Chapter 4: Won’t Give Up
In an old warehouse near the docks of Vermillion City, two thugs were sitting at a table polishing evolution stones. Both of them were quite pleased about the huge amount of money they were going to make selling those stones on the black market. They were going about their business when suddenly the door to the warehouse was busted down. A creature stood in the doorway. It was fox-like and stood on its hind legs at about five feet tall.
The creature had a pointed snout and ears. Its upper-torso was covered in thick black fur, while much of the rest of its fur was dark-grey. The inside of its ears were red, as were the claws on its hands and feet. Its eyes were light blue and rimed with red fur. On the top of its head was a large mass of red fur tied back in a ponytail by a large teal orb. The thugs recognized the creature as a Zoroark, and they were quite surprised to see one breaking into their hideout.
“Terribly sorry for barging in.” Said a female voice from outside. “But I have some urgent business to discuss with you gentleman.”
Stepping in the doorway was a woman who looked to be in her twenties, at least as far as the thugs could tell. A black mask with light-blue lenses covered the top half of her face. She had pale skin and blond hair that went just past her shoulders. Her height was about the same as Zoroark’s. Aside from the mask she wore a black shirt with a large red R on the front and a white skirt with a red stripe near the bottom that ended just above the knees. The young woman also wore knee-high boots, each with a red band near the top, and elbow-high gloves with a similar color design. On top of her head she wore a black cap with a red feather sticking out the right side. And around her neck she wore a white cape that was draped over her left arm and went down almost as far as her skirt.
Perched on the woman’s right shoulder was a small black bird with a large crooked yellow beak. It had red eyes and the feathers atop its head were formed into the shape of a hat. It looked as if it had a black feather duster for a tail. The thugs recognized the bird as a Murkrow.
“What is the meaning of this?” the smaller of the two thugs demanded. “Who are you?”
“I am Noir Mask.” The young woman answered. “I’m a special agent from Team Rocket, and I’ve come to register a complaint.”
“Take your complaints elsewhere!” the larger of the two thugs shouted.
“Oh, but you see this Dusk Stone I have came from the two of you.” Noir Mask said as she held up a stone that looked to be made of black crystal. “You sold this stone and several others to Team Rocket not too long ago. But when I tried using this stone to evolve my Murkrow into a Honchkrow, nothing happened. Obviously this is a fake, and so were several of the other stones you sold us.”
“We know nothing about this!” the smaller of the two thugs insisted.
“Oh look, there’s a Dusk Stone on the table there.” Noir Mask pointed out. “Let’s see if that one is the real thing.”
On cue, Murkrow flew over to the table and pecked the stone with its beak. In a flash of white light the stone disappeared, and a second later Murkrow’s body began to glow white and change shape. When the light clear Murkrow had grown to twice its original size and his feathers had become dark-blue. Its neck had grown shorter and its beak had become straighter. On its chest was a large crest of white feathers, and it had gained white circles around its eyes. Murkrow had become a Honchkrow.
“Well isn’t that interesting? That stone was obviously the real thing.” Noir Mask observed as Honchkrow flew back over to her side. “It’s clear that you tried to swindle Team Rocket by selling us fake stones and kept the real ones for yourselves. Did you really think that our organization would be dumb enough not to notice?”
“I told you we shouldn’t have tried pulling this stunt on Team Rocket!” the larger thug told the smaller one.
“Shut up!” the smaller thug shot back.
“I think its time for the two of you to meet an old friend of mine.” Noir Mask said as she pulled out a Pokeball from under her cape. The top half of this particular ball was purple and had two pink circles on top. A small M was right above the button on the front of the ball. “Go Darkrai!”
Emerging from the thrown ball was a shadowy creature with an hourglass-shaped body. It had not legs but rather hovered in the air. Its hair looked like a billowing white ghostly flame and covered one of its light-blue eyes. Around its neck was a somewhat spiky growth that resembled a necklace of large red beads. The rest of its body was black and tattered.
“A-a Darkrai?” the larger thug said with a very frightened expression.
“L-look, I’m sure we can work something out.” The smaller thug begged with a very frightened smile.
“Experience my hell.” Noir Mask said in a cold low voice. “Darkrai, hit them with Dark Void!”
Darkrai raised its two arms up and between his claws formed a ball of black energy. It threw the ball and it suddenly split in two. The two spheres hit the thugs and knocked them out. It was clear that they were asleep and having nightmares. Noir Mask pulled out a cell phone and hit a single number.
“Rocket HQ.” a woman’s voice said on the phone after a few rings.
“This is Noir Mask.” Noir Mask told the woman. “Get me Giovanni.”
“One moment please.” The woman replied. The phone rang a few more times.
“What have you to report?” Giovanni’s voice finally asked.
“I just checked out our newest evolution stone supplier.” Noir Mask told him. “They were trying to swindle us just as we thought. I’ve already dealt with them.”
