Chapter 40:  Unexpected Alliance (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

After the brief battle against my best friend (and technically my ex’) Emily, 
we’d made it to the Fuchsia Port, there was only one significant problem to 
deal with.  
The south Fuchsia port had temporarily closed down, so easy access to Cinnabar 
Island was impossible unless I wanted to wait around, but I’d have felt much 
better if I could remain at my home, with eight Gym Badges under my wing.  
Apparently it was because of dangerous conditions in the southwest oceans, and 
so, if I wanted to get to Cinnabar Island, we’d have to travel far west to 
Ocean Town, a place just south east of Pallet Town, and get a boat headed south 
from there.  
“... And after that, I gave my Shellder a Pokéball and we headed towards Burnt 
Town before I decided to go to Fuchsia.” finished Emily, having told us the 
brief story about the Articuno.  
“That’s some story.” I commented, “Not quite book length, but it could make a 
pretty decent short story on the net.”  
“Well, I edited the spoken version a little, this is from my diary you know.” 
said Emily, winking as she put away her treasured book.  
I was a little curious of the other adventures and Gym Battles Emily had gone 
through, but I guess I’d have to wait until she took that internet suggestion 
seriously.  
“Heh, seems like you’re different when I’m not around, what about you Abby? Any 
secret stories you’d care to share?” I asked pleasantly.  
“I have a diary, but I will use force if you try to invade my privacy.” joked 
Abby darkly.  
“Okay, okay.” I grinned.  
“Its very personal, its got all my thoughts and feelings ever since I lost my 
memories...” she stated.  
“You wanna talk about it? I know I used to be a little hard on you for not 
remembering me, but I understand why.” I offered.  
“Tetsubo, what was I like?...” pleaded Abby.  
“I wish I knew, all I can tell you is that you were wandering around, I made 
some noise, and you reacted by throwing a Safari Ball in my face.” I explained 
vaguely.  
“I’m sorry...” apologised Abby.  
“Well, I healed soon enough, but then I called out to you, and you ran away, 
presumably into the Pokémon that injured you.” I finished, “And you don’t have 
any memories or idea of what sort?”  
“No, its probably been captured by some trainer, but maybe I’ll see it again, 
and remember.” noted Abby.  
“Abby, if you ever need to talk, and I mean Ever.  You know I’ll always be 
there for you, and the same goes for if you need any help, there’s probably 
some information here and there that you might not know about, due to your 
amnesia.” I offered.  
“I’m okay on that, but thanks for your offer, I have a feeling I’ll use it soon 
enough.  Thank you Tetsubo, for everything you’ve done, and everything you’re 
sure to do.” said Abby with a light smile, hidden from Emily’s sight.  
“Do you have a diary Tetsubo?...” inquired Emily.  
“Is it wise for me to answer truthfully?” I joked.  
“I knew it.” she grinned.  
“Yeah, well, I might be a famous trainer someday, and I could get make some 
money by selling my journey as a book.” I declared.  
“Although it’d be a bit strange reading this part about you planning on selling 
a book, when you’ve already done that.” commented Emily.  
“Yeah, well-”  
There was rustling in the bushes, and two Pokémon stepped out.  
“Poliwhirl...”  
“Weepinbell...”  
“It couldn’t be...” I shuddered, “Um, Rick? Is that you?”  
There was no answer, and I turned again to the Poliwhirl and Weepinbell standing 
before us, two different Pokémon, two different types, and two Pokémon that the 
most hated guy in my life owned.  
“I knew it, I made a mistake the last time, but I know for sure today.  Come 
out Bryan! There’s no point in hiding, I recognise the Pokémon, and I’m not 
falling for your tricks!” I shouted out.  
Nothing happened, but the Pokémon edged forward a little.  
“So its a two Pokémon battle you want, huh? Go Twinkill, Go Scramble!” I said 
hastily.  
“Star!”  
“Ex-egg-cute!”  
“Twinkill, use your Thunderbolt on the Poliwhirl, and Scramble, use Confusion 
on the Weepinbell.”  
“Star!!!”  
“Cute!!!”  
The electricity generated by Twinkill’s spinning, and the psychic blast from 
Scramble hit their targets and held them in the air while they were being 
damaged, but instead of a nasty counter-attack, they fell down, and edged 
forward again.  
“So you want some more, do you Bryan? Well I’ve got plenty, Twinkill, Scramble, 
use-”  
“Stop it!” screamed Emily.  
“Tetsubo!” shouted Abby.  
The girls were holding each of my arms down, preventing me from pointing at the 
enemies and ordering an attack.  
“Girls! Get off, those are Bryan’s Pokémon! I have to strike now before-”  
“Tetsubo, look at them.” said Abby, “Compared to the last time, they look 
terrible.”  
“I know you’re angry with Bryan, but he’s nowhere to be seen, stop hurting 
those Pokémon.” ordered Emily.  
“But...  But...”  
I sighed, and recalled my Pokémon, “I guess you’re right, but what are Bryan’s 
Pokémon doing all the way out here without their trainer?...”  
The Pokémon had sorry looks on their faces, and edged towards us some more, 
with pleading voices and upset eyes.  
“Whirl...”  
“Bell...”  
“Is Bryan nearby?...” I asked accusingly.  
To this, they shook their heads.  
“Well, did he lose you, or dump you, or did you run away?” I questioned.  
They immediately nodded and answered to the last choice.  
“You look terrible...” said Emily, picking up the Poliwhirl gently and holding 
it close.  
Abby shrugged her shoulders and picked up the Weepinbell.  
“Girls, watch your Pokéballs, you never know with Bryan’s-”  
They both turned back to me and showed unamused expressions.  
“I’m just trying to make sure you don’t lose your Pokémon because of-”  
“Tetsubo, look at these Pokémon, minus the shocking and psychic damage, they’re 
really hurt, they didn’t even have the strength to battle.” said a frustrated 
Emily.  
“And I’ve seen them battle in their prime.” added Abby.  
“Okay fine, let’s just get out of here in case they were followed.” I 
warned...  

