Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey Onward ❯ Chapter Six: Abduction ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six: Abduction

 

 

 

They'd left the Poké Center as soon as Kathryn's Pokémon had rested and healed. Jet was still as sweet tempered as he'd been before the battle, blessing Kathryn's hand with a series of Peck marks that she hadn't been quick enough to avoid. Before they left town, Kathryn had made a stop at the Poké Mart to buy some treats for the Pokémon, as well as a book titled “Properly Raising Pidgey,” which she hoped would offer her some insight on training methods for her bird.

 

“Where are we headed?”

 

“Cerulean City,” Rachel and Kathryn replied in unison, making Krissy shudder. The longer Rachel hung out with Kathryn, the more the other girl seemed to rub off on her. Before you'd know it, she'd have two walking poke-pedias to deal with!

 

“It's a couple of days away, not too far.” Rachel's comment didn't reassure her. It meant a lot more riding and plenty of stops for Kathryn to get lost or go exploring. Training her Spearow or her Pidgey definitely held an appeal. Maybe both! Then, Rachel and she could ride on the backs and one of them could carry Kathryn in its talons!

 

As if sensing her thoughts, Krissy noticed Kathryn suddenly shiver out of nowhere. Bewildered, the Kathryn's head spun to the right and the left before a look of puzzlement settled on her face.

 

“What's up, freak?” Krissy urged her Ponyta to move along side Kathryn's.

 

“Huh. I don't know, funny feeling, I guess.”

 

The expression didn't suit her. A quick kick in the sides and Krissy's Ponyta was off.

 

“Catch me if you can, Slowpoke!”

 

“Hey!” Not one to be outdone, Kathryn followed, giving Blaze her head. The Ponyta instantly lunged forward, digging her hoofs into the turf. Clumps of grass and dirt were torn out of the ground as Blaze raced to catch up to Krissy's steed. Rachel rolled her eyes and held her own mare back, not wanting to tire her so recklessly. When she noticed that her friends were no more than specks in the horizon, she relented and let her own Ponyta charge to catch up.

 

They had to stop the race when the girls got hungry but no winner was successfully decided. Kathryn had effectively pulled ahead of Krissy but Krissy was swift to point out that they had never decided an end goal that they were racing to. With Rachel taking Krissy's side, Kathryn had no alternative but to pout and help set up camp.

 

The spot they chose this time was close to a pond, unspoiled and safe to drink as far as they could tell. There were a few trees scattered around with a tall forest lying off some way to the right, plenty of grass for grazing, and some berry bushes that yielded their crops easily to hungry mouths. It was ideal for not only the trainers but the Pokémon as well.

 

Kathryn released her Pokémon and, after getting Urusaiwan to leave Jet Streak alone, gave them each a bowl of treats. Rachel and (astonishingly enough) Krissy both let theirs free and soon the Pokémon began to mingle and get to know one another. Jet, on the other hand, flocked to one of the trees, resting amongst the branches after he'd eaten his fill. Kathryn decided to let him be for the moment and sat beside the pond, opening up her new book, flipping open to page one.

 

“What's his problem?” Nashley's nostrils flared as she eyed the Pidgey sitting in the tree, currently staring loathingly at them all.

 

“He's been like that.” Chomper trotted over to the pond and stuck his toe in, testing the water. Finding it to his liking, he dove in, disappearing under the surface.

 

“Well, he should learn his place!”

 

“Leave him be. He'll come around eventually.”

 

Nashley snapped in Urusaiwan's general direction, flames sparking in the back of her throat. “She's his Alpha now, he must show her respect!”

 

Seeing that the Houndour was in no mood to listen to anything she said, the feline still decided to try once more to get the other to see reason.

 

“If your pack leader was usurped by another, wouldn't you be reluctant to follow?”

 

“Alphas are to be followed till death, theirs or the followers.” The fact was stated plainly. “To disobey an Alpha could lead to destruction of a pack.”

