What Am I?

Just Say Please

Jen cried out as she felt her Pokémon’s pain. Their sorrow felt like a hot knife to her heart. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at the ceiling of the Pokemon Center.

        “H-How did I wind up here?” Jen wondered aloud as she slid off of the cot and walked into the main lobby of the Center. “Nurse Joy?”

        The pink haired nurse was sitting at one of the tables with a few other trainers. They all looked nervous and mad.

        “Nurse Joy, how long was I out?” Jen asked quickly.

        Nurse Joy perked up and stared at her confused. “How did you get into the Center without any of Team Rocket noticing?”

        Jen frowned. “Did no one carry me in from the gym?”

        Everyone stared at her as if she had said something wrong. “You were in the gym when Team Rocket came?”

        Jen nodded, then stiffened when she remembered that the Rocket grunts had kidnapped her Pokemon. “Are they still here? Team Rocket I mean. Are they still in Cerulean City?”

        “Yes, but it would be safer if you remained within the Center.” Nurse Joy said softly.

        “But they have my Pokemon!

        “Sorry to burst your bubble kid, but they have just about everyone’s Pokemon right now, and Misty as a hostage.” One of the trainers explained.

        Jen’s jaw dropped. She shouldn’t have been surprised since she saw Misty tied up in the back of a Rocket’s truck during her dream, but the news was still shocking. Jen bolted for the door before anyone could stop her and ran out into the chaotic scene of the city. Outside she could see Rocket grunts everywhere, rounding up trainers in small groups and transporting their stolen Pokemon, both in Pokeballs and small cages, into large trucks.

        Without giving it a second thought, Jen ran for one of the trucks and dove inside. By some God-given miracle, none of the grunts saw her as they closed and locked the doors. She looked around the dim truck and saw all sorts of Pokemon and Pokeballs, but none of them were hers. Misty wasn’t here either.

        “Wrong truck…” She muttered angrily as she felt the truck start to move. At least she could still do some damage. She started ripping open many of the cages, freeing the small Pokemon inside, and grabbing boxes full of Pokeballs. “Break open the doors.” She ordered.

        A Charmeleon and Crawdaunt hit the doors with everything they had, eager for escape. The doors easily fell away and the Pokemon began jumping out. Jen tossed all the boxes of Pokeballs out of the truck, causing some of them to break open.

        Some of the Pokemon slowed to a stop as they waited for Jen to jump as well, but she had other plans. She carefully climbed onto the roof of the truck, which was made a little more difficult when the grunts suddenly slammed on the brakes. Jen was thrown onto her stomach and slide to the edge of the truck.

        “Hurry and get those Pokemon back!” One of the grunts barked.

        Two grunts crawled out of the truck and took off after the fleeing Pokemon. Once they were far enough away, Jen attempted to crawl over to the open sunroof as silently as possible, and peek inside.

        A Rocket grunt was sitting in the driver’s seat.

        “For Pete’s sakes!” Jen thought as she jumped through the sunroof and onto the grunt. Unfortunately, she didn’t knock him out like she had hoped. Instead, she only managed to make him mad.

        “God damn it, kid! I’m gonna kill you!” He screamed. His hands extended outward, greedily reaching for her neck.

        Jen yelped and kicked him in the face. The grunt hissed, grabbing his broken nose, and slamming his foot down on the accelerator.

        The truck sped forward into the other Rocket truck that was only a few yards away. The air bags deployed and knocked the grunt out, but the trucks did not stop. Both were picking up speed before finally crashing into the trees.

        Jen climbed out of the sunroof with only a few bruises, and walked carefully to the other truck. She opened the doors, which had been destroyed in the collision, and searched for her Pokemon.

        She heard a human groan and spun around hoping to see Misty. To her dismay, she only saw a grunt.

        “Where is Misty?” Jen asked icily. “Which truck did you scumbags hide her in?”

        The grunt laughed at her. “The gym leader is long gone you brat. You’re never going to see her again.”

        Jen grabbed him by his hair and slammed him against the side of the truck. She no longer had the patience for the grunt’s bullshit. “Why did you take her and my Pokemon? Where are you taking them?”

        “Aww. Is that why you’re so mad? Is the little punk upset that we stole her playthings from her?”

        “They’re my friends, not my playthings! Now tell me, where did you take them?!”

        The grunt’s expression changed from one of amusement to one of complete fear. “What the Hell is wrong with you?”

        Jen had no clue what he was talking about. At least, she didn’t know until she started to hear his thoughts.

        “What’s up with her eyes? They’re pure white!”

        Although stunned by this new ability, Jen dove deeper into his mind, though, she didn’t quite sure she was doing it right. The grunt was screaming in agony as she pushed farther into his mind. “Where are they?”

        He automatically answered her subconsciously. “Off to find Suicune. Misty was its first trainer. She is the bait to lure it out of hiding. The Pokemon will be given to Giovanni.”

        Jen let him go as she fell back onto a box of Pokeballs, exhausted by the use of such energy. Some of the Pokeballs opened, immediately releasing the Pokemon inside. None of them were small, and nor did they look happy.

        “Where are our trainers?” They roared.

        Jen snuck a glance at the Rocket grunt, only to find him sprawled out on the floor. She turned back towards the trapped and angry Pokemon, and found herself caught face-to-face with a furious looking Skarmory.

        “Return us to our trainers.” It growled.

        Jen surprisingly wasn’t scared of the Skarmory or any of the other raging Pokemon. Or she was just going insane. “Just say please.”

        The Skarmory recoiled and the other Pokemon grew silent. “What did you say?”

        Jen leaned closer to the Skarmory. “I said, just say please, and then I will be more than happy to lead you back to the city.”

        Many of the Pokemon stared at Jen in awe and wonder before a Noctowl nudged the Skarmory. “Umm…please return us to our trainers.”

        “That’s much better, wouldn’t you agree?” She said, strolling casually to the truck doors. “Would you all be so kind as to grab the remaining cages and Pokeballs please, and follow me?”

        The Pokemon obeyed and followed Jen all the way back to Cerulean City.