Chapter 45:  Tough Love (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

“Eevee!” called out Eve, in hot pursuit of her baby Pokémon.  
Eve and I turned the corner of the shopping district, and entered the 
industrial area, before stopping, Eve’s Pokémon had stopped moving now, but 
there were other Pokémon to consider now.  
In front of the young Pokémon was a second Eevee and a small Meowth.  
“Those Pokémon...  I think I’ve seen them before...” I pondered, “Where have I 
seen an Eevee and a Meowth together?...”  
“I don’t know.” stated Eve, “But since its out here, I might as well...”  
“Eve, stop.” I said, pulling the hand with the fresh Pokéball in, “Its not 
wild, I’ve seen and battled that Eevee, those Pokémon belong to a woman with 
jet black hair and a violet dress.”  
“Eui!”  
“Meowth!”  
The Pokémon nodded wildly and desperately.  
“Something must have happened to her...”  
“Eui!” shouted the new Eevee, and it and the Meowth turned around and ran into 
one of the factories.  
“Why do I always let myself get dragged into these things?...” I sighed.  
“Well I’m going, I may not be able to catch it, but I want to make sure that 
Eevee is safe.” added Eve.  

As Abby fell, her Rhyhorn realised fully what was happening, it touched down 
against a wall and dived across the width of the chasm so that Abby landed on 
its back.  
“What are you...”  
The Rhyhorn’s feet landed hard on the ground, hard enough to break anyone’s 
legs, but this Pokémon’s bones were extremely tough, Abby was saved from the 
drop, but tumbled off the Rhyhorn and rolled a small distance before picking 
herself up.  
“Agh...  My ankle...” she groaned.  
Abby tried to stand, but the pain was intense and she soon collapsed.  
“Rhy...” said the Rhyhorn in concern.  
“Why?...  I told you...  I don’t want anything to do with you...  Don’t think 
saving me will rectify what you did to me...” she said, rejecting the Rhyhorn 
completely.  
“Rhy...” it argued.  
“I mean it! Once we get out of here, I’m going with Tetsubo and you can get by 
on your own.”  
“Rhy...” it growled, leaning against her so that she fell onto his back again, 
then he started walking up the steep hill of the cavern towards a sloping area 
that could be climbed...  