“Excellent work.” Giovanni said in a pleased tone. “Now report back here at once. I have an urgent mission for you.”
“Understood sir.” Noir Mask replied before flipping off the phone. She then called back Zoroark, Darkrai, and Honchkrow and pulled out another Pokeball. “Go Hydreigon!”
The creature that emerged from the thrown ball was a three-headed dragon that was black with a blue underside. It had six black wings that looked a bit like strips of tattered cloth. All three of its faces were blue, and around each of its necks were what could be described as fuchsia-colored flower petals. If it had feet, they had long since decayed and become useless. Noir Mask got on Hydreigon’s back and flew off.
* * *
A bit later, Noir Mask was walking the corridors of Team Rocket HQ to Giovanni’s office. Zoroark was walking along side her. Many of the Team Rocket agents that saw Noir Mask quickly got out of her way. Noir Mask was used to this, as many of the agents in Team Rocket feared her. She had gained the reputation as a very formable and ruthless Pokemon Trainer, and Giovanni would often use her as an internal affairs agent. So a sudden visit from Noir Mask was nothing that any member of Team Rocket wanted to have. At last Noir Mask and Zoroark entered Giovanni’s office. Giovanni was there with Carson and Dr. Trask.
“Ah, right on time as usual Noir Mask.” Giovanni greeted. “I’d like you to meet Drill Sergeant Carson and Dr. Trask of the science division.”
“If I may ask sir, what is the mission?” Noir Mask inquired.
“Straight to the point as always.” Giovanni commented. “That’s one of the things I like about you. Not long ago Dr. Trask proposed the rather ambitious idea of finding young individuals with the potential to become powerful Pokemon Trainers, and brainwash them to serve the organization. Thus creating an elite army. It was all going well until one of the recruits in this experiment escaped.”
“Did the brainwashing wear off?” Noir Mask asked.
“That is what is believed to have happened, despite Dr. Trask’s insistence that such a thing is impossible.” Giovanni said as he gave Dr. Trask an angry look. “We think he’s regained his memories, which Dr. Trask supposedly blocked out. Here’s his file.”
At this point Giovanni handed Noir Mask a file folder. Noir Mask quickly looked over the first page.
“Recruit 17, Alex Blaze.” Noir Mask read before closing the folder. “I’m guessing you want me to bring him back in?”
“Correct, you will be accompanying Sergeant Carson on this mission.” Giovanni told her. “We believe he’s in Goldenrod City at the moment. A few agents have already been dispatched to that location, but I would feel better if you two went down there anyway. Mr. Blaze was brought into the experiment as a request from a friend, so I’d prefer to leave nothing to chance.”
“Understood sir.” Noir Mask replied with a salute.
“Boss, with all due respect I can handle this on my own.” Carson insisted.
“You’ve already failed to recapture Recruit 17 once.” Giovanni pointed out. “Not only that, you’ve lost two of our other experimental recruits. It is clear that Noir Mask should take the lead on this mission.”
“If you have a problem with me, feel free to take it up with me in a battle.” Noir Mask dared Carson.
Zoroark growled at Carson. Carson immediately backed down, as he knew whom he was dealing with. Though he had only heard rumors about what Noir Mask was capable of, he didn’t want to find out if they were true.
“That’s more like it.” Giovanni commented. “Now get to it, both of you!”
* * *
Meanwhile in Goldenrod City, Alex had already picked up Cinder from the Pokemon Center and headed to the condo where Nora and her father lived. The man at the front desk had told Alex that the Winters’ penthouse apartment hadn’t been used in quite sometime, but Alex wanted to see for himself. He didn’t put it past Nora’s father to have the front desk lie if he showed up. But as Alex found out for himself, the apartment truly was vacant. Alex decided that his next move should be to check out the mansion in Ecruteak City that the Winters family sometimes used in the autumn.
Just as Alex was about to head out, something flew down from the sky and almost knocked him to the ground. It was a rather large bird that looked like it was covered in silver armor. It spread its wings to reveal red feathers underneath. Alex recognized the bird as a Skarmory, and it seemed clear that it wasn’t going to let Alex leave without a fight.
“Let’s go Cinder!” Alex called as he threw out Cinder’s Pokeball.
Cinder emerged and suddenly the small red box it had picked up at the warehouse glowed with a white light and vanished. Less than a second later, Cinder’s body glowed white and changed shape. When the light cleared, Cinder had become much larger and bulkier. The two flames that were on the top of its head had merged into a single flame, and its yellow beak had been replaced by large pink lips. Its tail had become completely enveloped in flames, and his torso had gained a red and yellow pattern of flame-like stripes. Its upper arms had gained black shackles and his forearms had turned yellow and had taken the shape of cannons. Cinder had evolved into a Magmortar.
“Well, I guess you’ve recovered.” Alex commented. Skarmory flew at Cinder to attack. “Cinder, let that thing have it with Flamethrower!”
