Dark Side of Mt. Moon

[Kasumi Miyagi]

Haruka Chelli Garris

Shizuku Hitomei

Haruka and Shizuku ran down the pathways in the cave and soon came to where a group of Rocket grunts were rounding up some clefairy and Clefable in a corner. Haruka turned to Shizuku and he swiftly ran to join the others in throwing their special pokeballs at the helpless Pokemon attempting to deflect the balls. A small herd of Sandshrew were trying to cry out and escape the ambush, but the Rockets were too fast. The noise in the cave was becoming unbearable. Pokemon were screaming and the grunts were laughing and calling out orders among themselves. The entire operation was a success and somehow it still felt like a sad event to the orange-haired girl. Her partner had no problem rushing in and capturing helpless pokemon for their boss to use for his own purposes, but Haruka was feeling like something was missing. She looked down at her belt where the occupied black ball rested next to her own first pokemon. Truly, the trainer would be coming back to get her Squirtle, would she not?

Quickly without causing a scene, Haruka turned and ran down a tunnel leading toward the back entrance to the cave. The rest of the Rockets were busy inside, so she figured out here would be a small escape from the chaos. Haruka released her Cyndaquil and took a seat on one of the large boulders beside the entrance. The tiny fire mole Pokemon yawned and nuzzled its long nose against Haruka's hand with a soft chirp. "Hiya, Blaze. You know how we agreed to work as a pair and get things done for Team Rocket like mom and dad?" Her fire partner chirped and nodded. "Well, I don't think I can handle taking a new trainer's starting Pokemon. It would be like someone coming and taking you away from me!" She sighed and sat with her chin resting on her elbow and her one knee propped up against the cave wall. In the long scheme of things, maybe today wouldn't feel like such a big deal anyway. She released the Persian from it's pokeball and let the two Pokemon become acquainted. "Blaze, this is Persian. She's going to be working with us from now on, so make sure you two can get along." The two Pokemon began sniffing and starting to get familiar with each other.  

[Lady Venamisa]

Amy Marie Hallows

The path to Mt. Moon had not a single trainer in it. Given the fact that members of Team Rocket were running about, this was to be expected. Even so, it left a sour taste in Amy's mouth. Nervous, yet determined, she walked along Route 3 without any altercations. Having called out Cleo, the two of them searched for new allies to the team. Unlike most trainers, they did not sneak up and attack anyone who caught her eye; such a thing seemed incredibly rude and highly disrespectful to the creature in question. Instead, they walked through the patches of tall grass, asking politely. Not a one had answered her pleas, as of yet. Like the trainers who would normally be in the area, they weren't keen on dealing with Team Rocket. Even so, she kept on trying. It wasn't until she entered the last patch of grass that anyone responded, though...

Rustle! Rustle!

Several Pokemon emerged from the grass, their expressions ranging from a fury, to fear and sorrow. Among them were a trio of mankey, a wigglytuff, several nidorino and a male nidoran.. They surrounded her, leaving no room for escape. Seeing the commotion, Cleo flew over, landing on her shoulder in a protective fashion. "Is it true you speak our language, human?" The wigglytuff inquired. Her tone was soft and gentle. "Yes. it is." Amy replied, without skipping a beat. "My name is Amy, and I'm here to save my friend. He was taken by Team Rocket, and -" One of the nidorino growled. "You mean the humans in black? The ones who intrude upon our lands and take whomever they please?" "Y-yes, that's them." She then listened as the Pokemon spoke of their encounters with them. Needless to say, it was far from pleasant. Many had been separated from their families, taken in ways far crueler than a trainer tended to use. Some were tortured, others were beaten to within an inch of their lives; many others maimed. It was all they could do to hide away and escape...

It was in that moment that Amy knew something had to be done. Though still very much afraid, that fear was tempered by a pure, righteous anger. Though getting River back was very important, it was no longer just about that. There were other lives at stake! "I'll help you." she promised, as they began to walk toward Mt. Moon. Crouching down in the tall grass, they spotted two Rockets standing around. They appeared rather intimidating, but nobody was deterred. "You go. We distract." One of the mankey said. "Sound good?" The others murmured their agreement, and began to stand fully. Amy nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Very well. Attack!" And with that, they were off...

