A Pallet Pair #5a:

Remmy's Rocket Problem

 

            "Guess this is it."

            "Guess so."

            Ivonar Marain kicked down her kickstand, sighing as she put her weight on her aching right leg. They had been biking for two straight hours on a slight incline. Though it wasn't exactly a hill, most of Route Three sloped gently upward, which meant non-stop pedaling. Ivonar felt like her legs were going to fall off. "Decided what you're going to do yet?"

            Beside them was a small log cabin, maybe three rooms at most, quaint but homey. There was a small fence around it, and gardens growing on either side of the path to the door - flowers on one side, vegetables on the other. Ivonar was going in, without question: she was just wondering if Remmy was going to, too.

            Remmy shrugged. "Probably just wander," he replied. "Maybe try teaching some of my Pokémon new techniques. I don't know. If I get too bored, I'll knock."

            Ivonar gave him a tolerant half-smile, as she always did for his cynical jokes when she couldn't come up with a reply. "Take your time," she told him wryly.

            Remmy got off his bike, wincing as he stood on his still sore feet. "You too," he replied. "Come on, Chia." The Pikachu leaped out of the wire basket on his handlebars, the black tail-tipped Eevee hugged tightly in her arms.

            Sweetie jumped to Ivonar's shoulder as Ivonar put Fluffball and Static on the ground. "You can look after the troops, right?" Ivonar asked Remmy. "I'll need Manx with me, but the Eevees don't have to be cooped up."

            "I think I can watch Cole," Remmy said, "but I don't think Fluffball wants to leave Manx, or Sweetie you."

            "What about you, little guy?" Ivonar smiled as she crouched down, tickling Static under the chin. "What do you want to do, huh?"

            Static purred, then jumped to her other shoulder. Ivonar laughed. "Okay, I guess you just have to watch Cole, then." She started to stand up, but Static had much less practice sitting on shoulders than Sweetie did; with a squeal he tumbled forward into Ivonar's arms. She rubbed his head soothingly as she went through the fence toward the door of the cabin. Manx gave Remmy and Chia a pointed look for no apparent reason, then trotted after her, with Fluffball at his heels.

            Remmy sighed, looking around. "Now what?" he asked the two Pokémon.

            "Chee," Chia replied, shrugging a little. She let Cole go. He trotted a little ways away, sniffing the air, then yawned and sat down, looking bored.

            Remmy crouched down, closer to their eye level, wincing as his aching knees argued against the move. "Any ideas?" he asked them jokingly. Chia smiled at him, jumping onto his shoulder. Cole turned around, saw that he might get left behind, and ran back. Remmy tried to pick him up, but Cole danced away. Shrugging, Remmy stood up and began walking, leaving his stuff behind, taking only the two Pokémon, the clothes he had on, and his pokéballs, which were in his pockets. Then he frowned, squinting in the bright sunlight, turned back, and, fishing through his gear, pulled out a baseball cap. It had been his dad's, when he was a kid. It was red, with a white front and the odd-looking blue "L" logo of the Lavender Town Little League baseball team, the Lavender Town Lapras. The hat was at least thirty years old, but still in pretty good condition. Sticking it on his head, he started down the road, in the opposite direction from where they had come.

            He had no real destination in mind; he just felt like wandering for awhile. Further down the road there was a small patch of trees - not really a forest, but too natural to be considered an orchard - which looked interesting. Anyway, exploring it would give him something to do while Ivonar figured out what to do with her too-powerful Pokémon.

            Remmy grinned to himself as he rubbed Chia's head. It was funny, how the one of them who wanted to be a trainer was the one who had trouble doing it. He chuckled. "Maybe she's trying too hard," he suggested to the Pikachu. Chia giggled. Cole trotted along at Remmy's side, his tail waving through the air, happy to be away from his brother and sisters for awhile, feeling quite grown-up with just the other human and Chia.

            The trio wandered along the slightly sloped path, quiet with their own pleasant thoughts, when Remmy chuckled again. "You know, it's probably easier to walk this than ride it," he laughed. Chia giggled again. Cole trilled out a purr as he loped along to keep up with Remmy's long stride. "Legs were meant to go uphill better than bikes."

            He grinned to himself. Truth be told, training wasn't as bad as he'd thought it'd be. Ivonar was right: the Pokémon did like to battle. That was as obvious as the good moods Saurus and Drake had been in since winning that badge. He craned his neck to look at it again; for lack of anything better to do with it, he'd left it clipped to the collar of his jacket. Personally, he didn't feel any pride for it: he honestly didn't think he'd done much of anything. The badge he wore was for Saurus and Drake.

