Ch 21. Team Rocket

While the Team Rocket grunts were being busy moving cargo and parking the freight trucks, one holding a countainer that was meant for sea transport. Whatever Team Rocket wanted of these pokemon, they were ready to be shipped of along different routes.

Ares grabbed his phone and took a recording of what was currently happening. He needed to get evidence for the police to succesfully detain them. When he had recorded what he could see, Ares sent the message to the police station along with his current location. But just to be certain, he would need to contact them to get the swiftest response.

Glancing at what was happening inside, seeing that the grunts had entered one of the detached rooms on the side, Ares began to dial the police, getting a reply within the first tune.

"This is Officer Jenny. What is your emergency?"

Keeping his voice down, Ares began to explain where he was and what he was seeing while mentioning he had sent a message with the added scenes in question, along with the address.

"I am currently at an abandoned warehouse near the Vermilion Harbor. Team Rocket has stored multiple stolen pokemon in the warehouse. I'm sending my location once more."

Having said that, Ares sent his location. Having said everything he wanted to say, Ares hung up after hearing they would be there within five minutes.

'Five minutes to find out where Pichu is...'

Ares returned Pidgeotto to his pokeball and glanced at the building, looking for a place to get in. It wasn't easy, as there were a lot of building materials and other items close to the building, so if he wanted to quietly search, he needed to stay far out of sight.

Ares crouched close to the ground and moved on, carefully inching closer to the nearest entrance, all the while staying out of sight. When the entrance came in sight, he observed the situation, refraining from acting further should there be any hindrances to his progress. At the door near the entrance, he could see only one Team Rocket grunt. Maybe it was because there were no intruders so far, the grunt was slacking of as he was playing around on his phone.

"Clefairy, come out"

Appearing from her pokeball, Clefairy looked around at the place they were right now.

Looking in confusion at Ares, Ares didn't explain as he only pointed at the guard.

"I want you to use Sweet Kiss on the guard"

Nodding, Clefairy closed in on the guard without being seen. It was something easy to do for Clefairy, as her body seemed to defy gravity at some points. When the team rocket grunt did see her, Clefairy looked at him with a cute smile and used Sweet Kiss. The guard saw what was happening, but he was too late to act, as his surroundings began to swirl around. When he looked at Clefairy, he could see three to four of her moving around.

"Lucario, use Force Palm to knock him out"

Lucario rushed forward, slamming his palm straight in the guards stomach, forcing all the air from his lungs. Then everything went blacked out for the guard, froth was coming from his mouth. Everything happened fast and not a sound was made. Lucario had even caught the guard as he fell, throwing him aside when he had dragged him away far enough to avoid raising the alarm.

"Good job. Let's get inside."

Returning Clefairy to her pokeball, Ares, Lucario, Pichu and Umbreon made their way into the warehouse, hidding behind crates and trying to get as close to the stolen pokemon as possible.

From what he could see, most of the pokemon were in their first or second stage. It goes without saying that last stage evolutions would be too strong for ordinary Team Rocket members to steal, don't even mention the trainer who would have other strong pokemon in his arsenal, no doubt. They would only be asking for a beating if they did that.

When he looked a little longer, Ares spotted the target of the quest he had taken. Pichu was one of the pokemon that was in a better state, though it was at the far corner of the building. There weren't any other entraces close to that side either. It would be difficult to get there without being seen.

That is if he went there alone. One of his pokemon could make a ruckus outside to draw attention, while he released the pokemon. The question was, who would he give that task that had a big chance of going wrong.

Seeing their trainer ponder over something, Lucario and Umbreon shared a glance before Umbreon nudged against Ares's leg.

Knowing what Ares might be planning, Umbreon smiled widely at him to show he would be playing the main lead role.

"Are you sure?"

Umbreon nodded, filled with confidence in accomplishing the task. He had evolved to help his trainer, no matter how dangerous the situation. Besides, he could still handle this if he played it well. He could always run and hide away, letting the grunts search around for him.

Seeing the confidence Umbreon had, Ares nodded.

"Alright. Be sure to escape when they come. I will send Pidgeotto with you to give you back up and possibly return you to your pokeball if things go south."

Taking out Pidgeotto, Ares handed him Umbreon's pokeball while Umbreon was sharing the plan. Pidgeotto flew outside as quietly as possible, Umbreon's pokeball in its claws. He was honored to get such an important task and he would execute it without any delay ot problems.

"Get as wild as possible and make some ruckus."

Umbreon didn't needed it to be said twice as it ran out. Not long after, the sound of something heavy falling was heard, as well as it breaking to pieces. The Team Rocket members ran outside, leaving only two of them to guard the 'cargo'. Everything worked according to plan. Maybe a bit too good, as a lot of the grunts had run after Umbreon, making it more difficult for Umbreon to hold them off. Fortunately Pidgeotto was going along with Umbreon, getting him out of there should the situation turn dire.

