Chapter 21: Encounter with Evil
"Are you sure that's all you saw?" Officer Jenny said.
"Yes, Ma'am. We were walking through the mall, and those Pokémon attacked, then left for no reason." Zach said.
"Well, OK" Jenny said, as she went back to the other officers to see what evidence they found.
We had spent the past 2 hours being asked questions by Jenny. The mall was almost completely smashed, and there was no clue as to why Wild Pokémon would just attack people for no reason. Josh believed that the Pokémon weren't wild, or they would have killed us. I just wanted to head for the next Gym, so I ran to the boat. That's when I saw an unusual scene in the ocean. A small blue fish was being chased by a big blue croc-like creature with a mohawk.
"Horrrseaaa!" speaked the blue fish as the croc rammed it.
"Croco! Croco Naw!" shouted the blue alligator.
Zach, Josh & Megan were still in town, taking their merry little time, so I decided to act. I sent out Zubat, Beedrill & Raichu.
"Beedrill! Knock that croc away with Pin Missile!"
Beedrill did just that, sending tons of sharp needles at the predator, knocking it back. I called for a Supersonic to confuse it, but the blue creature leaped into the air. This is when I shouted for a Thunderbolt. Raichu's electricity really hurt the croc, so I threw a Poké Ball. Unfortunately, the croc popped out and Water Gunned Raichu & Beedrill, sending them in the water, so I had to recall them. I told Zubat to gust it away with Whirlwind, but that didn't send Croco back. It leaped and headbutted the bat, then tried to chomp down on it's wing, but a well-timed Gust foiled that. Finally, Croco was ready to capture.
"Poké Ball! Go!" I shouted.
The ball flew into the air, but hit only water. The Pokémon fell into the water before the ball landed on it.
"Crap. I missed it. But at least I saved that Horsea. Where'd it go anyways?" I asked myself before the others arrived at my location.
"So, where's the next Gym?" I asked once we were aboard.
"It's probably on this island here," Josh said, pointing to an island on the map, "but we have to go around the island to get to it."
"I don't feel right leaving so soon. I mean, what if Jenny tries to contact us again?" Zach asked.
"Then she'll give us a whistle on Matt's Pokédex. Right?" Megan asked.
"Yea. I gave her my Dex Number in case she needed us."
So then it was settled. Zach drove the boat around the island, but about halfway, I spied something amiss.
"Hey Josh, hand me the binoculars" I asked.
Josh handed them to me and I peeked through. Sure enough, I was right. I saw a purple figure move into an abandoned warehouse. It was that Nidoking! I told the others and Zach drove the boat over to the dock near it. Megan guessed it was some sort of port before it was abandoned. Zach tied down the boat while the rest of us went inside. Megan was right, it was some kind of port. The place had tons of rooms. The main hall had all sorts of different awards & paintings on the walls, but they were all old and worn. The main
desk was made of very gray wood. I took off a big chunk just leaning on it. Josh wandered into the next room, which was almost as big around as the other room was tall.
"Hmm. Guess this was some kind of gift section or something" Josh said.
We all followed Josh inside. Josh took one more step before something slashed his shirt open. He had two small cuts, but nothing bad. We looked forward, and came upon a not-so-happy sight. Sneasel, Nidoking, & Houndoom all staring right at us, ready for battle and showing no mercy.
"Just great. Now what?" Megan asked.
"We battle them!" I said.
"But they're too strong!" Josh protested.
"We have to try!" I said, calling out Graveler, Raichu & Flareon. Zach called Rhyhorn & Golem, while Josh & Megan called out Nidorino, Nidorina, Machop & Sandslash. All the Pokémon took battle stances. The three big guns were about to jump to attack.
"Sneasel! Nidoking! Houndoom! Halt! Now!" a voice said from nowhere.