            "Guess I'm just lucky with Pokémon," he laughed, rubbing Chia's head affectionately. He stepped over a fallen branch as he passed the first of the trees. He had to give Cole a boost over it before continuing on the much narrower path. "Saurus respects me more than Char does Eevee… Drake and I…" He just grinned. The beautiful Dratini had been scared of him at first, but the moment it smiled, he knew… just knew… Drake, as he'd named it, wasn't going anywhere. He joked about giving it to Ivonar, but he hadn't meant a word of it. He was glad she hadn't even let him finish the question. "You're great, Chia." The Pikachu grinned as he ruffled the fur between her ears. "Now, Nasty…" He laughed. "Pi's a little shy, but, I don't blame him. And Ratzy is cool. Ivonar actually did pretty good with him. And she's great with the Eevees. I guess she's just unlucky 'cause she keeps getting Pokémon that're too strong, that's all."

            "Pipi chi," Chia said, shrugging a little.

            "Hope that Old Farley guy can help her," Remmy murmured. Chia frowned a little. "I mean, Eevee's really into this. I feel kinda bad, you know? I know Ash and Gary and me kind of made fun of her, 'cause she was older than us and all, but it's not her fault. I remember getting sick a couple years ago, too, when the flu went around. And it's not like she could train with a broken leg, right?" Chia nodded in agreement. "She had to wait two years to do what she really wants to, and still it's not going right. While me, I get kicked out of the house to do the same thing, that I didn't want to do…" He sighed. "It just…" He tried to think of the word that would best describe it, but only one came to mind - a word he didn't really like using. "It just sucks." He shoved a branch out of his way, then another, and found himself in a sort of clearing - too big to be a clearing, really, but far too small to be a meadow or field or anything like that. A deep ash pit showed that it was a popular campsite; some short logs formed a vague circle around it. A small pond took up most of the clearing: from the looks of it, the clearing had once been a whole lake, but the water level had dropped, allowing grass and small bushes to grow, leaving only the much smaller pond. Remmy reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a pokéball. "Come on out, Drake," he said. "Have a swim."

            The ball cracked open, allowing the five and a half foot long Dratini to escape. It trilled happily at the sight of the pond, leaping in with barely a splash. Remmy grinned. "Static should've come along," he said, sitting on one of the logs. "He likes water."

            Chia shrugged a little, jumping off his shoulder to sit on the log beside him. Cole boosted himself, with some difficulty, onto the log beside her. "Pika pi, pika pikachu," Chia said, looking at Remmy.

            Remmy looked down at her and grinned. "You know I have no idea what you just said, right?"

            Chia just grinned back.

*

            "Is that-" Before the sentence was out of his mouth, he got clobbered. He wasn’t even sure who did it this time, or with what, for that matter. He rubbed his sore head. "Isn't that that brat?" he asked his two companions in a quieter voice.

            "Sure looks like 'im," the shorter of his teammates agreed, his large eyes narrowing. "I mean, he's got dat dorky hat, right? And dere's dat Pikachu!" His eyes narrowed greedily.

            "And that little waif is no where to be seen," their third compatriot sneered eagerly. "All alone in the woods, what could be more perfect?"

            The first one who had spoken frowned a little. "I don't know…" he said, squinting a little. "Something about him just doesn't look right…"

            "Dat's just de lighting," the second one chided him. "Let's just grab dat Pikachu and get goin'! De Boss is gettin' pretty annoyed dat we haven't sent 'im nothin' lately…"

            "If you would just stop talking," the third snapped, slapping him in the back of the head, "we might just do it!"

            "Can we just do it?" the first one begged. "I'm hungry!"

            "That's what we're going to do!" the third one snapped.

            "So let's do it already!" the second shouted at them.

*

            "So let's do it already!"

            Remmy frowned. "Who's there?" he asked, standing up.

            "Prepare for trouble!" a voice cried out, from one side of him.

            Another voice answered it, from a different side. "And make it double."

            "To protect the world from devastation!"

            "To unite all peoples within our nation."

            "To denounce the evils of truth and love."

            "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

            From a tree nearby, a tall, thin woman with long, brilliant pink hair leaped out dramatically, and struck an even more dramatic pose.