Cleo and the nidoran remained behind, watching along with her. "Take me with you! I'll keep you safe!" he said, determined. Amy said nothing, but decided not to refuse him - it was his choice, after all. Besides, Cleo couldn't be enough - not against such overwhelming numbers. Perhaps another set of eyes would be a good thing...

Once the Rockets were split up and driven away from the cave, Amy returned Cleo and threw a ball at the nidoran. Since there was no resistance from him, he was caught instantly. Once that was taken care of, she picked up the nidoran and darted toward the entrance. This is it! No going back now! she thought, entering the cave.  

[Kasumi Miyagi]

Haruka Chelli Garris

Shizuku Hitomei

Haruka let the two pokemon sniff and get used to each other before even suggesting they get moving. She knew sooner or later she would be called back to catch more of the rare pokemon and gather as many moon stones as her bag would carry. Cyndaquil stopped his sniffing and Persian lifted her head looking toward the cave. Something was up. Haruka turned toward the cave entrance and listened. Something was going on. She heard some admins calling to their grunts to go take care of some wild pokemon gone crazy at the other entrance to the cave and some trying to round up the last few Clefable that they had room for. Haruka sighed and returned her Cyndaquil to its pokeball and motioned to Persian. "We better go check it out, girl. Come on." The cat pokemon nodded and both began a brisk walk inside the cave to investigate.

Shizuku turned toward the mouth of the cave and listened to hear two of the guards yelling about wild pokemon causing trouble.The young blonde sighed and released his Houndoom. "Looks like we get to see some action after all." Everyone would know the boss has a soft spot for ground type pokemon and if he could get one or two back to Giovanni, he might get a few points added to his card. After all, after so many points you were to receive an evaluation and a possibility of a promotion. He called to the other grunts starting toward the entrance in a harsh commanding tone. "Leave this one to me. We need more people back here to manage the haul. No one will get past me." The others laughed but agreed. He may be a young recruit, but he was full of spunk. The rest of the grunts were more than happy to let someone else do the work while they kept an eye on their catch.

The pair traveled a little way into the cave and found a young girl with pink hair, a pidgey, and a nidoran male wandering inside the cave. This was all that commotion was about? He laughed to himself and smirked at the young trainer. "Are you causing trouble down here, little girl? We are conducting a very important search here and we don't like nosy little kids walking around messing it up. Why don't you turn around and leave and I'll pretend you were never here? If not, I just might have to take care of you myself." He held up a pokeball from his belt and knew his Ryhorn would be itching for a fight. It had been way too long since they were training at the base with other members. The poor guy had not been about to get a good battle in for over a week. Besides, this trainer only had two little pokemon. How bad could it be?

Haruka found her way back to the other Rockets with her Persian guiding her in a matter of minutes. When they told her about Shizuku running off to see what the trouble was, the orange-haired girl lowered her eyebrows and adjusted her cap to shield her eyes. Shizuku was trying to get in good with the boss. She knew that she would have to claw her way up the ladder to even be recognized as a member to Giovanni. Right now she was just a number. She wanted to be someone the boss could call by name. The young grunt turned to her Persian and it nodded back with a purr. "We're going to go join him. Here." Haruka tossed the wads of money from her backpack, leaving one remaining in her bag worth about 2,000 poke-dollars inside. The other grunts scrambled to pick it all up. "That's from the Pewter City Pokemart. We should put it to good use. Come on, Persian. Let's go check it out." Persian meowed and the two sprinted off down the path toward where Shizuku had gone.  

[Lady Venamisa]

Amy Marie Hallows

Amy frowned. Perhaps rushing in hadn't been the best idea, after all. Well, it was too late for that. All she knew was that she had to get away from the Rocket Grunt, and fast! These guys seemed to have Pokemon far stronger than her own, and they played dirty too. Cleo and the nidoran whose name she had yet to learn were in danger now, as were all the Pokemon of Mt. Moon. To leave and give up would be the smartest choice, but doing so meant abandoning them - and River, as well. Could she do that? Could she live with herself for making such a choice? It was an impossible decision, but one had to be made. It wasn't just her who had to decide, however. "I'm not leaving without River! Cleo screeched, flying in front of Amy. Her beady, black eyes glinted with determination. "These ruffians don't scare me!" The Nidoran replied boldly, "We can fight them!" The pink-haired girl glared at him. "My friends don't want to back down, so neither will I!" she declared boldly. "Stop hurting everyone, and give me my friend back!"

