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| The One |
| Chapter 5 |
| Jesse, James, and Meowth had just made it to the door deep inside the cave that lead into rocket headquarters. It was a small station, nothing like the main office in Viridian. Underground in the cave section, it consisted merely of a small front office to direct Rocket members in and out, a six-cell jail, a lab, the pokeball storage room, and at the far end of a long corridor and up a flight of stairs, the boss’s office. Yet up above, on the top of Mt. Silver and connected by one elevator shaft and emergency stair case to the cave segment, was the outdoor helicopter pad. Those were key to the maintaining of the facility. After Jesse swiped her Rocket ID to open the door and be admitted inside, the three started to walk in just as two were walking out. * Bonk * The trio looked up to see their archrivals, Butch and Cassidy, lying on the floor holding their aching heads. Cassidy: “Like, why don’t you watch where you’re going. [looking up to see Jesse] Oh, it’s you. Well, that explains it. You never did have a very good sense of direction.” Jesse: [fuming] “And what does a sense of direction have to do with anything? I think it was just plain blindness on your part!” Butch: “Well, we all know that it must have been James’ stupidity. His brain couldn’t even compute what was happening when if his eyes saw us coming.” Meowth: “Well, now dat you mention it…” James: [in his higher, whiny voice] “Hey Meowth. You’re supposed to be on my side!” Cassidy: “Who would be on a dummy’s side anyway?” Jesse: “Hey, quit making fun of James! He’s not stupid, and at least he doesn’t have an obnoxious voice like your partner, Cassidy. Butch sounds like he’s been smoking cigarettes for 300 years.” James: [with stars in his eyes] “So does this mean that you really do care about me, Jesse? I just knew we were meant for each other!” Jesse: [blushing] “James…” Butch: “Aww, isn’t that sweet. James and Jesse sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S…OW!” * Scratch! * Meowth: “Will you shut up? It’s bad enough hearing you talk. Do we have to listen to you singin’ too?” Cassidy: “C’mon Butch. Let’s go out and get some more pokemon for the boss. Why waste our precious time with these three losers.” Jesse: “Who are you calling losers?! Why you…” James: [calmly holding Jesse back] “Hold on, Jess. It’s not worth it.” Butch: “That’s right. You guys stay here while we go get the pokemon. You three aren’t capable of doing the job anyway. Let’s go Cassidy.” Cassidy and Butch walked out into the cave, their heads held high in a snooty manner. Jesse: “Why do they always get the breaks? What’s wrong with us?” James: [hugging/comforting her] “I don’t know. They just seem to have all the luck.” Jessie: “Some guys have all the luck.” James: “We guys have all the pain.” Jessie: “Those guys get all the breaks.” Meowth: “Youse guys do nothing but complain.” Secretary at front desk: [singing] “Do do do, Do do do do, Do do.” Jesse, James, and Meowth fell over in stupidity. {note: this is a Rod Stuart song, or maybe you’ve heard it on Alvin and the Chipmunks?} Meowth: [with a sudden revelation] “I can’t believe you two. Did you forget something?” Jesse/James: “What?” Meowth: “Where are they going to get a lot of pokemon? We already have all of the ones from the pokemon center, including the twerps’.” James: [beaming] “Oh yeah!” Jesse: “I did forget for a second. I guess we’re just not used to winning.” Meowth: “Now, let’s go put these pokeballs in the Pokemon Storage room and report to the boss. Jesse/James: “Right!” Butch and Cassidy walked through the cave. They met up with Ash and Brock. Butch sent out his raticate, which under normal circumstances would succumb to Ash’s stronger pikachu, but won because of Pikachu’s dwindling energy. Without any other pokemon to defend themselves, Ash and Brock were quickly defeated, cuffed, brought into Rocket HQ, and thrown into two of the six cells. Butch and Cassidy were simply delighted at their small victory and once again walked out of the door into the cave passage. However, after the collision with Jesse and James and through all of the commotion, one miniscule detail was forgotten. By chance, Butch had searched for and used his Rocket ID to open the door to lock up the young pokemon trainers, while Cassidy never noticed that she had dropped hers in the cave passage, right in front of the entrance to Rocket HQ. Misty had been walking for two hours by now, and still no sign of Ash, Brock, and Pikachu, or anything that told her where they went. She was so caught up in her despair that the sudden flood of warm sunlight shocked her. Startled, she jumped and looked up to find herself in a clearing. The land was level here and the trees were spread apart enough so that a small opening above let sunlight into the cool grotto. She slowly began to walk forward, a little unsure about the open, all too quiet locale. ~Maybe they came through here. I guess I’ll just walk around and…oh, what’s this?