บท 82: Prism Scale
"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!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
As Jessie, James and Meowth finished their motto, they glanced down at all of the people below them from the cockpit of their new machine, the mecha Galvantula.
"""Team Rocket!""" All three of the twerpettes cried out when they saw them, while the twerp himself just narrowed his eyes at them.
"What is this?" The former Gym Leader, Hudson, growled angrily, even as his three daughters prepared for battle.
"Ahahaha! We just came to pick up a certain twerp and his Pokemon!" Jessie declared with a haughty laugh.
"Yeah, but then we thought to ourselves, why not pick up this delicious smorgasbord of water Pokemon you've so kindly prepared for us!" James added, before moving his joystick to manipulate one of the Galvantula legs outside to show the numerous Pokemon dangling from it within a steel net.
"No!" Daisy and her sisters cried as seeing their Pokemon in such a state, making James and Meowth gloat from their supposed victory. Jessie meanwhile, had a very different feeling going through her.
She had naturally warned Ace about their attack, as she was supposed to. BUT, it had been James and Meowth's idea to collect all of the Pokemon from the water park BEFORE going to attack the twerp.
And now he was giving her a look that made Jessie fear for the safety of her cute little ass the next time she saw him.
But she had a part to play.
"""Go!"""
With a cry, the three sisters sent out their remaining Pokemon.
"Ah ah ah!" Meowth sneered down at them evilly, before he pressed one of the numerous buttons in the cockpit.
"""!!!"""
Immediately all of the Pokemon they had captured began to cry in both fear and pain as an electric current ran through the metallic net they had been caught in. Their screams continued until Meowth shut the current off, and sneered down at them,
"If ya's don't want you's Pokemon to get another shock, then ya's won't try anyting funny! Hahahaha!"
As both Meowth and James cackled gleefully from having the advantage over the pesky twerps, Jessie noticed the look on Ace's face as he fiddled with something in his Pokedex. Will she ever be able to sit again?
"Now it's your turn!" James cried as he slammed his fist on a button, and a steel net attached to a cable was fired directly at Ace himself. After all, they wanted the reward the Boss was offering for him.
Without missing a beat, Ace darted to the side so that the net missed him.
"Let's go partner!" He declared to the Pokemon at his side.
"Right!" Shouted a voice that made the three of them look around in confusion.
"What was dat?"
"Waaah! Look out!" Jessie shrieked as an Aura Sphere came hurtling at them, and hit with enough force that their entire mecha shook.
"That brat!" James snarled angrily.
"You get the twerp, I'll get the Pokemon!" Jessie declared as they split up on either side, and both she and James took aim.
"Stop moving, damn it!" Jessie snarled as she repeatedly fired steel nets at Lucario, only for them all to miss. Thankfully neither James not Meowth seemed to notice that she wasn't actually trying to capture Lucario.
Instead they were more focused on the twerp as he darted about on the other side, seemingly trying to get close to the captured Pokemon.
"No ya don't!" Meowth sneered as he controlled the leg this time to move it just as Ace was about to reach it. "Ya want it? Come and get it!"
"And then I'LL get YOU!" James smirked as he continued firing nets at him. Until all of a sudden, they stopped.
"Huh? My doohickey isn't working!" James declared.
"Ya know, they sell medicine for that Jimmy boy." Meowth said smartly.
"Not THAT doohickey! THAT works just fine!" James responded indignantly. "I'm talking about THIS doohickey!"
Gesturing to the controls as he said that, James showed they had all stopped working for some reason.
"Ah! My thingamabob stopped working too!" Jessie cried out then.
"I tink you and your thingamabob is much more concerning than Jimmy's doohickey..." Meowth said worriedly, looking pointedly at her skirt as he said that.
"GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!" Jessie roared at his implication, planting her heel in the side of his head as she added, "AND I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT HAVE ONE OF THOSE!"
"Now now Jessie, I think I can speak for everyone else when I say we are ALL aware of that!" James said as he tried to pacify her, briefly glancing up her skirt as he did so since her current position was showing its contents off quite shamelessly.
"Shut it or you're next!" She snarled viciously at him, preparing to hit him anyways just for looking up her skirt.
"Tatta."
"""???"""
All three grew confused when they suddenly heard something that didn't sound right, before collectively looking down to see a small purple head poking out from their dashboard.
"Tatta!" The small Rattata declared again, before another small head poked out a little ways away from it, followed by another.
"""Tatta!"""
With all three declared such, they all darted away from the dashboard towards the hatch that was used to enter and exit the giant mecha.
"What was that about?" James asked confusedly.
"I don't know, but someone's openin the hatch!" Meowth declared worriedly as the wheel to lock and open the hatch began to turn, before it opened to reveal none other than the twerp.
"""Tatta!"""
All three Rattata declared as they leapt up the ladder towards him.
"Good work guys!" He said with a smile on his face, to which the three Rattata saluted him respectfully.
"Wait a second!" Meowth exclaimed with realization as he squirmed from Jessie's grip. "What do ya mean 'good work'?! What did ya have dem rats do?!"