Unknown to the Rockets, quite a few eyes were watching expectantly.

~()~

Meanwhile, something strange started to occur outside. The Pokemon who had helped Amy get inside began to gather more support. Though many were fearful of what the Rockets could do, it was becoming quite clear that they couldn't just hide and wait for someone to save them. The nidorinos and nidorinas took center stage, protecting the smaller nidorans - both male and female - and putting the brunt of the enemy forces upon themselves. The wigglytuff, mankey and even a lone sandslash entered the fray. They wouldn't go down without a fight.  

[Kasumi Miyagi]

Haruka Chelli Garris

Shizuku Hitomei

Haruka managed to find her way to Shizuku and Houndoom before too long. She caught the tail end of the trainer's statement and witnessed the bold faces of the trainer's pokemon as they prepared to take back the squirtle she had stolen."Ha! You really think I'm going to give you back your puny pokemon just like that? You must be daft! Besides, Haruka has the pokeball you're looking for and she's probably on her way to turn in the lot right now!"Haruka stiffened in her tracks. Shizuku had the higher grades among them in dealing with bystanders. He was always good at putting fear into them, whereas she was always more the kind to toy with them as a meowth with its dinner.Still, what was she to do? Pretend Shizuku was right? No. More than anything she should come forward and fight the trainer head on to bully the kid into the corner and send her home crying to her mother. That was the way she handled things. The orange-haired teen stepped forward and her Persian growled lowly in a threatening tone. "I'm right here, Shizuku. I think you should let me deal with this one. I put her in her place last time after all."

Shizuku was reluctant. He had always prided himself on the way he handled trainers and was always the first one to volunteer for any of the missions to steal pokemon. Yet here he was forced to work with another newbie who only knew how to steal from under someone's nose with the first encounter. Still, the rules stated that the one who stole from the trainer first were granted the privileged of dealing with them as many times as they could before they failed. He had no choice but to yield to his younger partner."Fine. All yours then. I've got my eye on you though. You come back empty handed and you'll regret it!" Haruka nodded and watched Shizuku run back the cave toward the others where a strange noise was coming from. It sounded like a soft rumble, meaning there was probably an earthquake coming. Haruka turned her attention to the trainer again and her Persian prepared to pounce. It stood in front of Haruka with its teeth bared. "So, back for more? Do you want to surrender your other two pokemon as well? It must be my lucky day!" Her white teeth glistened in the dim light as she laughed an evil laugh the rockets were famous for.  

[Lady Venamisa]

Amy Marie Hallows

"You're not getting my friends!" Amy declared, far more boldly than she felt. "I'm going to take River back, and stop you - if it's the last thing I do!" She then looked to Cleo and the male Nidoran, both of them looking poised for battle. "Cleo, Sand Attack on the Rocket! Give it everything you got!" Without word or a glance back, the normally carefree Pidgey did as she was told on a moment's notice. At once, she threw a copious amount of sand directly in Hakura's face. Seizing the opportunity to strike, Amy did exactly that. She ran at the Rocket grunt and tackled her to the ground. "I'll get River back - you guys hurry up and find help!" "But miss, what about y-" The Nidoran inquired, only to be interrupted. "I SAID GO!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, as she began to wrestle Hakura for River's ball. And with that, they went off deeper into the cave. Leaving Amy without backup, for when her moment of surprise ended. All she could do was hope that Cleo and the Nidoran could convince some of the wild Pokemon to fight back. If not, then this was where it would end.

It would only be a matter of time before Hakura managed to throw her off, and then, there would be trouble...  

[Kasumi Miyagi]

Haruka Chelli Garris

Haruka growled and fell backward under the weight of the pink-haired trainer. Her Persian roared and dug at her belt, trying to get to the dark sphere that held the captured squirtle. Haruka rolled over on the trainer and pinned her on her back, smirking down at her. She leaned down next to the trainer's ear and began to gloat. "Nice try, girly. You're cute but not a match for Team Rocket Grunt, Haruka!" Persian meowed in glee and sniffed the trainer's hair, looking for some sign of submission. Finding a flicker of fear, the big cat pokemon decided to run off to chase the trainer's pokemon deep into the cave to retrieve them for her owner.