            "Jessie!" she exclaimed.

            From another tree, a slightly taller man, his somewhat long, pale blue hair parted down the middle, jumped down gracefully, then stood tall, a rose in his hand.

            "James," he introduced himself.

            "Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" the young woman sneered.

            "Surrender now," the young man said, looking directly at Remmy, "or prepare to fight."

            A third figure leaped from the trees. This one had familiar ivory fur, but was much smaller than the one who Remmy was used to being that color, not to mention that he stood on two legs, and had a dull brown tail.

            Cole frowned a little, cocking his head to the side. Curious, he walked toward the trio of strangers.

            "Meeeeeowth!" the third figure, an evolutional step downward from Manx, exclaimed. "That's right!"

            Remmy looked at the Pokémon skeptically. "A talking Meowth?" He turned his skepticism on the dramatic young woman and mysterious-acting man. "Who are you people?"

            A frown passed over the man's face, and he looked at his human companion. "I don't know, Jess… something about him just doesn't look right!" He looked at Remmy again, his frown deepening. He tapped his rose against his lips thoughtfully.

            "Would you shut up, James?" the woman snapped at him harshly. "Let's just grab the Pikachu and go!"

            Chia frowned. "Pika chi?"

            The Meowth frowned, too. "Huh?"

            "Pika, pikachu, chi, pichi chipika."

            The Meowth looked at his teammates. "Dat ain't de same Pikachu!"

            "Don't be stupid!" Jessie snapped. "He only has one!"

            "Unless he caught another…" James muttered, apparently oblivious to the Eevee sniffing his boot.

            "Would you just shut up!" Jessie slapped James in the back of the head, spilling the rose to the ground. James looked at her in surprise, not having seen the attack coming.

            "Look," Remmy said, frowning even more, "I don't know what you guys' problems are, but, I don't know you, and I think that's a good thing."

            "How can you not know us yet?" the Meowth demanded sharply. "We've done our motto for ya t'ree times already!"

            "Umm…" Remmy shook his head. "No."

            "He's just trying to confuse us!" Jessie snarled. She pulled a pokéball out of a pocket in her skirt. "Well, it's not going to work!"

            Remmy frowned. He didn't think he really wanted to battle, especially not if they were set on stealing Chia… or another Pikachu, anyway. His frown deepened, as he decided what to do. "Drake?" he called. Behind him, he could hear bubbles rising in the pond. "Drake, Water Gun."

            "Drake?" James echoed. "Who's-" Then his mouth fell open. His eyes glittered as a smile took over his face. "Jessie! Look! Is that- that's a- a-"

            Before he could say what he wanted to, a blast of water shot him, Jessie, and their Meowth straight backwards.

            Jessie was the first one to get up, sputtering. "That's a Dratini!" she yelled, getting to her feet. "Forget the Pikachu! Do you have any idea how well we'll be rewarded if we bring The Boss a Dratini?"

            "We'll be rollin' in cash, caviar, an' tunafish!" the Meowth cried, jumping to his own feet.

            The two human members of Team Rocket looked at their Pokémon teammate, somewhat confused. Jessie's hands were at her sides, clenched in fists; James's were behind his back. "Tunafish?" James echoed. The Meowth ignored them.

            "You'll leave Drake alone," Remmy snapped. "I'm training it."

            "He gets the Pikachu, and a Dratini?" James's voice was dangerously close to a whine. "That just isn't fair!"

            "What Pikachu!" Remmy snapped. He grabbed the baseball cap from his head and threw it down in frustration. "What are you talking about!"

            "Hey, Jessie?" James's frown had returned.

            "What?" his partner snarled.

            "Since when did the brat have red hair?"

            "He doesn't, you-" Jessie glared at Remmy for a moment, then did a double-take. "Well, maybe he does, I didn't really-"

            Remmy's eyes narrowed dangerously. He was really getting tired of this. He'd just wanted some peace and quiet! "If you don't just leave me alone, I'll have Chia Thundershock you from here to Lavender Town!" he threatened, not sure if he meant it. Chia, though just as unsure, got on all fours, her cheeks sparking, ready to attack if necessary.

            "That might be a bad idea," James said, shaking his head. He pulled one of his hands out from behind his back.

            "Eee!" Cole squealed, squirming, but the man had him firmly by the scruff of the neck.