 

“And having been penned your whole life, you are, of course, wise in the ways of the world.” Urusaiwan pointed a clawed “finger” at her. “You've had an easy life. Your belly has never felt The Hunger digging its claws in and tearing chunks out. You've never had a night without shelter from The Elements or Those who Prey. You have yet to have meet The Eternal Walker, Pup, or seen those who followed after Him to the Realm.” The feline's laugh was brittle. “Till you can boast of that, don't dare tell a Wild who he should or should not trust.”

 

Nashley gave a snort, black smoke shooting out of her nose. Preparing to retaliate, she was stopped short by the tilt of the Meowth's chin, the challenge in her eyes. Growling, Nashley turned her head, annoyed, and spat out a lick of fire that sent a stalk of grass up in flames.

 

“Who's The Walker?”

 

Urusaiwan glanced sideways in shock before nodding. “I see. You've never had another pass on, have you, Surfer?”

 

The spider tilted his head, opening and closing his pincers. “I guess not. I don't know.” He seemed embarrassed.

 

“The Eternal Walker,” Urusaiwan began, “is the one who comes when our travels in this world are finished.” She stared past them all, into the sky. “He leads us to The Realm, His home, and decides which new path we are to walk.”

 

“Rubbish.”

 

“Truth.” Urusaiwan countered softly. “But who would expect a Pup to know such things?”

 

“Peace.” Blaze moved between the two and lowered her head to Nashley's level, breathing out a wuff of air. “Agree to disagree and move on, the human will not be happy with this show of yours.”

 

Saying her piece, Blaze went to graze with the other Ponytas, leaving Nashley and Urusaiwan in silence. Nashley turned first, heading towards Kathryn. Urusaiwan moved to leave but Surfer tugged at her tail.

 

“Is… is He real?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“H-have you seenhim?”

 

“Some things,” Urusaiwan answered carefully, “don't have to be seen to know they exist.”

 

Leaving the Spinarak with that thought, she moved to the tree where the Pidgey roosted and stared up at him. He gave a fiery, angry look that she'd long since grown accustom to and sat with her neck craned up at him.

 

“I apologize for my behavior, I had not realized you had joined us.”

 

“Not of my will!” He trilled this, shuffling on the branch from the right to left and back again. “No, no. Not of mywill.”

 

There was a sudden squawk but not from the Pidgey in the tree. It seemed that the female Pidgeys had found Jet's abandoned treat bowl and were helping themselves. All well and good till Krissy's Spearow decided to take the treats for himself. He had inflated himself bigger and was looming over the two smaller Pidgeys who glanced uncertainly at each other. Raising his wing, it was clear he intended to attack.

 

Before Urusaiwan or anyone else could react, Jet swooped down from his branch. Before the Spearow could land a single blow, Jet landed before him, flapping his wings and puffing up for battle. Spearow calculated this new situation and hissed once before hopping away, not wanting to waste his time on some measly pellets. Satisfied that Spearow was no longer a threat, Jet cooed reassuringly to the females. They relaxed and began to nibble on the pellets, calming down.

 

“So that's it.” Kathryn put down her book, cursing her stupidity. “He was the leader of the flock.” Kathryn groaned and clutched her head in her hands. “Geez. No wonder he's so temperamental. He thinks he should be in charge. God dang.”

 

“Bit off more than you could chew?” Krissy teased, just having finished setting up the fireplace for later that night.

 

“You should talk,” Kathryn admonished her. “Your Spearow is equally fowl tempered.”

 

“Kathryn.” Krissy spoke slowly, her voice containing a strong suggestion of pain. “Don't.”

 

“What? I thought it was egg-cellent.”

 

“Kathryn!”

 

The sharp tone seemed to have shut her up. Krissy gave a nod to herself before turning to add the wood to the fireplace but Kathryn couldn't leave well enough alone.

 

“Too much pun-ishment?”

 

“Flock off, Kathryn.”

 

 

 

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Dinner went off with little ado. They'd taken their time and upgraded from hot dogs, deciding to treat themselves to a real meal (hamburgers anyone?). While they were silently eating, Kathryn decided to broach something that had been on her mind all day.