~ Misty reached down and picked up the thing that she had stepped on. It was a pebble, one that resembled the ones she had seen in creek beds during her days of fishing for water pokemon. She picked it up and looked at it, wondering how it got up there away from the creek. When she looked up to keep going, she saw another, and another, and another after that one. There was a whole trail of them. ~Wow, that was a smart idea. I’m glad the guys thought of it, or else my trip would end right here. And who knows what kind of trouble they could get into. They might get caught, or…~ Just then, she heard the faint sound of voices, but where were they coming from? They were steadily getting louder, but she looked around and around. Nowhere. She scanned the area one last time and then saw it. The cave. Underneath a small cliff, there was a small cave entrance hiding in the shadows, and that’s where the voices were coming from. Beads of perspiration started to drip from her forehead. ~Think fast Misty. You have to hide somewhere!~ The voices where getting louder. Whoever those people were, two from what she could hear, they were about to come out and she couldn’t let them see her. What if they were Team Rocket? ~But it could be Ash and Brock too. Oh, what am I thinking? Of course, it’s probably them.~ But then she heard a giggle, a light airy giggle that only a female could produce. She had to hide. In the last possible second, she ran behind the foliage that was generously dispersed beside the cave entrance at the place where the ledge gently sloped back down to meet the level ground. Behind her verdant shield, she heard two people chattering back and forth as their feet finally met the terrain outside of the cavern. Through a crack between the bush she was behind and a small tree, she saw them. It was Cassidy and Butch! Cassidy: “Oh my gosh! Could you believe how weak those two twerps were?” Misty: ~She must mean Jesse and James. Those two couples are always fighting each other.~ Cassidy: “I mean, they were weaker than Jesse and James! How is that possible? I thought Jesse and James were in a league of their own.” Misty: ~Huh?~ Butch: “Yeah, that was some victory back there. But remember, they didn’t have their pokemon with them, and that Pikachu looked pretty bad.” Misty: ~Pikachu?~ Cassidy: “Ok, so they’re better than I said. We still beat them though, and now they’re going to pay for every time they’ve foiled our plans. Team Rocket is going to win this time.” Misty: ~Oh no! Brock, and Ash!~ “Oh.” [clamping hand over mouth] ~Oh no! I hope they didn’t hear me!~ Cassidy: “Did you just hear something?” Butch: “I didn’t hear anything.” Cassidy: “But I was sure I heard something…” Butch: “Enough! We have a job to do. Now c’mon, let’s go into the city and collect any stray pokemon that we left behind yesterday.” Cassidy: [pouting] “Fine. You don’t have to be such a jerk about it.” [under her breath] “And your voice sounds like static on a busted T.V when you whine like that.” Butch: [suspiciously] “What was that?” Cassidy: “Nothing, nothing at all. Let’s just go.” The Team Rocket duo left, taking a different trail down the mountain to go do their dirty work in town. When they were safely out of sight, Misty let out a huge sigh of relief. Misty: “Whew. That was close.” [turning toward the cave, with a worried look] ‘I’ve got to go in there and find the boys. I wonder what they did to them.’ [shaking her head, with new determination] “Don’t worry guys, I’m coming.” The cave was dark and only got darker with each step going deeper inside. The air was chilly and the floor damp, and occasional puddle catching her by surprise as Misty jumped to miss getting her legs soaked. It was so weird, no having a flashlight or anything. Usually Pikachu would light up a dark area with a controlled flow of electricity if they were desperate, but Pikachu was not here. She hadn’t been alone like this for a long time. A sudden cold chill passed through her body, making her shiver and causing the little hairs on her arms to stand. ~I wish I had a jacket. Ash’s jacket. He would stand by me and she me shaking from the cold, and then he would be the sweetie that he is and take off his own jacket and wrap it around my shoulders and hold me close. I would be so warm and…~ “Huh?” Wrapped up in her memory, she didn’t notice that the cave had gotten incredibly lighter, not to mention that she had her arms wrapped around her body from her short daydream. She took a step forward, then another, until she was walking at a comfortable pace. ~Is it really getting lighter in here?~ Indeed it was, and within a few minutes, she came upon a brightly lit entrance. There was an insignia in the center of the door. Team Rocket HQ Pokemon Storage Facility Mt. Silver Chapter TR Personnel Only Misty: “Man! I’ve come so far! Now what am I supposed to do?” It was so frustrating! There was absolutely no other way in. There were no other passageways anywhere in the cave. The one passage dead-ended right here. There was only one entry door, and there was no way to get in unless you had a Team Rocket ID. There wasn’t even a lock that she could try to pick; the entire door system was electronic. Misty: “Great. This is just great. Now what am I going to do?” [looking upward] “Um, God. If you’re up there, listening.” [pauses, then continues sincerely] “Listen, I know I don’t call on you much. I’m sorry. Please help me save my friends, and all of our pokemon and the other pokemon that were stolen. Not to mention any of the wild pokemon around here that might have been