The Road to Indigo (Pokemon RP (Closed): Chapter 7: Dead Living On The Radio...)

[NeoAC]

"We're almost there, I could hear one of them falling!" Damian was hot in pursuit of his escaped quarry. Jean-Simon wasn't sounding to thrilled over the comm. Kimmy was starting to lag behind, the expended energy dampening her enthusiasm for this chase.

"I hope so, this is taking too long!"

"Well it won't be now!" Damian spotted Tyler and Rochelle in the dim lighting ahead. He decided to make sure they wouldn't be getting by. "Tauros! Block the path in front of them!" He threw his Pokeball ahead of the two and suddenly blocking the way to freedom was 200lbs of angry Bull Pokemon. The Tauros was instantly in rage mode, just waiting for the two to give it a reason to charge with those sharpened horns. There was no escaping now.

Damian walked up to enhance the pincer move he applied. "Nice try at bolting there folks, but I'm afraid I'm far more formidable than my pint-sized accomplice."

"Hey!" Kimmy huffed as she caught up. "Take that back!"

"Can't take back what's true, my dear. Now come on, send out your Pokemon and you can help me take down this meddlesome mongrel. Two on one should be easy enough for you to handle. We know the lass has nothing on her."

"OK! Go get 'em Fluffy!" As soon as she called the nickname a shudder went through Damian. His fears were confirmed as the Pokemon Kimmy chose turned out to be the Mareep that had started this situation in the first place. The red light faded and Iskra stood in the cave.

"Kimmy you bloody foolish tart! I told you to take everything we took off the prisoner up to the storage room! We haven't even bloody converted her bloody Pokemon yet! You've just mucked everything up!"

"Why? I wanted Fluffy now, I know he wants to live with me and not anyone else, so I took him and he's mine now! Isn't that right Fluffy?"

Iskra didn't know much in it's short time as a Pokemon in training, but it did know who was kind enough to take care of it after it got injured, and it certainly wasn't the blond shrimp who started calling him that demeaning name. Iskra turned and decided to let loose some of the built up electricity in it's wool, shocking the woman. It wasn't enough to do massive damage, but was enough to send the girl back a bit. Using the opportunity, Iskra bounded over to it's actual trainer, nuzzling up against the girl who had shown kindness and promised a way out of the dingy cave.

"Now look what you've done with your ignorance! You've made this a lot more difficult than it had to be! Return that thing at once!"

"Oooh, fine! Fluffy return!" Kimmy tried to bring the Electric type back into the ball, but Iskra knew the intent of these people was no good and it refused the red light, sending it back with another shock. "Fluffy! Return!"

"It's useless now, you stupid twat! It's out and it's not listening to you because it's still imprinted with the trainer who caught it! Just send out your bloody Gloom and let's get on with this!"

"OK," Kimmy frowned as she called on her other Pokemon, the Gloom that proved such a capable incapacitator before. [color=navy blue]"GloomGloom!"[/color] It cried as it's faint odor started to waft through the cave.

"It may be two on two now, but you're still not going to get away from this!" Damian warned. "Now let's end this quick!"

[hr]

The noises ahead were getting louder, and there were more of them. Animal noises, and whiny high-pitched noises. "Sounds like this place is like, getting crowded," Jordan noted. "Like, lots of people and stuff."

Spoiler: OOC

Raven/Social, the battle is up to you how you want to play it. Also, Iskra now has Thundershock. It will be included in the next level update, I just wanted to give Rochelle a puncher's chance in this one.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Iskra..." Rochelle murmured at the sight of her Mareep taking physical form. Before he used the ThunderShock on the Rocket girl, she was half afraid that he had recognised her as his new Trainer, and let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding when he ran over to her. "Oh, thank God you're okay, Iskra," she said quietly to the little Pokémon, gently scratching it behind the ear before she stood up to take full stock of the situation.

The two-on-two battle seemed to be matched equally: now that Rochelle had Iskra back, Tyler didn't have to do all of the fighting. That Gloom needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later, since it could just produce another cloud of Sleep Powder to engulf the two Trainers and their Pokémon. But Rochelle knew that the only attacks Iskra was capable of wouldn't be particularly effective against the Grass-type. Tyler's Nidoran knew Double Kick, but if she remembered correctly, Fighting-type attacks like Double Kick didn't do so well against poisonous Pokémon... maybe his Abra knew something that could deal with it before it could end the battle quickly.

