Pokémon: Midnight Blue

Giovanni

We turned around so see a tall, well-dressed, and somewhat muscular man standing erect before us. He had brown hair combed to the side, a dark-olive complexion, and cold black eyes.

"I must say," the man spoke again, "Congratulations on making it this far. But all journeys must come to an end. I'm afraid this is the end of yours, and it will be a most painful one at that."

I growled at this remark and the arrogance behind it, "Just who do you think you are?"

"I am the leader of Team Rocket. My name is Giovanni."

"Giovanni what?" Robin wondered. The Rocket Leader shot a cold glance at him, as if he had said something out of line.

"That is of no importance to you. Anyone who has the audacity of defying Team Rocket must be put to a stop immediately."

"Maybe you should have said that to your grunts," I chuckled darkly, "because they didn't do such a great job of stopping us."

Giovanni looked over at me, sizing me up, seemingly trying to figure out what it was about me that made me able to fight past his guards. He then did the same to Robin and Kylie, "It would appear my agents' attempts to detain you were, in fact, futile. But I am far stronger than any of the agents below me. To challenge me would be a death wish."

"If that's the case, I may just be feeling a little suicidal. How about you guys?"

I looked over at Robin, who had his fist clenched tightly and his teeth gritted almost past their crowns, "Bring it on."

I glanced over at Kylie, who gave me a light head nod and looked back at Giovanni, "Let's do this."

Giovanni closed his eyes. It seemed as though he was meditating, or savoring the moment. "Very well," he growled with overbearing pride, "I shall fight the three of you at once. You three shall each use one Pokémon. I will use three. Understood?"

We all nodded. I reached for my belt, Robin reached into his vest, and Kylie went for her jacket. Giovanni slowly craned his hand into his coat and pulled out three Pokéballs. He tossed them all on the ground. Kangaskhan appeared before me, Nidoking before Robin, and Rhydon before Kylie. In response, as if completely in sync with each other, Robin, Kylie, and I each pulled out a Pokéball and released Wartortle, Ivysaur, and Charmeleon respectively.

Giovanni seemed completely relaxed as he commanded his Pokémon, "Kangaskhan, Slam. Nidoking, Double Kick. Rhydon, Earthquake."

Kangaskhan spun around and tried to slam its tail against Charmeleon, but my Flame Pokémon caught the rogue appendage. Wartortle ducked and dove to evade Nidoking's attacks. Rhydon tried to use its attack, but Ivysaur restrained it with its vines. I noticed that as the battle progressed, the three starter Pokémon began to shudder. Seeing this take place before, I knew exactly what it meant.

"Hey, guys," Kylie caught our attention, "have you ever heard that when Pokémon that grow up together and fight together, they tend to grow faster?"

Robin and I looked over and smiled at Kylie. We knew exactly what she was talking about. The three starters were surrounded by a blinding light. After a few seconds, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur emerged from the light.

Giovanni seemed slightly unsettled, but not enough to break his pride, "They may grow as much as they like. They are still no match for my Pokémon."

I had had enough. I was going to shut this guy up for good. "Charizard," I barked. The next words that came out of my mouth startled me at first, but the chill melted away before long, "Pokémon Center. Not the Tower."

Charizard smiled at me as if he knew exactly what I meant and charged at Kangaskhan. Blastoise took out Nidoking with only three attacks. Venusaur brought Rhydon to its knees with a single Razor Leaf attack. Charizard and Kangaskhan were the only ones still fighting. That is, Charizard was fighting. Kangaskhan tried to retaliate, but could never find an opportunity to land a hit.

Finally, Kangaskhan gave way. It stumbled back and fell out. Robin, Kylie, and I stared for a moment at the unconscious Parent Pokémon, then at Giovanni, his dark-olive face now pale with apprehension.