disturbed. I promise if you help me save them, I will pray every night and, I’ll continue to watch out for them. I would never want anything bad to happen to them. Please.” She waited a few minutes. She didn’t know what to do. There was nothing she could do. With utmost frustration and sorrow, she stood up and slipped on a slippery rock. Misty: “That’s just what I need. To slip on a stupid rock. I better get this thing out of the way…hey! What’s this?” Misty reached down and picked up a small white plastic card. Holding it under the light, she could make out a really poorly taken black and white picture of a girl. Under the picture were her saving words: Member Team Rocket, ID and access card. Misty: [beaming, jumping up and down] “Alright! My prayers have been answered. [Looking up, still bouncing] Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank…oof!” *bam* Misty: [from her seat on the ground, rubbing her behind] “Ow! I guess I should watch where I’m jumping! [straightening herself up] Ok, time to go in.” With every ounce of strength she could muster, Misty pushed the TR ID into the slot on the door and watched as the sliding door was pulled back into the wall in painfully slooooooooooooowwwwwwww mmmmoooooootion. She gulped once, gathered herself, and walked through that entryway with confidence and poise. The place inside looked practically deserted. There was nobody in the small, depressingly gray foyer save the woman behind the front desk. There wasn’t even any noise coming from other areas of the facility. This didn’t ‘sound’ good… Secretary: “Misty, can I help you with something?” Misty: [spinning around from shock] “Huh? What did you say?” Secretary: “I said, ‘Can I help you with something?’ You look a little lost.” Misty: “No. Before that.” Secretary: “Miss? I’m not sure that I’m following you.” Misty: ~She just said Miss. So I didn’t hear her say Misty. Gosh, I must be losing it. Just keep you’re cool, Waterflower.~ [taking a deep breath, then speaking] “I’m sorry. It’s my first day on the job and I’m kinda nervous. [laughing lightly] After having worked summer jobs for two years now, you’d think I’d be used to it.” The secretary smiled again. “It’s very understandable. I was quite nervous my first day here as well. [leaning toward Misty a little more, speaking quieter] You know, this place has that effect. There’s just something about it. [Sitting up, normal tone] But, a job’s a job, right? You just have to make the most of it. So, how can I help you?” Misty racked her brain for a good story. What could she tell her to make this lady buy her story? “Well, I was given instructions to come here. I was hired in the city and they gave me directions to get here and told me that I would be given a uniform. Then I could start working.” Misty fought hard to keep her face calm and innocent, but her palms were sweating like she was standing in the heat of a 100ş desert. Secretary: “Who hired you?” Misty: ~Oh great, I wasn’t prepared for this! What’s there policy on hiring employees? What process do they go thorough? Oh crap…~ “I’m sorry ma’am, but that information was to be kept confidential.” Misty was lucky. The secretary bought it. Smiling once again, the secretary was ready to help her out. “You’re right. I was just testing you. We had some people lurking around today, specifically two kids who were headed toward our facility. We’ve had to up security, so I had to check.” Misty: [eyes wide, trying to contain herself] “Kids, you say?” Secretary: “Yes, two teenagers and a Pikachu. I believe they were taken to the cells and locked up. We can’t take any chances around here now.” Misty paled. She didn’t even want to imagine the possible danger those two and Pikachu could be in. She had to do something to get them out of here. Secretary: “Dear, are you ok?” Misty: [coming back to reality] “Huh? Oh yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just nerves, ya know?” Secretary: [smiling] “Yes, I know.” Misty: “Where do I pick up my uniform?” Secretary: “Just take a left. It’s the second door on the left side of the hallway. The hallways pretty short, so if you get to the cells at the end then you’ve gone too far.” Misty: [half running to the hallway already] “Thank you so much.” Secretary: [yelling back] “Don’t forget. The second door. The cells are too far!” [to herself] “Ah, kids. They always have so much energy, just like the two scouts who were singing that Rod Stuart song today. Do do do, Do do do do, Do do. Hehe…” Meanwhile, around the corner and down the left hallway, Misty had found the storage room. The door to the small room was normal, with a push lock and a handle. Conveniently, it was already unlocked. She dashed inside, picked out a black Team Rocket outfit as opposed to the white one for better camouflage, and slipped back outside the door and into the hallway with stealth and speed. Her next mission: get to the cells and release Ash, Brock, and Pikachu. But she didn’t know anything about this place. Were the floors booby-trapped? Were there security camaras lurking above in the darkness? Were other Team Rocket personnel moving about who could potentially see her? She didn’t know, but she knew she had no choice. Misty: “Well, it’s now or never. Here I come, guys.” |
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