Eve and I entered the factory, and a seemingly abandoned one by the looks of 
it.  
Up ahead was a figure tied and gagged against a support pole, other than that, 
a strange occasional beeping sound could be heard every so often.  
As we neared closer, I recognised the person, it was the woman from Guyver Dam, 
the one who had claimed to have left the Rockets, and the one I’d battled and 
lost to.  
I ran to her and tore off the gag, while Eve started on the ropes.  
“Ughhh...” she groaned, “Who are...  You.”  
“Uh huh, and I have no idea of your name either.  What does it matter anyway? 
You’re obviously in trouble, that or you’re the victim of a practical joke.” I 
spoke.  
“Tetsubo, I’m having trouble with the ropes, help me out.” called Eve, and I 
obliged.  
“Kids like you shouldn’t be here, this is a dangerous place to be right now.” 
warned the woman.  
“How come?” I inquired.  
The woman rotated her head to the side briefly, and I looked in that direction 
to see a time bomb stuck on one of the walls.  
“Oh my...  Well I can’t just leave you here, we’re getting you out or not at 
all!” I said firmly.  
“Its your choice...” said a quiet female voice.  
A quick and painful strike threw me across the room, and I opened my eyes to 
see Eve crawling frantically towards me.  
I looked back towards the violet clothed woman to see who had hit me.  
With long blonde hair in a variety of styles, and a red and black futuristic 
leather uniform with a black mask that only covered the eyes, I recognised this 
person as someone from my past.  
“Bernadette?”  
“Hmmph.  It’s Burn.” she said firmly, “I suggest you ignore your choice and 
leave, this does not concern you.”  
“Don’t tell me, this woman ruined one of your secretive Shadow schemes and now 
you want revenge.” I guessed.  
“True.” she answered, I remembered how she spoke as little as possible.  
“Well I won’t let you get away with it.” I challenged.  
“Tetsubo, are you sure we stand a chance? Maybe we should-”  
“We’re staying, I managed to beat Wesley not too long ago, I can beat her too.” 
I said to Eve.  
“So it was you that prevented him from funding the Shadows? Looks like you’ll 
have to fry after all.” decided Burn.  
“Are you crazy?! That time bomb’s gonna destroy everyone, including you!” I 
shouted.  
“I know how much time is left, guess I’ll have to stall until then.  Go...” she 
said calmly, three Pokéballs between the fingers in one hand and hurling them 
simultaneously.  
“Rai...”  
“Nine...”  
“Maro...”  
A Raichu, a Ninetales and a Marowak, I was about to prepare to fight all three 
when Carrie and Emily ran into the factory.  
“Girls! Get out of here! Its dangerous!” I shouted.  
“All the more reason to protect my sister!” replied Carrie, and she and Emily 
unleashed a Pokémon, so I did the same.  
“Niii!!!” screamed Nina, now evolved into a Nidoqueen.  
“Ivy-Saur!” roared Solar.  
“Star!” yelled Twinkill.  
“Bedazzle, Forbidden, Impact, fight them.” ordered Burn.  
“RAI!!!” screamed Bedazzle, and swung its tail, shooting many Thunder Wave 
projectiles at once, the personality trait was very much full of rage, probably 
a trait in Burn but hidden away.  
Carrie’s Nidoqueen went on a run, getting hit by each one deliberately in order 
to protect us, and then using Body Slam on the Raichu.  
It rolled aside and was only partially hurt, and then used a Mega Punch to make 
Nina stumble back.  
She roared out, and stomped the ground, causing a minor tremor which dealt 
Ground-type damage to the Raichu.  
Emily was a little distracted from her battle as she gazed at the Nidoqueen, 
obviously remembering her own.  
Solar used Vine Whip to slap against Impact the Marowak, and followed up with 
Razor Leaf, but in the process, its bone was thrown and spun right through the 
flurry of leaves with great accuracy and hit the Ivysaur dead on, causing lots 
of damage due to its Poison-type weakness to Ground attacks.  
“Sleep Powder!” called Emily, and a swarm of blue dust was created from the 
Ivysaur’s bulb and approached the Marowak, who had retrieved its bone.  
It easily spun it round with great speed to blow the dust away, but Solar 
charged into it while it did so.  
It fell back and Solar growled at it, provoking it into throwing its bone 
again.  
Solar leapt over the projectile, and unleashed a small seed, which fell on the 
Marowak and exploded into many vines which tangled it up, before draining the 
life out of it.  
Finally, Twinkill was dodging around many waves of Fire Spin tornadoes.  
It attacked Forbidden with a powerful Psychic attack, but in an instant, the 
Ninetales had disappeared.  
The force of the attack tore apart the metal floor, and my Staryu backed off, 
but was hit from behind by an effective Quick Attack from the Ninetales.  
“Use Surf!” I called.  
“Staryu!” it yelled unleashing a wide range water blast then splashed down on 
the Ninetales like a small tidal wave.  
It decided to add a Double Edge to the mix, and sent the Ninetales tumbling 
back to its owner, along with its two other Pokémon allies.  
“I suggest you leave this place Burn, you’ve lost, and there isn’t much time 
left.” I threatened.  
“There’s still time, and I will make sure you’re here when it runs out.” said 
Burn, adopting a fighting stance and drawing out two strange weapons.  
She charged at me in a rage, too fast for me to react to and making me 
instinctively block with my arms and shut my eyes, but the impact never came.  
Burn had leapt back at the last moment, and hurled her blade-like boomerangs at 
the bomb.  
They cut across it and returned to her, and the results followed:  The bomb 
exploded, and the wall crumbled, causing the entire factory to shake 
violently.  
“That’ll teach you to interfere with the Shadows.” gloated Burn as she ran for 
a window and dived through, leaving us in a huge collapsing warehouse...  

Abby remained silent as the/ her Rhyhorn clambered up the cavern while she was 
slumped over its back.  
“What are you doing? Let me off, this isn’t going to make me feel any different 
about you, I’ve made up my mind, I won’t forgive you for making me this 
way...”  
Abby thought to herself, if the accident hadn’t happened, she’d be whoever she 
was, with all her memories, but was it really that bad when considering all the 
good that had seemingly come from it?  
She was young, but her new persona was a lot more adult, she wasn’t lonely 
anymore and had friends, and would surely find her family and make things 
right.  
But it didn’t excuse what Armour had done, he’d attacked her, a helpless girl, 
and she now remembered it clearly, she stopped trying to think of any reasons 
to justify what he’d done and remained in silence.  
This would be the last favour Armour did out of guilt for her...  

I turned to the hostage, and before I could make it back there, debris came 
falling down and blocked us off from her.  
“Girls, maybe you should leave, I’ll do what I can to save that woman.” I said, 
and they quickly left, although they had anxious and worried expressions on 
their faces.  
I quickly thought about what to do, I could climb the fallen metal, but it 
would take too long, that and the only space in the twisted metal was fairly 
small, so only a Pokémon would get through in time.  
“Eui!” cried out the woman’s Eevee.  
“Meowth!” shouted her Meowth.  
Time seemed to slow as I raced through my options, I couldn’t seem to think 
straight or make a decision of which Pokémon to bring out, so I turned away 
from my Pokéballs and thought about the woman’s own Pokémon and which one of 
them to send.  
“The Pokémon?” I pondered.  
The Meowth had its claws to tear the ropes, but it was hurt and probably 
wouldn’t have the speed it should, the Eevee on the other hand probably had the 
speed to get to the other side, but not the strength nor cutting power.  
The metal was too much for any Pokémon to break through in such a short time, 
so the window that Burn exited through would be the only other escape.  
Suddenly the solution hit me, well, more like a memory.  
In thinking about the violet woman’s Pokémon, I remembered our battle, and 
something the woman said:  

“Don’t worry Flash, I’ll find a Thunder Stone for you soon...”  