We arrived shortly after at the Chestnut Town Pokémon Centre, where we 
deposited our Pokéballs for restoration, but the transport system was out of 
order so we had to make due with the Pokémon we had, and our newest ones 
apparently.  
“I know that Bryan must have used something on you, to make you stronger in a 
short amount of time.” I stated to the Pokémon.  
The two simply nodded, but looked saddened.  
“Did he go overboard, or just hurt you physically or emotionally because of 
your losses?”  
They nodded, but I didn’t know what to, and since they were upset, I left that 
question unanswered.  
“I feel kind of sorry for hurting you, when it was Bryan I hated, not you, 
you’re not even like Bryan, or were you owned by a different trainer before 
him?”  
They nodded and spoke again.  
“Okay then, so if you’ve run away seeking my help, and you’ve had enough of 
Bryan treating you badly? And you thought that I could stand up to him if he 
found you?” I said unsurely, piecing everything together.  
“Whirl.”  
“Bell.”  
“This is hard, I’m not sure about everything they’re saying, but I understand 
how scared they are.  So girls, any of you want to adopt a Pokémon? I would, 
but I’ve got two Grass-types, and a reliable Water-type already.” I offered.  
“If its okay Abby, I’d like the Poliwhirl, it was one of the starter Pokémon I 
was offered, and I nearly picked it back then.” inquired Emily softly.  
“Sure, whatever.  I can’t have any more Pokémon.” said Abby.  
“Why? Oh yeah, the transport system’s broken so you can’t carry that Weepinbell 
around.” I assumed.  
“No, its just, I don’t have a sponsor, so I’ve been forced to settle with my 
six Pokémon.  Don’t get me wrong, a Grass-type would really help, its just, 
I’ve never had a sponsor, and I don’t know anyone who’d take care of my Pokémon 
for me.” she explained, I’d seemingly forgotten about her telling me this long 
ago, but we weren’t exactly friends then.  
“Well, just give me one of your Pokémon then, Blossom’s got plenty of room for 
Pokémon, provided they’re her sponsored trainers’ Pokémon.” I offered.  
“How about we check this out first?” questioned Abby, turning to Emily.  
“Check what?” I asked, before seeing what she meant.  
“Okay little Poliwhirl, you’ll be safe inside this Pokéball, mean old Bryan 
can’t get to you if you don’t fight the Pokéball...”  
With that, Emily gently tossed a fresh Pokéball onto the Poliwhirl, but nothing 
happened, the ball bounced off, and the Poliwhirl didn’t turn into red energy.  
“Just as I thought.” spoke Abby.  
“Try the Weepinbell, Emily.” I suggested.  
“Okay...” she said.  
The same thing happened, and I sighed, “They may have run away from Bryan, but 
he didn’t erase their data from his Pokéballs, they still officially belong to 
him, and that means we can’t give them Pokéballs...” I explained with 
disappointment.  
“Poli...”  
“Bell...”  
“Don’t worry, we can carry you around, you might not be able to officially 
become our Pokémon, but we can still be friends and travel together.” comforted 
Emily.  
“Poli!” cheered the Poliwhirl, snuggling against her, while the Weepinbell had 
used its vines to lift itself into Abby’s arms.  
“Bell...”  
“This is strange, but its nice.” spoke Abby.  
“Quite a predicament, but we can’t leave them behind, they wanted our 
protection and that’s what we’ll give them, no Rocket yet has beaten us.” I 
stated.  
“Well, apart from Bryan.” reminded Abby, turning my confident pose into a 
depressed one.  
“Plus the Elite Rockets beat you once or twice.” added Emily, “And then 
there’s-”  
“Come on girls, the important thing is, they didn’t steal any Pokémon from us, 
that means we beat their schemes.” I exclaimed.  
“Well technically, the Screwloose Brothers stole my-”  
“Stop Abby, that doesn’t count either, we’ve got to be confident in our 
abilities, and develop our sneaking skills, so that no Rocket ever finds where 
these two Pokémon are-”  
No sooner had I said that did an explosion occur from outside.  
“You’ve really got to stop tempting fate like that.” patronised Emily.  