 

“I think…” She had difficulty talking and carefully swallowed what she'd been chewing before trying again. “I think we should stay here for a few days.”

 

“What?”

 

All the Pokémon turned their attention from their meals as Krissy stood from the log they'd rolled over as seats, gapping at Kathryn. Kathryn, sensing danger, cautiously proceeded with her reasonings.

 

“My Pokémon need more training, Jet especially. We have plenty of supplies and it's gorgeous here.” Kathryn took another bite of her burger, munching it. “Two or three days would be good.”

 

“You're crazy!” Nashley whined at the high-pitch of Krissy's voice. Krissy sought confirmation from Rachel, turning to her. “Tell her she's crazy!”

 

Rachel casually took a sip of her pop. “You seem to be doing a well enough job of it.”

 

Seeing no aid, Krissy once again whirled. “Kathryn!”

 

“Your Spearow could probably use the same training as Jet.” Kathryn swallowed her food and met Krissy's gaze without flinching. “They all could use training.”

 

“You, you can't just decide this!” Krissy sputtered.

 

“Alright.” Kathryn looked at the audience of Pokémon who were listening in. “Who all thinks we should stay here for a few days?”

 

Besides Jet and Krissy, the other Pokémon seemed favorable of the idea and raised various limbs and extremities to make their point known. Even Rachel and Kathryn raised their hands.

 

“Majority rules.” The matter settled, Kathryn settled back into eating her meal undisturbed.

 

“The majority bites,” Krissy grumbled, sitting back on the log and tearing ferociously into her burger.

 

 

 

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The next day, Kathryn had set her Pokémon to work. Falling back on basic training methods, she had Chomper swimming laps in the pond to strengthen his endurance and speed while Blaze did a similar exercise by running laps around the area. Urusaiwan and Nashley were set up doing mock fights without use of special abilities, getting them to think on their feet (though every once in a while, she suspected the battle deteriorated from “mock fight” to just “fight”). Surfer practiced his accuracy with String Shot, using it to shoot at tree branches and swing in midair. Meanwhile, Kathryn worked on trying to develop a bond with Jet, who still adamantly refused to befriend her. She began from scratch with him, listing a command and trying to get him to do it. When he did it successfully, she'd give him a treat. When he failed, she had him try again.

 

So far, it was resulting in him ignoring her.

 

“What are you doing? Your Pokémon must think you're insane.”

 

Kathryn rubbed her temples with her free hand, the treats in the other. She already had a headache…

 

“Each of these exercises are helping them develop. By doing them, they might gain the advantage in battle. If Chomper is just a little bit faster, if Blaze can hold out one second longer, they could win the battle because of it.” Kathryn's temples were throbbing and she was more focused on her irritation than Jet, who was watching her as she waved off Krissy. “Now leave us be.”

 

Raising a brow, Krissy wisely chose to head off. Kathryn focused again on the Pidgey who had gone back to ignoring her. If she could get him to listen to her, they could work on more important things like strengthening his wing muscles. Wasn't there something she could do…?

 

Flopping on the ground, she stared at him. He continued to ignore her but he felt the eyes on her back and gradually turned.

 

“You know, if you listened, we could move on to something more advanced.”

 

Pidgey tossed his head indignantly and ruffled his feathers.

 

“Don't you want to get stronger?”

 

He looked away from her again, clearly not in the mood to listen. Silent, she just watched him. Such a scrawny bird, how had he formed a flock? The females looked well nourished, the other two that had fled had seemed well enough from what fragments she could remember. Was he ill?

 

“Look, you're a smart bird, I'll make a deal with you.” She was certain she had his attention by the twitch of his head. “You want a flock of your own, fine. Get stronger, beat Chomper. You beat Chomper, one-on-one, I'll release you. If you can beat Chomper, I bet you'll have no trouble gathering a large flock. Deal?”