Instantly the three stood alert, but never took our eyes off us. Then a human stepped out of the shadows. When we saw how tall he was, I instantly got scared. Not only that, he had HUGE muscles. His hand was easily bigger than my head and his entire arm was as long as my leg. His chest bulged and was about as big as all four of our chests combined. His legs were the same, each of them reaching our heads. It was clear he was bald, but that didn't seem to affect him. His clothes look like they were ready to burst at any
moment. It's a wonder how they fit on. This guy makes Lt. Surge look like a puny weakling! He walked over to us and stood five feet away. He towered over us like a skyscraper. I was speechless, and I couldn't move. The man folded his arms and introduced himself.
"So, you're the kids who's been giving Team Rocket some grief. I've been hired to take care of troublemakers like you."
"Who..What, are you!" I asked.
The man smiled, "The name is Kataki. Death is my specialty."
All four of us could just stand there with our faces in shock. What did we get ourselves into?
"Will you stop that annoying look?" He said as he reached back and slapped all of us. We flew about 6 feet before landing, "Hmmph. You kids are pathetic. I expected more. Of course, seeing how easily you were beaten by my Pokémon, it's not hard to imagine."
While we were struggling to get up, I think my jaw broke, Golem got very angry. It charged Kataki and tried to tackle it, but failed. All of us, including the Pokémon, couldn't believe it. Kataki caught Golem! Then, he lifted it up with ONE HAND with no problem, wound up, and threw the giant boulder. Josh & I barely had time to dodge before Golem sailed through the air, through the wooden wall, through the main room, and outside the main hall, landing on a think boulder, about 3 feet in. Kataki looked like he just threw a baseball. I was now really scared, and was trembling. The Pokémon stepped back to attack.
"Golem!" Zach said as he ran to his Pokémon.
"You're going to pay for that!" I said.
"Oh please. Don't make pity threats to me, boy." Kataki said.
With that he raised his fist and slammed it into the ground. Instantly, the ground around him started to crumble. The rocks separated us, and knocked us back down again. Tired of this, Rhyhorn leaped to attack, and succeeded in knocking back Kataki. Unfortunately, he managed to grab on and started squeezing. Rhyhorn started to buck in pain as Kataki crushed Rhyhorn's armor. Then he slammed the Pokémon to the ground and pounded his fist into the armor around Rhyhorn's spine, cracking the armor and getting in a few inches deep. Rhyhorn cried out in pain as just sat there as red blood came gushing out of the open wound. Zach, who had just finished getting Golem back in its Poké
Ball, was horrified.
"Rhyhorn! No!" Zach cried as he ran to his Pokémon, but was knocked back by Kataki.
"How can you treat humans and Pokémon this way?" I yelled out.
"Simple, like this!" Kataki said as he leaped into the air, slamming down next to me. In one swift motion, he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me
high into the air. His grip was tight when he grabbed me, and I could barely breathe. When he finished lifting me up, he gripped harder, almost crushing
my neck, and making me cough up a little blood. A few drips landed on Kataki's face, which was cleaned up thanks to his tongue. Angered, the fellow Pokémon attacked, but were ambushed by Sneasel, Nidoking & Houndoom. Josh and Megan could do nothing but watch. There was nothing they could do. Zach, who retrieved his Pokémon, couldn't stand it anymore.
"I'll teach you to hurt my brother & Pokémon!" Zach said as he leaped to sock Kataki.
"Oh really." Kataki said. He turned around and kneed Zach in the stomach, making him cough up blood as well.
Kataki then grabbed his head, held it for a few seconds, and then started to crush it. Zach started to write in pain. Kataki then threw Zach over to Josh & Megan. Now angry, Josh started to advance near Kataki when my arm was grabbed. Before I knew what was going on, he twisted my arm almost all the way backwards. If I could think straight, I was sure that my arm had been broken.
"Take a step, and it goes even further." Kataki said with a smile.
Josh could only look on in anger while Megan cared to Zach. As for the Pokémon, they were royally beaten by the three new Pokémon. Josh & Megan recalled theirs, while Josh put Raichu & Flareon & Graveler near Zach. The three Pokémon ganged up on the two as Kataki kept on twisting my arm. By now I had almost completely lost consciousness. I was also fairly sure that my arm was out of its socket. Finally, he let go and I dropped to the ground, searching for air. Josh tried to run over to me, but Nidoking got in his way.
He didn't know what to do until he got out 2 Poké Balls and released Pidgeot and Butterfree.