With that in mind, Rochelle turned her back to the Rockets, to face the large bull Pokémon filling up the space in the cave behind them. The Tauros snorted gruffly at her, almost as if it was restraining itself to its Trainer's commands. Rochelle hesitated to issue a command to Iskra, given the size of the opponent and the look on its face. Battling it was the only way out, though, so she had little choice but to do so. Hopefully Tyler had taken charge of taking down the Gloom as Rochelle tried her hand against the Tauros.

"Iskra, shock it," she said quietly to her companion. The cream wool of the Electric Pokémon began to jump with little sparks of electricity before the bulb at the end of his tail glowed brightly. Then out of the blue, a small bolt of lightning leaped from Iskra's wool and struck the Tauros in the front leg. With that attack she had begun the battle, for better or worse. Hopefully not worse.

 

[NeoAC]

The shock went flying towards the relatively young Tauros, and being unprepared for such a move it hit hard. However, this only served to anger the Wild Bull Pokemon, and it came charging back towards the two in a fit of Rage. It went for the Pokemon, since it was the one who hit it, and the Rage attack hit Iskra as Tauros spun around to remain in front of it's trainer.

"That's the way to go Tauros! Show these buggers it's not smart to mess with the bull!" Damian commented on his Pokemon's attack.

 

[socialtangent]

Surrounded.

Blocking their escape was a mighty Tauros, and behind him was a Gloom that could more than easily dispatch them with Sleep Powder. The only option left for Tyler and Rochelle was to fight. And with her Mareep focusing on the Tauros, that left the Gloom. With two Pokemon at his disposal, Tyler was somewhat better off than Rochelle, but there was no telling if the Rockets had backup Pokemon as well. If they did, then they might be more than a match for them...

Okay, one thing at a time

"Tank!" Tyler called out to his Nidoran, pointing towards the short flower-headed Pokemon in front of them. "Peck that Gloom, now!"

With a quick grunt of acknowledgement, Tank immediately sprung forward towards the Gloom. In no time at all he picked up speed and hurled himself forward in a flying tackle towards his opponent, his distinctive cranial horn pointing directly at its body.

 

[Mookie_Magnus]

Mika nodded in response when he heard the noises getting louder, wondering what exactly the noises were... and what they signified. "It sounds like there's Pokemon in there... They don't exactly sound pleased, nor in the best of condition... Be careful, an injured Pokemon is more likely to attack to defend itself." Mika says to the rest of the group, shivering a bit out of anxiety.

((Just making sure that things on our side keep going as well))

 

[Lambi]

Aeris hugged Mika's arm to keep herself close to him and the group. "I'll be careful. Blaze can help me if I get in trouble." "Char!" Blaze kept her tailfire strong enough for them to see a bit ahead in the tunnels. "I hope Rochelle is alright..."

 

[CounterAttack]

Iskra bleated in mild pain as the Tauros' attack made contact, but he remained standing. Not wishing to back down in front of his Trainer, and certainly not given the presence of the companion of the foe's Trainer, the other human who had given him a detestable nickname, the Mareep's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the Tauros and he stood his ground. Rochelle had also turned to make sure she saw what was going on, her free hand shaking slightly out of fear. Specifically, the fear of what would happen if she and Tyler lost the battle.

"Alright, Iskra, hit him again," she told the young Mareep, balling her hand into a fist to try and stop the shaking before it got any worse. Launching another attack was the best way to deal with the Tauros, even though it would anger quickly as a result; it was a risk she and Iskra would have to take. Her Pokémon stepped forward, lowering his head momentarily before releasing another discharge of electricity.

 

[NeoAC]

Tyler and Rochelle's attacks hit their respective opponents pretty hard, the Peck doubly effective. The Tauros took the shock, groaning in pain, while the Gloom flew backwards into into it's trainer.

"Kimmy! You could be a little more help here! If you're going to battle you could try to be competent!" Damian cursed his partner.

"Shut up, Damian!" Kimmy pushed Gloom back out onto the battlefield. "Gloom, use Acid on that ugly rabbit thing!"

[color=navy blue]"Gloooooom!"[/color] The Grass Pokemon shook and a foul spray came splashing out towards it's opponents.

"About bloody time. Tauros, Horn Attack!" The Tauros tried to follow through on it's trainers commands, but it fell on one of it's forelegs, the tell-tale shocks of electricity going over it's hide pointing to one thing: Paralysis. It cried out as it remained frozen.

"Damn worthless thing!" However he heard another sound. Footsteps came closer. "Ah, this must be the backup arriving. You've held off just long enough to get thoroughly thrashed by my associates. Bravo."

