[Your attention, please. Out Viridian City radar sensors have detected an aircraft belonging to a gang of Pokémon Thieves. If you have a Pokémon in your possession, exercise extreme caution!]
The alarms around the Pokémon Center were frantically as the blasting warnings kept repeating over and over. Most of the trainers were running away from the commotion but Vanessa, Ash, and Misty were going in the opposite direction. Immediately they noticed the frightened look of Nurse Joy and two confused Chansey as they exited the emergency room, pushing Pikachu who was sleeping on a small hospital bed.
"Nurse Joy, how is Pikachu?!" Ash asked anxiously as he quickly approached the woman. "He is gonna be ok, right?"
Nurse Joy was positively distressed trying to calm down the assistant Chansey, but still, she replied, "Your Pikachu is resting. It-It's a good thing you got it here so fast. The procedure went well and he should be fine, and he was supposed to be taken to the recovery room but- we can't have this conversation now. I apologize."
"No, thank you, thank you!" The boy hurriedly said, "It all thanks to the Pokémon Center."
"Well, you should take care of Pikachu now, Ash." Vanessa said in a tone of finality, her eyes looking warily in every direction, "I need you to trust me on this own, ok? You follow Nurse Joy and help her protect the pokémon who are resting on their pokeballs and assist her in whatever it takes to protect them. Misty and I will take the frontlines and fight the invaders. We'll hold them the cops arrive."
"I can't leave you two alone! I can help!" The boy quickly protested, but was immediately interrupted.
"It's like she said," Misty sharply said. "You can't fight them without Pokémon and your Pikachu is unconscious and vulnerable and there are others like him that will be in danger if they get stolen by these thieves, unable to defend themselves. Do what you can do and leave the rest to us."
"I am going to temporarily transfer them to other Pokémon Centers nearby as per protocol!" Nurse Joy stated, the woman was nervous, but she was firm on her decision. "If you are going to follow we must not waste any time. Come Chansey, we have work to do!"
"Fine!" Ash said gritting his teeth as he moved to follow the adult woman, but before he left she shouted at the two girls left behind, "You two better teach them a lesson! And- and make sure you are alright!"
Now alone in the area, the girls could not help but look at each other in worry. They knew nothing of the invaders' capabilities and that of their pokémon, but that meant nothing now. They made the choice to stay behind and stifle their plans and if possible defeat them, soon enough Officer Jenny would come, they only had to wait and endure. Suddenly, they were startled by the sound of glass shattering, above them and two Pokeballs falling on the ground.
"Koffing!"
"Ekans!"
It happened too fast, the two poison-type pokémon were quick to act. The Koffing used Smokescreen and they heard a series of loud 'thud' sounds. Vanessa knew that the invaders had finally made their appearance and she stilled her resolve.
"Misty, you better tell me you have a pokémon other than your Goldeen, "one that would have mobility on land. Prepare for battle, be on guard," Vanessa spoke quietly enough so the enemies wouldn't hear, earning a nod from the ginger girl in response. "Shade, stay hidden until I call for you. It's time to show these thieves your ghostly might, buddy!"
"Go, Staryu!" Misty called out releasing a pokémon. "Stay alert!"
"Oh, don't be frightened little girls," a female voice called out from beyond the smoke.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," A strange male voice stated.
"To protect the world from devastation... to unite all people within our nation... to denounce the evils of truth and love... to extend our reach to the stars above..." The duo took turns stating grandiosely until the smoke finally dispersed and their figures were revealed. "Jessie! James! Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light! Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!" A third voice said, making another grand entrance.
"Is that a talking Meowth?!" Misty asked in disbelief. "This doesn't make any sense! What do you want?!"
"Oh, she just doesn't get it, does she?" The red-haired woman, Jessie, asked her partner in disdain.
"We are here for the Pokémon, of course, what else?" The blue-haired man, James, asked mockingly. "We only want the rare and valuable Pokémon!"
"This is a Pokémon Center!" Misty replied exasperated, "You are wasting your time, there is only weak and injured here! Plus, Officer Jenny will be here soon!"
"Hah!" The talking cat scoffed. "We left a gift that would keep her busy for some time, don't worry, twerp!"
Vanessa coldly stared at each of them with a calculating gaze. Appraising each of them, coming up with a plan to quickly subdue them, and finally she smirked. She was going to make them regret this foolishness, "I'm leaving that Koffing to you, Misty. I will take the snake and the cat. Shade! Use Mist! Full Power! Time to teach these clowns not to mess up with us!"
Misty wasted no time and commanded, "Staryu, Water Gun at the Koffing!"
"What?! Koffing dodge that!" James exclaimed at the sudden attack.
The starfish pokémon was fast to shoot a beam of water at her floating enemy before a powerful cold mist supernaturally appeared from nowhere.
"Ekans! Show that girl how it's done! Use Wrap!" Jessie said in an angry tone.
"Hey! This is our tactic!" Meowth complained at the sudden difficulty to see.
"Night Shade at the Ekans, buddy!" Vanessa instructed and watched as a piece of her shadow moved beyond the white mist. She only listened to the painful cry of the snake. "Follow up with Hex!"
