and closed his eyes.

"It won't be long now," he said to something sitting in the shadows of his office, which made a deep-throated grunt.

"Its time to bring the hammer and the anvil together with these insolent fools in between," Giovanni stated, "I want you to be the anvil."

Giovanni took a piece of paper out of a folder and placed in on his desk. "I want you to position yourself in this section of town. And take some of those miserable rodents I had the misfortune of allowing those ignorant scientists to create. They're becoming a nuisance."

Another, more irritable grunt came from the shadows then a large blue tentacle came forth and seized the piece of paper, retracting it back to whatever the tentacle belonged to. There was then the sound of a door opening and closing then silence. Giovanni stroked the silky fur of his pet Persian for a few moments then smiled.

"Yes… all goes according to plan, my pet. If Brett doesn't get the job done, then Project 002 will be more than capable of picking up the pieces."

Persian purred contently, as if in agreement.

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After searching for nearly an hour, the five disheveled companions finally found refuge in an abandoned bear cave inside a small wooded area northeast of Pallet. There, they sat in silence for some time, immersed in their own thoughts in their own ways; Professor Oak was contemplating grimly, Rick was moodily quiet, Jayce was vastly perplexed, Melissa was troubled, and Mew was tormented silently by everything that had happened in the last two days.

The sun had long since began its slow decent from its apex before anyone was inclined to say or do anything. It was then that Rick announced he was going to search for firewood to start a fire, more to keep his mind occupied than anything else (though he didn't say this out loud).

"That's not a bad idea," Oak said with a nod, "It would be unwise for us to move, at least for tonight. It's been a very long, hard day."

"And while he's gone, you can explain exactly why we're all homeless", Jayce stated bluntly.

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Rick ventured out to look for firewood as Professor Oak and Mew explained to Jayce and Melissa all that they knew. Jayce listened in a grim silence, something very uncharacteristic of the normally clownish teenager. Melissa, however, only paid half-attention, her own person thoughts troubling her mind.

Ever since she was a child, Melissa had forced herself to bottle up all her emotions and never let them be known to anyone. She prided herself on her independence and her inner strength. But everything that had happened that day had simply been too much for her and she had cried in front of three people.

'How could I have been so weak!' she reprimanded herself, `I've never let anybody see me like that before!'

The event of the last day flew through her mind; from meeting the boys, the immature pervert and his friend, to the appearance of that hideous monstrosity, and finally to watching the town of Pallet burn from a distance. She pictured her dear Nana's house in flames and nearly teared up again, but caught herself before any fell.

` No! I've gotta be strong… for Nana's sake… I must be strong…'

Melissa then banished any thoughts of crying from her mind and listened to the remainder of Oak and Mew's story to keep her mind off her worries.

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Rick came to the mouth of the cave just as Oak and Mew finished relating the tale to a stunned Jayce and Melissa. He stood there, a bundle of wood in his arms and sighed. The walk in the woods had not helped ease his mind like he had hoped it would. Ever present is his mind was the well being of his mother. Had she survived whatever destruction the Rocket member, Brett, had brought upon the small town? If so, would she be okay? Rick couldn't say for certain.

Next on his mind was Mew. He had only known the poor creature for a day, but it might as well have been ten years. He felt a connection with mew that Rick had never felt with any human. Perhaps it was some kind of a subliminal understanding, or maybe something for more complex than that. Rick didn't know for sure. He did know one thing for certain, however, and that was he cared for Mew and only wished to see her saved from the pain and languishment that Team Rocket's plot was causing her.

He sighed again then entered the cave, announcing his return with a cough. Had he stood outside a little longer, Rick would have felt a sudden increase in the speed of the wind.

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Stone struck flint and a fire began to blaze inside the cave where the companions had found shelter. The warmth it emitted was a welcome change from the damp coolness of the cave and the biting wind that occasionally blew in from outside.

"Thank God there is a lot of flint in this cave or we would never have gotten this fire started so quickly", commented Rick as he stowed the piece of jagged flint and the smooth stone he had found lying in the cave inside his backpack.

That backpack was an old, worn down, beat up gray traveler's pack that Rick's late uncle had given him when he was ten. Now he never went anywhere without it and always kept a few things for an emergency in it.

"Yo Rick, you wouldn't happen to be hiding any food in that miracle pack of yours, would you?" Jayce asked, using his personal nick-name for the backpack that Rick always seemed to have just what was needed in for every occasion.

"Actually," Rick began, "I did happen to pack myself a rather large lunch today."

Rick produced two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, four chocolate chip cookies, and a small bag of chips from his backpack. Professor Oak chuckled and grinned then said, "Now I know why Jayce always calls that your `miracle pack'. I don't suppose you have a videophone in there as well?"

"Unfortunately, I don't," answered Rick sadly.