 

She reached out her hand to him. He turned slowly, looking from her to her hand. For the briefest instant, she'd thought he'd go for it. With a shriek, he launched himself at her, his Peck digging deep enough into her flesh to draw blood. She fell back, his wings beating around her. She thought she heard Krissy and Rachel shouting in the background but she was more interested in keeping her face covered with her arms to prevent his raking claws from scarring her.

 

Then, it stopped.

 

She sat up, still hearing furious screeches. Urusaiwan and Nashley had the Pidgey pinned, Nashley's mouth around the bird's neck and Urusaiwan pinning Jet's wings to the ground as he struggled. Krissy and Rachel rushed behind her, hands checked for injury but she just kept staring at Jet's eyes.

 

Not anger.

 

Shame.

 

“Let him go.” Nashley and Urusaiwan stared in disbelief but listened, Nashley giving a warning growl. Kathryn stood up, waving away Rachel and Krissy who'd come rushing up to her. They stopped before reaching her, uncertain. Brushing off her jeans, she casually checked the scrapings on her arms before turning to the task at hand.

 

“You're not strong enough.” Jet's head flew up, beak opening in a hissing sound as he righted himself, eyeing her intently. Nashley moved to restrain him but Urusaiwan blocked the Houndour's path, giving an indiscernible shake of her head. For once, Nashley stayed put.

 

Picking Jet's pokéball out from the others, Kathryn held it up for him to see. The Pidgey's body quivered, hatefully staring at the orb.

 

“Get out.”

 

She pushed the “Release” button on the pokéball, holding it for ten full seconds. When she let up, the sphere began to glow blinding white. Pressing the button once more, the light vanished and she reattached the pokéball.

 

“You're no longer part of my team.”

 

“Kathryn, don't you think that's a little-”

 

“No, Rachel.” Kathryn kept her eyes locked on Jet. “He's too weak to protect his own flock, he's attacked his trainer, and he's not putting forth any effort to get stronger.” Kathryn all but spat in disgust. “I'm not taking anyone with me who can't pull their own weight and clearly doesn't want to be here. He's not my problem any longer. If he wants to stuff the attitude, he knows where to find me.” She turned and walked away, not waiting for an answer. “Till then, he's on his own, just like he wants.”

 

Circling Jet, Nashley bared her fangs only once before releasing a snort that sent sand into the small bird's face. You aren't even worth my time. But come after Kathryn again… I'll rip your feathers out one by one with my teeth and roast you for the Meowth to eat.

 

Nashley followed after Kathryn while Urusaiwan cast a pitying glance at the Pidgey, shaking her head regretfully.

 

You could have done worse.

 

Jet opened his beak to squawk out that he hadn't wanted to be captured at all but the Meowth was already trotting after her trainer. He shut it and ruffled his feathers, uncomfortably trying to decide what to do next. His small flock had been dismantled and even if he found the two who were free, he wouldn't want them back. Yet he needed a flock. A lone Pidgey couldn't survive on its own.

 

With a flap of his wings, he took to the air and was gone, a single feather left behind.

 

 

 

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“I still think that was a little harsh.” Rachel stuck her spoon back into her stew, lifting it up to blow.

 

“I don't want to talk about it.”

 

“Come on, Rachel. It's not like there aren't hundreds of other Pidgeys who roam free.” Krissy paused before sarcastically adding. “Oh wait. There are.”

 

Kathryn remained mute, offering a bite of meat to Surfer who was casually resting on her shoulders.

 

“He just needed a little more training, right?” Rachel sought confirmation from Kathryn. “It would have worked out.”

 

“You could just trust me.” There was a sliver of ice in her tone that had the other two girls looking away. “Instead of assuming I don't know what I'm doing.” Kathryn shoved her bowl down on the ground, the contents sloshing over the side. “I'm going for a walk.”

 

With long, purposeful strides, Kathryn left Krissy and Rachel gapping after her, the fire cracking and illuminating the night but, unfortunately, not the situation.

 

 

 

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Kathryn kept walking, not bothering to mask her footsteps. As a result, she was stopped by a warning rumble that made her wince. She'd thought all the Pokémon had been sleeping…

 

Where do you think you're headed? Nashley's throaty growls reverberated from the tall grass, the Houndour stepping out from her hiding spot. It's late. You shouldn't be going anywhere alone.