[hr]

The sounds were getting louder as the group moved in closer. "Uh bros," Jordan said. "I think we got, like, a lot of things ahead. Like maybe not just Pokemon there. There's like talking I think, and stuff."

 

[Mookie_Magnus]

"It sounds like a battle, almost..." Mika said, listening close and steeling himself for what was ahead. He felt Aeris on his arm, and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, and a small kiss. "Don't worry, Aeris... we'll be fine. Bones, Claw, get ready... I've got a nasty feeling about what's up ahead."

Understood. We're always ready to fight for you.

No problem... You can count on us.

"Jordan... you want to come with me and scout ahead? No reason that all of us move ahead without knowing it's safe... Plus, we can better handle whatever's up there with two people."

 

[NeoAC]

"Uh, yeah, sure bro. I can come up there I guess. You good, Vicky?"

Zubitbit! Bit bit! Yeah sure! Good for what? Whatever! Yeah!

"OK, then yeah, lead the way bro." Jordan followed in behind Stick as the two headed up ahead while the remainder of the group held back.

 

[CounterAttack]

Rochelle struggled to resist a grim smile at the Tauros's condition. The two electric shocks had weakened and paralysed it, but if what the Rocket said was correct and he had backup en route, this battle wouldn't last much longer. The adrenaline that had been a factor in helping her run for an extended period of time, coupled with her fear of running into the Rockets again, was starting to wear off; since the Sleep Powder had messed up her usual sleep cycle, the young Trainer felt both tired, wide awake and exhausted. But Rochelle and Tyler had to beat the Rockets if she wanted to get her Pokémon back. The sounds of footsteps were everywhere now, both behind the Rockets and their opponents.

Mentally trying to snap out of her frazzled state, Rochelle looked down at Iskra, who appeared to have a defiant expression on his face despite the splash of foul-smelling acid that had hit him. Or at least, that was the way it looked: she doubted Pokémon experienced emotions the same way humans did. "Couple more oughta do it, buddy," she lightly coaxed. "Use another shock on the Tauros. We gotta finish this."

Iskra nodded quickly before turning his attention to the injured bull. The now-familiar bolt of yellow-white electricity shot from his wool; Rochelle hoped it would be enough to keep the Tauros out of the battle.

 

[socialtangent]

The glob of poison launched at Tank hit its mark, but due to being a Poison-type he had a natural resistance to such attacks. As a result, the attack did very little in the way of hurting him. Tank appeared more irritated than anything else as he shook off the purple goop. Confidence was beginning to strengthen Tyler's resolve. The Rockets' Pokemon were tough, but they weren't invincible. Maybe, just maybe, he and Rochelle could defeat the Rockets, find the others and get back Rochelle's stolen Pokemon. It was within the realm of possibility now.

We can do this.

"Tank, go for another Peck!" he shouted.

Charging forward, Tank repeated the same maneuver, jumping forward towards the injured gloom horn-first.

 

[Mookie_Magnus]

"Alright. I seriously hope that this doesn't get us killed..." Mika said to himself, that last part especially quietly.

Mika and Jordan went ahead in front of the others, if not to clear the way, then to at least give the others a chance to escape, should the shit hit the fan. The noises got louder as they moved closer, Mika could almost feel the trembling of the stone walls from the sound waves resonating through the passageway.

 

[NeoAC]

The sounds were getting louder, clear cries of Pokemon could be heard ahead. Dude, this isn't sounding like no cave. It almost sounds like the zone. A pained lowing echoed through the cave. "Come on, dude! We gotta be like, close to something!"

[hr]

"Damn it Tauros, move! You're going to let that over-sized cotton ball get the better of you?"

The young Tauros tried to respond to it's master's calls, but the shocks of it's opponent were proving to be too much. The last attack shot through it's system, reeking havoc with it's coordination and muscles. It's legs were shaking, the confident stare it had before having long given way to the look of a frazzled battler, trying to find some energy that wasn't harmful, but coming up empty.

"Damn it to hell! Kimmy! Can't you get that stinking weed to do something useful? Put these idiots to sleep!"

"Shut up! I know how to battle!" Kimmy retorted. "Gloom use Sleep Powder!"

Kimmy's command came too late as Tank had connected with the Peck attack. Even coming from a ground-oriented Pokemon, the Flying attack hit hard, sending Gloom tumbling back onto the ground.

"Hey! You can't do that!"

"Bloody tart!" Damian cursed, as he looked back into the cave. He could see his fellow Rockets though. The cavalry was arriving. "Well even if you two do get the better of myself and Kimmy, I'm sure you won't be able to deal with the coming onslaught of teammates that are arriving. You are fighting a losing war you two! Team Rocket will prevail in the end!"