"Pidgeot! Butterfree! Double Whirlwind now!"
"Piddgeeot!" "Beefreee!"
The two Pokémon obeyed and tried to blow the three Pokémon away. Kataki was just standing there with his arms closed, as well as his eyes. Josh made his way over and got me out, right before Nidoking Thunderbolted the two Flying-types out of the air. Josh ran back over to Megan, put all the Pokémon back in the Poké Balls, and grabbed me.
"Come on Megan! We have to get out of here!" Josh said.
Megan understood and grabbed Zach. Nidoking, Sneasel, & Houndoom were just about to follow when Kataki returned them. He then opened his eyes and
followed us, walking briskly.
Meanwhile, we managed to make it to the boat. Zubat, who had recovered enough to fly by itself, and Pichu were standing guard while Megan closed our wounds and Josh started the boat. We tried to escape, but Kataki came out as soon as we started moving and jumped onto the boat right in front of Josh!
"Do you actually think you'll be going anywhere?" Kataki said with a smile.
"Oh no! Pichu! Thunder him!" Megan shouted.
"PiiiiCHU!" The mouse squeaked as it fired electricity at the giant, but Kataki was unharmed, and still stood in the same exact position. Kataki rocked the boat some, dumping me off into the water. Josh tried to turn around, but Kataki shoved him aside.
"Consider your friend good-bye" Kataki told the two.
Meanwhile, under the sea. I started floating down, still unconscious, when a small fish swam by. The Horsea had been watching what was going on and tried to pull me up, as a payback for when it was saved. The Horsea was far too weak to lift me, though, until it started glowing white and getting stronger.
"We have to get Matt out of there!" Josh said, "Poliwhirl, Lapras! Find them!"
Josh grabbed Lapras' Poké Ball from Zach's waist and told the two to find Matt, but Kataki leaped and landed on Lapras, and punched through its bone covering, hitting the spine. Lapras let out a loud shriek as it fell over. Poliwhirl became angry, and started soaking Kataki with water. He was about to reach for the Pokémon when he saw something straight ahead. A giant tidal wave, and at the top was a Seadra with me on top!
"It must be that Horsea Matt saved earlier. It evolved into a Seadra!" Josh said.
Kataki looked a little surprised, but let the wave topple him. Seadra and I splashed on board, then Poliwhirl flopped on board. Josh returned Lapras and headed for the hospital, when we wouldn't move. Kataki was stopping the motor from working! Josh stopped the engine before it would explode, and Kataki leaped out of the water and on top of the bridge. Poliwhirl & Seadra both tried to Water Gun him, but it wouldn't work.
"Pichu! We have only one chance, Thunder Wave now!" Megan shouted.
"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu shouted as it released lots of round waves at Kataki.
The giant just stood there, frozen.
"Zu! Zubat!" Zubat shouted as it started a Whirlwind.
"Seadoo!" "Poli! Poliwhirl!" The two Water Pokémon shouted as they fired their Water Guns.
All of the attacks eventually knocked Kataki overboard again. Josh immediately started the engines and headed for the hospital.
"If it wasn't for you Seadra, we would have been toast." Megan said, giving the Pokémon a small kiss.
"Seaaaa!! Seadra!" The fish cried happily, then turned to Poliwhirl. It offered a handshake, with its fin, but then started to flop around even more, irritating Poliwhirl to the point where he gunned it, and the two started to fight. Josh grabbed my extra Poké Ball and his, and returned the two water types, then headed down to the hospital.
"Well, at least we got rid of that horrible Kataki, thanks to you Pichu!" Megan said, hugging her mouse.
"I wouldn't be too sure. After all that he did, it seems a little strange that he would be beaten so easily." Josh said, deep in worry.
In the ocean, which had become fairly calm again, bubbles started to rise. Then, a large, bald head popped out of the water, and smiled when it saw a boat heading for shore.
"I must say, you kids are far more resourceful than I had expected, although I would have expected a better fight. I await our next encounter." Kataki said as he swam to shore, free of paralysis. Things just got a whole lot bleaker.
To be continued...
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