“That’s it!” I shouted, and frantically reached into my bag and drew out the 
Thunder Stone I’d won in Slate Town, “Flash, you can evolve with this and save 
your trainer!”  
“Eui!” it shouted in agreement, and turned towards the mess while I planted the 
stone against its back.  
It quickly glowed white and emerged with a yellow and spiky coat.  
“Jolt!” it shouted, and shot forward with a Quick Attack.  
I could see this was the right choice, and left things in the Jolteon’s capable 
paws, so I grabbed the Meowth, and dashed towards the large doorway of the 
factory where my friends stood, shouting many things in fear for me.  
I glanced back occasionally and saw the Jolteon tearing apart the ropes with a 
Pin Missile attack, before more debris fell and prevented me from seeing, more 
debris fell in front of us, making me turn awkwardly a couple of times.  
Before I made it out, a loud rumbling occurred directly above me, and debris 
was about to fall on top of me, but two vines wrapped around me and yanked me 
out at the last moment, and I was soon staring at the pleased face of an 
Ivysaur, while the factory behind me collapsed and fell down totally.  
I breathed a sigh of relief, before turning back.  
“What happened to that woman?!” I questioned.  
“I’m right here.” she said calmly, walking along a rocky path on a higher level 
with her Jolteon, her Meowth struggled free of my hold and scampered up the 
rocks and onto its trainer’s shoulder.  
“You okay?” I called.  
“Nothing broken.” she replied, referring to some small cuts, but nothing to be 
worried about.  
“Don’t I get a word of gratitude?” I asked.  
“I’m not really one for that sort of thing.” she answered, and turned away from 
me.  
“Can’t I at least get your name? I evolved your Eevee and saved your life!”  
“... Yeah, thanks for that.” she answered, and leapt down the rocks to a lower 
level, out of our sights.  
“Should have asked for her name first.” I sighed, she didn’t seem like the type 
who appreciated company, or the friendly type, but she was a person and 
deserved to be rescued.  
I know we’d come to know her as an ex-Rocket, but as long as she remained that 
way, I wouldn’t give her any hassle.  
“Tetsubo, who was that woman anyway? Why did that other Shadow person want her 
to perish?” asked Emily.  
“Oh right, you weren’t there when we first met.” I realised, before shutting 
myself up as I remembered Carrie’s general attitude towards Rockets.  
“I’ll tell you later.”  
“Oh Sis, that was so cool!” cheered Eve, “We should hang out with Mister 
Tetsubo more, he’s always getting into adventures like this!”  
“I think it’d be best if you stayed clear of these ‘adventures’ Eve.” sighed 
Carrie, “No offence meant Tetsubo.”  
“None taken.” I smiled, “Thanks for helping us out there, I see you’re still 
progressing as a trainer.”  
“I’d request another battle with you, but quite frankly, that little incident 
is about as much excitement as I can take in one day.” explained Carrie.  
“What about last time?” I grinned.  
“This incident doesn’t compare with the one in Stone Town, besides, if you want 
to get even, I’m sure we’ll get the chance to do so in the Pokémon League.” she 
answered.  
“I promise I’ll be there.” I said, shaking Carrie’s hand once more.  
“It was nice to meet you Emily, I hope you two get your act together before we 
next meet.”  
“Me too.” grinned Emily, while I turned away in discomfort.  
“Bye Mister!...”  
Carrie and Eve departed, leaving me and Emily alone with mixed feelings.  
“Um, Tetsubo...  About before...”  
“That reminds me.” I interrupted, “We should check on Abby...”  

