Pokémon Ultra: Spark yellow

I know Professor Oak said that I shouldn’t be getting involved in any more Team Rocket trouble, but... I honestly can’t. I feel really uncomfortable not doing anything while Zapdos is still captured, and if there’s any way I can prevent them from capturing Moltres and Articuno, then... I have to fight. I have to help everyone who’s ever been hurt by Team Rocket, and as long as my team, and Leaf, are both here to fight by my side... Then there’s no way I’m giving up. At least now, we know where Zapdos has to be located now... In the Silph Co headquarters.

...Only problem is? We have no idea how to get in the building. The building constantly has a guard at the front door, and as long as he’s always out there, it’s impossible to get inside undetected. Now knowing what else to do, me and Leaf made our way back to Celadon City, making our way to the secret hideout to look for some possible clues or help with getting it...

...But guess what? The not-so-secret anymore secret hideout was now shut off with police tape, many officers guarding the entrance, so it was now impossible to get in.

“Dangit... What are we going to do now?” I say. Both me and Leaf’s eyes scan the area, Leaf suddenly smirking.

“I’ve got a plan. Heheh...” Leaf says quietly, as she slowly approaches a table, which looked like it had some Rocket uniforms laid out. Once the officers were looking away, Leaf quickly snatched a couple of the uniforms, quickly running out of the building.

“Hey! W-what are you doing?!”

Sometime later...

As we made our way back over to Saffron City, Leaf told us of her new plan to get into the HQ, and... Man, I couldn’t believe it!

“WHAT?! You’re saying you want us to disguise ourselves as Team Rocket members to get in?!” I say out loud, just the sound of it making me nervous. “I-is this really a good idea?! Wouldn’t this technically make us criminals?!”

“Sam, relax! It’s not like we’re actually becoming criminals, just pretending to be them...” Leaf says. “It’s for the greater good! Besides, the cops were probably just gonna throw these away anyways... Might as well make good use of them.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right...” I sighed, taking one of the uniforms. Please, just let this plan work and get it over with...

Me and Leaf ducked down in a secluded alleyway, slipping on the Rocket uniforms... Which were actually surprisingly comfy! Me and Leaf figured though, that despite us putting on these uniforms, we should still find a way to get past the guard unnoticed, just in case, so I had a plan...

“Go, Jigglypuff! Hey Jigglypuff, could you put that guard to sleep for us?” I ask, Jigglypuff running up to the guard...

“Um... A Jigglypuff? Oh Arceus, please don’t sing!!”

“Jiggly...Puff...” Jigglypuff ignored the guard’s pleas, quickly singing as the guard slowly fell asleep.

“Perfect... Thanks, Jigglypuff!” I quickly returned Jigglypuff back to her ball, as we made our way inside the HQ. The room we first entered was a pretty big, empty lobby, with glass walls and a huge fountain in the middle. Me and Leaf took deep breaths, as we casually approach a Rocket Grunt behind a counter.

“Hmm... I don’t recognize you two.” The Grunt says. “You two some new recruits or something?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah, we just started working here recently...” I say, giving a big, fake smile to hide my nervousness.

“Uh... How long have you both been working with Team Rocket for?” The Grunt asks.

“One week!”

“I just started today!” Me and Leaf accidentally give off completely different answers, the Grunt giving us a confused look.

“Um... Since she just started today, I um... I’m helping her out.” I say.

“...Alright then, whatever.” The Grunt honestly didn’t seem like she had much care for what we were saying, quickly glancing back down to her work, forgetting about us as we quickly walked away, making our way up the stairs.

“Man, that was a close one...” I say, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, atleast we’re in now...” Leaf says, patting me on the shoulder. We continue making our way up the stairs, looking around the hallway of the first floor, wondering where the heck we even start.

“Geez, how many floors are there in this building?!” I ask.

“I think there’s around eleven or so...” Leaf responds. “Zapdos has to be in one of these floors... All we gotta do is keep looking, and stick together...” As we continued walking, a group of Rocket Grunts who were all talking pretty loudly suddenly stopped, turning their attention to us.

“Dang, how old are you two? You both look like, five year olds!” One Grunt jokes.

“Heh, guess the boss must be pretty desperate if he’s hiring children now!” Another Grunt says.

“Hey, one of you wanna come with us? The boss has a pretty important project that we need an extra hand for...” Another asks, one of them walking up to us as he gently grabs Leaf’s arm.

“Hey, w-wait a minute! I can’t separate from him!” Leaf says, trying to pull from his grasp, but instead gets dragged away.

