Chapter 16

Poachers

-Griffin-

"Good to have you back, bro!" Liam patted my shoulder.

Shortly after my visit with Mewtwo, a rescue team found me and I was reunited with my friends.

We decided that we had enough of Lavender Town and we had set out to Saffron City.

"Good to be back!" I grinned.

"Yeah," Zoey said, "And if you ever try something like that again, I'm gonna kill you!"

She kicked me in the shin and grabbed me by the collar.

"Got it?" She barked.

"It wasn't my fault I was carried away by a Skarmory." I protested weakly as I rubbed my shin.

"Do. You. Understand?" She asked again as she wound up for another kick.

"I completely understand! It won't happen again!" I squeaked.

"Good." Zoey released me and walked a few paces ahead of us.

"Looks like the old Zoey is back." I muttered to Liam.

"You should have seen her when we were looking for you. She almost started crying over you." Liam whispered.

I was stunned. "Really?"

"Would I lie about something like that?"

"I guess not." I admitted.

Did Zoey care that much about me? I became lost in my own thoughts. I still needed to tell Liam and Zoey about Mewtwo and what he told me.

"Hey guys!" I said.

"What?" Zoey turned around.

I sighed and told them every detail about Mewtwo visit.

"Wow." Liam fell back on his butt.

"Why would they want to destroy the region?" Zoey shook her head.

"I don't know why. But as long as they don't have Mewtwo or their machine running then they can't go through with their plan." I said.

"They also have Asher." Liam pointed out solemnly.

"They do." I sat down beside the dirt road.

"How about an early lunch?" Zoey smiled.

"That would be divine." I grinned.

"When are you gonna evolve Nuz with that Leafstone Mr. Fuji gave you?" Liam asked.

My finger tapped on the Leafstone in my pocket. Mr. Fuji gave it to me for all the trouble that thief caused.

"I'll let Nuz decided. But not right now. Yo, Zoey, what's for lunch?"

She held up a box of macaroni and cheese.

My eyes widened. "Yesssssssss. I'll go get water!"

"I'll go get firewood!" Liam announced.

We bumped fists and went off to do our jobs.

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-Liam-

I decide to let my Pokemon get some fresh air while I looked for wood. Sandy tugged my sleeve as I bent down to grab a leafy stick.

"What is it?" I asked.

Sandy pointed to a wide open area near a drop off.

"I don't know if you can play there. You could fall down that hill." I said.

Sandy gave me a pleading look. I tried ignore her but her eyes only got bigger and sadder.

"Alright but be careful." I finally said.

Sandy let out a satisfied yip and ran off with the rest of my Pokemon. I hummed as I gathered more wood. I loved being out here, in the wilderness. I loved every part o the woods. The smell of pine needles, the fresh, clean air, I love it all.

I heard a cry from my Pokemon.

"Saaaandshreeeew!"

I immediately dropped my bundle of wood and ran towards my Pokemon. Krokorok, Donphan, and Cubone had shocked expressions on their faces. I looked down the hill and saw Sandy tumbling down it. Donphan was getting ready to roll his way down there. Donphan was really protective over Sandy.

"No," I stopped him,"stay here. I'll go after her."

I slid down the hill. Dirt kicked up in my face and I lost track of Sandy. I reached the bottom of the hill. Sandy was nowhere around. Oh Arceus, where could she be?

"Sandy! Sandy!" I called out.

There was no answer. Panic spread through my body like a wildfire. Where was she? How could I have lost her? I kept calling her name and searched near the foot of the hill. Tears started to come to my eyes. I lost her. She was only a few feet away from me.

"Ahem." Someone said.

I turned around and saw a girl my age. She had tan skin and pitch black hair that was in a messy pony tail. Her eyes were a warm brown color. She wore baggy cargo pants and a yellow t-shirt.

"Is she yours?" She asked.

I took notice of my Sandshrew in her arms.

"Sandy!" I exclaimed as she jumped into my arms.

"Do you have any idea how scared she was?" The girl asked coldly.

"I just-"

"How could you have lost her? Do you even care about your Pokemon?"

"I do! I just lost track of her. I'm not a bad trainer." I mumbled weakly.

She stopped scolding me and her face softened into a smile.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Liam Miller."

"Name's Mia Gardner, I train Grass-Types and I'm a Pokemon Ranger."

"Really? No way!" I said in awe.

"Yes way. I'm one of the youngest in our division." She said proudly.

I was about to say something else but I was interrupted by a loud grumbling noise. Mia snickered.

"Sorry. I'm a bit famished." She admitted.

"Do you like Mac and cheese?"

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-Griffin-

I sat cross legged on the ground, while shoveling spoonfuls of macaroni in my mouth. We were eating lunch with a girl named Mia, who was a Pokemon Ranger. I was unsure of her at first but she seems okay. I could tell Zoey was excited to have another girl to talk to but Mia seemed more interested in talking to Liam.

"Liam and her have really hit it off." I whispered to Zoey.

She smiled. "Seems like it."

"So what are you doing all the way out here, when the Ranger base is in Fuchsia City?" Liam asked Mia.

"Well," she said slowly,"I'm on a mission to stop some Pokemon poachers around this area. I know where their base is and I've found one of their traps."

"We could totally help you out! After all, you did save Sandy!" Liam offered.

"That would be great!" Mia grinned.

"I'm sorry but we can't help you." I finally spoke up.

I put my empty bowl aside and saw the confused expressions of everyone.

"What do you mean?" Zoey questioned.

"Griffin, we can help her out." Liam scowled at me.

"No we can't." I stood up.

"And why's that?" Liam asked as he also stood up.

"We have more important things to do." I said.

"Like what?" Mia asked.