Light finally hit Abby after being in the caves for a while, and the Rhyhorn 
now walked on flat ground, and carefully lowered itself down to grant Abby her 
wish of being off Armour.  
“I don’t need your help in getting back, just leave.” she spat.  
“Rhy...” it sighed, and went away in a slow charge.  
Abby tried to get up, but her ankle hurt, “Maybe I should have let him escort 
me back to town.  Stupid...”  
“Yes, you really are.” said the sinister voice of Willy Screwloose, and the 
hulking Tentacruel robot leapt in front of Abby once more, “Hand over your 
remaining Pokéballs.”  
“You shouldn’t have been so hard on your Rhyhorn, you’ll find that most wild 
Pokémon are known to attack those that threaten to capture them, that’s why 
trainers have Pokémon to protect them.” gloated Billy.  
“Still, its interesting how she somehow managed to catch the Rhyhorn when it 
supposedly injured and knocked her out.” pondered Willy.  
“Kinda like the soaps and their plot twists, still, its not as strong as we 
thought, it only ever obeyed you out of guilt, we’d never want a Pokémon so 
full of compassion that it’d do that! Its weak-willed to be doing what it 
does!” said Billy, sharing his thoughts.  
Abby gasped, “They’re right...  I don’t know how I caught Armour, but unlike 
some Pokémon, he changed after he was caught, he stood by me all this time to 
protect me, and to make up for what he’d done...  That’s more than some Pokémon 
will ever do for their trainers.  Armour tried to make things right, and I sent 
him away and doomed myself...  Armour...  I’m sorry!...” realised Abby, 
lowering her head in shame.  
The brothers laughed, but obviously weren’t paying attention as Armour came out 
of hiding and came down on their machine, denting its main head and causing 
havoc to its systems.  
“Do something!” screamed Willy.  
A mechanical claw slammed down, but Armour had moved and so it did further 
damage to the head, cutting into it, shattering the glass screen and nearly 
cutting the brothers if not for their seating arrangements, but a second hand 
appeared and swatted Armour in mid air so it crashed hard into the mountain 
wall and tumbled to the floor.  
“Armour...” groaned Abby.  
“Rhy...” it groaned, out of strength from all the damage it had received 
today.  
The brothers then proceeded to fire a large blast of water at the Rhyhorn to 
finish it off, but Abby screamed out, and scrambled in front of Armour as the 
shot was fired...  
“Don’t worry Armour...  I’m sorry and I forgive you...  Now its my turn to 
protect you...”  
“Rhy?...”  
The water hit Abby hard, and sent her spiralling into the air to a great 
height, the impact upon landing would kill her.  
Armour stared wide-eyed at Abby, who had seemingly sacrificed herself for him, 
he hadn’t exactly been protecting Abby out of guilt, but out of fear for the 
one that had forced him to, on the other hand, some part of Armour did want to 
make up for hurting Abby, since being with her had changed Armour’s attitude 
and personality, protecting Abby was what it wanted to do it had realised 
today, and after seeing Abby hurt, it picked itself up and roared out more than 
it ever had before, and forced its evolution...  
Armour glowed white, and changed from an animal stance, to that of a human’s, 
its horn grew much bigger, and it developed hand-like front paws, and tough 
body armour.  
“RHYDON!!!” it roared out.  
“Aw no...” groaned the brothers, almost petrified at the situation.  
Armour turned and quickly ran towards Abby’s destination, and took a massive 
leap to catch her.  
“Uggghhh...” she groaned as she opened her eyes to a whole new Pokémon, 
“Armour?...”  
“Don...” it answered.  
“I’m sorry for everything I said...  Do you have the strength to fight those 
brothers?”  
“RHY!!!” it cried out, and put Abby down gently, and then charged at the 
brother’s robot.  
They both screamed out in panic.  
“Fire another water blast!” shouted Billy.  
“There’s no time! Run away!” panicked Willy.  
The robot turned and scuttled away in the opposite direction but Armour 
wouldn’t let them off so easily, and caught up to the two and hit it hard.  
The robot shattered and the brothers were launched into the air and 
disappeared.  
“Abby!” I called out, sliding down a small ravine in control, “I just saw the 
end of that, you okay?”  
“Gosh.” exclaimed Emily, “Look at Armour.  Whatever it was was enough to make 
it evolve.”  
“My ankle’s twisted, but otherwise, I’ll be okay soon enough...” said Abby with 
a light smile as I helped her up, and nearly dropped her due to her own 
weakness but obviously trying to hide it.  
“Armour...  Re, Return...” she said happily, and her Rhydon seemed to actually 
express some happiness as it was recalled into its Pokéball.  
“Well, I guess its for the best you handled things on your own, we’ve had our 
own adventure already.  Did your time away from us give you the space you 
needed to work things out with your Rhyhorn, I mean Rhydon?” I stated.  
“Yes, it really did.” smiled Abby slightly.  
“Care to tell me about it?” I inquired.  
“Perhaps another time...” sighed Abby.  
I sighed and shrugged as I helped Abby onto my back and began our trip back to 
Ocean Town, we’d all been worn out by our separate adventures today, and 
tomorrow, we’d begin our search for a ship that would surely take us to 
Cinnabar Island, and onwards to retrieve my final Gym Badge, and my entry to 
the Pokémon League...  

End of Chapter 45B  

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