We stepped outside, where the Elites stood with one of their Pokémon each.  
The Hitmonchan, the Persian and the Scyther stood between us and them, and they 
looked meaner than usual, which was a hard task to do.  
“Dere’s dose two runaway Pokémon, its time ta go back ta yer trainer.” grinned 
Cletus.  
The Pokémon responded by holding Emily and Abby tighter and more fearful.  
“So it is true.” I sighed, “This confirms it, but sorry guys, we’re taking care 
of these Pokémon now, so you might as well just scuttle away.”  
“No way.” said Cassie firmly, “You’ve caused us a lot of trouble but this takes 
the cake, we must bring back those Pokémon or we’re in for a heap of trouble.”  
“Couldn’t Bryan come down here himself?” I questioned.  
“He’s busy, on very important missions, that’s why we’re here.” stated Claus.  
“Cos we ain’t got any cos we fail dem all da time.” added Cletus, earning 
himself a slap on the head.  
“Shut up and have your Pokémon attack and retrieve those runaways!” shouted 
Claus, and all three enemy Pokémon turned to glare at us.  
“Go Scramble!”  
“Go Tails!”  
“Armour, Go.”  
“Exeggcute!”  
“Ninetales!”  
“RHHHYYY!!!”  

“Use yer Leer, Cutter!” shouted Cletus.  
“Roar.” called Emily.  
Both Pokémon stared each other down and growled at each other, but neither were 
intimidated.  
“Focus Energy, quick!”  
“Tails! Use your Flamethrower!”  
While the Scyther charged itself up, Emily’s Ninetales shot out a long flame 
directly at the Scyther.  
“Quick Attack now!”  
But at the last moment, the Scyther leapt up to avoid the flame, Tails kept on 
blowing and aimed upwards, but with its speedy attack, it spun underneath the 
flame and cut past Tails, literally.  
“Now use Wing Attack!”  
“Scyther!”  
Cutter began buzzing around Tails, clipping her with its sharp wings.  
“Now Slash attack!”  
“Scy!!!”  
“Ember now!”  
Tails was pretty fast, and lucky, a hot ball of flame burst from her mouth and 
knocked the Scyther upwards just before it swept its blade across her.  
“Fire Spin!” called Emily, and the red hot tornado quickly rose up and caught 
the Scyther inside, burning it until it popped out the top and landed in a 
group of trees.  
Cassie’s Persian growled at Abby’s Rhyhorn, to no avail, it was bigger, 
stronger, and it really didn’t care of its opponent.  
Scramble had started its battle on its own, so I quickly surveyed Abby’s, and 
thought about that Rhyhorn, she must have caught it in the Safari Zone, 
right?...  
I couldn’t get the answers from Abby since she probably wouldn’t know herself, 
but I wondered how she could have caught something like that, and not use it in 
defense against the Pokémon that attacked her, unless her Rhyhorn was the one 
to attack her, but that didn’t make sense, I quickly turned back to my battle 
as Scramble had been hit.  
“Fury Attack!” shouted Cassie, and the Persian scratched Armour constantly 
before biting down on its horn.  
Armour stomped around but couldn’t get the Persian to let go, it was more 
annoying than hurtful.  
“Horn Attack.” called Abby, and the horn that the Persian was clamped to was 
disconnected and shot forward, into a tree, and the Persian was nearly crushed 
between the two.  
“Take Down.”  
The Rhyhorn charged forward and came down on the Persian hard, cracking the 
tree and causing it to fall also.  
Finally, Claus’s Hitmonchan had used Agility to avoid Scramble’s Barrage 
attack, and was running towards it fast.  
“Mega Drain!”  
The concentrated attack shot forward and latched onto Knockout, draining its 
energy and transferring it to Scramble.  
