Chapter 1

"Kidnapped"

This isn't good…

I threw the net off of Pikachu and me. I couldn't believe that Team Rocket had stooped as low as kidnapping.

"Chu…" Pikachu said, rubbing its head.

'Ow…'

I looked at it in sympathy. Team Rocket hadn't exactly been gentle when they had thrown the two of us into their truck. Now I had no idea where we were going, but what was important right now was to get out of there and get to my Pokémon League match with Richie.

I promised him…

"Squirtle! Come out!"

I tossed my Pokéball and Squirtle popped out.

"Squirtle!" it said, "Squirtle, squirtle?"

'Hey! Uh…Where are we?'

"Squirtle, see if you can fill this place up with water. Maybe we can flood the front part and get out of here," I said quietly.

"Squirt!"

'Okay!'

Squirtle tilted its head towards the floor then started spitting out a continuous stream of water.

This is taking too long…

"Do you think you could speed it up a little?" I asked.

Squirtle doubled its efforts, but I could see it was going to tire out quickly.

"Pi…Pi…ka…"

'Ugh…I'm getting…wet."

"Don't complain, Pikachu. We're going to have to put up with a little water if we want to get out of here."

"Chu."

'Yeah…'

It seemed like it was taking forever for Squirtle to fill up the truck. Didn't Team Rocket notice by now? The truck seemed almost full. I looked at Squirtle. It was really getting tired, but it kept on squirting. No, I couldn't let it get all tired out because of me.

"Squirtle…That's enough. It's not working."

"Squirt! Squirtle!"

'No! I'm fine!'

"Squirtle, stop. I don't want you to hurt yourself." I took out another Pokéball. "Bulbasaur! I choose you!"

Bulbasaur appeared at the surface of the water, then struggled to stay afloat.

"Bulbasaur, use your Leech Seed to get rid of this water."

"Squirtle! Squirtle!"

'But-! But I worked so hard!'

"Pikachu!"

'You don't know that it didn't work yet!'

I shook my head. "No. We're going to try another way out."

Bulbasaur looked at me, then let a small brown seed out of its bulb. It drifted into the water, then many long vines appeared and began to drain the water from the truck. After a while, we sank down to the floor, the only evidence of the recent flood was our own dampness.

"Okay…Pidgeotto! Muk! Charizard! Come out!"

"Piidgeoo!!"

'I'm here!'

"M, muk!"

'Same with me!'

"…Zard."

'Yeah. Sure.'

I stood up, a little shakily. "Okay guys." I pointed at the rear door. "We're gonna try to ram that open. On the count of three, we'll charge. Got it?"

They all gave their agreement, except for Charizard, who stood at the back moodily.

"Okay! Here we go. One! Two! Three!!"

We all dashed into the doors. They didn't budge.

I groaned.

"Ouch…" I looked at my Pokémon. They seemed okay. Charizard was still standing at the other end, snickering to itself.

"Let's try that again…"

I pulled myself up, and they all did the same.

"Ready? One, two, three!!!"

We charged again. Once again, the doors didn't give.

"Oww…" I glared at Charizard. "Charizard! Give us a hand!!"

"Char…" it yawned. "Char zard…" It waved at us dismissively.

'Nah…You're doing fine. Keep at it…'

I gritted my teeth.

Fine. We can do this without your help…

"Come on guys…One more time." We stood up and got ready. "One…two…THREE!!"

We charged one more time.

"CHUUU!!!"

Pikachu tried a small Thundershock. It only ended up shocking the rest of us.

"PIKACHU!!" I yelled.

"Chu…"

'Sorry…'

"Squirt…Squirtle…"

'This isn't working. We should give up…'

"No! We won't give up! I have to get to that match…!"

"Muk!!"

'Again!'

I sighed. "You said it, Muk."

We all stood up one more time.

"One! Two! Three!!"

This time, the truck hit a bump, and EVERYBODY flew into the back. That means, Charizard included.

"AHH!!!"

"CHUU!!"

"ZZAAARRD!!"

We all slammed into back with a resounding thud. I was lucky enough to have Charizard land on top of me…

"Ughh…Charizard…Return…"

It was a great relief to have it get off of me, let me tell you that much.

Then I realized something else. The truck had stopped moving.

"…Did we get the door open?" I asked my Pokémon, too tired to look for myself.

Pikachu stood up a little to my left.

"Pika……Pikachu."

'No…We dented it though.'

"Oh…Then why did they stop?"

"Bulbasaur."

'Probably to see what that noise was.'

"Squirr…"

'Yeah, probably.'

"Ch…Pi!?"

'Uh…Huh!?'

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" I asked.

"Pika!"

'They're coming!'

They're coming…? I grinned. Then we can get out of here…

I sat up. "All right. When they open the door, get ready to jump them."

"Pika!?"

'Jump them!?'

I nodded. "You heard me."

Everyone got ready…but the door never opened. I could hear them talking, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I leaned closer to hear better, then jumped back in alarm as they started banging loudly on the doors.

"What on earth are they doing!!!?" I yelled, covering my ears.

"Pikapi!!" Pikachu replied, tugging its ears down to close them.

'I have no idea!!'

"Squirt!!" Squirtle ducked inside of its shell.

After a long while, they stopped, marched back to the driver's section, and started the truck again.

"What…did they do?" I asked.

"Pika?"

'Hm?'

Pikachu approached the door and tried to figure it out.

"Pika…….Pikachu."

'I think……I don't know.'

"Well…Thanks for trying, Pikachu." I looked at my friends. "Who wants to try knocking it open again?"

"Bul! Bulbasaur!!"

'That's it! They must have barricaded the door!'

"What!? But…"

It's right…

"Then…How are we going to get out of here?"

"Chu…"

'I wish I knew…'

We just sat around for a while, but we were all getting restless.

"…We might as well give it another try. We can't just give up, can we?"

"Bulba…Bulbasaur…"

'Sure we could give up. It would be easy.'

"Bulbasaur!!……Hmph. Come on you guys. We have to keep trying. I…I promised Richie…"

"Pika!! Pikachu!"

'Yeah! Let's try again!'

"Bul…? Bulba."

'Huh…? Fine. Suit yourself.'

"Let's go! One, two, three!!"

"Pika!!"

"Muk!"

"Piddgeo!"

We all slammed into the door. I think it hurt a lot more that time, even without Charizard landing on top of me…

"…Oww…"

"Pii…kaa…"

"Geoo…"

"Muk."

At least Muk was okay.

"Hey Muk…You want to give it one more go?"

"MUK!!" Muk said happily.

'Sure!!'

"Let's get outta the way, guys," I said to Pikachu and Pidgeotto.

We did, and Muk slammed into the door over and over and over again. Each time, nothing happened.

The rest of us just watched, until Pikachu decided to join in. Muk didn't seem to be getting tired…at first. Pikachu was obviously getting tired really fast, but it kept at it. Eventually, Bulbasaur decided to lend a hand…Well, sort of. You know what I mean.

"Ugh…I don't think it's working," I said, "Don't wear yourselves out. We still have to get back to the Stadium once we do get out of here."

"CHU!"

Pikachu ignored me and rammed into the door one more time.

"Pikachu! Didn't you hear me?! Stop!"

"Ch…U!"

Pikachu punched the door angrily. Panting, it sat down and didn't try to get the door open anymore.