 

“I'm just going for a walk.” Kathryn colored fiercely. “I'm not a baby. I'll only be gone a few minutes.”

 

I'm not going to worry because I'll be going with you.

 

“Nashley, I've got Surfer with me. Besides, you need to stay here and watch camp.”

 

Nashley grinded her teeth, irritated. She could argue all she wanted with her trainer but the end result would be the same. Fine! A few minutes though. That's all!

 

“You worry as much as Rachel and Krissy,” Kathryn muttered, lightly scratching behind Nashley's ear. “I'll be back in a little bit.”

 

Nashley grumbled a little, reluctantly lying down as Kathryn headed in the direction of the forest. She didn't like this, not one bit.

 

 

 

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“Now?”

 

“No. Let's wait till she's further away.”

 

“But-”

 

“Shut up!” There was a muffled thud. “I'm in charge here!”

 

 

 

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Kathryn was careful to keep the direction of the camp in mind as she headed off, destination unknown. The moon was full tonight, easily lighting her path so she hadn't brought a flashlight. She didn't understand what her friends' problem was, she knew what she was doing.

 

Placing a hand on a tree, she steadied herself. The forest had looked a lot closer from camp but the more she'd walked to it, the further it had seemed. Taking a breather, she felt tingles travel along the back of her spine. Despite the light the moon gave, the forest looked jarringly sinister. The normal calming effect the trees had on her was absent, instead she felt aggravated.

 

“You'd think I didn't have a brain in my head,” she grumbled, pushing off from the tree as she took a step into the woods. Talking seemed to help and she let the words run out. “The way they treat me. So I do stupid stuff. Doesn't mean I can't do something clever. Don't they think I'm worried? Fifty-fifty, either way, I figure one of us is happy.”

 

She kept pushing her way deeper, sometimes having to sidestep rather than go simply forward. The bushes were thick, as though no one wandered into this forest. Perhaps it would be better for her to turn back…

 

A scuffling sound made her pause mid-step. Holding her breath, she leaned back against the trunk of a wide tree, hoping to hide herself as she sought out the sound. Surfer protested valiantly at being squished against the tree but Kathryn eased up a little so that he could move comfortably on her shoulder.

 

That hurt… he whined, rubbing his head with his legs.

 

“Shhh.” Kathryn hissed. “Listen!”

 

Both of them stood still, listening as the rustling got closer.

 

What is it?

 

“I don't know,” she whispered back.

 

The noise persisted, drawing closer. Pressed tightly against the tree, her breath came in small, silent wisps through her lips. She inched along the trunk, peering her head around, when she no longer heard the sound of movement. There, directly below an opening in the branches, was an Oddish.

 

The Oddish scuffed the dirt along the forest floor with its feet, tilting its bulbous head from side to side as though pondering something, its leaves swaying with the motion. Circling the area lit by moonrays, the Oddish planted its feet within the soil. Twisting this way and that until it was comfortable, it spanned its leaves out and began to absorb moonlight. Not wanting to disturb it, Kathryn took a step away from the tree, planning on heading back to camp. The movement startled the Oddish who instinctively curled its leaves around its body.

 

W-who's there?

 

The timid sound made Kathryn hesitate, it sounded like a question but she wasn't sure exactly what it was asking. She gave a guess. “Kathryn.”

 

Two of the leaves unfurled, allowing the Oddish to peek out. Wh-what are you?

 

Kathryn moved into a better lighting for the Oddish to see her, Surfer still clinging to her shoulder. With a shrill squeal, the little Pokémon kicked herself out of the ground and took cover behind a nearby shrub.

 

Oh! Please, go away!

 

“What's wrong?” Kathryn swiftly turned to her right, then her left. She didn't see anything that would have frightened the Oddish.

 

Go away! I don't want to be taken away!

