Chapter 4

The Elders

Seafoam Islands-

            The villagers all looked at them in silence.  Red stood with a smile on his face, flanked by Blue who had her arms crossed.  The elder was an old man.  Older than Professor Oak, thought Red.  He had a big walking stick that had three ancient-looking Poke-balls hanging from the top.

            “You want to go across the river, and up the sacred mountain of Ice?” he asked in a low, crumbly voice that once might have been commanding. They stood on the beach and all around the trainers and villagers fires blazed to keep the cold away. “Tell me why you want to go.”

            “I want to find out what’s causing all of this strange weather.  If it’s a Pokémon, I want to battle it and capture it,” Red answered confidently.  Whispers rushed through the mass of villagers.  The elder put his hand and the voices hushed at once.

            “And what of your friend, the young lady? Why does she wish to climb Ice?”

            Red was taken aback.  What kind of question was that? Tony said he was just going to have to battle the Elder and be on his way.  It was a sure thing; Red had six badges.  Well, two I got from stopping Team Rocket, not from battling the Gym Leader.  But then again, judging from those Poke-balls at the top of the elder’s walking stick, his Pokémon must be experienced in battle.  Why then, did he need to know why Blue wanted to go up the mountain?

            “If I don’t go, this guy is probably going to slip and fall off of a cliff,” she motioned her thumb at Red.  Most of the villagers gasped in shock at the smart remark, but some laughs could be heard as well.  Red could hear Tony snort in laughter beside him. 

            “Very well then,” croaked the elder.  “It is not my place to judge your reason why, but still you must prove yourself worthy to climb the mountain as well.  Both of you will-“

            Tony cut the elder off.  “I’m sorry, sir, for interrupting, sir.”  He cleared his throat.  “I’d like to go too.”

            This time it was the elder who had to conceal a smile on his face.  “You?  Tony, I never knew you were so adventurous.  This is certainly a surprise.”

            “Lazy Tony! Fat Tony! Stupid Tony!” came voices from the crowd, and the laughter was enormous.  Tony hung his head in shame, and Golduck patted him on the back.  Blue looked disgusted, and Red couldn’t contain himself.

            “All three of us are going up the mountain, and we’re all going to beat you!”

            “Very well, let’s hesitate no loner,” chuckled the elder.  “Three trainers, three Pokémon each. Make room everybody!”

            The villagers walked out and surrounded the ring of bonfires, leaving only the elder on one end of the beach and Red, Blue, and Tony on the other end. 

            “Ladies first?” asked Red.

            “Gladly,” said Blue.

            The elder took a Poke-ball down off of his staff and released the Pokémon inside of it.  It was a giant crab-like Pokémon, and Red saw Blue open her Pokedex as Red used his ‘dex to identify it as Kingler.  It was red with large pincers, as large as a human’s face, and stood four feet tall. 

            “A Water-type Pokémon, huh?” smirked Blue.  “Let’s go then, show us what you’ve got, Venusaur!”  Out of Blue’s ball materialized the gigantic four-legged green monster.  From foot to head, it was as tall as Kingler but the giant flower on its back stretched its height to at least six feet tall.  Its eyes found Kingler’s and it roared menacingly.

            The Pokémon she got from Professor Oak, thought Red.  Even hers has evolved.  Not to mention Green’s Charizard. Inside, he wondered when Wartortle would finally reach its evolutionary pinnacle.

            The village elder wasted no time, he stomped his foot on the ground and pointed his walking stick forward.  “Attack!” he commanded.  Kingler’s four skinny legs moved through the sand deceptively quick as it skated towards Venusaur.

            “Keep your distance with Vine Whip!” yelled Blue.  Venusaur shot its twin vines out at the giant crab Pokémon, but Kingler simply grabbed a hold of them with its powerful pincers with a flurry of its arms and Blue’s flower Pokémon grunted in pain.

            That Pokemon’s seen many battles. Red knew that this old man and his Pokémon were not to be taken lightly.  He might even be tougher than some Gym leaders.

            Suddenly Kingler pulled back on the vines and used them to launch itself towards Venusaur.  Big Venusaur couldn’t move out of the way fast enough, so it braced for impact.

            “Hit it with your Crabhammer!” Kingler brought its larger right claw down like a club on the Grass type Pokemon’s head with such ferocity that it sent Venusaur skidding backwards, its feet digging into the sand. 

            Red was checking Venusaur’s moves in his Pokedex.  Solarbeam, he thought.  If only the sun was out so that Venusaur could use its ultimate attack.

            Kingler wasted no time.  It attacked Venusaur mercilessly from all angles.  Finally Blue was able to get a command in when her Pokémon was able to hip-check Kingler and send it bouncing off towards the outer ring of fires. 