[hr]

Rounding a bend up ahead, Jordan could see people. One of them had familiar red hair. "Dude! Stick! It's like them, dude! They're up there!" However, they were fiercely locked in battle with someone. "I dunno who they are with though. They're like battling and stuff. One dude has a Tauros too. Dad said those things were nasty!"

 

[CounterAttack]

"Oh, shut up already," Rochelle snapped at the Rocket, her patience wearing thin. She wanted to finish the battle and find out where her possessions were stashed. She wanted as little to do with Team Rocket as possible, and her last interaction with them would be to turn her back on the criminals and walk away, taking her property and Pokémon with her. That Tauros was on its last legs: normally Rochelle would feel some form of compassion towards it in its crippled state, but it was willingly helping the Rockets by standing at their side. As a result Rochelle had no qualms about defeating it in battle.

"One more, Iskra, and this is over," she told her fluffy Pokémon. The Mareep refrained from a nod in response, instead turning its attention to his weakened opponent. Another jolt of electricity shot straight and true, catching the Tauros in its side. As the familiar sparks danced across its crumpled body, Iskra stood tall and proud in his victory over a bigger and tougher foe, a defiant look in his eyes.

Rochelle let out the breath that she didn't realise she'd been holding, proud of her normally docile Pokémon and his capability to overcome a challenge in his way. Iskra had proven himself a valuable asset to her team... which was still in the hands of the Rockets. She elected to wait until Tyler had dealt with the Gloom before demanding her possessions back.

 

[socialtangent]

The Rocket's Gloom was on the ropes. The creature struggled to remain on its feet after the series of Pecks that Tank had given it. Another attack would defeat their foul-smelling opponent, Tyler was sure of it. He pointed towards the weakened Gloom and commanded his Nidoran to go for a final Peck attack. Tank obliged and charged for it once more, its forward momentum adding to the force behind its horned tackle.

Tyler watched the unfolding attack with a growing sense of elation. He and Rochelle were on the verge of defeating two members from the notorious Team Rocket, one of the most cold and ruthless criminal organizations the world had ever known. The fact that he and Rochelle got this far showed that they were by no means invincible like the urban legends about them said. They could be defeated.

 

[NeoAC]

Both Tauros and Gloom hit the ground, spirals apparent in their eyes. There would be no further battling for them. Both Rocket members quickly returned their fallen Pokemon to the balls.

"Damn you Kimmy. If you didn't let out that bloody sheep, we would have had this already!"

"Will you stop blaming me Damian! Ugh! Just shut up!" Kimmy chucked Iskra's Pokeball at his face, it being no use to her now. She connected squarely with the bridge of Damian's nose before it bounced back to it's rightful owner, Rochelle.

"Owww, you fucking...." Damian held his nose as the back up finally arrived behind him. "Oh good, fellow Rockets, dispose of these two would you? I have to go find a bloody first aid kit now. Fucks' sake Kimmy!" Damian retreated to the back of the cave to try and find something to stop the bleeding.

"Don't leave me here Damian!" Kimmy turned to the newly arrived Rockets. "You guys, make them give me back Fluffy! And like, hurt them, and stuff." She then turned to follow her partner back towards the main base.

The leader of this new batch of enemies looked over the two kids standing before them. "Damian and Kimmy couldn't even handle these two? Pathetic. Grunts! Ready your Pokemon! This should be a quick little 6 on two battle!"

"Hey! Hey dudes!"

Reinforcements had finally arrived for the beleaguered heroes. Jordan and Mika caught up to Rochelle and Tyler's position, the other four members of the group quickly following in behind them.

"Hey dudes!" Jordan said Rochelle and Tyler. "We were looking all over for...who are those dudes?"

"Those are the Rockets, Jordan," Mika pointed out. "They are the syndicate of villains that terrorized Kanto and Johto years ago. I heard they were wiped out though."

"Rumors of Team Rocket's demise have been greatly exaggerated, kid," the Grunt leader informed them. "Let me just show you how much. Rockets! Attack!" The Grunts obeyed, releasing Pokemon for an all out brawl with this ragtag bunch of kids.

 

[Lambi]

Aeris stepped forward and held one of her Pokeballs in her hand, the one containing her Ekans. "One of you is getting your ass kicked by me! Come at me!" She wasn't about to let a Rocket beat her. One of them payed attention to her and ran over to her.

