Chapter 17:  A Screw Loose of a Toolbox (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

A couple of hours after I won over Lieutenant Surge and earned my Thunder 
Badge, it was time for Chad to leave and go on his trip on the S.S Anne.  
“There’ll be lots of other trainers on that ship, huh?” asked Emily.  
“Yup, but I’ll beat them all, well, maybe not all of them.” admitted Chad, “But 
I’ll do my best.”  
“So, this is it.” I said slowly, it was hard expressing my feelings.  
I hadn’t known Chad for long, but in the short space of time he’d travelled 
with us, we’d all come to like hanging with him.  
Sure he didn’t know that much about type differences but he tried and succeeded 
on some occasions, and his Pokémon had been a real help against the Rockets.  
“I suppose we won’t see each other for a long time.” said Emily a little 
sadly.  
“Maybe, but there’s one thing for certain.” he said, “We’ll all see each other 
again in the Pokémon League.”  
“That’s right.” I replied, we were all great trainers, there wasn’t any reason 
that any of us wouldn’t reach the Indigo Stadium with eight badges.  
“And it won’t be hard to find you, if we ask for Chad the Chosen, everyone’s 
sure to have heard you mouthing off.” I said.  
“Hey!” he shouted, and then chuckled, “I suppose you’re right.”  
I thought for a moment, “Hey Chad, maybe you should have this.”  
I handed over one of my old textbooks that specialised in type advantages and 
disadvantages, I no longer needed it.  
“A goodbye gift.  Next time we see you, you’d better be all studied up, and 
it’ll be something to remember me by.”  
“Thanks Tet’.  I’d never forget about you.  You’re one of a kind, you too 
Emily.”  
He gave Emily a small hug, then we collided our right hands together and shook 
them.  
A large horn sounded, “I suppose that’s my cue to get on.” said Chad walking 
heavily up the walkway, he stopped in a place on the boat where we could still 
see him.  

He released all his Pokémon in case they had anything to say, we did the same.  
“Guys, wave goodbye to Tet’ and Em’, they helped us a lot and we’ll become 
stronger because of it.” he said to his Pokémon.  

“Guys, Chad’s leaving the group, at least wave goodbye to him.”  
“Sta-ar!”  
“Chan-sey!”  
“Exeggcute!”  
“Ni Ni!”  
“Ran!”  
“Oddddd!”  
“Oddish!”  
“Miiime!”  
“Char...”  
“Mag-na!”  
“Dig g’ lett Dig!”  
“Bulba!”  
We simply smiled and waved as did Chad.  

“Cate...”  
“Geo.”  
“Mankey.”  
“Gela!”  
“Farfetch’d!”  
“Squirtle Squirt!”  

The boat soon departed and we stared at it until it was out of sight.  

“Sure is going to be different without him around.” I said after some time, 
“It’ll be quieter for one thing.”  
Emily smiled and we recalled the Pokémon and spent the night at the Pokémon 
Centre.  

Next day, I did a little sorting and ended up taking Twinkill, Needle, Inferno 
and Pollen, I had to leave some space for new Pokémon and of course my Abra, 
Psychot.  
I didn’t see Emily change over.  
The other routes around Vermilion City were all under construction, so we’d 
have to head back to Cerulean City via Routes 6 and 5, and then go through the 
Rock Tunnel.  

“I wonder if my Abra learned any attacks?” I asked quietly.  
“Probably...  This is nice, its just the two of us again.”  
“... R, right.” I said hesitantly, it was a little hard being around her when 
our feelings were so mixed up, best not to mention anything until I got my head 
straight.  
“There’s a path east of Cerulean, isn’t there?”  
“Yup, don’t worry about directions Emily, I’ve got it covered, now that the 
tricky roads are over with, we can take a nice direct route and go through six 
more towns with Gyms.  Then we can return home and train for the Pokémon League 
in the Indigo Stadium.” I said confidently, I had researched into Gym locations 
before we left.  
“Tetsubo, do you think we’ll all do it?”  
“Do what, Emily?”  
“All of us win the badges and see each other again?”  
“Sure we will, I know you and I will try our best and Chad’s already got four 
badges, we’ll all meet up again.”  
“Do you ever think about the future, Tetsubo?”  
“What kinds of things about the future?”  
“Like if we’ll ever have to battle each other?”  
“Emily, I wouldn’t hold anything against you if such a thing happened, I’d be 
proud if it came to that and you won.”  
“That’s good.”  