"Ekans, no!" Jessie called out in worry. "You will regret this!"
"Koffing, get up, use Tackle at the Staryu!" James said, his tone wasn't as smooth and calm as before, but unfortunately for him, his pokémon could barely see now.
"No, you won't! Staryu, Psybeam, finish this!" Misty instructed with a ferocious gleam in her eyes.
"Oh, no, no, no, dogde Koffing!" James desperately cried, but the pink light of Staryu's attack illuminated the room before his pokémon could escape. His Koffing now defeated, fell unconscious next to his trainer. James angrily shouted, "You will pay for this!"
"This is not how it was supposed to go!" Meowth exclaimed in frustration.
"Shade, finish this up with Icy Wind, bind the invaders in ice!" Vanessa stated sharply, ignoring the complaints of the annoying thieves.
The girl heard Misty gasp next to her as the thick mist that permeated the room was not moving and concentrating in front of a now-revealed grinning Gastly. The powerful bust of cold air hit Team Rocket in full force and the layers of frost and ice started to form their feet. It helped that the floor was wet from Staryu's attack before.
"This is so unfair!" Meowth said shuddering in the cold.
"Pika! Pika! Pika-CHU!!!"
Suddenly, without warning a powerful thunderbolt, unlike anything Vanessa had ever seen before shot from behind her and hit Team Rocket at full force causing a powerful explosion. It sent them all flying up and destroyed part of the reception's ceiling. Shade was quick to return to her and shield her from any stray damage. Staryu also shielded her trainer.
"Yeah, that's right, Pikachu! Show them how it's done!" Ash exclaimed, before grabbing his Pikachu into a tight hug. He turned to the baffled girls with a huge grin, "Did you see it? Did you see how Pikachu blasted those thieves away?!"
Misty exchanged a look with the other girl and shook her head in resignation, before turning to her pokémon and recalling it, "You were great there, Staryu! Now, return, you deserve to rest a bit."
"That was one powerful move, Ash... congratulations to you and Pikachu," Vanessa carefully started, "but I thought the plan was to subdue them and restrict them until the officers arrived. How is Nurse Joy?"
"Oh, ah-huh, sorry about that guys, Pikachu was too excited," Ash sheepishly replied, scratching his head with a silly and guilty smile while exchanging fond looks with his starter. "He got overcharged by a machine so he needed to release all that energy."
"It's alright, I think," Misty said tentatively, "I'm sure Officer Jenny would take care of them anyways and we would never have too see those clows again!"
"Misty is right, the important thing is that they didn't managed to steal any pokémon and that the Center is safe-" The girl said, but paused abruptly.
"Gasstly!" Shade dryly complained unamused.
"Right... the front and the ceiling were destroyed in the explosion," The girl finally said, earning more guilty looks from Ash and Pikachu, but they held no sway over her at that point, "I kinda need to sleep now. The League will deal with the repairs quickly I'm sure. It's a pity we should stay and give our statements to the the officers."
Misty groaned at that and Ash, bless his heart, was as clueless as ever.
It happened as she said. In a couple more minutes the officers arrived and an angry and disheveled Officer Jenny came to see them followed by a serious looking Growlithe trotting behind her and inspecting the destroyed building as his nose sniffed around look for anything suspicious.
Nurse Joy, as the head of the Viridian Pokémon Center, was naturally the first to give her statement, narrating Team Rocket's invasion. She told them about how she immedeatly actived the safety protocols and decided to temporarily send the pokémon that could be transfered for continued treatments in the nearby centers until the situation was resolved, all in order to guarantee that they would not be stolen, in case the worst happened.
Ash was the next to recount his version of events, something that he did with unabashed enthusiasm gushing about how cool and powerful his Pikachu was and how they blasted the villains away, but he quickly apologized for not restricting them instead, something that the officer didn't seem to mind and that his starter was terribly amused about. Misty, for some reason beyond Vanessa's understanding and willingness to find out, asked the officer to talk more privately. Until, finally, it was Vanessa's turn to face the authorities, the last thing she had to do before going out in search of a hotel for the night and a well deserved bath.
"So you're saying that the criminals called themselves Jessie and James and that... a talking Meowth was part of their group?" Officer Jenny asked again, visibly irritated by something and equally frustrated at the fiasco this entire situation represented to the Viridian Police Station. "I wouldn't have believed if I didn't hear of if from the others... ah, please don't misunderstand my words, it's just... a lot to take in at once."
"Growwl!Growl!" Her Growlithe partner said, trying to console her.
"I was aware that some exceptionally powerful Psychic-Type pokémons are capable of some degree of telepathy or empathy and can communicate more clearly with their trainers, ah, rumor has it that the Saffrom Gym Leaders are known telepaths too, still... a talking Meowth capable of human speech is truly unheard of and extraordinary," The girl said, somewhat trying to help cheer up the woman a bit, "I can't say for sure that those two members of Team Rocket didn't have more pokémon that I didn't get to see, but their Ekans and Koffing were poorly trained. They could have done a lot of damage under more capable guidance that's for sure. I heard that the Koffing line is capable of using the move Self-destruct and worse... Explosion."