"Like maybe saving my brother's life and the entire Kanto region."

"Griffin, we have to help her." Liam said.

"We can't just stop our mission every time someone's in a little bit of trouble. I don't mean to sound like an asshole but I would rather save my brother than stop some poachers!" I yelled.

"Asher can wait!" Liam snapped.

"Shut up, Liam! You don't know what it's like to have a brother! Asher could be being tortured by those psychos as we speak! He could even be dead! I haven't seen him in almost a year and you just want me to drop everything because some girl with a sob story showed up. We are in a race against the clock, we can just treat this like we're having an adventure. I've realized that now and you should to."

"You know this is the right thing to do!"

"Liam, the right thing to do is to save this entire region. They could move forward with their plan at any moment. Now, I'm leaving with or without you!"

There was a long, painful moment of silence. I didn't mean to be so hard on Liam but it was the truth. I looked to Zoey who was staring at the ground. My eyes went back to Liam. He was in disbelief.

"Fine, I guess I'm on my own." I said.

I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder and started walking away.

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-Zoey-

I can't believe he just left. After all we had been through; he left. I understand his need to find his brother but I didn't think he would go off on his own. We just reunited and we already lost him.

I wanted to go with Griffin so badly but I felt like I had to stay with Liam and Mia.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Mia said. "In about a half an hour, the hunters will check their traps. There's four poachers all together. I'll take Liam to traps they check frequently. We'll ambush ambush them and take 'em out. The other two that don't check the traps will come see what's up and then Zoey will free the Pokemon they have in their trucks. Any questions?"

Liam and I shook our heads. Mia gave me directions to their camp and we split up in different directions. I hunched over as I maneuvered through the forest. I spotted a clearing with two gray trucks. Two rough looking men were leaning up against them and smoking cigarettes. I watched them for maybe ten minutes when the roar of a Pokemon battle rang through the air.

The two men dropped their cigarettes and started talking frantically. I was too far away to understand them. Both of them ran off into the forest. This was my chance. I sprinted towards the cargo hold of the trucks. Both of the doors were locked with a chain and a padlock.

I opens up the door to one of the truck cabs and searched around for a key. I scanned the dashboard and found nothing. I opened the glove box. It was filled with papers and cigarette packs. I threw all of them aside until I spotted a rusty old key.

I ran back to the locked door of the truck. I slid the key in the keyhole and turned it. The lock popped off and I pulled off the chain. I swung the metal doors open. A dozen cages filled with terrified Pokemon were in the darkness of the truck. The poor things looked as though they hasn't seen daylight in awhile.

I walked over to a cage filled with Nidorans both male and female. I paused. I could still here Mia and Liam battling it out with those thugs. I quickly unlocked the cage with the same key. The Pokemon gave me a look of gratitude then scampered off. I unlocked all of the other cages in a flash. The variety of Pokemon ran off into the wilderness.

I jumped out of the truck and did the same thing to other one. An Ursaring and its Teddiursa gave me a wave and ran off with the other Pokemon I set free.

"Ya did good, Zoey. Ya did good." I said to myself.

"What have you done?" A man screeched.

I whirled around and saw one of the Pokemon hunters. He had a look of pure rage. He grabbed a knife off of his belt. My heart started beating rapidly as I back up deeper into the truck.

"I'm gonna kill you!" The man screamed.

He raised the knife in the air. I was frozen in place. I wanted to fight back but I was too afraid.

"Hex, Ice Beam!" A familiar voice shouted.

Suddenly, the man's arm was plastered to the wall of the truck in a sheet of ice. Griffin jumped up into the truck and punched the man until his was unconscious. The man was bleeding at the lip and the nose. Griffin's hand was covered in blood and he wouldn't stop panting. Hex went up to him and gently nudged him. He looked down at his Pokemon then to me.

I was breathing about as heavily as he was.

"A-are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I nodded,"W-why did you come back?"

"I knew it was the right thing to do."

I heard running footsteps coming towards us. Griffin, Hex, and I got out the truck. Mia and Griffin ran towards us.

"Sorry we let that one get away. Are you okay, Zoey? Did that creep hurt you?" Mia said.

I said nothing and watched as both Mia and Liam's gazes fell upon Griffin.

"Look," Griffin said,"I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean any of that. It's just that I don't want anything to happen to Asher, but I don't want anything to happen to you guys either. I have no chances of taking down the thieves myself which is why I think we need to stick together. Besides, knowing Asher, he's probably fine. Liam, we still bros?"

"Yeah, man." Liam offered his fist for a fist bumped.

I accepted it with a smile.

"Hey, if you guys don't mind. I'd like to help with your crusade to stop these people. Liam told me all about it. If there's a Pokemon in trouble, I'm on the case!" Mia said.

"We're glad to have you!" I grinned.

"What are we gonna do with these dirtbags?" Griffin questioned.

"I called the Pokemon Ranger base and they are already sending in police officers to arrest them." Mia explained proudly.

"Where are the other poachers?" I asked.

"Ivy, couldn't resist hanging them up in a tree."

I now noticed a Snivy crawling around on Mia's shoulders.

"Welp, lets hit the road!" Liam and Griffin sprinted off.

I looked at Mia and rolled my eyes. She giggled.

"Get back here!" I shouted. "None of you idiots have your bags!"

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Author note: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait but Track has occupied my time as well as other things. The chapter was rushed in my opinion. I was gonna have a battle scene and Griffin wasn't suppose to run off but things changed. Hopefully, the next chapter will be better! What do you guys think of Mia? She's a Pokemon Ranger. I'm talking about the NPCS you fight not the ones that can control Pokemon or whatever. I've been waiting to include her in the story.

VOTE, COMMENT, AND PLAY INFAMOUS!!!!