It took half a day’s walk, but we knew which paths to take from the last time.  
Eventually we reached the Day Care Centre, but heard shouting from inside.  
“No! You can’t! I’ve already lost one Pokémon to thieves, and I made a promise 
to a kid that I wouldn’t lose this one!”  
“You have no choice, we know that is the turquoise kid’s Abra and we need to 
steal it from him to make good with the Boss!” said a familiar male voice.  
“But it still hasn’t learned any attacks yet.”  
“We don’t care, Team Rocket has other ways to make Pokémon do what they’re 
told!” added a female.  
I slammed the door open, once again stood Elite Rocket.  
“He’s here!” screamed Cletus.  
“You’re not getting my Abra or any of the other Pokémon here!” I shouted.  
“Don’t worry, we only have eyes for yours, as revenge for ruining all our 
plans!” said Cassie.  
“Let’s get rid of da varmint!” shouted Cletus and three Elite Pokémon appeared 
simultaneously.  
“Jolteon!”  
“Flareon!”  
“Vaporeon!”  
“Get rid of them!” the Elites shouted.  
“Twinkill! Pollen!”  
“Blossom! Solar!”  
“Star!”  
“Odddish!”  
“Oooddish!”  
“Bulba-Saur!”  
All three Eevee evolution Pokémon flung forward, but Twinkill used a Water Gun 
to blast Heatwave, the two Oddish stole energy from Liquid, making him fall to 
the floor and Solar ‘Vine Whipped’ Lightning.  
They sprung back up ready for more.  
“Lightnin’! Use yuh Pin Missile!”  
“Heatwave! Ember attack!”  
“Liquid, Acid Armour.”  
“Bulba!”  
Solar fell back hurt from the spikes.  
“Star!”  
Twinkill was surrounded by flames and burnt badly.  
“Oddddish!”  
And the Oddish were powerless against the poisonous shell around Liquid.  
“Those Pokémon have gotten stronger!” I commented.  
“We’ve been trainin’! Get ‘em!!!” shouted Cletus.  
The three Elite Pokémon barged our Pokémon into us, shoving us out the house 
and onto the damp grass.  
The Pokémon leaped out of the house hungry for battle.  
“Twinkill!”  
He was spinning around and hit the Jolteon but received some pain from the 
sharp spines.  
“Flareon!”  
“Bulbasaur!”  
“Solar!”  
Both fell back but Emily’s Bulbasaur took slightly more damage from the 
Flareon’s fiery body.  
“Oddish!”  
“Oddish!”  
“Vaporeon!”  
The poison was still radiating from Liquid so the Oddish were still powerless.  
“Grab the Abra and let’s go!” shouted Cassie.  
“Sorry ta steal and run, Turquoise, next time, don’t meddle wit’ the Rockets!” 
grinned Cletus.  
“Why settle for just an Abra, his Staryu can’t battle any more!” suggested 
Cassie.  
Twinkill glared at her and leaped up for another go but the burns kicked in and 
it collapsed.  
“Don’t even try to escape!” shouted Claus.  
I stood up and charged forward, but was hit by three consecutive Quick Attacks, 
coloured blue, yellow and red, I quickly collapsed to the floor hurting bad.  
The three Eevee evolved Pokémon blocked my path and Claus was carrying my Abra 
out.  
“Psychot! Don’t let them just take you! I know you can use some Psychic 
attacks! I need you to more than ever!”  
“Abra...”  
“Please...”  
Psychot looked around nervously.  
“Hah, its weak, good thing we’re taking the starfish to guarantee the Boss’ll 
forgive us!” said Claus.  
“Abra!”  
A large unseen force shot Claus away and emitted a thundering sound.  
“What the...?!”  
“Abbbbrrraaaaa!!!...” Psychot shouted, glowing the spectacular white as he grew 
much bigger, and emerged holding a spoon.  
“Oh no...  Its...”  
“Ku-dabra!”  

“Kadabra, the Psi Pokémon.  After it evolves from Abra it immediately starts 
learning powerful Psychic attacks, many strange things can happen when a 
Kadabra is around.”  

“You evolved for me...  Okay! You should be able to use Disable now!”  
“Ku-dabra!”  
The Elites suddenly froze up as did their Pokémon.  
“I can’t move!” yelled Cassie.  
“We shure got a kick from da psychic!” said Cletus.  
“And he’s psyched up for more!” finished Claus.  
“Psychot! Confusion!”  
“Ku-da-Bra!”  
A huge force hit the Elites and blasted them into the air and out of our hair.  

“Elite Rocket shall retuuurrnnn...”  

I recalled Twinkill and Pollen as did Emily with her Pokémon and then ran to 
Psychot.  
As stern as he had looked, he was pleased to see me, and accepted the hug, he 
was nearly as tall as I was now.  
“I guess all my treatment and that encounter made it evolve.” said the 
Caretaker finally leaving the safety of his house.  
“Thanks for keeping him.  Did that girl return for her Magikarp?”  
“Yes, she took the disappearance of her other Pokémon rather well.”  
“I didn’t think anyone would take something like that without bursting into 
tears, unless she didn’t really want the Pokémon.”  
“Oh no, she told me she was going to save it from its captors, she’s done this 
sort of thing before.”  
“And you took her word for it?! Little girls should not take on Team Rocket 
alone, where did she go? We should probably check it out if those creeps are 
involved.”  
“I think the thieves are in a place near Cerulean City.”  
“Okay then, let’s hurry.”  