Officer Jenny expression turned even more sour and her pokémon literally groaned as well, she looked at the girl and said in an almost pleading tone, "Do you have anything else to say that might be helpful in tracking and capturing these criminals?"
"Actually, before that... I want to make a personal request," The girl started, looking at the woman in front of her with a serious expression, "I need my identity and if possible that of my friends to be classified information pertaining this incident and most of all not to show up in the news broadcasts. As you can see I'm a Trainer sponsored by Sayre Industries and, well- at least the boy is sponsored by the Regional Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak, and his Lab, over all it's good press, I know it but... speaking for myself, I believed that this Team Rocket organization is much bigger and dangerous than those two clowns. I would prefer not to become one of their targets now that me and my companions foiled their plans here, Officer."
"Oh, dear, it's in your right, don't worry too much... but why do you say that this organization goes beyond this... Jessie and James elements?" The officer asked, now in a much more serious tone.
"Because I've been hearing whispers about more members since before I started on my journey, officer, I'm sure you can understand," Vanessa quickly replied and elaborated, "I'm from Lavender Town, east of Saffron City. We get lots of tourists every month because of the Pokémon Tower. There have been numerous sightings of strange people dressed in dark or white garments bearing the same "R" symbol that I saw fighting those two earlier. If this organization is bold enough to show up in a big city like Saffron and spread so far south as Viridian, it's safe to say that they are dangerous. I want to express again that the League itself should be directly notified about this entire shit show-sorry, about my language- I'm stressed. This really isn't an isolated case. I'm sure of it now. This is all I have to say, Officer Jenny."
Officer Jenny frowned deeply at the implication of the girl's words, there was reluctance in her eyes to admit that such a huge conspiracy could ever happen under the League's nose, "Thank you for your cooperation, Trainer Vanessa. You are free to go girl, leave the rest for the adults."
Vanessa nodded in acknowledgment before leaving to join the others. In her mind, she could only hope that the woman would take her words to heart. In any way, she would try to call her grandmother and she could tell her grandaunt Agatha directly. Unfortunately, she forgot to ask for the contact of the Oak family members, but she would find a way to speak to them, maybe Ash had their contacts. The PokéNav that her grams insisted on her having should be somewhere in her bag anyway, they were a popular and convenient tool for any trainer, but expensive and not very popular yet. Trainers were used to using local Center terminals to make video and audio calls when necessary, plus they were free for any trainer competing in the circuit. Vanessa quickly reminded herself to ask if Misty or Ash had PokéNavs or not, it would be great to have their contacts so they can talk even if they are not traveling together and are rivals, or so she hoped.
Finally reaching a tired-looking Misty and a still energetic Ash, the girl considered for a moment and asked, "Any news from Nurse Joy about the transferred Pokémon?"
"Yeah yeah, she came earlier and told us that tomorrow morning the pokémon would be back, she asked us to tell you that she would take good care of your Magikarp as well," Misty replied casually followed by a yawn that quickly turned into a scowl as she shot the boy next to her a withering glare, "She also let us know that the trainer dorms won't be available until the professionals come to fix the damage of the explosion, so... we are effectively homeless for the night."
"I already said I was sorry!" Ash protested, clearly guilty. Same for the ashamed Pikachu resting on his shoulder. "I am sure we can don't know- camp? I saw some trainers leaving for a camping ground a little out of the city, we could go there!"
"I am not camping outside of the city, Ash!" The ginger girl replied in a tone of finality.
"Well, be your guest then!" The boy countered equally frustrated with her.
Vanessa raised her hands in a defensive and appeasing stance before offering a solution, "There is this hotel called the NidoKing Hotel a few miles east of here. I am going to book two rooms for us. I can share with Misty while Ash stays on the other one."
"Aren't hotels like crazy expensive?" The boy asked as his cheeks flushed, "I don't... can't afford that just yet."
Surprisingly, Misty blushed awkwardly, "... I used all my money on that bike."
Vanessa felt the urge to release an exasperated sigh while fighting off the urge to laugh at their similar reactions, before awkwardly clearing her throat, "I will be paying don't worry about it. You are not allowed to refuse after all we went through together, alright? Plus, it's just a night or two and soon the Center would be open for trainer again."
Misty and Ash exchanged conflicting looks, but soon enough, Misty stepped forward and nodded firmly in agreement. Great, Vanessa thought. It took some convincing, but Ash eventually came around, after Vanessa explained that as a fellow trainer sponsored by Professor Oak, they should help each other when the necessity arises.
Like this, the trio made their way towards the hotel, mostly in silence if not for a chattering between Ash and his starter and casual bickering when Misty joined them. Vanessa was happy that everything worked out in the end, and she could tell that Shade felt the same feeling his comforting presence hidden in her shadow. He demanded to be out for the night in case Team Rocket decided to retaliate, but it was unlikely to happen truly.
I any away, both of them knew something for sure... they knew that this was only the beginning.