Now only two people were left on guard duty, but the two grunts didn't seem to agree with the fact they were left to guard the captured pokemon as one of them followed the others, leaving only one.

'This works out even better for me.'

Ares didn't wait any longer, as it would only get harder for Umbreon if he took too long. Together with Lucario and Pichu, Ares stormed at the grunt. The grunt saw them coming as he began to curse.

"So it was you! Stupid brat! Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

The grunt took out his pokemon, a Raticate and a Ekans.

"We just love to explore, right partner! We always find the most interesting things!"

Lucario barked a challenge as well, agreeing whole heartedly with Ares's comment as he motioned for the opponents to get to it. He was eager to battle them.

"Ekans, use bite on Pichu. Raticate, Super fang on the Lucario."

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere on Ekans. Pichu, use Shock Wave on Ekans, followed by Iron Tail."

While both pokemon were getting close, Ekans and Lucario were the faster ones. Ekans dashed towards Pichu, its maw wide to bite him. Pichu saw it coming, a bit of mischief in her eyes as she decided her plan. Sending electricity through her fur, she unleashed her Shock wave, hitting Ekans. Ekans twitched a bit, having been hit by the attack. Shaking his head, it planned to bite Pichu, but only saw an Iron Tail coming in straight in the face. Slamming down hard, Pichu slammed Ekans' head against the floor. Ekans grunted in pain, as it was having a little bit of difficulty getting up. Staying vigilant, Pichu charged up another Shock wave, ready to use it if Ekans got up again. While she was acting brave, she was still cautious in case big brother Lucario couldn't help her.

Lucario rushed forward as well, closing in on the Raticate as two Aura Spheres were being formed in his hands at a crazy fast speed. Raticates fangs began to glow, ready to bite Lucario when he came in range, intending to take a large bite out of him, but things didn't go as Raticate had planned. Lucario threw the Aura Sphere at Raticate, one being faster than the other as they were aimed directly at Raticate.

Raticate dodged to the side, avoiding one Aura Sphere, but failed to see the other that had arrived right where he dodged to. The Aura Sphere connected with Raticates upper body, sending Raticate flying straight towards the wall.

In no time were the pokemon of the Team Rocket grunt defeated, both barely being able to stand. Seeing the progress Pichu had made, Ares was proud of his little friend. It wouldn't take long now before she evolved into a Pikachu. He couldn't wait for it to happen. Her little poke power would jump straight up when she did.

Glacing at his pokemon, the grunt couldn't believe his eyes.

His Raticate had passed out, while his Ekans glanced in dejection and rebellion at the opponent. Seeing how the Ekans looked at her, Pichu became angry. How dare that snake look at her like that. This was her first real battle, one she felt proud of for having sort of won. He is ruining the moment! Unleashing the Shock wave she had cherged up, she blasted Ekans towards his trainer, sending them both towards the already passed out Raticate. The poor Raticate had to suffer even more damage, even when it had fainted.

With no opponents left to stop them, Ares collected the keys from the unconcious guard, while Lucario broke the locks on some of the cages with Metal Claw. Pichu wasn't much help right now, as size really worked against her in this matter. Her only advantage would be to aid Lucario in opening the cages that were on ground level with Iron Tail.

Within the few minutes they had till the guards came back, they managed to free the pokemon, the pokemon all following him out of the building once they were released. From the docks Ares could see clouds of dust and knew Umbreon had to be there.

Rushing towards it, the stolen pokemon following him closely, Ares was happy to see that the ones in problem were the Team Rocket grunts, as they had been surrounded by the police. Umbreon appeared shortly after with Pidgeotto circling above them.

Returning Pidgeotto after thanking it, Ares was stopped shortly by the police to give a statement of what happened. It took a while to get across the on adrenaline pumped cop that he was the one who called them in.

It took more than a few hours before he was done with the paperwork and testimony.

In his arms he had the little Pichu. Along with most of the injured Pokemon, Ares marched towards the pokemon center with more than a few dozen pokemon behind him.

It was quite funny to see the looks of the people inside the pokemon center, but Nurse Joy was a professional. She had also been updated about the situation by officer Jenny, knowing that many injured pokemon were coming towards her. She is a professional. She could handle the huge amount, even if she had to work to the bone for a while. Fortunately she had her trusted partner Chansey on her side, as well as her sister, who came rushing over from Saffron city to help.

.

.

.

A few hours later when all the injured pokemon had been treated and the police had picked up the stolen pokemon to return them to their trainers, Ares went to deliver the Pichu to its owner. Arriving there, Ares was rewarded by the smile of a small girl who had just been reunited with her pokemon.

"Nothing better to see a happy ending, right?"

Lucario nodded, as it shared the same opinion of his trainer. It felt good to see a small girl smiling so brightly at the return of her small friend.