            “Try a Razor Leaf!”

            This time, Kingler couldn’t even get close.  Venusaur turned towards it and launched the vicious barrage of razor sharp leaves from under the petals of the flower on its back.  Kingler was able to catch and slice some of them with its fast moving arms, but in the end most of the leaves hit the intended target.  Venusaur rotated like a turret wherever Kingler tried to scurry to, and in a matter of seconds it collapsed from the Razor Leaves.  Venusaur let out a prideful roar.

            “Way to go, Venusaur,” said Blue.  “Return! Red?”

            Red slapped her hand with a high five, and took his turn across from the village elder.  He recalled the fainted crab back into its Poke-ball before releasing his second Pokémon, a three-foot tall pink Pokémon with a spiral shell biting its tail. Red already had his Pokedex out, ready.

            Slowbro, Water/Psychic.  This Pokémon was once thought by humans to be able to cause the rainy seasons. 

            “Let’s go, then, Pikachu!” Pikachu appeared from Red’s Poke-ball on all fours, cheeks sparking in angst. “Hit it with a Thunderbolt!”

            Pikachu’s body erupted with electricity as it sent powerful waves of sparks towards Slowbro, who for some reason just stood there with a stupid look on its face.  Was it even trying to avoid the attack? At the last possible second, Red thought he saw a flicker in Slowbro’s eye as it reflected the sparks back towards Pikachu.  Luckily, the yellow mouse dodged its own attack. 

            “All, right if electricity won’t work, let’s try a quick attack!” coached Red.  Pikachu shot like a dart straight at Slowbro, who once again stood there looking just as peaceful as ever… until Pikachu came within a millimeter of striking it.  It was surrounded by an aura of pink energy and hurtled backwards through the air.  Red breathed a sigh of relief when it managed to regain control of its body and twist out of the way of a tree slightly beyond the ring of fire. 

            “Try zig-zagging!” commanded Red.  Slowbro’s reaction time was obviously slow, so maybe if its eyes didn’t have time to focus on Pikachu, he couldn’t repel it.  To Red’s dismay, zigzagging just sent Pikachu spinning and reeling.  Disoriented and frustrated, Pikachu sparked its cheeks in anger. 

            Suddenly, Red got an idea.  “Pikachu, use the Double-team technique!” Pikachu leapt from side to side extremely fast until to the naked eye it appeared like there was two of it.  The twin Pikachu’s charged Slowbro, zigzagging and crossing each other’s paths.  Slowbro, however, put a stop to that.  It reached out with both of its hands as soon as they closed in on either side of it as the Pikachu were about to make.  The elder smiled.

            “A novice trainer’s trick,” he remarked.

            “Think again,” smirked Red.  The elder frowned as he saw that both of the Pikachu that Slowbro had “punched” were illusions,  and that a third, real Pikachu had leapt out of the air to land on Slowbro’s head.  Pikachu unleashed a powerful shock of electricity that left its cheeks smoking like the fires around the battlefield. 

            Sadly, Slowbro just stood there, unphased.  Pikachu looked frustrated again; it had just used up a great deal of its electricity in the attack. 

            “Just try it one more-” Red was stunned to see Slowbro collapse onto its side.  It didn’t even raise its arms or stumble to break the fall.  Slowbro still had the stupid look on its face when the elder recalled it.  Red walked towards where Blue and Tony were waiting, and Blue gave him another high-five.  He grabbed Tony by the arm and pull him close to tell him in his ear.  “Just believe in your Pokémon and yourself.”  Tony tried to crack a smile, but Red still saw the uncertainty in his eyes.  Golduck turned to Red and gave him a thumbs up, though.

            “Tony, are you sure you want to go through with this? You don’t need to do this,” said the elder, as if he was talking to a child.  Tony looked like he was about to turn back when someone else beyond the ring of fire called “Stupid Tony, you’re no battler!” 

            Tony looked around for the voice, but his eyes found Golduck.  “Believe in my Pokémon,” he actually cracked a smile, Red observed. 

            The final Pokémon the elder released was a strange one.  It stood four feet tall; it had a dark purple face with a body that looked like a red dress and lipstick, but its hair was blonde. 

            “It looks like an ugly opera singer,” Red quietly said to Blue. 

            “It’s a Jynx,” said Blue, not amused with the joke.  She was reading from her Pokedex.  “It’s a dual Ice/Psychic type that likes to confuse its foes with strange kiss-related moves before freezing them with its icy attacks.”

            Jynx danced around the sand. Its shadow looked like a chubby belly dancer flickering on the sand.  As soon as it reached Golduck, it smooched the blue duck on the beak.  Red didn’t know what was going to happen next, and he noticed Blue frowning.  An awkward silence followed.