 

“Wha-? I'm,” Something tightened inside of her head as the Oddish chattered, just behind her left temple. A tight kind of pain, annoying, but not truly troubling. “I'm not going to catch you. Please relax.”

 

There was a rustling sound as the Oddish half emerged from the bush. You're not? You look like the things that capture us…

 

“Well, I'm not.” But she had… with Jet. She'd captured him without even thinking about it and he hadn't been happy. Well, now was not the time to think of that.

 

The Oddish emerged all the way, taking a few steps forward. It tilted its head to the side, staring at her with fascination. Chances were, she was the first human Oddish had ever been this close to.

 

You're really big.

 

There was a sharp pain again, the same spot as before. This time, Kathryn pressed her fingers against the spot to try and get it to ease up. It faded when she lifted her fingers but this time she only wrote it off as a headache.

 

Getting down on her knees, she felt the moist soil sink into her jeans. Shooting back up, she barely avoided landing on her rump by making pinwheel motions with her arms. Finally, she opted to crouch down, neither kneeling nor sitting, just resting on her heels. Rather than her actions startling the Oddish into fleeing, the Oddish just seemed puzzled and remained still.

 

Reaching her hand out, Kathryn held it steady in the air. There was a short wait but the Oddish eventually moved closer. About a hair's length from her outstretched hand, the Oddish paused and reached with her leaves, brushing them against Kathryn's fingers. The broadside of the leaves were strangely smooth while fine, serrated edges outlined the leaf. She'd never noticed this on the pictures but had read somewhere about different species of Oddishes bearing different leaf markings. It was possible that this Oddish was a local species not commonly known or studied.

 

What's that called? The Oddish pointed a leaf at Kathryn's shoulder.

 

“What?” Kathryn rapidly blinked her eyes, having been caught up in her thoughts.

 

I'm not a that! Surfer indignantly chattered, legs moving in a frenzy without actually propelling him anywhere, as though he was stamping his feet in a tantrum. Iam a… He didn't finish, instead looking blankly at Kathryn as though she could supply the answer.

 

“Spinarak.”

 

He gave a proud nod. A Spinarak.

 

I've never seen you're kind before.

 

“Maybe they come out at different times?”

 

The Oddish wandered even closer, leaves held upright save for one that bent down at a funny angle. Maybe… I come out at night and sleep during the day so it could be possible. She gave a bow. My name's Flora, what's yours?

 

Surfer.

 

Kathryn's legs were beginning to cramp so she stood, brushing off the loose soil and plant bits stuck on her pants.

 

And froze.

 

“Let's go.” Her voice was tight. She took a look up at the canopy of branches and felt like they were going to reach down and grab her. It was too dark. Too quiet. A quick glance to her right. She could have sworn there was movement there…

 

“Something's not right.”

 

What's wrong?

 

“I don't know. It feels like trouble…”

 

A loud, empty click echoed through the woods, a light blinding Kathryn so all she could see was white. She felt Surfer lose his grip and fall off but was too busy frantically rubbing her eyes to offer him help. She was about to ask if he was alright when voices erupted and swallowed her own.

 

“You better believe there's going to be trouble!”

 

“You'd do well to make it double.”

 

The solid white broke to give way to floating orbs and she could make out two blurry silhouettes. As her eyes cleared, she could make out bright, crimson “R's” on their shirts, vivid against the black they wore. Both seemed to be males, one having dark, auburn hair, the other a bleached blonde. The smiles they wore reminded her of a feral Houndooms, her breath catching. As much as she wanted to run, she was caught like a Stantler by the bright rays.

 

“To protect the universe from deterioration…”

 

“To bring together all people in the land…”

 

“To destroy the evils of truth and love…”

 

“To stretch our reach to the heavens above…”

 

“Adam…” The bleach blonde struck a pose.

 

The auburn hair followed. “Dan…”

 

“Team Rocket blast off faster than the speed of light…”

 

“Give up now or get ready to fight!”

 

You better believe it…

 

A Golbat glided down and perched on the auburn male's shoulders. Instead of the normal coloring, it was crimson where it ought to have been blue and black where it should have been purple. Folding its wings, its narrow eyes honed in on Kathryn.