“Hey! Wait-“ I try to help her, but I feel another hand grab my arm from behind, as I turn around to see another group of Grunts who somehow snuck up on us.

“Yo, Stan! What do you want me to do with this kid?!” The Grunt who was holding onto me, yelled to the other group.

“I don’t know, dude! I’m sure he’ll be useful for something!”

“Wow dude, you are SO helpful! Come on kid, let’s go...” 

...And with that, me and Leaf were separated, before we could even start searching together. Man, this was bad... Or, maybe this is a good thing? If we’re split up, we’ll have more ground to cover faster, but on the other hand... Less protection. Ugh, either way, I don’t have time to be helping these Grunts... I gotta get away from them!

“Hey, s-stop for a second!” I suddenly yank myself free from the Grunt’s grasp, who all give me a confused look. “I-I can’t help you guys right now!”

“Huh...? Why not? It’s not like this project of ours is that hard.” The Grunt says with a smirk, as I look around, trying to think of an excuse... Hmm... 

“Umm... I have... Explosive diarrhea!!”

“...Uh...” All the Grunt’s expressions quickly changed to disgust, slowly backing away from me. “Geez, no more information little dude... Just go already.” And with that, the Grunts quickly walked off, leaving me alone.

“Pika...?” Pikachu looked up at me with a confused expression.

“Don’t worry Pikachu, I was just lying...” Ugh, I probably could of thought of a... Less disgusting lie...But hey, it worked, so I ain’t gonna question it!

But, now that I was alone, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do... Should I look for Leaf... Or Zapdos?

Hmmm...

Sometime later...

I spent some time searching through the first three floors of the building, trying not to look suspicious as I looked for both Leaf and Zapdos, but... I still found no sign of both of them. I really hope Leaf is ok...

“Alright... Now to search the fourth floor.” I started making my way up the stairs, but nearly got knocked over by a bunch of Rocket Grunts who were running down the stairs, like they were in a big panic. Wondering what was going on, I ran up to the fourth floor, and... I found a face that I recognized, but certainly didn’t expect...

“Blue?! What the heck are you doing?!”

“Sam? Hey! Just battling a few of these Rocket weirdos! Man, these guys are such pushovers, it’s almost too easy!” Blue chuckles, casually approaching me. “Pfft, Sam, what’s up with that outfit? You working for these losers now?”

“Huh? On no, I’m just pretending to get in here... But forget me. Blue, how’d you even get in here in the first place?!”

“That’s my secret... But hey, it’s perfect that I ran into you here!” Blue smiles excitedly, holding up a Pokeball. “Come on, let’s have a battle right now!”

“What? I-I can’t right now Blue, I’m kind’ve on a mission here...” I say, rejecting his offer.

“Oh, come on! Too chicken to fight after our last battle?”

“What?! No, I just... Look, me and my friend Leaf are looking for a legendary Pokémon that we have to rescue, and we know it’s in this building...” I calmly explain. “And we don’t have time to be getting into battles right now!”

“Pfft, you and your friend really think you both can save a legendary Pokémon on your own?!” Blue scoffs. “Besides, if you don’t battle me right now, I might just have to tell somebody that a couple of Rocket members are actually intruders...”

Urgh, you wouldn’t...! Dangit Blue, you’ve gotta be kidding me right now... Blue had a cocky smirk on his face, as thoughts swirled in my head, thinking of my answer...

“...Just leave me alone, Blue! I don’t have time for this!!” I shouted, running away before Blue could respond.

Sometime later...

After running away from Blue, I continued carefully looking through out each floor, still not finding Leaf. At this point, I was starting to get a bit worried about her, since it’s been at least an hour since we separated. However... When I arrived on the 10th floor, I made my way down a secluded hallway, finding a door with an intriguing door with a bright red colored sign on it, which read: ‘LEGENDARY CONTAINMENT ROOM. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.’

Whoa... This has to be where Zapdos is being held! Alright, stay calm Sam, you’ve got this. Just act natural...

I took a deep breath, carefully opening the door... To a smaller room, which had yet another door, with a passcode lock on it, and another Rocket Grunt guarding the door, who immediately was alerted upon my presence.

“Whoa whoa, hey! Did you not read the sign out there?! You can’t be in here!” The Grunt snaps. Ok, come on Sam. You prepared for this moment...

“...WHAT?! Do you seriously not know who I am?!” I snapped, putting on a tough expression.

“Huh? Er, not really...” The Grunt looked pretty confused.

“Ugh, you’ve gotta be kidding me... You don’t know me, lieutenant and higher up commander Sam?! Geez, get your head out of the sand!”