Cinder raised its right cannon arm and shot a stream of fire that hit the Skarmory’s left wing. The armored bird crashed to the ground. Alex decided to try and capture Skarmory and threw out an Ultra Ball. The ball hit and sucked Skarmory in. It wiggled only a few times before making the sound that signaled the capture was complete. Alex walked over and picked up the ball. He then sent the Skarmory out. The metal bird was experiencing pain from its injured wing.
“Sorry about that pal, but you didn’t give me much choice.” Alex said as he walked over and got out a bottle of Hyper Potion that Sabrina had provided him with. He sprayed the substance on Skarmory’s wing, and within moments it was healed. “I think I’ll call you Blade, what do you think?”
The Skarmory that had become known as Blade squawked and flapped its wings approvingly, and at that moment two men in Team Rocket uniforms showed up.
“Well, well, it looks like we found that escaped lab rat they’re making a fuss about at HQ.” one of the Rocket grunts commented. “You’re coming with us buddy.”
“I don’t think so.” Alex said defiantly. “Now get lost!”
“So you wanna do things the hard way, huh?” the second grunt commented. “Fine by us. Go Vileplume!”
Emerging from the grunt’s thrown ball was a creature with a round blue body, short arms and legs, and a large red flower with white spots on top.
“Go Victreebel!” the first grunt called out.
Emerging from the second thrown ball was a large yellow pitcher plant-like creature with two leaves for arms. Its eyes were below its large mouth, which was covered by an equally large leaf that had a tail-like vine growing down from it.
“This is your last chance punk!” the second grunt warned. “Come with us quietly, or experience a world of hurt!”
“Let’s see, I’ve got a Fire-type and a Flying-type out right now, and your idea is to take me on with a pair of Grass Pokemon?” Alex pointed out. The two grunts suddenly realized their error. “Blade, take down that Victreebel with Air Cutter!”
Blade flapped its wings and sent out a sharp blade of wind that hit Victreebel and knocked it to the ground. The yellow plant creature was out cold.
“Cinder, hit Vileplume with Flamethrower!” Alex commanded.
Cinder fired off another stream of flames that hit Vileplume and set its flower on fire. The flower Pokemon ran around frantically until the flames went out and then fell to the ground unconscious. Before the grunts could react, Alex dashed over and punched the first grunt in the face, knocking him out. He then kicked the second one in the gut. The grunt fell to the ground, but was still conscious.
“I want you to give Team Rocket a message.” Alex said to the grunt as he grabbed him by the shirt. “I’m not letting you drag me back in. I’m going to keep searching until I find Nora, and I’ll take down anyone who gets in my way.”
Alex let go of the grunt and, called back Cinder and Blade, then walked off. Watching from the top of a nearby building was Mewtwo.
“He is quite determined to find his mate.” Mewtwo commented to himself. “But will that determination be enough?”
* * *
Back in the icy wastes of Unova, Nora was continuing to wander through the cold. She had sent out Glaceon and Snorunt to keep her company. The snow had subsided and the wind had actually died down, so the walk was more tolerable than usual. While walking, Snorunt came across a light-blue stone. It touched the stone with its right hand, and the suddenly glowed with a white light, surprising Nora and Glaceon.
When the light had cleared, the Pokemon that had been Snorunt was hovering in the air. It had gained a white mask-like face with a purple jaw and a purple diamond shape on the forehead. Its eyes had turned yellow with ice-blue irises, and two small crystal horns adorned its head. Its arms hung down from the sides of its head, and beneath dangled down a long white robe-like body with a red sash that gave one the impression it was wearing a kimono. Snorunt had become a Froslass.
“Oh, so you’re a girl.” Nora observed. “I actually had no idea. It’s a little hard for me to tell what gender a Pokemon is sometimes, but I do know that all Froslass are girls.”
Before Nora could continue the conversation any further, another Pokemon emerged from around the corner. It was a small brown almost football-shaped creature with closed eyes and a pig-like snout. Nora recognized the creature as a Swinub. Before anyone could react, Froslass raised her arms forward and formed a ball of black and purple energy between her hands, which it threw at Swinub. The little Pokemon was flipped on its back and seemed to have a difficult time getting up. Nora took the opportunity and threw a Pokeball at it. Swinub was easily captured.
“I guess you learned that move from watching Glaceon.” Nora said to Froslass as she went over and picked up Swinub’s Pokeball. “Well it looks like we have another friend on our journey.”
With that Nora sighed and continued on. Both Glaceon and Froslass gave Nora concerned looks which she quickly noticed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.” Nora assured them. “I just don’t like the cold the way the two of you do. But I’m not giving up until I see Alex again. I’ll endure whatever this land throws at me to get back to him.”
Nora continued to walk on with Glaceon and Froslass following close behind. Her journey was far from over.