"Well, we have food and that's all that matter for the moment," Melissa stated as she accepted a cookie from Rick and bit into it, "Mmm.. not bad."

Mew stared hungrily at the food but stayed silent, knowing there would only be just enough for four. Just as she was turning around to go sit somewhere out of sight, Rick plopped a small plate of Pokemon chow in front of her.

"Don't think I would forget about you," he said with a smile, "Luckily, I picked this up while I was on my way to the PokeCenter."

Mew simply mewed happily and dug in, not having eaten anything since her escape 2 days ago. Everyone ate in silence for some time before Jayce finally spoke up.

"I was curious, professor, where exactly are we going to go from here? I mean, we can't play hide and seek forever out here. Team Rocket would eventually find us."

The reminder of their plight seemed to kill everyone's appetite. Oak sat his sandwich half down and thought for a moment before responding.

"My original plan was to depart immediately from Pallet with Mew and head directly for Saffron City", the professor explained. Melissa's attention seemed to peek at the mention of the largest city in the Kanto region.

"Saffron City? What's there that could possibly help us?" Jayce asked, "The Silph Company?"

Oak hesitated for a moment, weighing the situation in his mind. Was revealing such vitally secret information called for? Quickly, yet decisively, he came to a decision.

"No… not Silph Company. There is… an organization… a secret organization whose headquarters is in Saffron. Their soul objective is to halt the world-dominating plans of Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket… their name is…"

"Team Missile…" interrupted Melissa, much to the professor's shock and amazement,

"Y-you know about them!?" Oak exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Yes. My mother was a member before she.. before she went away. I followed her one day and discovered their secret base," she explained.

"So you're Denise Cartwright's daughter. I should have known. You are the spitting image of her," Oak said, trailing off topic.

"Excuse me, professor, your plan," Jayce interjected as Oak was about to say something else to Melissa. Jayce received a dirty look from the young lady in return, her always liking to hear the nice things people said about her mother.

"Oh, yes… the plan is, we will head for Saffron City. When we get there, Team Missile should know what to do from then on."

{{Will we be safe with them?}} Mew, who had been sitting quietly, listening, asked.

"Much safer than we will be anywhere else," Oak replied with a nod.

"And we should set out first thing in the morning," added Rick, "The longer we stay in one place, the more likely That Rocket and Pidgeowl will find us."

"Now hold on a sec," Jayce chimed in, standing up, "we don't have to walk all that way. We have Mew with us. She could Teleport us straight to Saffron City, no problems what-so-ever, right Mew?"

Jayce turned toward the pink cat-like pokemon, beaming from his ingenuity. He was greeted by a very forlorn Mew staring up at him sadly.

The beaming grin on his face slowly fell away, "I am right… ain't I, Mew?"

{{Uh… well… it's not quite that simple, I'm afraid…}} Mew answered in a cheerless tone.

"Why? What's the problem?" asked a worried Rick.

{{Well… you see…}}, Mew began, struggling for the right words, {{…it's like this… I have a condition known as Teleportitis… it's an extremely rare disease among psychic pokemon that only allows me to use Teleport when I've reached an emotional pinnacle…}}

"This is most unfortunate," Professor Oak stated, grimly shaking his head.

"So we're gonna have to travel out in the open all the way to Saffron with Team Rocket on our tail all the way?? I don't like the sound of that at all," complained Jayce.

{{I'm sorry…}} apologized Mew sorrowfully, a tear beginning to form in her eye.

Melissa bolted to her feet and stood before Jayce, poisoned dagger in her eyes.

"You pig-headed Neanderthal! How could you say such a thing after she told us about her condition!?" Melissa reproached him coarsely.

"I was just saying that…" Jayce began pathetically.

"You're a real insensitive jerk, you know that!!" the enraged girl shouted.

"I didn't mean anything by it, really!" Jayce exclaimed apologetically.

{{It's all right; no harm was done,}} Mew said in as cheery a voice as she could muster.

"Yea, come on you two, we've no time for this," Rick added as he tried to force himself between the two.

Disregarding Mew and Rick's pleas, Melissa raised her hand; preparing to deliver the slap to Jayce she meant to give him earlier.

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The strike would never fall as a swift gust of wind suddenly ripped through the cave, blowing out the fire and shrouding the cave in complete darkness. The sudden darkness lastly only long enough to bewilder the companions before a new light illuminated the cave. This light came from an Elekid who had just used Flash at the order of its trainer, who now stood before the confused group.

"Well, well, well… we meet again," said a familiar voice.

As their eyes became accustomed to this new, brighter light, the companions, much to their dismay, saw a man in a light blue Team Rocket uniform standing before them. It was general Brett and Pidgeowl could be seen behind him, staring into the cave with its cold, intelligent eyes.

To Be Continued…