Leaving the Day Care Centre, we hurried ourselves up, he may have said this 
girl had dealt with Rockets before but since she was down a Pokémon, she might 
need our help.  

Emily and I hurried down Route 5, last time we were too far away to catch up 
with the Pokémon kidnappers, but now that this girl was going after them, she 
might know where they were, and we could finish what we had started so as not 
to have a burden on our heads.  
“Tetsubo, Route 5 is full of small paths, we won’t get far.” said Emily 
slightly out of breath.  
“Then what else can we do but look around?...”  
“I have an idea...  Solar.”  
“Bulbasaur!” he said happily as he was released from his ball.  
“Solar, you have a good sense of smell, do you recall the scent of a different 
girl at the Day Care Centre?”  
Solar thought for a moment then its eyes lit up and it nodded its head.  
“Please Solar, you have to track it down to the one who left it.”  
“Bulbasaur!”  
I should have thought of that, Bulbasaurs were one of many Pokémon with a good 
sense of smell, so much that they could smell the odd scent of someone that had 
been in a room some time ago, most Pokémon had such skills which differed, some 
could see a good distance away, some had a good sense of hearing, and so 
forth.  
“Bulba! Bulbasaur!” Solar shouted charging forward.  
We hurried up so as not to lose him and waste time, he veered off to the right 
into the darker region of the forests, I could sort of see someone but I had to 
be sure.  

Getting closer, the figure appeared to hear me rustling past bushes and a 
Pokémon was unleashed in front of me, I found myself looking at a large Rhyhorn 
glaring intently at me.  
Taking one look up with an idea in mind, my guesses were right and the young 
girl with the beret was here.  
“Oh its just you.” she said recalling her Pokémon, “What are you doing here? 
Trying to convince me again that you saw me in the Safari Zone?...”  
“I can’t seem to convince you, but I’m sure it was someone who looked a lot 
like you, maybe even related to you?”  
I couldn’t help but notice her expressions as I said this, she seemed to look a 
little saddened, but then she rose up and all those signs were cleared in a 
second.  
“I suggest you leave.  Its too dangerous for amateurs.”  
“But we’re not-”  
“Tetsubo, I-  What’s She doing here?”  
“If I’m right, you’re the one whose Pokémon was stolen from the Day Care 
Centre.”  
“And how did you happen to come by that information?...”  
“We were the ones who saved your Magikarp, but the Caretaker got mixed up so we 
weren’t able to chase down the other thief but I suppose that’s what you’re 
here for, to get your Pokémon back.”  
“She’s the kind trainer? I think not.” said Emily rudely, “No wonder the 
elusive girl just brushed off the news of her Pokémon being stolen, because she 
hides any joy and happiness, and probably any real sadness...”  
“I can smile and laugh, or cry, but I really don’t see the point, that’s all.” 
replied the girl.  
“Ladies, please.” I interrupted, Emily crossed her arms and turned her head 
away while the girl appeared to smile just a little.  
“Look here, young lady, I was under the impression that some guys called 
Spannerloose...  Er...”  
“Screwloose Brothers.” she corrected in an annoyed tone.  
“Yeah, that they work for Team Rocket.  If that’s so then I can’t allow you to 
go in alone.”  
“You’re going in with her? Why Tetsubo? Why help her when you know you won’t 
get any gratitude, does she even care for the Pokémon that was stolen?”  
“For your information, both of you, I’m old enough to take care of myself and 
for your information, Green, I may not have counted the stolen Pokémon as my 
best, but I was still going to rescue it and give it to a worthy trainer.  
Pokémon don’t deserve to be tested on, it really bugs me to know such things go 
on in this world.”  
“Well, still, Emily and I both want to help.”  
“Speak for yourself Tetsubo.”  
“Emily...” I said annoyed.  
“Okay.”  
“You’re dead set on helping, but I can’t work with amateurs, they only ruin 
things for everyone.”  
“But we’re not-”  
“I don’t care what you claim to be, nor how many badges you own, but I guess 
I’ll be reasonable.  If you can beat me in a Pokémon Battle, I’ll let you tag 
along.”  
“Sure thing so-”  
“Not you, her, then I’ll know if you got better since the last time we met.”  
“Emily?...”  
“Sure thing, it’ll do me some good to even the score.”  
“Only we use two Pokémon, and anyone who goes beyond half-damage must be 
recalled.”  
“And why do you make all the rules?”  
“Because I for one would not like to rush in to a lab full of strange Pokémon 
and two homicidal men with no protection.  Come on Green, lets see what you’ve 
learned...”  
“Okay! I’ll show you this time!” shouted Emily drawing the first Pokéball...  

End of Chapter 17A  

Back to Chapter 16B
Chapter 17B
Back to Story List #1 - #20 
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