“You’ve got it now, use Double Edge!”  
“Exegg-Cute!”  
The eggs shot forward but the Hitmonchan had initiated a Counter attack, and 
although hit by the individual eggs, it beat each one back with a powerful 
punch.  
“We’ve got them now Knockout, use Fire Punch!”  
The gloves on the Hitmonchan exploded into fiery energy, and it leaped upwards 
to finish the damaged eggs.  
“Confusion!” I shouted, and the eggs looked at their opponent and flung it into 
the group of trees that the other defeated Pokémon were at.  
“Either we’re getting better, or you’re getting worse.  I think its both 
actually.” I stated confidently.  
“You’re not getting you’re hands on these Pokémon, they’ve made their choice.” 
shouted Emily.  
“Pokémon don’t know how to make choices, that’s why people train them!” shouted 
Claus.  
“We’re not leaving without them.” said Cassie, activating a hidden device and 
dropping a net on us from above, it came from a small Butterfree robot that had 
floated above us during the battle.  
What followed was a couple of wires that specifically headed for the runaway 
Pokémon and tied them up, before heading towards the Rockets.  
“Whirl!!!”  
“Bell!!!”  
“Finish ‘em off.” grinned Cletus, pointing a finger at us, the three Pokémon 
followed and charged at us wildly.  
“Tails! Confuse Ray!” shouted Emily, and the Ninetales leapt in front of us and 
its eyes glowed.  
The enemy Pokémon weren’t quick enough to turn away, they slowly turned to each 
other, and started fighting.  
“Armour, lift this net.” called Abby, and the Rhyhorn used its horn to secure 
the net, and fling it upwards with its strength.  
Finally I pointed forward and said “Scramble, Confusion!”  
The small robot was flung into a tree and exploded, letting the two Pokémon go 
so they could run back to us.  
“Should we quit now?” questioned Cletus.  
“No! We can still win.” argued Cassie, as the Elites withdrew the fighting 
Pokémon and prepared to draw another.  
The Poliwhirl and Weepinbell stood in front of us, and fired off a powerful 
Water Gun and Razor Leaf attack, drenching the Rockets and then shooting sharp 
projectiles around which they barely avoided.  
“You’re right, let’s quit!” shouted Claus, and the three ran off again, “You 
can’t protect those Pokémon, there’s more to Team Rocket than us three!...”  
“Unfortunately, he’s right.” I sighed.  

A little later, and all the Pokémon in our possession were healed up, and we 
were ready to go.  
“Well, I guess its time to leave.” I stated.  
“Tetsubo.” called Abby.  
“I think you have an apology to make.” added Emily.  
They motioned for me to look at the two new Pokémon, still a little worried 
around me, I sighed, and knelt down to them, “I’m sorry, for not trusting you 
from the start, Bryan’s really turned my life upside down, but its not your 
fault you had such a bad trainer.  I trust you two, and you’re welcome to stay 
with us as long as you like.”  
“As long as you’re with me Whirlpool, I can train you from time to time, we 
don’t need a Pokéball for that.” comforted Emily.  
“The same goes for you Trap.” added Abby.  
“Well then, I think its about time we start moving, we can’t really hang about 
with Team Rocket on our tail more so than usual...” I announced.  

And thus ended another chapter of my journey, but with a twist, I never thought 
I’d be taking care of Bryan’s Pokémon, and that we’d be protecting them.  
Stranger things have happened, but we’d do our best to protect the Pokémon from 
a forced return to a life of crime.  

End of Chapter 40B  

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