"You'll regret those words, little missy. Rattata, appear!" The Rocket grunt threw one of his Pokeballs and a Rattata appeared. "Hmpf. Is that all you've got? Ekans, take his Rattata down!" She threw her Pokeball and Ekans appeared. "Ekans, wrap yourself around his Rattata!" Ekans did so, trying to choke the Rattata. The Rattata bit her Ekans, who let go. "He's not the only one that bites. Show him your own bite!" Her Ekans nodded and bit the Rattata back. "Now, follow it with a Poison Sting!" He did so, hitting the Rattata in the back with his stinger. The Rattata was out. The Rocket grunt called it back.

"That was just round one. Prepare for the next one!" He threw another Pokeball, which contained a Koffing. "Ekans, return." Aeris said and returned her Ekans back into his Pokeball, putting it back on her belt. She picked up one of the other two on her belt, since Blaze was still out of her Pokeball lighting up the cave better, and threw the one with Xal, her Geodude. "Xal, use your Tackle!" Xal did so, throwing his body at the Koffing, making it hit the wall and it was out for the count. The grunt groaned and returned his Koffing back.

He picked another Pokeball and threw it. Out of it came a Zubat. "Xal, return!" Aeris returned Xal back and picked up the only Pokeball left on her belt. "Tristan, go!" Her Butterfree came out of his Pokeball, ready to battle. "Tristan, use Confusion!" He nodded and began to send psychic waves towards the Zubat, making it spin around for a bit before it tried it's Supersonic attack. It missed Tristan. He tackled the Zubat, then sprayed it with Sleep Powder, making it fall asleep. The grunt wasn't too happy about that and returned his Zubat back.

"This one will surely win! Drowzee, come out!" He threw his last Pokeball and out came a Drowzee. Aeris wasn't about to risk Tristan losing against it and returned him. "Blaze, it's your turn now. Kick that Drowzee's butt!" Blaze walked past Aeris with a confident look. Her tail fire grew in size. "Use your Ember to burn him!" Blaze nodded and ran up to the Drowzee, covering him in as much fire as she could with her Ember. The Drowzee seemed harmed, but still standing. "Counter that with a Hypnosis!" the grunt called and the Drowzee started moving it's arms about, sending some kind of waves towards Blaze. She was having a hard time staying awake, but tried to shake that off. She prepared a metal claw attack, her claws gaining a metal coating, and clawed at the Drowzee. She hit, and the Drowzee stopped it's attack and backed off. Blaze shook off whatever drowsiness she had and started her Ember attack again. After using that for a bit, the Drowzee fell.

The Rocket grunt called his Drowzee back, then ran away. Aeris and Blaze stood there victorious. "Aww, yeah. Who's the man? Or woman in my case. We did it!" She high-fived Blaze.

 

[CounterAttack]

At the sight of more Team Rocket members, Rochelle's heart sank. She and Tyler could never take on that many people alone... but her spirits lifted as familiar voices made themselves heard; those of Jordan and Mika. They seemed to have brought the rest of the group with them.

Damian and Kimmy, however, appeared to have vanished amongst their comrades in crime. They were probably heading back down the tunnel... and they would know where to find Rochelle's belongings and the three Pokémon she had yet to regain. She couldn't let them get away; not now, not after they had been defeated.

As the Rockets and her friends began to square off against one another, Pokémon released from their balls on both sides, Rochelle saw an opportunity. None of the criminals had chosen to target her, instead focusing on the new threat; fresh victims with stronger Pokémon. Presumably their itinerary was to bring down the weaker ones after the greater threat had been dealt with. With that in mind, Rochelle looked to Iskra by her side and ordered, "Come on! We're not finished with them yet, Iskra. Gotta get the rest of the team." Hers was a dangerous and improvised plan, but she was blind to the risk of going into hostile, unfamiliar territory; she was interested only in reclaiming her possessions and then returning to the safety of her friends.

The young Trainer and her Wool Pokémon slipped to the back of the group, made their way around to the right side of the cavern wall and charged past the two battling sides, shoving a surprised Rocket aside in the process. Having made it past the criminal gang, Rochelle and Iskra began to run yet again, intent on catching up to Damian and Kimmy, or at least one of them.

 

[socialtangent]

Tyler followed Rochelle, who was in pursuit of the two Rockets they had just battled. The arrival of the rest of the group was a massive relief, and it served as an excellent distraction as he maneuvered his way though the initial chaos. Geist and Tank were right on his tail, but the Nidoran seemed to be lagging behind a bit. The battles seemed to have taken a toll on the little creature. Tyler returned Tank to his Pokeball and kept running forward. Geist would be enough to take care of any more Pokemon the two Rockets had.