            Chia's eyes went wide, her mouth dropping open. Her cheeks sparked more, as her eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Pi… kaa…"

            James clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned her. "You shock me, you shock your little pal here."

            Chia scowled, staring at him. Then she looked at Jessie, and the Meowth. Her cheeks sparked brightly. "PIKACHU!!" she screamed, clenching her eyes shut. The clearing lit up in bright yellow light.

            Her reasoning was simple.

            Just because one of them had Cole, it didn't mean all of them had Cole.

            "Great… going… James," Jessie muttered in a slurred voice, dropping to her knees. The Meowth was out cold.

            James looked in surprise at his two smoking teammates, then glared at the Pikachu. "That wasn't very nice!"

            Chia's only reply was to spark her cheeks, her eyes still dangerously narrowed.

            "You can't electrocute me while I hold your precious little Eevee," James reminded her sharply. He looked behind her, his eyes glittering. "And you can't spray me again, either!" he called to Drake. "Now, if you want this little guy back, the Dratini comes with me."

            Remmy clenched his fists. "No way," he snapped.

            "It ain't like we're givin' ya a choice, twerp," the Meowth sneered, swaying back to his feet. He swayed back and forth as he stood, not fully recovered from the shock. "Just hand ovah de Dratini, an' we'll give ya back ya stupid Eevee."

            "Why should I believe you?" Remmy demanded.

            The Meowth looked back at Jessie, who had managed to get up again, and James. "He's good."

            "Like he said, brat, we're not giving you a choice!" Jessie snapped. "The Dratini comes with us, or you can kiss any hope of getting your Eevee back goodbye!"

            "Da Boss would prob'ly love choosin' wed'r ta evolve it inta a Flareon, or a Vaporeon…" Meowth added, sounding thoughtful.

            Remmy gritted his teeth. He felt something brush his leg; Drake looked at him solemnly, its beautiful, dark purple eyes glittering.

            Remmy looked down at Drake, frowning. Drake met his gaze. After a moment, its eyes narrowed playfully. It glanced at Team Rocket.

            Remmy was lucky he had practice in not smiling.

            He regarded Team Rocket, his eyes narrowed. "All right," he said hoarsely. "Give me Cole back."

            Chia looked at him, startled. "Chee!" she cried.

            "Quiet, Chia!" he snapped at her. She pulled away, looking at him in amazement. He ignored her. "Give me Cole back, and Drake will go with you."

            "Ya think we trust ya?" the Meowth snapped. He laughed. "No deal! Da Dratini foist!"

            Remmy grimaced, looking down at Drake. Drake's right eye narrowed, just slightly, but then it slithered forward, toward Team Rocket.

            Jessie gripped the pokéball in her hand. Her eyes narrowed. A Dratini for a little Eevee? Something just didn't seem right… She bared her teeth.

            Wait a minute!

            Just because the Dratini was coming, didn't mean it was coming quietly…

            "Ekans, go!" she barked, throwing the pokéball at the Dratini. It smacked into Drake's forehead, making it squeal. The pokéball popped open, but instead of taking the Dratini in, another Pokémon, equally long and serpentine, but of a color like a lighter shade of Drake's eyes, coalesced.

            "Hey!" Remmy shouted. Drake, dazed from getting the pokéball in the head, could barely resist as the snake Pokémon wrapped itself tightly around it. Drake squealed as the Ekans squeezed.

            "Pika pi!" Chia yelled, darting forward. "Pika, pika, pika pikachu!"

            "Koffing!" James threw a pokéball of his own. "Smog attack!" The ball cracked open, and a ball-shaped Pokémon, as purple as the one attacking Drake, appeared. With a deep-throated cry of "Koffing!", it opened its mouth and spewed out a nauseating black cloud.

            Remmy dug into one of his pockets. "Pi!" He threw the ball into the air. It cracked open, and his Pidgey came out. Pi flapped his short wings quickly, surprised to find himself in mid-air. "Gust attack! Get rid of this… junk!" Coughing, the Pidgey did as he was told, blowing the smog back into the faces of Team Rocket.

            Jessie glared at Remmy even as she gagged. "Give it up, twerp!" she snapped at him. "Ekans! Poison Sting!"

            "Drake! Leer!" Remmy shouted.

            Drake twisted, facing the Ekans, its eyes glowing a fiery blue.

            "Ekans! Return the Leer!"

            The Ekans glared right back at Drake, its own eyes gleaming yellow.