Ace looked over as if he had just noticed the three of them, and said, "nothing much. I just had them infiltrate your mecha while you were focused on me, and chew all of the wires and stuff to make it stop working."
"""!!!"""
"You brat!"
"What'll you do if we can't get our deposit back!"
They cried after one another as all three of them hurriedly tried to activate ANYTHING in the mecha, but it was all busted. Including the control to send an electric current to the Pokemon they had captured.
"Now guys, I want you to try and chew through the wire betting keeping them captive." Ace ordered next, to which his Rattata saluted once again before heading up the leg that held them all up.
"No you don't! Go Weezing, Electrode!" James cried as he sent out his two Pokemon.
"Weeze!"
"Trode!"
"You too Arbok, Dustox! Make a snack of those rats!" Jessie cried as she acted her part, sending out her Pokemon as well.
"Charbok!"
"Oxxxxxx!"
The two Pokemon cried as they honed in on the three Rattata.
"I don't think so!" Ace declared as he threw out several of his own Pokeballs.
"Hound!"
"Pooch!"
"Dos!"
"Screee!"
Crying out in challenge, Poochyena, Houndour, Cranidos and Zubat all intercepted the Team Rocket Pokemon.
Everyone watched in awe as the four-way battle took place, with Houndour taking on the Weezing, Poochyena challenging Arbok, Cranidos dancing around electrode, and Zubat putting on an aerial display with Dustox.
And as they did that, the three Rattata worked away at the steel cables holding the water Pokemon captive.
"Grrr! Forget about the extras! Don't let those rats get through the cables!" James roared at the Pokemon, all while Ace watched on from above. But it was futile.
*SNAP!*
A short minute later and the cable snapped, dropping all of the Pokemon into the pool below.
"""!!!"""
"NOOO!"
"OUR POKEMON!"
The trio cried out despairingly.
"If you think that's bad, just you wait." The twerp said from above.
***
Now that the Pokemon were free, there was no more need to hold back as I leapt off of the mecha Galvantula alongside my Rattata.
"Let's go!" I called to the rest of my Pokemon as they continued battling it out on top.
At my command, Houndour released a thick cloud of Smog that obscured everyone's vision, allowing him and Poochyena to escape as they both leapt down beside me. That left Cranidos while Zubat continued battling in the air, before the former took advantage of the Smog to Headbutt Weezing, and then Arbok back into the mecha alongside Team Rocket.
The only ones left were Electrode and Dustox, the former of which was hit by Zubat's Supersonic, and was thoroughly confused before she used a Wing Attack to send it crashing down into the mecha as well. And so, with only Electrode left, Cranidos finally used Headbutt on it as well.
The impact made Electrode grow unstable, as power within it began to build up. So Cranidos hurriedly leapt off of the mecha into my open arms, as Electrode fell inside alongside Jessie, James, and all of their Pokemon.
"Jessie...."
"Yes James....?"
"I think I know what's going to happen..."
"Yep..."
*KABOOM!*
"""TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!!"""
We all watched as the mecha exploded from Electrode's Self Destruct, and all of them were sent blasting off into the distance until they were little more than a gleam in the sky.
"Well, that's that." I said to my Pokemon, who all crowded around me excitedly.
"Let's here it for MPVs!" I declared while pointing to a certain trio, my Rattata.
The rest of my Pokemon cheered them while the trio shuffled awkwardly, unused to being praised like that.
"You did well." Lucario said to them as he rejoined us, to which I nodded in affirmation.
They may not be the strongest, but Rattata definitely had their uses.
""THANK YOU!""
"!!!"
Suddenly I was enveloped in softness as two of Misty's sisters, Lily and Violet, hugged me.
"Thank you soooo much!" One breathed in my ear as they both squeezed me, before I felt their lips brush my cheeks.
"Anytime." I answered while putting my hands on their lower backs, while also mentally promising myself to punish Jessie when I next saw her. She was SUPPOSED to keep James and Meowth in line.
"Now I think I see why Misty is so taken with you~" A new voice said as the third of the sisters, Daisy, pressed herself up against my back, her breath tickling my ear.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING!?!" Misty shrieked at us with a red face, before she tried to peel her sisters off of me.
"We just want to thank the man who saved our Pokemon." Violet said as if it were obvious.
"But you don't need to be clinging to him to do so!" Misty declared angrily.
"She's right girls!" Daisy suddenly said while letting go of me. "We can 'thank' him later. Let's go check on our Pokemon!"
Winking at me as she said that, Daisy led the other two as they hurried over to Joy as she looked over their Pokemon. Meanwhile Hudson slowly walked over to me as he said,
"Truly, thank you. I shudder to imagine what our Pokemon would've gone through if you hadn't helped them."
"Don't worry about it. In always happy to stick it to Team Rocket." I told him sincerely.
Hudson nodded slowly while looking between Misty and I, probably worried about his daughter's safety if I kept getting into fights with Team Rocket.
"What are you doing for the rest of the day?" He asked me suddenly.
"Just getting ready, since we plan to leave town tomorrow." I answered, curious what he wanted.
"In that case, think you can set some time aside to come to our home with me? There's something I want to discuss with you, 'son'."