“Wha-Excuse me?! Hey, I’ve been keeping watch on Zapdos this whole week, don’t be such a jerk!”

“Ugh, you are so incompetent... Look, while you’ve been twiddling your thumbs up here with this easy job, I was out capturing Articuno and Moltres!” I lied, holding up two random Pokeballs, the Grunt’s eyes widening with shock.

“W-what?! H-how is that even possible?!”

“You’d know if you knew who I was! Oh Arceus, you are pathetic! Look, just give me the passcode to that door and let me guard for now on, alright?! Or I’ll tell the boss about your incompetence!”

“PIKA PI!!” Pikachu joined in on my act, glaring at the now terrified Grunt.

“Geez ok, just calm down! The passcode is 51042, just please don’t tell the boss!” The Grunt freaks out, quickly leaving the room in a panic.

“Pikachu, that was awesome! Good job!” I high-fived Pikachu, running over to the door and entering the passcode. Upon entering it, the door swings open. I enter the room, and...

...Oh my Arceus. There he was... Zapdos.

Zapdos was being held in a big room that was sealed off with thick glass. Zapdos’ eyes were squeezed shut, it’s body shaking, like it was in pain. Zapdos also had its body blinded together with metal binders, clipping its wings down, making the bird Pokémon unable to move.

“Pika...” Pikachu ran up to the glass, pressing his paws on it as he stared at Zapdos worriedly. 

“Ugh, what have they done to you, Zapdos... Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out of here.” I looked over at the computer system around the glass cage, spotting a big red button, with a label above it, that read: ‘Press to release the beast. FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, PLEASE DON’T PRESS THIS BUTTON.’

Alright, just need to press this button, and... Zapdos will be free. I took a deep breath, slowly bringing my hand towards the button...

‘DING!!’ But suddenly, a loudspeaker clicks on, and I hear a familiar voice on it...

“Sam. I know you and your friend have snuck into our headquarters, pretending to be on of our own...”

It was Giovanni. Dangit, Blue must’ve snitched. You’ve gotta be kidding me!!

“...I’ll admit, you two are pretty smart to have gotten this far, but... Playtimes over. Sam, I have your friend Leaf with me, so why don’t you take your hand away from that button...”

What the?! My heart skipped a beat, quickly stepping away from Zapdos’ cage, as I notice a security camera on the walls.

“...And come to the 11th floor... Or your friend gets hurt.”

Dangit, no no no... Right when I was so close too! Ugh, I really need to save Zapdos, but... I can’t let Leaf get hurt.

“Zapdos... I’m sorry.”

Sometime later...

I left Zapdos’ room, making my way to the 11th floor, into a room... Where Giovanni was waiting for me.

Giovanni also had a big Pokémon next to him. A Rhydon, who was had a tight hold on Leaf, who had a horrified look in her eyes.

“Ah, Sam... Glad to see you’ve finally showed up.”

“Giovanni, release Leaf now!!” I demanded, Giovanni quickly delivering a fierce glare to me.

“Kid, you’re not the one who’s supposed to be making demands here.” Giovanni growled. As we glared at eachother, I slowly moved my hand to my belt, reaching for one of my Pokeballs.

“Not so fast. You attack me right now, and your friend’s bones get crushed.” Giovanni hissed, as Rhydon tightened his grip a bit, Leaf whimpering in pain as I quickly held my hands up in defeat.

“Ok I’m sorry, just please, don’t hurt her any more!!” I pleaded.

“Hmm... Is it really a good idea for you two to walk away safely... Especially if you know where Zapdos is being held?” Giovanni says. 

“Please, I-I won’t tell anyone about Zapdos! I just don’t want you to hurt my friend anymore! PLEASE!!” I felt tears trickling in my eyes, Giovanni looking away for a bit as he thought... Before finally giving his answer.

“Fine.” Giovanni’s Rhydon quickly let go of Leaf, who gasped and caught her breath, running up to me. “But if you EVER come back here again, or speak of Zapdos... You won’t be getting away safely next time. Got it?” Giovanni growled.

“Yeah... I understand.”

After that, me and Leaf solemnly made our way out of the building, as I explained to her what I’d seen. She kept apologizing, thinking that the plan failing was her fault, but I told her about what Blue had said... Man, one thing is for sure... I feel horrible. Leaf felt the same way, but she still gave me a weak smile, patting me on the shoulder.

“Sam, it’s fine...” She says. “For now, why don’t we just... Go back to my apartment and rest... Ok?”

“Yeah...” I sighed. “Alright.”