            "Great!" the Meowth muttered, rolling his eyes. "A staring match!"

            Remmy grimaced. The Ekans and Drake were in a stalemate, their bodies intertwined, their blazing eyes staring into each other's unblinking leer. Both were beginning to sweat. "Chia!" he barked. "Quick Attack! Help Drake!"

            Chia looked at him, shocked. Double-team an opponent?

            "No fair!" James shouted. "Only we're allowed to cheat! Koffing, Sludge Attack the Pikachu, like you did the other one!"

            Chia grimaced in an unintentional mimicry of her trainer, then darted forward before the Koffing's attacks hit her in the eyes. She barely flinched as it smacked into the tip of her short tail. She sprinted forward, slamming herself into the Ekans' head. The Ekans squealed in surprise at the sneak attack, while Drake took the chance to use a very handy move it had learned from Brock's Onix: it wrapped itself around the Ekans, and squeezed.

            The Ekans' eyes flew open wide, and tears streamed down its face as it screamed. Drake bound it even tighter, wrapping its top coil just below its head. In a moment, the Ekans' eyes rolled back as it lost consciousness. A moment later, Drake unwrapped itself from its KO'd enemy, slithering to Remmy, and wrapped itself twice around his waist with its head resting over his shoulder, glaring spitefully at Team Rocket.

            "Ekans, return!" Jessie ordered, holding out its pokéball. It did.

            "We still have your Eevee!" James reminded them, holding Cole up even higher.

            Remmy frowned. Chia's Quick Attack had made her look like nothing more than a blur. He glanced at her. She glanced back.

            "What do you think, Chia?" he asked her quietly.

            Chia looked at Cole, her eyes narrowed. She frowned.

            "Chu," she replied, then seemed to disappear.

            What happened next, happened too fast for Remmy to see, or to really understand at first. In the end, he only remembered a streak of yellow, a flare of white, a blinding yellow flash, and a loud scream of, "CHU!"

            It took a few moments for Remmy to blink away the temporary blindness the second yellow… thing… had left behind. Dazedly, the two other humans and the Meowth were picking themselves up: the Koffing was out cold. Cole was no where to be seen.

            "Chia? Cole?" Remmy called, looking around.

            When he saw them, his jaw fell in surprise.

            Chia, her eyes narrowed dangerously, put Cole gently on the ground. She glared spitefully at Team Rocket as James recalled his Koffing. "Chu!" she snapped.

            The Meowth's eyes widened.

            "Chu!" Chia yelled. She placed the tip of her tail against the ground. Sparks flew from her cheeks as she charged up.

            "James, you moron!" the Meowth yelled at him.

            "What'd I do?" the human squealed, staring fearfully at Chia, knowing what was coming.

            "You threatened that dumb Eevee, that's what!" the Meowth yelled.

            "So what?!"

            "So now we're really in for it!"

            "Chu!" Chia screamed, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes shut. "Raichu!"

            Brilliant yellow light filled the clearing, but the attack was direct, condensed, and perfectly aimed. The enormous blast of electricity was more than enough to literally send Team Rocket flying.

            Distantly, Remmy heard three frightened voices yell, "Looks like we're blasting off again…!"

            Pi fluttered to a landing on one of the logs. He, too, stared at Chia in amazement.

            Cole trilled a cheer, leaping into Chia's arms. She hugged him tight, and, for the first time, her arms went all the way around him.

            Remmy chuckled in amazement. He rubbed Chia on the head, but he didn't have to lean down very far to do it. "No wonder the Viridian City Pokécenter blew up," he told her. "You probably weren't the only Pikachu holding back on evolving." She glanced at him. "You had to be holding off. I mean, the timing was too perfect. You were holding back, weren't you?"

            Chia boosted Cole to her shoulder, shrugging a little. "Raichu," she admitted, her tone the same as if she'd said, "Maybe."

            Remmy shook his head. "First Ro, then the Poliwhirl… now you." Remmy chuckled, turning a little to look at Pi. "You're not about to evolve, are you?"

            Pi's eyes narrowed a little in his equivalent to a smile. "Pidge, pid," he replied, shaking his head.

            "I won't stop you."

            Pi cooed a chuckle, and shook his head again. He was sure.

            "Want to go back in your pokéball?" With a trill of agreement, Pi did just that. Remmy regarded Chia with a grin. "You walk back. There's no way you're riding my shoulder again!"

            Chia just grinned.

 

 

 

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