I cocked a brow from his referring to me as a son, which admittedly felt really weird even though I definitely planned to make Misty my wife in the future.
"Wait, you wanna go 'home' dad!?!" Misty exclaimed before I could answer, which in turn caught the attention of the rest of her sisters.
"What's the big deal? I thought you were staying at your home for the last week?" I asked confusedly.
"We may be staying in town more often than not, but our 'home' is at the end of the cape on the other side of the cove." Hudson explained, which made me think of the cottage where Bill lived in the game. But in the anime he lived in a lighthouse right outside of Vermillion city.
"We can go and get our things from the Pokemon Center, you guys can go ahead!" Misty declared suddenly.
"Wait, really?" May asked as she and Dawn joined us.
"Yes! I haven't been 'home' in forever!" Misty exclaimed excitedly.
Even as Dawn, May and I grew increasingly confused, Misty and even her sisters grew more excited.
"You'd think they weren't able to go out there whenever they wanted..." Hudson said while shaking his head, but he still gestured for me to follow him while the girls went to get our stuff from the Pokemon Center.
So, I returned my Pokemon and did just that with Lucario falling in step beside me.
"Is it ok to leave all of this behind?" I asked while looking at the damage Team Rocket had created.
"I'm a sailer, not a carpenter. Besides, that's Daisy's responsibility now since I retired. I only battled today to see what kind of man was hanging around my daughter." He said before taking me behind the Gym, to a canal that had a small speedboat in it.
"Normally I'd ride on my Gyarados or Blastoise, but they're a little indisposed right now." He added while looking at Lucario pointedly, who was suddenly REALLY interested in the boat we were going to ride.
I couldn't help but to smirk as we all climbed in and Hudson coasted us through the canals. A short while later we reached the northern end of town, and then we picked up speed once we got to the open water.
Soon I could feel the spray of the ocean water on my face as we shot out into the cove, which opened up enough that I could even feel the massive aura of a Wailord swimming beneath us.
"Amazing..." Lucario uttered beside me, giving voice to what I felt as we sensed all the different Pokemon beneath the waves.
I could feel Hudson smirk at our awe, but the fact was that neither I nor Lucario had spent that much time on the sea. Though that would change when we eventually started visiting other regions.
Our trip continued in silence until an ancient lighthouse came into view, and Hudson declared over the surf and motor,
"That's were the Williams ancestral home is! It was built by my ancestor more than five hundred years ago, and it's been in our family ever since!"
My eyes widened at the history behind the building as it came further into view, revealing a small manor at the foot of the lighthouse. It had obviously undergone numerous repairs and renovations over the centuries, but it was still a monument against time.
And tethered at the sole dock of the manor, was a large sailboat that looked more like what is expect a man like Hudson to be comfortable in. At least more so than the speedboat we were in now.
And as we got closer Hudson cut the speed of the boat, until we just barely coasted along from our momentum to the dock.
"Get out and tie us to the dock." He ordered as we pulled up alongside said dock.
"..."
"Ok." I said while hopping out onto the dock, where he tossed me the line.
Arceus, don't let me make a fool of myself before this man.
I have never spent a notable amount of time at sea, and the only thing I knew about boating knots was when I was studying different topics to survive in the wilds. And I could feel Hudson watching me like a Hoothoot.
I quickly wrapped the rope and tied it as best as I could around the cleat, and it was only when I finished that Hudson stepped off of the boat, and scrutinized my tie job.
"...passable." He said after a moment, making me almost breathe out a sigh of relief.
I REALLY did not know how to handle in-laws.
"Follow me." Hudson added a second later as he headed towards the manor, with Lucario and I following him.
The three of us walked in silence until we reached the front door, which Hudson opened with an ancient looking key before opening it up to reveal a carefully maintained interior.
"So, Misty tells me you have quite the array of water Pokemon." Hudson began as he led me inside.
"Yeah... My first was a Squirtle that already evolved, then I caught Sharpedo along with several other Sharpedo and Carvanha, then I got a Buizel, two Feebas and three Magikarp after helping apprehend a Pokemon smuggler." I ticked off one by one, while Hudson nodded slowly in affirmation.
"That's a good selection. Do you intend to evolve your Magikarp?" He asked.
"Of course." I immediately answered.
"Good answer." Hudson said with a jerk of his head, before adding, "what do you plan to do about your Feebas?"
"I'm going to evolve them as well of course, when I can." I answered without any hesitation.
"I see..." Hudson uttered, maybe more to himself than to me, as he opened another door to what appeared to be a study.
My eyes went wide as I looked around the study, which made it feel as if I'd gone back in time. Pictures and even drawings from different times littered the walls of people I could only presume were previous Williams, going all the way to the newest picture with Hudson and his daughters.
"Here we are." Hudson suddenly said, drawing my attention back to him as he set a box down on the desk. "Tell me Ace, do you know how to evolve a Feebas?"
"Prism Scale." I answered immediately, despite the fact that I didn't know that a week ago.
Hudson then surprised me by opening the box he had taken down to reveal three scales that glimmered with a red base, transitioning to blue at the edge.
"And now let me ask you, where do Prism Scales come from?"
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