The look in the trainer's eyes was remarkable. She looked scared, but still determined to save her pokemon companion. Haruka knew how that felt. She would do anything to get her Cyndaquil back if someone took it from her. Something about her eyes was affecting Haruka's anger, She couldn't blame the trainer but she did find her a little charming in an innocent way. Still, she was a Rocket and this trainer was her prey. She had no choice.  

[Lady Venamisa]

Amy Marie Hallows

The struggle, as expected, was short-lived. Hakura proved to be a lot stronger than her, and it wasn't long before their positions had been reversed. Amy struggled and squirmed in the Rocket's grasp. A small part of it was out of blind panic. There was no way of knowing what would happen if she couldn't win here, after all. Rumor suggested death, but the uncertainty was enough to drive her mad. The rest of it delved into what would happen if she lost. River, Cleo and the Nidoran would be taken along with countless others, probably used and abused for evil purposes. Her friends would be among many that suffered, many whose lives would be forfeit. The notion was terrifying, yet strong enough to keep her fighting on. Now wasn't the time for giving up! Being called cute at the start of Hakura's gloating only made her angrier. Eyes narrowed, she stared in the eyes of River's captor.

"I don't see why you're so proud of that." Amy said bravely. "You're part of people who do horrible, evil things, yet you act like it's something worth being. Don't you see the Pokemon around here? What about trainers and their friends? Can't you see the pain you cause?" Her eyes softened as she spoke, in order to match the pleading voice she'd used. "You're hurting so many of them, ruining their lives, and you don't care... you just don't care." She didn't dare look at Hakura as she spoke. "None of you do."

~()~

Unbeknownst to the two girls below them, several Pokemon had heard their conversation. Eyes and ears listened, as the young, pink-haired girl stood up for them. It was the first time humans had considered their side of things, especially in the wake of such tragedy. Among them was a small, pink little thing. Safely hidden behind much larger rocks, it listened and watched as the human fought for them. Such a thing went unheard of, according to the old stories. People were supposed to be mean and selfish, and that was why her kind hid from them.

And yet...

"Stop being a meanie-butt!" it shouted, running up to them with it's tiny, tiny legs. "I'll help you, nice-human!" For a brief instant, the human chuckled.

~()~

The battle outside continued to become more and more costly - for both sides. Several Rockets had been caught up in the crossfire from the attacks of many numerous wild Pokemon, whose numbers only continued to increase. Inspired by the willingness of their comrades, they came out from hiding spots along Route 3. More of the Mankey and Nido lines had come out to fight, along with a flock of Spearow, and a hoarde of Rattata and Raticate. Bodies of Pokemon - both wild and not - and Rockets littered the bloodied grounds before Mt. Moon, making it a veritable war zone. A few even rushed into the cave, flying past two human girls and a Cleffa on the way.

~()~

"Missed me~!" Cleo cried, as she managed to avoid the Persian's attempt to Scratch her. She flew up and and around, using her wings to fling tiny rocks and dirt at the larger cat. The Nidoran had gone his separate way, as they had agreed upon leaving Amy. Neither of them had felt right about it, but there was no choice. The men and women in black seemed to have stronger Pokemon on their side, so splitting them up and trying to find help was the only way. When the red-haired harpy's Persian followed them, Cleo decided to create a distraction. So far, so good. and determination that no real harm had come to her yet.

And that was how it would stay. Hopefully, the Nidoran could do his part.

"Ooops, missed me again~! My, you're slow~!"  

[Kasumi Miyagi]

Haruka Chelli Garris

Haruka blinked at the pink-haired girl when she said none of the other team rocket grunts cared about what they were doing. It wasn't a lie, but part of her really didn't feel right after hearing it. She grasped the young girl's hands tighter under her own and opened her mouth to speak but grew silent upon the surprise of a Cleffa. The small pink Pokemon used a Pound attack on Haruka's arm and the orange-haired girl growled in pain. It wasn't a very powerful attack, but it was enough to irritate her. "Oh, you want a piece of me too? Fine. I'll give you a sporting chance, little puff ball!" Haruka used one hand to reach into her belt and release her Cyndaquil from its capsule. "Blaze, go get it!" The Cyndaquil chirped excitedly and charged in trying to Tackle the smaller Pokemon. This would keep it busy for a while.