            “Fat Tony and stupid Golduck!” came a voice from an especially cruel villager outside the ring.  Red’s eyes were transfixed on the two Pokémon standing in the sand, Jynx’s lips still on Golduck’s beak.

            As if the sound of its partner being insulted one too many times awakened something inside of it.  Golduck quickly punched Jynx in the face.  The chubby dancer grabbed for its eyes in pain, but Golduck round-house kicked it in the side, knocking Jynx into the sand.  Then, Golduck grabbed Jynx by the hair and butted heads with it until the elder’s Pokémon had lost consciousness. 

            Golduck seemed to know exactly where the scathing voices that insulted is partner were coming from, so it grabbed Jynx by the hair again, spun around, and launched it towards the villager who was rude earlier.  Red and Blue both laughed as they heard “I take it back! Aaaaaah! SMACK”

            The village elder was stunned.  “I… I guess you can go up the sacred mountain of Ice,” he said.  Red patted Tony on the back in approval, as the three trainers began to make for the far mountain.  The villagers all moved out of the way, shocked at what they just witnessed. 

            “How did Golduck not get affected by the kiss?” asked Red.

            “I dunno, I guess it’s just super awesome!” remarked Tony slapping his belly. 

            “Because,” interjected Blue as she pointed to Golduck who had sat down to admire some wild flowers that were growing on the edge of the island’s forest.  “Golduck is a girl.”

            Tony let out an “ooooooooh” in understanding as Golduck picked a flower, and gave Blue a thumbs-up. 

Somewhere on a plane-

            Bump.  The landing gear began to deploy as the plane made its descent into the airport.  The Rocket Boss sat on the private jet next to his second in command.  Well, the former Rocket Boss, but he hadn’t told his man his plans for resignation yet.  Sylvester was a hard man, determined, yet and the Boss had sent him on a mission in the Johto region when he tried to secure the Master Ball from Silph Co as a precaution.

            “It seems you were right to set this plan B,” said Sylvester.  “Not only did we get you out safely, but we may have found something in the Johto region that may be of interest to you.”

            The Boss just stared out the window.  How was he going to break the news to the man?  He was humiliated.  As fast as he rose to power and held Saffron City for ransom, it all came crumbling down thanks to the Elite Four and those kids…

            A third man entered the cabin after getting a drink.  He was dressed in an expensive black suit with gold lining.  “Let’s get down to business, then, shall we?”

            Sylvester must have sensed the Boss’s tension.  He gave the Boss a look that said “I didn’t invite him, but I couldn’t stop him.”

            The man in the gold-trimmed suit poured three drinks.  “So now that you have failed in your mission to capture the Master Ball, how do you plan on repaying me back?”

            “Why don’t you tell us how you really feel, Banker?” asked Sylvester, scathingly. 

            “I feel poor,” said the Banker.  “There are many other people who want my money, and for now they must be on hold while I leant you the money to start and fund Team Rocket.  Time’s up, Giovanni.  We both know it.”

            Somehow, the Banker was putting the screws to the Boss.  As part of the deal to get the start-up loan for Team Rocket, the Banker was informed about everything they were planning to do.  Either the Boss informed him, or he found out other ways.  The Banker always had other ways of finding things out. 

            The door to the plane hissed as it opened and the Banker, drink in hand was the first to exit, followed by the Boss and Sylvester.  Ahead, another plane awaited the Boss to take him to his final destination. 

            “You stay with this plane, Sylvester,” he said. 

            “Sir?”

            “The Elite Four are surely chasing after me.  That dratted Lance and his persistence...  I need to escape, and I’m afraid I won’t be joining you again.”

            They stopped suddenly, the Banker had a good poker face, but the Boss could recognize anger when he saw it. 

            “I’m disbanding Team Rocket, there’s no way I can do this anymore.”

            The Boss continued to walk towards his second plane.  The Banker tried to follow, but the waiting pilot put a hand on his well-ironed suit. 

            “Don’t tell me the big bad Rocket has had a change of heart.  What about the money you owe?” he asked, his voice rising. 

            “To heck with your money,” said the Boss as the second plane’s door closed and the pilot prepared for takeoff.  The Boss’s eyes met the banker’s and he knew there would be no turning back now.  The new plane began to move and out of the window he could see the Banker turn towards Sylvester, but his former second-in-command was already sprinting back towards the other plane. 

            The Boss hoped Sylvester wouldn’t do anything rash, but then again, he probably would.  The former Rocket Boss was always good at running and hiding, but he had one last thing to do before he could go into hiding forever. 

            Nobody had ever left a debt to the Banker unpaid.  “Until now,” said the Rocket Boss as he took a drink.