DPA: Rivals

Chapter 45: Adopting Bulbasaur

"This better be important," Petrel's nasally voice said through April's smartphone. "I'm taking a huge risk not reporting this call to the other admins."

"Come on, you owe me," April replied, arms crossed. "We both know you won't report me."

"I owe you one favor, and one favor only, so I hope you'll use it wisely. What do you want?" Petrel asked.

"I believe I found a Pokémon that can defeat Project Genetic," April answered. "I just need a hand in capturing it."

There was silence on the phone for a moment. Then, Petrel laughed. "Is this some kind of joke?" he chuckled. "You found a Pokémon strong enough to defeat a living weapon specifically created for mass destruction?"

"Yes, so shut up!" April snapped. "If I can get my hands on this new asset, I can capture Project Genetic, bring it to Giovanni directly, and not only return to Team Rocket, but achieve admin status, maybe even higher than Ariana! I need this, and I want you to help me."

"What do you need?" Petrel asked, still skeptical.

"I need a horde. And not a horde of flimsy Zubat. I'm thinking a stampede."

"This is ridiculous!" Petrel scoffed. "The police have already doubled down on taking out Team Rocket. If a Team Rocket operative were to release a stampede, it would be over for us!"

"Not if I can place the blame on someone else," April retorted. "I have strong reason to believe that at some point soon the asset will be in Fuchsia Village. If I use the Safari Zone as a starting point, then I can easily pin this on the warden. The local authorities have been waiting to end the Safari Zone for a while, and they would likely use this as an excuse to finally put an end to it."

"You'd still have to deal with Koga," continued Petrel. "He is the Fuchsia Guardian, and he will try to stop you."

"He's strong, but not strong enough to defeat a stampede," April said. "Now, I need you to deliver a stampede to me, somewhere quiet. Lavender Town would work. If you do not, word of what happened a year ago, that thing that only I know about, will reach Giovanni, and he will not be pleased. If you make the delivery, it all goes away."

Silence. Then a loud crash, as Petrel kicked something over, presumably a table. "Fine! Be at Lavender Town at noon, at the top of the Pokémon tower, three days from now. If you aren't there at noon precisely, you are out of luck. Understood?"

"Understood," April smiled, hanging up. Daryon and his crew were going to pay.

"Where in Arceus' name did you find this poor, poor Bulbasaur?" Dr. Joy asked, examining Bulbasaur's wounds. Normally Pokémon would be stored in their Pokéball and run through the PHM, but the wounds were far too severe for that, and she had to treat Bulbasaur's wounds directly.

"Down by the Pokémon Trainer Fan Club," Cameron replied, worried. "How bad is it?"

"Bulbasaur's injuries are quite severe," Dr. Joy noted. "As a trainer, you should be familiar with how quickly Pokémon heal from injuries. Pokémon have extraordinary healing factors, and injuries sustained in the heat of battle are usually completely healed in a relatively short time. However, when a physical injury is combined with psychological damage, a Pokémon's healing factor can slow significantly. These injuries weren't obtained in a Pokémon battle. They were inflicted by Bulbasaur's trainer, and thus will take a long time to heal."

Cameron shook, his neck feeling hot, his whole body trembling with anger. "Who would do this?" he growled through grit teeth. "What kind of monster would treat their Pokémon that way?"

"Cameron," Skye said, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. "Breathe. Do you need Beedrill?"

Cameron let out a sigh, before grabbing Beedrill's Pokéball, sending out the Poison Bee Pokémon. He leaned up against his buzzing Pokémon friend, feeling the vibrations that constantly surged through Beedrill's body, and was soothed.

"So, what do we do now?" Skye asked Dr. Joy.

Dr. Joy looked over to Cameron, and smiled. "I think Bulbasaur is in good hands, assuming Cameron intends to take responsibility for its recovery."

Cameron looked at Bulbasaur, who was asleep, having been charged up with a few of Chansey's Heal Pulse. "Of course," he said. "It'll fit in perfectly." He looked at Daryon and Skye. "We should show Bulbasaur that it isn't alone."

"Yeah, of course!" Daryon grinned, turning to Ero. "Can I switch Magikarp out real quick?"

"Not a problem," Ero replied, taking Magikarp's Pokéball from Daryon's hand. Using his smartphone, he swapped out Magikarp for another Pokéball, which he handed back to Daryon.

Daryon sent out Ivysaur. Skye sent out her own Bulbasaur.

Cameron's Bulbasaur opened up its eyes, waking up to two other of its own species. After a moment of hesitation, it grinned widely, and gingerly crawled off the table to join its new friends. The three 'Saurs talked back and forth between each other in their own sort of language, while Cameron, Daryon and Skye watched, happy.

"You're a really good trainer," Skye said to Cameron. "And a really good person."