 

“Team…Rocket?” Kathryn's mind whirled. She remembered some articles a ways back that mentioned the organization but nothing new had been printed for a year or two.

 

“That's right.” The blonde took a step towards her, still smiling. If he thought his smile was putting her at ease, he was dead wrong. It made her skin crawl! “We're the top of the Pokémon thieves, babe.” He gave a small toss of his head. “And we're thinking of allowing you the pleasure of joining.”

 

“Hey Adam, I think you're scaring her.” He laughed, resting against the back of a tree. “Aren't you suppose to be some kinda ladies man?”

 

Adam grinned slyly but didn't bother to look back. “Come on, babe. What'da you say?” He held up his hands in a mockingly innocent fashion, as though to reassure her. “As long as you agree, we won't lay a finger on ya.” He whispered lowly, just under Dan's hearing range. “Unless you'd like that, of course.”

 

It took a moment for the implication to set in. “How dare you!”

 

“Aw, geez Adam.” Dan smacked his forehead with an open palm. “What'd ya say to her?”

 

“Nothing.” Adam didn't even make his protest sound believable. “Sides, it doesn't matter if she's willing or not. We'll just have to make her see reason.”

 

“That's more like it.” Dan grinned and grabbed one of his Pokeballs but Adam beat him to it. With a shout, Adam sent out a giant Fearow from his own pokéball almost right on top of her. The bird shrieked loudly as it took to the air.

 

“Surfer!”

 

The Spinarak was quick to leap before her, his small body the only thing standing between her and the Fearow. With a flap that made the trees bend, Fearow dived for it. However, Surfer had an unforeseen advantage that became evident when the bird slammed into the ground, rather than its opponent.

 

Spearow wasn't nocturnal!

 

“Get that bug!” Adam clenched his fist at his Pokémon's ineptness. The bright light that they'd used to blind Kathryn and make their entrance wasn't able to illuminate Surfer, who was too low to the ground for Fearow to distinguish the difference.

 

“String Shot!”

 

A spray of webbing caught Fearow unaware as its wings became clamped to its sides. Unable to keep itself up in the air, gravity did its work and the large bird crashed into the ground, struggling to free itself, screeching and straining to get at Surfer.

 

“I'm not going anywhere with you two!”

 

“I guess you don't care about the Oddish then…”

 

A cackle from above her made her look up. Golbat was clutching the Oddish and flying towards the Rockets!

 

“Surfer, String Shot!”

 

Surfer spat out some webbing, trying to either tangle Golbat or grab the Oddish but neither plan succeeded. Golbat evaded the webbing and it fell uselessly to the ground.

 

“Flora!”

 

“See, if you don't come with us,” Dan released his Pokémon, a Slugma. The area around him browned and caught fire. “We're going to burn this Oddish.” Golbat circled the Slugma, Flora squirming and screaming. “You might want to make her stop that. Our Golbat might drop her…”

 

“Flora! Stay still!” Oddish sobbed and shook but tired its best to comply as the heat from Slugma rose and wrapped around her toes. She didn't have a choice.

 

“Please, stop.” It made her sick to say the words but she got them out. “I'll go.”

 

“I knew you'd see things our way.” Adam rubbed his hands together and moved behind her, grabbing her by the shoulder while using his other hand to twist her arm behind her back. At her small, shocked sound of pain he purred along the back of her neck, the warm air tickling. “We'll take the Oddish too, just to make sure you behave yourself.” She felt something tighten around her wrist, cut into her skin. He grabbed her other arm and bound it as well before grabbing an empty pokéball from her belt. “Now… to take care of that Spinarak…”

 

“Adam! He's not here!”

 

“Shit! Where'd that bug get to?” He yanked Kathryn's arm by the elbow, wrenching her shoulder.

 

“He was right here!”

 

“We don't have time to look for it.” He dug his fingers at the ropes, checking to be sure they were tight. “She's secured, let's go.”